State-by-state funding under the FCC's deaf-blind equipment distribution program was announced in a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice Friday. The PN said the "iCanConnect" program was fully funded at $10 million for the funding year starting July 1.

The FTC settled with remaining defendants accused of a $70 million landline cramming operation in a case dating to 2013 (see 1604180019, 1412180047 and 1301230059). A Friday news release said commissioners voted 2-0 to approve a proposed stipulated final order, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, resolving the complaint against American eVoice, eight other companies and four individuals, including lead defendant Steven Sann and his wife, Terry Lane. The FTC said the settlement permanently bans defendants from all landline and mobile phone billing and unauthorized billing, in general. It imposes $41.9 million judgments partially or entirely suspended since defendants are unable to pay. "Sann will have to forfeit more than $500,000 in ill-gotten funds that he used to fund his IRAs, and he will also surrender an Infiniti Q56 and a Nissan 350Z," the FTC said, adding his other assets were transferred to a trustee administering his bankruptcy estate. In a parallel case brought by the U.S. attorney in Montana, the FTC said Sann was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering and wire fraud charges. The Better Business Bureau website notes American eVoice is "no longer in business." Contact information for Sann couldn't be found.

The FCC has plenty of reason to examine rules that would allow law enforcement and community institutions to get from carriers quick access to the Caller ID information they need to identify and thwart threatening callers, said the text of the NPRM approved 3-0 by commissioners Thursday (see 1706220023). “One recent study found that the incidents of bomb threats made to schools from 2011-16 increased by 1,461 percent and that over half of such threats were made by phone,” the order said. “A 2016 report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reports a substantial increase in bomb threats to schools and residences. Other media reports confirm this disturbing trend.” Among questions raised were those on privacy implications: “We endeavor to ensure that this exemption is not abused and that the legitimate privacy interests of non-threatening callers are not infringed.” Comments are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, replies to follow 30 days later.

The Office of Management and Budget approved three years of information collections that were adopted in a May 2016 FCC order revising network outage reporting duties (see 1605250061), said a summary in Thursday's Federal Register. Some rules took effect Thursday and others take effect July 24 and Aug. 1. The summary contained several compliance deadlines, including July 24 for reporting of critical communications outages potentially affecting airports, and Feb. 1 for use of an OC3-based metric for reporting major transport facility outages, with a threshold of 667 OC3 minutes for 30 minutes.

In an effort to remotely identify and track "rogue" drones, the Federal Aviation Administration established a diverse rulemaking committee to create standards, said a Wednesday news release. The FAA said there aren't currently any "requirements or voluntary standards for electrically broadcasting information to identify an unmanned aircraft while it’s in the air." The agency said the Aviation Rulemaking Committee, made up of representatives from 74 public and private organizations, is meeting this week to develop recommendations. Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International President Brian Wynne said in a statement that developing standards for remotely identifying drone operators and owners builds on earlier drone registration efforts.

The FCC certified administrators for its deaf-blind equipment distribution program in eight more states and the District of Columbia. A Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau public notice in docket 10-210 Tuesday said the parties were "for Alabama, the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind; for Alaska, Assistive Technology of Alaska; for California, the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired; for Delaware, the University of Delaware-Center for Disabilities Studies; for the District of Columbia, the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind; for Illinois, The Chicago Lighthouse Serving the Blind, Visually Impaired, Disabled and Veteran Communities; for Missouri, Missouri Assistive Technology; for Nebraska, the Nebraska Assistive Technology Partnership; and, for Pennsylvania, the Institute on Disabilities-Temple University." Other state administrators were announced in early June and late May (see 1706060032 and 1705220043).

Rural groups urged the FCC to nail down a Connect America Fund Phase II auction "with all due speed" after five years of preparatory work. "Further delay now to rewrite the rules in a manner that may tilt the playing field toward lesser quality networks will not serve the needs of our rural communities and the consumers we serve," said a filing Tuesday in docket 10-90 by 33 groups calling themselves Concerned Rural Stakeholders. Hughes Network Systems and Pennsylvania government entities asked the FCC to reconsider decisions in a February order that set bidding weights for the reverse auction of broadband subsidies (see 1704210016 and 1705190044). NTCA, one of the rural stakeholders, separately cited "the negative effects of insufficient" USF support "and the ensuing unpredictable nature of the budget control mechanism on investments" by rural telcos and the rates paid by their consumers. The group urged the FCC "to act upon its pending petition for reconsideration to address such concerns so that the purported goals of USF reform and the mandates of federal law may be achieved," said a filing Monday on the association's meeting with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai.

The American Technology Council's inaugural meeting Monday “is an opportunity” for President Donald Trump's administration and tech sector leaders “to work constructively on shared policy goals that will move our nation forward on job creation, modernizing government technology, and workforce development,” said TechNet President Linda Moore in a Friday statement. “Tax reform and trade will have a major impact on job creation for the American people, and we remain committed to working with the administration and Congress to achieve meaningful results on each of these issues.” The ATC meeting is set to include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Oracle CEO Safra Catz and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty are also said to be attending the meeting, lobbyists said. A separate Thursday White House Office of Science and Technology Policy-led meeting on 5G wireless and emerging technologies reportedly will include FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, two sources told us. The FCC referred us to the White House, which didn't comment.

Verizon expects to record severance, acquisition and integration-related expenses of about $500 million pretax in Q2 because of its Yahoo buy, Verizon said in a filing at the SEC. But Verizon said it also expects to see more than $1 billion in “cumulative operating expense synergies from the transaction through 2020.” Verizon Wednesday completed its $4.5 billion buy of Yahoo’s operating business (see 1706130048).

The North American Numbering Council will meet June 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the FCC, said a commission notice in Tuesday's Federal Register, with a proposed agenda.