About 74 percent of cellsites remain out of service in Puerto Rico (slightly down from Sunday) and 55 percent of cellsites remain out of service in the U.S. Virgin Islands (same as Sunday), the FCC reported Monday in its Hurricane Maria communications update. It said both Puerto Rico public safety answering points are reported operational, as are the 911 call centers in St. Croix and St. Thomas. Amid continued widespread power outages, the FCC "has received reports of large percentages of consumers are without either cable or wireline service." Two TV stations are confirmed operational in Puerto Rico and one TV station is confirmed out of service in the Virgin Islands; and 72 AM and FM radio stations are confirmed operational in Puerto Rico and 33 are out of service, while two AM radio stations are confirmed operational in the Virgin Islands. Meanwhile, Telrite asked the FCC to increase Lifeline monthly per-subscriber support by up to $25 for six months in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to help with recovery, conditioned on providers supplying enhanced voice and data offerings. Telrite filed the emergency petition on Oct. 6 but the FCC electronic comment filing system "encountered significant technical issues and disruptions" that day, so Friday the provider resubmitted the petition with a request it be accepted as filed on Oct. 6.

Commenters disagreed on proposed FCC rule changes to curb slamming and cramming -- when providers make unauthorized changes to consumers' preferred telecom providers or add unauthorized charges on phone bills -- as replies were posted Monday and Friday in docket 17-169. Filing for the first time in the rulemaking, ATIS, CenturyLink and Incompas voiced concerns about some proposals (see 1707130054), while the Communications Workers of America and Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission were supportive. Saying burdens outweighed benefits, ATIS opposed an FCC proposal to make an optional preferred interexchange carrier (PIC) freeze "the default so that consumers are automatically afforded this protection against slamming" without having to opt in. CenturyLink called slamming proposals "unwarranted" and "disproportionate," urging the FCC to focus on "targeted regulation only when" the benefits clearly outweigh costs, though it agreed with many cramming proposals. Saying competition could be harmed and choice limited for all-distance services, Incompas asked the FCC to reject the default PIC freeze and a proposal to require executing carriers to "double check" with customers to verify they wanted to change providers. CWA backed "strong protections against slamming and cramming that apply to all voice providers, whether traditional landline, interconnected VoIP, or wireless," and criticized telecom carriers' "unrealistic sales quotas" as "inconsistent" with anti-cramming efforts. PPUC said "regulatory experience," including of the FTC, "would seem to bely" industry arguments against new rules, "especially with respect to cramming." It said a "cramming prohibition should be codified and extended to all providers of voice communications, regardless of technology," and suggested slamming rules should also extend to all voice providers. Billing Services Group North America, CTIA and consumer groups filed replies after also filing initial comments (see 1709140023). BSG opposed proposals "to eliminate or require certification" of third-party verifications, to impose a default PIC freeze, and to block third-party billing. CTIA said the record showed that in mobile wireless "slamming does not exist and cramming has all but disappeared." Consumers Union and six other consumer groups said "enhanced cramming and slamming protections should apply to all voice customers."

The National Hispanic Media Coalition pressed the FCC to put consumer complaint materials into the open internet docket and seek comment. Though the commission released many documents in response to an NHMC Freedom of Information Act request for complaint materials, "a significant number of carrier responses, consumer rebuttals, emails, and email attachments were omitted from those productions," said the group in a filing posted in docket 17-108 Monday on a meeting with Wireline Bureau and Office of General Counsel officials including Bureau Chief Kris Monteith. NHMC representatives including ex-Commissioner Gloria Tristani made similar but shorter filings (here, here, here) on meetings with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel. NHMC said the FCC also apparently hasn't produced any consumer-commission interactions through an ombudsman email address since the prior ombudsman stepped down. "These omissions, which represent a clear failure by the Commission under its FOIA obligations, also make it impossible to conclude how the underlying complaints were ultimately resolved," said the group, which cited arguments for opening a new comment cycle. NCTA and USTelecom opposed (see 1709290049) a motion by NHMC and others (see 1709200033).

