The U.S. Trade Representative “will still obviously be the principal negotiator on trade deals,” transition spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Wednesday. Spicer will work as the press secretary in the incoming Trump administration. In recent weeks, transition officials have talked about the significance of the role of commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross, with one saying Ross would “ultimately direct” the incoming administration’s trade policy (see 1612200017). Expect “a much greater team effort” on trade in the new administration, with Ross and others such as Peter Navarro, an adviser appointed by President-elect Donald Trump as director of trade and industrial policy, playing an “instrumental role” and addressing “an agenda and a policy” in this realm, said Spicer. Trump said Tuesday that Jason Greenblatt will be special representative for international negotiations, but that’s a role that will be “bigger than just trade,” Spicer told reporters Wednesday. Trump hasn't named an nominee for the USTR position.

AT&T said the company’s Q4 2016 results will be released after the New York Stock Exchange closes Jan. 25. At 4:30 p.m. EST the same day, AT&T plans a conference call to discuss the results, the company said in a Tuesday news release.

The recent meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and tech executives (see 1612140060) is hopefully “the beginning of a new chapter” for Trump on telecom policy, said Sara Solow, who advised Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton on telecom issues, in an opinion piece published Saturday by Wired. She cited several recommendations for Trump, based on what Clinton proposed over the past year of campaigning. “We should settle for nothing less than universal, high-speed broadband for every household,” said Solow. “To ensure people can get online through free wifi, we should replicate and extend programs like e-rate, which was successful at hooking up public schools and libraries to the internet, to places like train stations, recreation centers, and airports. And the next administration should do what it can through spectrum-allocation policies and public investments to help foster the evolution from 4G to 5G wireless and other next-generation systems.” Trump should embrace the FCC net neutrality rules and not undo them, she said.

President-elect Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with officials involved in cybersecurity and mergers and acquisitions, transition spokespeople told reporters Thursday. One meeting was to involve Tom Bossert, a cyber-risk fellow at the Atlantic Council and president of risk management firm Civil Defense Solutions Consulting. Bossert was an official in the George W. Bush administration, working on homeland security issues and for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Another meeting was to involve Jay Clayton, an attorney with Sullivan & Cromwell focused on M&A. Elsa Murano, a former Texas A&M University president and Agriculture Department official under George W. Bush, is “going to be a candidate for Agriculture,” said transition spokesman Sean Spicer.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, marking its silver anniversary this week, "remains the best legal tool we have to protect and empower consumers," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a news release Wednesday. “Consumers want and deserve control over the calls and texts they receive. With strong rules, vigilant enforcement and support for new tools like robocall blocking, the FCC plays a vital role in ensuring that this law protects and empowers consumers as it was intended.” The agency said it "has renewed its commitment to a strong, pro-consumer reading" of the law in recent years by addressing loopholes such as in its 2015 order and TCPA implementation declaratory ruling (see 1506180046).

The FCC marked the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act Tuesday with a series of tweets advising consumers to learn the rules on robocalls and robo-texts. “Fact: All non-emergency robocalls -- telemarketing & informational -- require consumer permission to be made to a wireless phone,” the FCC tweeted. “Fact: non-telemarketing robocalls inc political & polling robocalls need a consumer’s permission to be made to a cell phone.” AT&T meanwhile launched a free service to help wireless customers fight robocalls. The Call Protect service automatically blocks fraudulent calls and warns about suspected spam, the carrier said in a Tuesday news release. A companion smartphone app adds optional features including temporary call blocking, AT&T said. Spam warnings appear only in HD voice coverage areas, it said.

Telephone fraudsters posing as IRS agents stole more than $50 million from tens of thousands of consumers, warned the FCC Enforcement Bureau and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. In a public notice Monday, the agencies “said they’re committed to quashing the scam, prosecuting the individuals behind the scam, and protecting consumers from future fraud and harassment.” In the scam, callers pretend to be IRS officials and demand payment in gift cards, prepaid debit or credit cards, wire transfers, Western Union or MoneyGram, the agencies said. When victims hesitate to pay, the caller frequently claims the IRS will issue an arrest warrant for unpaid taxes, they said.

President Barack Obama lauded the notion of more competition, including in the telecom market, during his weekly address Saturday. “My administration has done a lot to keep the marketplace fair,” Obama said. “We defended a free, open, and accessible internet that doesn’t let service providers pick winners and losers.” He also touched on industry consolidation generally: “In an era when large corporations often merge to form even larger ones, our leaders have an even greater responsibility to look out for us as consumers.”

There's speculation Verizon could combine with a cable company, but any such deal would have to clear a regulatory hurdle and business issues like total debt loads and unfunded pension and possibly other post retirement benefit liabilities, Citigroup analyst Michael Rollins wrote investors Thursday. He said a quad-play offering may not have as many revenue benefits as hoped, though a combined network would have scale and synergy benefits. He said Verizon's 5G fixed wireless plans could be "a viable third pipe" that could compete with the wireline and cable broadband duopoly without any need for cable assets. Rollins said the expected tax law overhauls and rising interest rates are driving increased urgency for mergers and acquisitions.

The 2017 economic report released by the Obama administration Thursday included language touting its record on tech and telecom issues. “The Administration has worked to ensure that the technological infrastructure is in place, and the rules of the road are set, so that all Americans can benefit from technology,” said the 559-page report. “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided funding to deploy or upgrade more than 114,000 miles of new broadband infrastructure, consistent with the President’s goal of enhancing consumer welfare, civic participation, education, entrepreneurial activity, and economic growth through greater access to broadband. The Recovery Act financed additional broadband projects totaling $2.9 billion, bringing high-speed Internet access to 260,000 more rural households, 17,500 businesses, and 1,900 community facilities.” It cited administration actions on freeing up spectrum and President Barack Obama’s backing for the FCC net neutrality rules. Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman led a White House blog post about the report.