The FCC Wireline Bureau established a pleading cycle on Crown Castle’s proposed buy of 30,000 route miles of fiber in many major markets. With an eye on small-cell deployment, Crown Castle in July agreed to buy Lightower from Berkshire Partners, Pamlico Capital and other investors for $7.1 billion cash (see 1707190020). The transfer is before the FCC. “Applicants state that the proposed transaction is in the public interest,” the bureau said in a Wednesday notice. Applicants maintain the deal would “expedite the expansion of wireless broadband infrastructure” and “bring Lightower’s experience with high-bandwidth fiber solutions to [Crown Castle’s] existing fiber subsidiaries,” the bureau said. Applicants also say it will “allow the combined entity to provide a wider range of services to customers,” the notice said. Comments are due Sept. 6 in docket 17-204, replies Oct. 13.

FCC staff and sometimes commissioners attend meetings of the Technological Advisory Council, but the agency said Friday it won’t require ex parte filings on presentations. The public notice covers “presentations to the TAC, including to its subcommittees and working groups, and at any roundtable discussions sponsored by the TAC, and presentations between TAC members (including members of any subcommittees or working groups) and FCC staff or Commissioners,” the notice said. “This treatment is appropriate since presentations to the Council, like comments on a Notice of Inquiry, will not directly result in the promulgation of new rules.”

The FCC opened a pleading cycle on its slamming and cramming proposals to bolster consumer protections against carriers making unauthorized changes to customers' preferred telecom providers or inserting unauthorized charges onto their phone bills. Comments are due Sept. 13, replies Oct. 13 on an NPRM, said a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice Tuesday in docket 17-169. Commissioners unanimously adopted the item in July (see 1707130054).

The FTC announced slightly higher annual fees for FY 2018 for telemarketers to access lists of phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, in a Monday news release. Commissioners voted 2-0 to authorize publication of a Federal Register notice. As per a required re-evaluation, fees to telemarketers in FY 2018 will increase $1 to $62 to obtain registry phone numbers in a single area code, and up to a $17,021 maximum for all area codes nationwide. In FY 2017, the maximum charge for all area codes was $16,714. The fee for accessing an additional area code for a half year will rise to $31. All U.S. telemarketers are required to download phone numbers on the registry to make sure they don't call those who have registered their numbers. The commission said the first five area codes are free, and organizations like charities are exempt from the Do Not Call rules and can get the entire list for free.

Next-Generation 911 needs funding and a standard definition that accounts for how broadband will transform first-responder and 911-center operations, APCO said in a Monday report. Recommendations include launching a federal grant program to fund upgrades to broadband technology and ending some states’ practice of diverting 911 fees to unrelated purposes. NG-911 should be defined as “a secure, nationwide, interoperable, standards-based, all-IP emergency communications infrastructure enabling end-to-end transmission of all types of data, including voice and multimedia communications from the public to an Emergency Communications Center,” APCO said. Future integration between NG-911 and FirstNet’s national public safety network will enable seamless broadband communications between first responders and public safety answering points, while smartphones and other IP-enabled devices will allow the public to send multimedia directly to PSAPs, the report said. “PSAPs of the future will be a nerve center, managing data-rich communications via broadband technology with 9-1-1 callers and first responders.”

Nevada and California union workers ratified a four-year contract with AT&T, the company said in a Thursday news release. Communications Workers of America said 58 percent voted in favor. The sides agreed to the pact last month for 17,000 wireline and DirecTV employees after failing in June to ratify a previous agreement, with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service assisting in negotiations (see 1707140051). Talks between the company and union continue for a wireless workers contract, a spokesman for the carrier said. No more AT&T union contracts expire this year, he said.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai sought nominations for a "rechartered" North American Numbering Council, the FCC's numbering advisory body. "I'm excited about convening a new NANC as the Commission looks to the future, even as it maintains the fair and impartial numbering system that has been a hallmark of North American communications," Pai said in a release Wednesday. Nominations are due Sept. 8, with applicants sought for all technology and communications sectors, plus representatives of regulators, standards bodies and consumers, the release said. A public notice contained further details.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said representatives met with FCC staff to answer questions on last summer's petition for more clarity on agency implementation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 1608220016). “The Association appreciates the careful balance to be achieved between protecting consumers from unwanted and harassing phone calls and enabling the use of modern telecommunications equipment to communicate with consumers and provide desired information,” said a filing in docket 02-278. “Congress has achieved just such a balance through adoption of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and constructive collaboration between the health care industry and its regulators on implementation.” Blue Cross, Anthem, WellCare Health Plans and the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management signed the petition filed a year ago.

FCC staff refused to give Cox Communications, Tag Mobile and TruConnect more time to file "final attestation reports pursuant to the Lifeline Program Biennial Audit Plan." Lifeline providers were notified Aug. 10, 2016, that they had until Thursday to do the audits and file the reports, said a Wireline bureau order Thursday in docket 11-42. It said the providers filed motions Tuesday and Wednesday citing various reasons for extensions. "Especially considering the ample time the Carriers received to plan for and conduct the biennial audit, delays caused by disputes with contractors and employee churn do not warrant an extension of the one-year time period," the order said. "We expect the Carriers to file their respective final attestation reports by August 10."

Received robocalls increased to 2.59 billion in July, up 2.7 percent over June and 7.5 percent over July 2016, said a YouMail release Tuesday. Texas received 307.9 million calls last month -- 11 robocalls per person -- "marking the most robocalls received by any state in a single month since recordkeeping began in June 2015," the company said.