New Hampshire moved closer to opting out of FirstNet and rejecting the AT&T state plan, Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said Monday. Sununu signed an executive order establishing an opt-out review committee to mull regulatory and financial risks in pursuing opt-out. The New Hampshire Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee voted 15-0 to recommend opting out, Sununu said. It “determined from a technical standpoint that an opt-out of FirstNet is far and away our best option,” he said. The review committee “will seek clarification of certain proposed fees, as well as clarification of penalties that may be imposed by FirstNet if an opt-out were to fail,” the governor said. “These fees and penalties appear to be arbitrary and primarily designed to deter states from opting out of FirstNet plans.” Sununu urged key federal officials to assist the state “as we examine the numbers released by FirstNet and to ensure that states are being afforded their right to make their decisions with correct information.” New Hampshire earlier asked Rivada to provide an alternative plan (see 1609070063). A FirstNet spokeswoman said the AT&T plan is best for New Hampshire. "We look forward to continuing our consultation with the state and its public safety community throughout the decision-making process."

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly became perhaps the first Republican FCC member to speak against politics in licensing since President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday about opposing NBC's "license" (see 1710120028). O'Rielly is "pretty consistent on licensing and would not want politics to influence our decision-making,” he told a conference Friday, according to an aide who was present and TR Daily. “I believe in the independence of the agency.” Trump "is rightfully venting his experiences and disappointment with how the coverage has been occurring regarding his administration. I’ve been surprised how vitriolic" such reports have been, O'Rielly reportedly said. "President [Bill] Clinton got better coverage during the middle of impeachment than President Trump is getting these days.” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel continued to oppose such Trump tweets (see 1710120019). "It's essential that the FCC in all that it does is careful to abide by the First Amendment when it engages in any policies involving broadcast licenses," she said in a CNN interview Sunday. "History won’t be kind to silence, and I think it’s important for all the commissioners to make clear that they support the First Amendment and that the agency will not revoke a broadcast license simply because the president is dissatisfied with the licensee’s coverage." Commissioner Mignon Clyburn expressed similar hopes about her FCC colleagues on such broadcast licensing (see 1710110075). “Revoking a broadcast license solely on [such] grounds would be inconsistent with the First Amendment," a Clyburn spokesman emailed Monday. "The Commission generally does not intervene in such cases because it would amount to replacing the journalistic judgment of a licensee with our own. The Commissioner is hopeful that her colleagues in the Majority share this view.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., urged FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Monday to “condemn [Trump’s] attack and reassure our nation and our journalists that you will stand up for them and protect and defend their fundamental freedoms.” Trump’s comments “were alarming in both his disregard of the FCC’s independence and flagrant disrespect for freedom of the press,” Blumenthal said in a letter to Pai. “I ask for your unwavering commitment that you will ensure the First Amendment remains a cornerstone of our democracy and that you will not follow through on this direction from” Trump. Blumenthal similarly asked all five FCC commissioners in a series of tweets Monday to “stand up for our free press and reject” President Donald Trump’s “unacceptable, un-American threats.” The offices of Pai and Commissioner Brendan Carr didn’t comment Monday.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein again cited law enforcement's inability to access users' devices and information due to encryption deployed by technology companies, in Friday remarks prepared for delivery at the Global Cyber Security Summit in London. It was his third such speech in just over a week (see 1710100028), promoting DOJ's idea of "responsible encryption," in which providers help law enforcement get access to information it needs in an investigation vs. "warrant-proof encryption" in which it can't get access to user data. "Competitive forces drive technology companies to resist cooperating with the government," he said in the remarks. The Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized his previous speeches (see 1710110072).

“The time is right” for the FCC to approve an order on ATSC 3.0, said NAB CEO Gordon Smith in a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Tuesday, recounted an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 16-142. Rosenworcel, in a Thursday speech, said the FCC needs to go back to the drawing board on the proposed 3.0 transition (see 1710120019 or 1710120057). Smith said the FCC should loosen ownership rules and increase the flexibility of broadcasters to meet deadlines in the post-incentive auction repacking. CTA President Gary Shapiro praised the new standard in a statement Friday (see 1710130056).The FCC should permit flexibility and have a “light regulatory touch” for the simulcasting requirements for broadcasters transitioning to ATSC 3.0, said officials from PBS, the CPB and America’s Public Television Stations in a meeting with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai Friday and a meeting with Media Bureau staff Wednesday, according to filings in docket 16-142. Many public television stations may be barred by geography from sharing facilities for simulcasting that would allow them to duplicate their current contour, the public TV groups said. Content requirements also should be flexible, since it may not be possible for stations to offer the exact same content on the current standard that they will be offering on 3.0, the filings said. The public TV groups don’t want the transition to cause any changes to carriage rules, they said. “We expect that many of the technical upgrades to multichannel video programming distributors’ facilities that are necessary to carry ATSC 3.0 programming will be driven, in large part, through marketplace negotiations with commercial stations,” the filings said.

