DOJ likely will be the main agency reviewing potential wireless and cable transactions that Wall Street is anticipating, "as the FCC majority is likely to be more hands off," said Raymond James analysts in an investor note Monday that cited conversations with Washington contacts. They "are not convinced" DOJ would clear major wireless mergers, "but the bar at the FCC should be less challenging." The analysts continue to believe the FCC will reverse its prior Title II net neutrality approach under the Communications Act, and that Congress is unlikely to legislate on that. Citing FCC interest in promoting small-cell wireless efforts, they said they believe the commission "will have little tolerance for local hold ups, with no hesitation to use preemption in states that are unreasonable," though such "deployments are likely to be significantly more delayed than they need to be because of the municipality influence."

A "coherent framework" with a single regulator to oversee and consistently apply privacy practices across the internet, including advertising networks, apps, browsers, devices, ISPs, operating systems and social media platforms, is needed, blogged Jeff Brueggeman, AT&T vice president-global public policy. Such privacy policies and protections "should be based on the sensitivity of the data from the consumer’s perspective, not the technology or company," he said. Federal and state legislation (see 1709180032 and 1709200053) will lead to a fragmented approach and only confuse consumers and hinder innovation and competition, he said Monday. He added that it's "simply false" that ISPs have more visibility into consumers' browsing activity than Facebook, Google and others, mainly because encryption increasingly is used, Brueggeman said. The digital ad market is expected to grow to $83 billion revenue, a 16 percent hike, this year. Whether the FCC or FTC should be the sole cop on the beat is still a matter of debate, he said. He noted Congress "wisely repealed" FCC ISP privacy rules (see 1704050037).

A discrimination complaint brought against the FCC by a now-retired employee should be rejected because plaintiff Alexander Chan didn't exhaust his administrative remedies, the agency said in a docket 17-00921 motion (in Pacer) to dismiss filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The FCC said Chan's complaint to the FCC Office of Workplace Diversity in January came more than six years after he retired, and he didn't contact the agency's Equal Employment Opportunity office within 45 days of the action giving rise to his discrimination claim, as required. Chan, who pro se filed his complaint alleging he was passed over for promotions because of his race and a disability, couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

Ten governors, Democrats and Republicans, signed a letter to Chairman Ajit Pai urging the FCC to set aside at least three channels in every market as white space channels for unlicensed use. Then-Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated an NPRM in June 2015 on reserving TV spectrum for Wi-Fi (see 1506160043) and Microsoft has been urging action (see 1707050048). The letter says 34 million Americans don’t have access to high-speed broadband. “If approved, companies from across the private sector will be able to invest and deploy innovative white space technologies,” the governors said. “Concerns from all parties can be addressed in a way that allows this game-changing initiative to positively impact the lives of countless Americans.” Meanwhile, Microsoft President Brad Smith told Commissioner Brendan Carr of the company's initiative. A lawyer for the company also reported representatives met with aides to Pai and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. The executives told Office of Engineering and Technology staff they want the agency to "consider clarifying the application of its transmitter height restriction rules as they relate to fixed White Spaces radios operating indoors in buildings."

Two items were removed Friday from Tuesday's commissioners' meeting agenda after being approved, the FCC said. Adopted was a requirement that QAM-based cable operators comply with the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers 40 standard for cable signal quality, and a draft item on relaxing certification and measurement requirements for AM broadcasters that use directional arrays. Both items were considered non-controversial and unanimous approval was expected (see 1709150003) and 1709150058). An FCC spokesman confirmed that both votes were unanimous.

