The FCC's enforcement procedures are in need of reform, Verizon said in comments on a Sept. 18 NPRM. The NPRM proposes (see 1709180057) creating uniform procedural rules for certain complaint proceedings "delegated to the Enforcement Bureau and currently handled by its Market Disputes Resolution Division (MDRD) and Telecommunications Consumers Division (TCD)." Verizon said the FCC should harmonize procedural rules that apply to Section 208 formal complaints, Section 224 pole attachment complaints and disability access complaints, as proposed in the NPRM, but look at other changes as well. Other commenters urged the FCC to take a more cautious approach. Additional changes are needed, Verizon said in comments filed in docket 17-245. The FCC “should discontinue its recent misapplication of the continuing violation theory,” Verizon said. “It should publish a manual with its enforcement procedures, so that all parties know how the Commission will handle enforcement matters. It should provide drafts of Notices of Apparent Liability (NAL) to investigation targets and allow those targets to respond before the Commission votes on the NAL.” The FCC also should require a vote on consent decrees at the request of any two commissioners, Verizon argued. But groups representing people with disabilities asked the FCC to act with care. “Formal complaints, along with requests for dispute assistance (47 C.F.R. §14.32), and informal complaints (47 C.F.R. §14.34), help people with disabilities gain access to telecommunications,” said the filing led by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. NCTA said the FCC shouldn’t further limit information from utility pole owners available to companies that choose to file pole attachment complaints. Such information is “integral to the resolution of pole attachment complaints and promotes settlement, and, as the current rules recognize, is largely within the knowledge and control of the utility pole owner,” NCTA said. “The Commission should ensure that any changes provide adequate due process and do not hinder parties’ ability to fully and effectively participate in formal complaint proceedings,” NCTA said. The Edison Electric Institute, which represents electric utilities, also advised caution. The FCC “should be wary of emphasizing the speed of resolution of complaints over the fundamental fairness of the complaint resolution process,” EEI said. “The Commission’s highest priority should be ensuring that the complaint resolution process remains fundamentally fair to the parties.”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told Free Press the agency is committed to publishing guidelines on protecting constitutional rights of FCC meeting attendees, the group said in a filing posted Thursday to docket 17-179. The group sought "clarification" on the issue. There have been some instances of journalists and others saying they mistreatment at FCC meetings (see 1706220056). Free Press also asked for public hearings and a comprehensive report about the effects of recent hurricanes on communications networks. The agency should collect data on how restoration efforts differed by region, and on whether “restoration redlining was taking place, whereby wealthy and white neighborhoods are reconnected faster than poorer and more ethnically and racially diverse neighborhoods,” it said. Free Press also said the agency should seek public comment on net neutrality consumer complaints and asked Carr to vote against Sinclair buying Tribune and relaxing media ownership rules.

Correction: The name of Atlantic-ACM senior partner is Aaron Blazar (see 1710250041).

Federal judges questioned AT&T more extensively than the FCC about the company's challenge to partial telecom forbearance orders that left ILECs subject to unsubsidized USF voice service obligations. At oral argument (audio) Thursday in AT&T v. FCC., No. 15-1038, AT&T counsel Benjamin Softness of Kellogg Huber was subjected to questioning for 22 minutes by the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, while the FCC attorney only had 11 minutes (both had been allotted 15 minutes). Chief Judge Merrick Garland disputed AT&T arguments that were based on census block data the company didn't submit before the agency's decisions, and that the FCC carried a particular evidentiary burden cited by the company. AT&T noted afterward it's appealing two FCC orders concerning eligible telecom carrier obligations and designations, with CenturyLink joining as a petitioner and USTelecom as an intervenor. "Compelling providers to provide service in costly-to-serve areas while refusing to provide them with high-cost universal service support violates the Communications Act’s statutory command that the FCC provide 'sufficient' support," emailed AT&T. "These unfunded mandates cause carriers like AT&T to divert capital dollars to maintain [plain old telephone service], a service that few consumers want, instead of using their capital to expand broadband service." The FCC declined comment.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and five other Senate Democrats urged Verizon and Univision Wednesday to settle their retransmission dispute, which resulted in a blackout (see 1710190034). They asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to bring Univision and Verizon to negotiations to end the dispute. The National Hispanic Media Coalition and others also pressed for a resolution (see 1710200052). “This retransmission dispute is particularly serious in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico” after Hurricane Maria, the senators said in a letter to Pai, Univision CEO Randy Falco and Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. “As the situation in Puerto Rico changes, access to Spanish-language news programming is crucial. We believe the public interest would be best served if carriage is restored by the parties at the earliest possible time so that consumers are no longer caught in the middle.” The other senators signing the letter were Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Univision shares the senators’ "concern regarding access to Spanish language information and news," a spokesman said. "Univision remains ready to enter into a fair deal that recognizes the value of Spanish-language programming. We hope that Verizon returns to the table to negotiate with us in good faith to bring Univision networks back to Verizon customers." A Verizon spokesman referred us to the company's earlier letter to Pai that said Univision has "consistently insisted on unreasonable terms" (see 1710190034).

