FCC ability to use "deregulatory rebuttable presumptions" was bolstered in court recently, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May and Senior Fellow Seth Cooper Thursday. A U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling upheld commission authority to adopt rebuttable presumptions, they wrote, citing NATOA v. FCC, which affirmed a 2015 order declaring the cable industry effectively competitive (see 1707070029). They said the court's reasoning strengthened the agency's authority for using rebuttable presumptions more broadly to roll back unnecessary regulation: "This would include oversight of Internet service providers' practices if the Commission decides to retain any circumscribed regulatory authority over Internet providers in the Restoring Internet Freedom rulemaking." They said the ruling supports FSF "reform proposals" to utilize telecom "deregulatory tools" of Communications Act sections 10 and 11 mandating forbearance use and periodic regulatory reviews.

The FCC celebrated the 27th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which mandated the agency to ensure telecom access for people with hearing and speech disabilities through relay services, blogged Patrick Webre, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau acting chief. He also noted Wednesday that the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act in 2010 authorized the FCC to create the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, or "iCanConnect."

Asus entered the busy home Wi-Fi mesh networking space with a system of a primary hub, satellite hubs, security software and an app, targeted to multiuser families with connected devices competing for Wi-Fi bandwidth and said to improve coverage challenged by walls, floors and windows that create dead spots. It uses 5 and 2.4 GHz bands.

Initial comments are due Aug. 21, replies Sept. 19, on an NPRM on FCC Caller ID rules, said a Monday public notice in docket 91-281. Commissioners approved 3-0 in June an NPRM seeking comment on rules allowing law enforcement and community institutions to get from carriers quick access to information they need to identify and thwart threatening callers (see 1706220023).

The FCC asked states to file by Oct. 1 if they want to continue running their own telecom relay service (TRS) programs. Current five-year certifications will expire July 25, 2018, and while there's no deadline for seeking recertification, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau requested applications be filed by Oct. 1 to give the commission time to review them, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 03-123. The PN said the bureau would seek comment on applications.

Wireless deployment will raise tough regulatory issues in the months ahead, Raymond James' Frank Louthan said Thursday in a regulatory update. “One of the most important issues facing the industry is the deployment of fiber-based small cells for growing wireless infrastructure demand,” he wrote. “This has been complicated with a lack of regulatory rules for these systems. We believe the FCC will be weighing in as well and will have little tolerance for local hold ups, with no hesitation to use preemption in states that are unreasonable.” The mergers before regulators “seem to be moving in the right direction, and we continue to view cable's need for a wireless solution as a very long-term decision,” the analyst said. Little has changed on net neutrality, Louthan said: “We believe the industry is waiting for the chairman of the FCC to take action and this is likely to be in the late summer to early fall time frame.”

The FTC won't challenge Cisco’s acquisition of Viptela, a software-defined wide-area network company, said an early termination notice. Cisco announced the $610 million deal in May and expected to close in second half of 2017 (see 1705010064).

AT&T denied Randall Stephenson is planning to no longer be CEO after the company buys Time Warner. The company said in a statement Friday that Stephenson will remain chairman and CEO post-close, and that no other decisions on organizational structure or leadership are finalized. It said Stephenson and TW CEO Jeff Bewkes "are working through that." Wells Fargo's Jennifer Fritzsche wrote investors that in the reported post-deal structure, it makes sense that Stephenson would become executive chairman overseeing co-CEOs John Stankey and John Donovan as heads of its media business and wireline and wireless businesses, respectively. The analyst cited different customer bases the company will serve.

AT&T and the Communications Workers of America said they reached a tentative deal, with a federal mediator's help, covering about 17,000 workers. CWA members earlier this month voted down a proposed four-year contract that would have been the first for employees of DirecTV, which the telecom company bought in 2015, and reportedly included pay raises, increased job security, retirement benefits and healthcare measures (see 1706050026 and 1707070043). The union and company had agreed to mediation, a CWA spokeswoman said. Neither side released details. "The agreement was reached after extensive discussions between the Company, the CWA, and a federal mediator provided through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service," AT&T said. Next, union members will vote on the deal, both sides said.

Nine of 26 tech and telecom companies earned credit for policies that defended users' privacy against government data requests and national security letter gag orders, said the annual Electronic Frontier Foundation's "Who Has Your Back" report released Monday. EFF said Credo, Lyft and Uber were among those that fulfilled all five categories, while Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft and Yahoo earned four stars. AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile and Verizon were given one star for the category of following industry best practices such as having a policy requiring the government to get a warrant for data, publishing transparency reports and explaining how it responds to government demands for data. Those four companies didn't comment. The other four categories were providing notices to users when there's a government data request; ensuring such data isn't given to governments via third-party vendors; standing up to gag orders (see 1612010071); and committing to changes in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act (see 1706270052). EFF said companies are becoming more transparent since the report was first issued seven years ago, in part due to more public attention.