President Barack Obama signed the $1.1 trillion appropriations act (HR-83) Tuesday, guaranteeing funding for agencies like the FCC and FTC in FY2015. The FCC will receive $340 million, the same level of funding as FY2014, despite requesting tens of millions more. Centurylink Vice President-Federal Legislative Affairs David Bartlett lauded the omnibus package for its one-year extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, saying in a statement: “Permanent extension of the ITFA would help create the kind of marketplace certainty that encourages broadband adoption and network investment.” The package included other telecom riders on call completion problems and broadcaster joint sales agreements (see 1412100041). The appropriations package will prevent NTIA from using its $38.2 million in FY2015 on the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition process, spurring debate over how the process will unfold in the months ahead (see 1412100054). The House and Senate had recently approved the package in contested votes.

AT&T needs to submit additional information by Monday on its proposed buy of DirecTV, including verifying that the population and density calculations for the one-square-mile areas that the telco submitted Oct. 7 are accurate, the FCC said Monday. AT&T’s Oct. 7 calculations don’t “correlate appropriately when the geographic unit of the grid is fixed at one-square mile,” the FCC said. AT&T also needs to clarify the accuracy of other data it submitted, including data on fixed wireless local loop (FWLL) coverage “in areas where no cell site is identified and cell sites where no FWLL coverage is identified,” the FCC said. The telco should provide further data explanations of several other aspects of its FWLL deployment, including its plans for sharing mobile spectrum with any spectrum proposed for the FWLL deployment and identify possible spectrum bands for the FWLL deployment, the FCC said. AT&T also needs to provide a definition of “cell edge” that includes signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio and link budget, the FCC said. AT&T is "collecting the data requested and will respond shortly," a spokesman said.

Acknowledging the inherent “risks” in transforming the FCC's IT system, the agency is planning multiphased changes, said Chief Information Officer David Bray in a blog post. The agency will first stabilize its “aging IT infrastructure,” Bray said in the post Monday. It will identify in what order to shift applications to cloud-based platforms “to support more efficient work processes,” he wrote. The agency then plans to “rewrite IT systems to employ a reusable 'service catalog' of modular components across the entire FCC, with open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and built upon a common data platform. ... All too often it is easier for folks to say the status quo is good enough, the challenges are too high to overcome, or there's no way to complete a project in time.” While multiple perspectives should be considered, Bray wrote, the agency has “a diverse team with backgrounds spanning former military veterans, former Silicon Valley startup entrepreneurs, PhD candidates at prestigious universities” able to see the blind spots in the changes. There's also “the risk of doing nothing. At a certain point, the status quo no longer will be good enough. Technology becomes obsolete, further patches on discontinued software will be unavailable, and the total cost of maintaining outdated systems will far exceed moving to something new.” The agency had told us it's working on changes to the Electronic Comments Filing System's search function separate from the rest of the system so it doesn't slow down the rest of ECFS (see 1410310028).

The proposed USF contribution factor for Q1 2015 will be 16.8 percent, said the FCC Office of the Managing Director in a public notice Monday. It said the contribution factor will be deemed approved unless the commission takes action within 14 days after the release of Monday’s notice, and the Universal Service Administrative Co. will calculate USF contributions based on the contribution factor.

That talks at the World Trade Organization on expanding and updating the 17-year-old Information Technology Agreement failed to reach a consensus over "product coverage" issues is "to be sure ... a disappointment," said Sage Chandler, CEA vice president-international trade, in a statement sourced from Geneva. CEA said Chandler attended "the entirety of the talks." The ITA "hasn’t been updated since it was created 17 years ago," she said. "By expanding the ITA, we could remove tariffs on an estimated additional $800 billion in information and communication technology trade globally. Including modern technology products in an updated ITA is critical to making sure the agreement’s many benefits will extend to consumers around the world." Members of the National Association of Manufacturers also "are greatly disappointed by the failure to move forward an expanded ITA," said Linda Dempsey, NAM vice president-international economic affairs, in a separate statement. "The original 17-year old ITA has been hugely important in driving innovation and productivity for the broad range of manufacturing industries in the United States and globally. Manufacturers urge negotiators to come back to the table as early as possible in the new year to agree to a strong product list in order to unlock much needed growth opportunities for manufacturers and their workers."

“Net equality” is needed as much as net neutrality, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council President Kim Keenan said in a blog post. Keenan said MMTC, NAACP, the National Urban League and Rainbow PUSH oppose reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service. “Section 706 offers the best opportunity for innovation, investment, and universal broadband adoption,” Keenan said. The use of Section 706 would also “encourage investment, job creation, deployment, and adoption of broadband,” she said. The FCC also should consider adopting consumer-friendly protections in connection with Section 706, including compliance mechanisms imported from Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Keenan said.