The GAO accepted a request from House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, to do an independent review of the FCC’s claim that a May distributed denial-of-service attack caused outages to its electronic comment filing system (see 1705080042 and 1708170042), a GAO spokesman said. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told Pallone, Schatz and other lawmakers a “non-traditional” DDoS attack hit the ECFS but the FCC declined to provide specific details on plans to protect ECFS against future attacks (see 1706280044 and 1707310071). The lawmakers repeatedly have questioned the FCC’s claims and previously sought GAO and FBI probes (see 1705310024 and 1707070039). The probe is “now in the queue,” but the GAO’s investigative work “won’t get underway for several months,” the spokesman said. "The scope won’t be determined until the work starts."

FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly welcomed Chairman Ajit Pai's spectrum frontiers plan to issue an order by year's end, and a Pai aide warned of a "potential stumbling block" to 5G auctions. Both spoke to the Americas Spectrum Management Conference Friday. O'Rielly said the agency should auction licensed bands quickly or at least set a schedule. He said millimeter-wave spectrum "of greatest interest to manufacturers and providers" should be prioritized, with industry focused on the 24 and 42 GHz bands. "Considering these bands also makes sense due to the proximity" to already-allocated 28, 37 and 39 GHz bands where providers are conducting trials, he said in remarks. O'Rielly cited benefits of international spectrum harmonization and said the EU and China are among those studying the 24 and 42 GHz bands for 5G use. He said more work is needed on mid-band spectrum for next-generation technologies. He couldn't support proposals for fixed operations at 3.7-4.2 GHz, and labeled as "gibberish" criticisms that proposals to provide industry more certainty contained in a pending draft 3.5 GHz NPRM were "stale ideas." Those ideas ushered in auctions and modern networks that made the U.S. "the leader" in wireless, he said. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday criticized the 3.5 GHz draft as offering "stale ideas" (see 1710120009). Citing unlicensed mid-band opportunities, O'Rielly said it's time to bring the 5.9 GHz proceeding to a close, and also consider whether dedicated short-range communications are needed. If DSRC isn't needed, the FCC could combine the 5.9 and 6 GHz bands to expand unlicensed operations. Surveying Pai's policies, his adviser Rachael Bender hailed "flexible" spectrum use and detailed FCC efforts in low, mid and high bands as part of his "all-of-the-above approach." She said a hurdle to the 5G push is that bidder upfront payments are required by law to be put in an FCC-designated "interest bearing account of a financial institution," but no private entities want to do that for spectrum auctions because of recent regulatory changes on collateralization and capitalization. "So the commission currently has no way to comply with the law or move forward with a large spectrum auction," she said, noting a legislative fix was included in a draft FCC Reauthorization Act cleared by the House Communications Subcommittee Thursday (see 1710110070).

An FCC draft order on the planned Securus sale to SCRS Acquisition and a draft enforcement action were sent to commissioners Oct. 6, according to the agency circulation list updated Friday. The commission and Securus, an inmate calling service (ICS) provider, didn't comment. "I suspect we will now see Chairman [Ajit] Pai move quickly to approve the sale of his former client Securus," said Paul Wright, Human Rights Defense Center executive director, who recently told us he expected FCC action (see 1710060053) after Pai was reconfirmed by the Senate. "It is telling that while he promised to seek a solution to the market failure of high prison and jail phone rates there has been a deafening silence on what he actually plans to do." As the FCC considers "the billion dollar plus sale of Securus, the families of prisoners who actually pay the bills and make those obscene profits possible are still waiting for justice," Wright said: "They are the only group of people Chairman Pai excluded from the stakeholders in his statement on the need for ICS reform.”