Industry is “seeing the dilemma between push and pull,” cinematographer Pierre Routhier said when we asked him at SMPTE's conference in Hollywood (see 1710240073) to reconcile his findings that 8K has no place in the living room, even as NHK rushes to start 8K broadcasting services in 2018 and TV makers talk increasingly of introducing 8K product in the U.S. next year. “We are pushing forward with increased spatial resolution, but I’ve not seen the pull from the clients.” The Korean Broadcasting System, meanwhile, successfully implemented a “basic” closed-captioning system for the ATSC 3.0-based Ultra HD broadcasting services that debuted to the South Korean public in May, said Yunhyoung Kim, KBS research engineer. Implementation had its “difficulties,” most having to do with building the crucial “timing” mechanisms into the closed-captioning feeds, he said. ATSC’s A/343 document defines required technology for closed caption and subtitle tracks, but contains “no explicit expressions” of how to use the timing mechanisms in a practical implementation, so KBS improvised, he said. That prompted an audience questioner who said he was involved in 3.0's framing to approach the mic and declare: “Unfortunately, the structure of the ATSC 3.0 document set is not implementer-friendly.” Framers “argued repeatedly in a number of meetings about that,” said the questioner, who didn’t give his name, and our attempts to talk to him were unsuccessful. “All of the shell statements are present that you absolutely need, but they’re spread over about 20 documents,” he said. ATSC’s supervisors told 3.0's framers they would draft a “recommended practice to tell people how it all fits together,” said the questioner: “They haven’t done that.” To Kim, who stood onstage listening to the remarks with no visible expression, the questioner said: “Unfortunately, you’re the first guy that had to do it. I feel sorry for you, but congratulations on getting a working implementation.” ATSC President Mark Richer in a Wednesday statement told us, “Certainly ATSC will develop a Recommended Practice for closed-captioning with ATSC 3.0, just as we have done with the current digital TV standard." More than 20 different standards "will comprise the full ATSC 3.0 system, and we have drafts of several Recommended Practices that are now in development,” said Richer. An order on ATSC 3.0 is expected to be voted on by FCC members Nov. 16.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed to assist hurricane-affected schools and libraries in restoring connectivity through the E-rate USF subsidy program. “Yesterday, I shared with my colleagues an emergency order that would help schools and libraries recover from the devastation of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria," he said in release Wednesday. "This order would provide targeted financial support to these institutions through the FCC’s E-rate program and give them maximum flexibility as they try to restore connectivity. It would also make available additional funds to schools that are serving a substantial number of students displaced by this season’s hurricanes. Once my fellow commissioners have had the opportunity to review this proposed order, I hope they will be able to quickly vote to support this relief.” The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition lauded Pai's announcement. "While we have not seen the Chairman's proposal, the SHLB Coalition is very pleased that Chairman Pai has proposed to offer flexible E-rate support to schools and libraries in the areas devastated by the recent hurricanes," said Executive Director John Windhausen. "Fully functioning schools and libraries can help communities get back on their feet and bring hope to struggling families. Restoring Internet access to the schools and libraries can connect teachers, students and families to the world, allowing them to obtain access to essential information to aid the reconstruction effort."

The FCC has no bigger issue before it than bridging the digital divide, particularly in rural communities, Chairman Ajit Pai told National Grange President Betsy Huber in a Grange Radio interview, the group said Tuesday. According to the transcript, Pai cited FCC actions to that end, such as establishing the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, of which Huber is a member, and reorienting USF priorities to focus on unserved areas. Pai said the agency is trying to modify regulations to encourage deployment and urging Congress to do likewise.

It's “absurd” to suggest a company the size of Verizon could be forced into carrying ATSC 3.0 by much smaller broadcasters, said NAB in docket 16-142 Tuesday responding to the carrier (see 1710200025). Verizon “undoubtedly has a motive to hamstring such innovation by imposing needless and unreasonable regulatory burdens on broadcasters,” NAB said. “Verizon has begun testing the delivery of 4K television service. It is thus understandable why Verizon is concerned about a free over-the-air 4K competitor.” In a letter to the Media Bureau, the Advanced Television Systems Committee said recommended practices on MVPD redistribution of 3.0 signals are expected to be completed in 2018. The practices concern conversion of 3.0 services into 1.0 services “so that hardware or software products can be built to implement conversions to formats suitable for ATSC 1.0 redistribution systems or ATSC 1.0 over the air broadcast,” the group said.

AT&T released Q3 results after market close Tuesday, assuring investors its acquisition of Time Warner remains its top priority. “We look forward to closing” the acquisition “and bringing together premium content with world-class distribution to deliver a better entertainment experience for consumers and more effective targeted advertising,” AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said. Stephenson said AT&T is pleased with its progress on FirstNet. “Already 27 states and territories have opted in, and we’re working closely with them as we prepare to deploy the FirstNet network,” he said. AT&T said it had 3 million total wireless net adds, including 2.3 million in the U.S. -- combining connected devices and prepaid and postpaid phones. It reported nearly 700,000 net adds in Mexico. Revenue fell to $39.7 billion vs. $40.9 billion in the year-ago quarter, “primarily due to declines in legacy wireline services and consumer mobility,” the company said. Net income attributable to AT&T was $3 billion v. $3.3 billion. AT&T expects to complete its buy of TW this year, Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said on a call with analysts. “The financing is set and we’re ready to close once we receive DOJ approval,” he said. "In the meantime, Time Warner continues to perform well, even better than our expectations." AT&T said it took a 4 cents-per-share hit Q3 from merger-related interest expenses and 2 cents hit as a result of natural disasters. The carrier also said it has already spent $200 million on its FirstNet build. AT&T’s strong response to the recent storms bodes well for the future of FirstNet, Stephens said. “It’s still a long road ahead" for the people of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, "but we plan to be there every step of the way,” he said. "Recovery is progressing with additional equipment arriving daily. We are seeing traffic growing daily on our network as service is restored." Daily call volume is now about 75 percent of pre-storm levels, he said. The company is pleased with changes in Washington, especially the likely end of 2015 net neutrality rules and pending tax reform, Stephens said. “We see a change in the mindset across D.C. in promoting lighter-touch regulation and pro-growth initiatives.”