The FCC granted a Somos petition to temporarily waive a "first-come, first served" rule for allocating the toll-free 800 numbers Somos has. Somos (formerly SMS/800) sought the waiver in order to restrict "Responsible Organizations," which manage toll-free numbers for others, to obtaining 100 numbers per day for a period of five days to prevent hoarding. "We agree with the Somos allocation proposal for 96,000 recently-available toll free numbers in the 800 code currently controlled by the Somos Help Desk," said a Wireline Bureau order in docket 95-155 listed in Monday's Daily Digest. "We therefore find good cause to waive section 52.111 for the first five days following the release of these 800 numbers." The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions and others backed the Somos petition (see 1604220038).

Several public interest groups plan to unveil their 2016 Internet Policy Platform Monday, they said in a news advisory Friday. “The platform is built around six guiding principles supported by the millions of Americans who have become forceful advocates for internet rights,” the release said. “These principles include: free speech, access, choice, privacy, transparency and openness. … The 2016 Internet Policy Platform has been endorsed by the internet rights, social justice and consumer advocacy organizations that have played leading roles in these campaigns, including 18 Million Rising, ColorOfChange, Demand Progress, Free Press, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge.” Several affiliated officials plan a call with journalists Monday, including Free Press President Craig Aaron, National Hispanic Media Coalition Executive Vice President Jessica Gonzalez and New America Open Technology Institute open internet policy director Sarah Morris.

Global PC shipments will decline 7.3 percent this year, about 2 percentage points higher than previous forecasts, IDC said in a Thursday report. The Q1 year-over-year decline was 12.5 percent, said the researcher. “Although growth rates for devices such as phones and tablets continue to fall, potentially reducing the competitive pressure on PCs, we have not seen this translate into stronger PC shipments.” Detachable tablets are another strong “challenge” to PC market stability because “specs and price increasingly compare favorably against notebook PCs,” IDC said. With the PC market having now experienced four consecutive quarters of double-digit volume declines, “this type of prolonged slump is unprecedented,” it said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers plans a local number portability administration transition webinar June 21, 3-4 p.m., said the FCC Wireline Bureau. Officials from PwC, which is managing the planned LNPA transition from Neustar to Telcordia, also will be available to meet with interested parties Monday and Tuesday at the Marriott Indianapolis Downtown hotel, next to where a National Emergency Number Association meeting is being held. Registration is needed for the webcast; it isn't needed for the in-person meetings, nor do parties have to schedule appointments, but they can express a time preference, said a Wednesday public notice in docket 09-109.

Comments are due July 7 and replies July 22 on Network Communications International Corp.'s (NCIC) petition for an expedited declaratory ruling, said the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. NCIC is seeking a ruling "that its use of a one-time informational text message to establish a billing relationship with a called party who does not answer or respond to a collect call from an inmate using NCIC’s inmate calling service (ICS) does not require prior express consent from the called party because: (a) such texts are covered by an exemption granted in response to another ICS provider’s request; (b) the text is initiated by inmate callers and not NCIC; and/or (c) the text is not sent by an automatic telephone dialing system (autodialer)," said a bureau public notice Tuesday in docket 02-278. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and FCC rules require express prior consent for nonemergency autodialed, prerecorded or artificial-voice calls to wireless phone numbers, said the PN, which noted the commission defines "calls" to include text messages under the TCPA. "NCIC asserts that allowing it to send a follow-up text message without the called party’s prior express consent when an inmate cannot complete a collect call is consistent with the Commission’s established policies that recognize the difficulties ICS providers face to facilitate calls from inmates," the PN said. "Moreover, NCIC claims that its texting protocol is virtually identical to another ICS provider’s calling protocol that the Commission exempted from the TCPA consent requirement."

The FCC proposed an E-rate eligible services list (ESL) for schools and libraries looking at participating in the USF discount program for the funding year starting July 1, 2017. Comments are due July 5, replies July 20, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Friday in docket 13-184. The program supports two types of eligible services: Category One covers services needed to provide broadband connectivity to schools and libraries, and Category Two covers internal connections. "The proposed ESL revises the description of eligible dark fiber service under Category One to read 'Leased Dark Fiber (including dark fiber indefeasible rights of use (IRUs) for a set term).' This revision is intended to further explain the distinction between leased dark fiber and self-provisioned fiber under E-rate program rules," said the PN. Among other possible updates, the PN proposes to include a new explanation on the treatment of connections between multiple buildings of a single school, classifying those located on a single campus as Category Two internal connections and those connecting buildings on separate campuses as Category One connections.

USF eligible telecom carriers and other stakeholders must file FCC Form 481 by July 1 for "carrier annual reporting data" after the Office of Management and Budget approved the form and its instructions Friday, said a Wireline Bureau notice in docket 14-58 listed in Wednesday's Daily Digest.

The next meeting of the North American Numbering Council (NANC) will be June 30 at the FCC, the agency said in a notice Tuesday. The NANC meeting is to start at 10 a.m. EDT and end four hours later.

Platinum Equity agreed to pay $323.4 million cash to acquire Electro Rent, a company that rents, leases and sells servers, PCs and electronic test equipment, they said in a news release Tuesday. The deal, expected to close in 90 to 120 days, requires approval by Electro Rent stockholders and “various regulatory agencies,” they said. Electro Rent will “greatly benefit from additional resources and experience to further enhance our already high inventory, service and support standards,” said CEO Steven Markheim.

The GAO said it's recommending that the White House Office of Management and Budget finalize draft guidance for identifying and prioritizing “legacy” IT systems at federal agencies that need to be modernized or replaced. The GAO said about 75 percent of the federal government's more than $80 billion in IT spending during FY 2015 went to funding IT operations and maintenance. Operations and management spending increased over the previous seven fiscal years, resulting in spending on IT development, modernization and enhancements activities to decline by $7.3 billion between FY 2010 and FY 2017, the GAO said in a report Wednesday. GAO also recommended 13 federal agencies, including the departments of Defense, Justice and Treasury, address at-risk and obsolete investments for IT operations and maintenance.