The LNP Alliance asked the North American Numbering Council to clarify and broaden, if necessary, the role of the LNPA Working Group in the local number portability administrator transition from Neustar to Telcordia/iconectiv. Working group members recently raised questions and concerns about certain LNPA transition technical requirements, including "information about issues with system or carrier/vendor certification," testing process success and failures, transition intervals and operational requirements, said David Malfara, LNP Alliance representative to the group, in a letter posted Thursday in FCC docket 09-109 to Betty Anne Kane, chairwoman of the NANC and the District of Columbia Public Service Commission. But the working group's co-chairs indicated the NANC limited the group's role "to developing test cases," which tends to restrict important discussion, Malfara said. "To the extent there is currently a view that the broader issues listed above cannot be discussed at an LNPA Working Group meeting, we request that the NANC permit that broader discussion among the experts of the LNPA Working Group," he wrote. "This is a critical time for the NANC to clarify and, if necessary, broaden the LNPA Working Group’s mandate for discussion. ... There must continue to be clear direction from the NANC that the LNPA Working Group is chartered with discussing and analyzing the broader set of technical requirements, including issues with system or carrier/vendor certification, operational requirements, testing process issues, successes and failures in the test process, transition intervals, and how such matters will be communicated to carriers and vendors."

With many companies trying to adapt to convergence, nearly half of telecom executives are actively pursuing mergers or acquisitions in the next 12 months, Ernst & Young reported Monday. EY said 48 percent expected to pursue M&A, and 37 percent have five or more deals in the pipeline. Adding talent is a big driver, with 71 percent saying that's the most important or second most important reason for pursuing an acquisition outside their sector, EY said. “Positioning for convergence is driving a number of [high-profile] deals, such as AT&T’s announced acquisition of Time Warner, yet smaller deals that can fill gaps in portfolios or provide innovative assets or people are also moving into focus as companies look to overhaul their business models,” wrote EY Global Telecommunications Leader Gaeron McClure. “A number of carriers are pursuing ‘bolt-on’ acquisitions in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and over-the-top (OTT) video services.” EY surveyed 1,700 executives in 45 countries, representing 18 sectors including technology.

A group of 29 science and education-focused groups urged President-elect Donald Trump to “quickly appoint a science advisor with the title of Assistant to the President for Science and Technology who is a nationally respected leader with the appropriate engineering, scientific, management and policy skills necessary for this critically important role,” they said in a letter to Trump dated Wednesday and released Monday. “This senior level advisor can assist you in determining effective ways to use science and technology to address major national challenges. Moreover, this individual can coordinate relevant science and technology policy and personnel decisions within the executive branch of government.”

Fifty-six percent of U.S. consumers have begun holiday shopping, down about 1 percentage point from last year at this time, which was a record, the National Retail Federation reported based on surveying 7,200 consumers Nov. 1-8. Forty-four percent will give books, CDs, DVDs, videos or videogames, and 30 percent electronics, said NRF Monday. It said Friday most U.S. adults will shop this weekend (see 1611180036).

FCC ISP privacy rules will lead to confusion for consumers, the Free State Foundation said in a Friday post. The order, which establishes different rules for ISPs than for edge providers, is seen as likely to be overturned by the Republican-controlled FCC (see 1611090034). “If a consumer who subscribes to Comcast chooses not to opt-in, it appears Comcast cannot collect information regarding that consumer's Amazon purchases because the data would be acquired through the Comcast-provided Internet connection,” wrote Michael Horney, an FSF research associate. “However, Comcast will be able to purchase that consumer's Amazon information either directly from Amazon or perhaps from the consumer's operating system and/or web browser. In other words, ISPs are allowed to purchase consumer information from edge providers, which are not subject to the FCC regulations, even though the edge providers have greater access to consumer information than ISPs.”

The FCC warned consumers about a scam involving "callers pretending to be utility company employees demanding immediate payment," often by credit, debit or gift cards. If consumers receive such a call demanding payments that they don't believe they owe, they should hang up and call the utility company's phone number from a legitimate source such as a billing statement, said an alert Tuesday from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. People who believe they have been targeted by the scam should report incidents to their utility company, local police, the FTC's Complaint Assistant or FCC's Consumer Help Center, it said.

Cloud networking provider GTT Communications agreed to pay $590 million for Hibernia Networks in a cash and stock transaction, GTT said in a news release Wednesday. Hibernia owns terrestrial and subsea fiber. GTT expects to close the deal in Q1, subject to FCC OK and other customary closing conditions, the company said. It expects to complete integration within two to three quarters after closing, said GTT CEO Rick Calder.

The Software & Information Industry Association urged President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday to recommend tech and IP policy legislation that will “promote the availability of data and the development of improved analytics techniques to extract value from information.” SIIA policy recommendations “will be a useful roadmap for policymakers throughout your new Administration, enabling them to promote software and information technology to create broad-based growth, reduce social and economic inequality, and secure America’s global leadership,” President Ken Wasch said in a letter to Trump. SIIA emphasized the need for policies “that promote the use of data and analytics while protecting privacy and data security.” Rules that “protect people from harmful uses of information encourage the trusted disclosure of the information that is the fundamental input into data-driven innovation,” SIIA said. The Trump administration and Congress should “continue and expand efforts at the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to improve the quality of patents and should work with Congress to ensure carefully crafted balances in our copyright laws, which create the flexibility and strong protections necessary for innovation and creativity,” the group said.

More DirecTV workers represented by the Communications Workers of America ratified an agreement between the CWA and AT&T, which now owns DirecTV, said a news release Friday. The accord covers about 1,050 Southeast U.S. workers and puts them under an existing contract in that region, CWA said. It follows similar ratifications by DirecTV field workers in the Midwest and Southwest (see 1611010017).

Inteliquent agreed to an $800 million acquisition by private equity firm GTCR, the acquiree said in a Wednesday news release. Under the deal, Inteliquent -- an interconnection partner for communications providers -- will be merged with Onvoy, a provider of voice, messaging and mobility services. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2017, subject to FCC, state and shareholder OKs and termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period. “This industry was ripe for consolidation, and while Inteliquent was a natural consolidator with a favorable balance sheet to do so … GTCR should be able to capture additional synergies out of this combination,” Raymond James analysts wrote investors Thursday. The deal follows Broadcom’s $5.9 billion agreement to buy Brocade (see 1611020050).