Sixty tech companies, including Cisco, Ericsson and IBM, wrote FCC commissioners and congressional leaders Wednesday saying a Communications Act Title II approach on net neutrality could mean a $45.4 billion drop in capital investment over the next five years, a Telecommunications Industry Association news release said. “The robust support for this letter demonstrates that Title II is a significant threat to the tech companies that build and support the Internet,” said Scott Belcher, CEO of TIA, which organized the letter, in the release. “These companies are at the heart of our economy, and are driving the innovation and investment that has made the Internet the revolutionary force it is today. This letter sends an unambiguous message that reclassifying Title II would be detrimental to today’s Internet, harming consumer, job creation and economic growth,” Belcher said. “Title II would lead to a slowdown, if not a hold, in broadband build out,” the letter said, “because if you don’t know that you can recover on your investment, you won’t make it. The investment shortfall would then flow downstream, landing first and squarely on technology companies like ours, and then working its way through the economy overall.” Groups advocating a Title II approach dismissed the letter. “The companies that hope to profit from a non-neutral net by selling hardware and software that support prioritization hate the idea of an open Internet. Shocking,” said Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld. "There are a couple of four-letter words that leap to mind," said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood in an email. “Zero, and dumb.” The companies, “who chiefly supply hardware and spying technology to broadband providers, obviously have no problem parroting ISPs' empty claims about Title II," said Wood. "But there is zero evidence to support them.” Free Press also announced it will hold a rally before the commission’s Thursday morning meeting urging quick adoption of net neutrality rules under Title II, a release said. FCC Chairman Tom “Wheeler claims he needs more time to mull over Net Neutrality, but he should have all the info he needs right now to safeguard the open Internet,” Free Press Field Director Mary Alice Crim said in the release. “Americans can't afford any further delays. The overwhelming public support for Title II protections is all the agency needs to take immediate action."

The FCC is seeking applicants for a two-year term on its Consumer Advisory Committee, which was recently re-chartered. Applications and nominations are due at the FCC Jan. 19, the FCC said in a public notice. The CAC dates back to 2000 and it has been renewed eight times, the agency said. Board membership for the most recent term formally expired in October. The FCC is also seeking applicants for its new Disability Advisory Committee, said a notice in the Federal Register. Applications are due by Jan. 15.

The FCC is listed as the ninth-best mid-sized federal agency to work for in an online list put together by the Partnership for Public Service. Created by polling civil servants, the overall list ranks the FDIC as the best of the 25 agencies in the FCC's size category, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development as the worst. Overall, the survey's findings show “a decline in federal employee satisfaction with their jobs and workplaces for a fourth consecutive year,” said the website. Governmentwide, federal employee job satisfaction and commitment fell 0.9 points to a score of 56.9 out of 100.The FCC's fell 3.9 points, but at 67.4 is still higher than average. The FTC is number four on the list of mid-size agencies.

Neustar officials told FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson and other public safety and Wireline Bureau staff Nov. 25 that a “hurried” transition to a new local number portability administrator would bring “real and pressing” dangers to public safety and national security, said an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 09-109. "Neustar's claims that it is the only entity that can operate a safe and secure number portability database are just bunk," Telcordia counsel John Nakahata said in a statement to us on Friday. Neustar's filing urged the commission to release an amended request for proposal (RFP), requiring both Neustar and Telcordia to establish their ability to comply with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework, saying the LNPA selection is the first opportunity to ensure the framework is utilized in major changes to national infrastructure. The bidders should also show their ability to maintain and administer the Local Number Portability Enhanced Analytical Platform (LEAP), Neustar said. The RFP failed to address how the service would be transitioned to a new provider, specify performance requirements, explain how or when a transition would take place, or establish a plan for law enforcement to test and certify a new LEAP platform, Neustar said. The revised request should also require bidders to show how they’d ensure the continued accuracy of 911 services, the filing said. Neustar has provided Port PS, a free, proprietary service, to 911 providers that allows them to update location information after a phone number has been ported and ensure that emergency services can accurately determine a caller’s location, Neustar said. The service wasn't considered in the original RFP, the company said. Neustar was represented at the meeting by, among others, Lisa Hook, president, and Len Kennedy, senior vice president-general counsel. Nakahata, of Wiltshire & Grannis, said, "Telcordia can and will deliver a safe and secure solution that protects consumers and carriers, while providing needed access for national security, law enforcement and public safety." The best way to ensure "a safe and secure" Number Portability Administration Center "at the best possible price" is to finish the selection process based on the North American Numbering Council's recommendations, "and to let the industry and Telcordia move forward with contract negotiation and implementation," Nakahata said.