The FCC said Friday 95.4 percent of cellsites were still out of service in Puerto Rico, though downed cellsites in the U.S. Virgin Islands dropped to 68.9 percent from 76.6 percent. Puerto Rico's two public safety answering points were functioning normally according to the primary service provider, and in USVI, the St. Croix 911 call center is apparently down, reported the FCC. "Since there are widespread power outages in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the FCC has received reports that large percentages of consumers are without either cable services or wireline service (one company reported that 100% of its consumers are out of service due to lack of commercial power). There are at least 10 switches that are out of service due to either SS7 or toll isolation." One Puerto Rico TV station reported being off-air; others haven't yet reported, nor have radio stations. The Public Safety Bureau granted Puerto Rico's request to accept its late-filed renewal application for its 700 MHz state license under call sign WPTZ852. The FCC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency plan to conduct a nationwide test of the emergency alert system Wednesday at 2:20 p.m. EDT, noted a commission public notice. The bureau gave EAS participants affected by 2017 hurricanes an extension from Sept. 27 to Nov. 13 for filing corrections to EAS test reporting system Form 1. Thursday, the Wireline Bureau waived a numbering reassignment rule for providers affected by hurricanes Maria and Jose.

An FCC notice Thursday formally got rid of any trace of 2016 ISP privacy rules, which Congress killed in a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval before they took effect (see 1704030054). Because the CRA resolution “does not direct the Office of the Federal Register to remove the voided regulatory text and reissue the pre-existing regulatory text, the FCC issues this document to effect the removal of any amendments, deletions, or other modifications made by the nullified rule, and the reversion to the text of the regulations in effect immediately prior to the effect date of the Report and Order,” said a notice in the ​Federal Register. The rules, approved over objections of FCC Republicans, were doomed since the election of President Donald Trump (see 1611090034).

The rural broadband gap is exacerbating the exodus from small-town America, Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday at the Kansas Broadband Conference, according to prepared remarks. He said even in rural states like Kansas, projected population growth in coming decades is expected to be almost exclusively in metropolitan areas, and how the nation addresses rural broadband connectivity issues could affect whether rural population declines accelerate or, conversely, reverse themselves. Pai outlined steps the agency is taking to tackle the digital divide, such as the Mobility Fund and efforts to eliminate bureaucratic red tape in wireless and wireline infrastructure deployment. He said the agency's June approval of OneWeb's U.S. market access application for its broadband satellite constellation (see 1706220039), as well as pending similar applications, "could be a promising option for those living in hard-to-serve areas." He pushed again his Gigabit Opportunity Zones idea of tax breaks to encourage private-sector gigabit broadband deployment (see 1703300011 and 1609130061).

An FCC enterprise communications system (ECS) 911 item looks noncontroversial, an agency official told us. A notice of inquiry is on the agenda for a commissioners' meeting Tuesday. There has been no substantive lobbying in docket 17-239 since release of the draft NOI to look into the provision 911 service by centralized ECS operations in office buildings, hotels, schools and other complexes (see 1709070056). Among other agenda items is a draft NPRM that proposes to update toll-free number assignments through auctions; it has drawn a few filings in docket 17-192, including by toll-free administrator Somos noting mixed stakeholder reaction (see 1709200065).

Fixed and mobile broadband availability isn't sufficient to meet a statutory mandate for "reasonable and timely" deployment of advanced telecom capability (ATC) to all Americans, Incompas commented in docket 17-199 on an FCC notice of inquiry. The Free State Foundation said broadband-like ATC deployment "clearly" satisfies Telecom Act Section 706 and said the previous FCC's refusal to make an affirmative finding "was a case of Alice-in-Wonderlandish 'Sentence First-Verdict Afterwards.'" CTIA, one of several parties whose comments were posted late Thursday, issued a statement saying that "by any measure, mobile wireless broadband deployment is ‘reasonable and timely.'" Incompas said broadband networks and services must be "physically available and affordable" pursuant to Section 706, and found it "telling" the FCC is focused on closing the digital divide. "Fixed and mobile broadband networks do not reach every American, and competition is still considerably lacking for fixed (wireline) broadband networks for residential consumers, as well as businesses who rely on dedicated broadband service," the group said. It said the FCC shouldn't find Section 706 goals have been met and should address barriers, including by improving access to poles, rights of way and multitenant buildings. The Benton Foundation said it's "certain" broadband is "not being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion," citing service shortcomings in poorer, minority and rural communities. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday objected to the possibility the FCC could effectively lower its ATC speed benchmark by finding 10/1 Mbps mobile service is sufficient to satisfy the statutory mandate (see 1709200042). The agency's direction is "particularly troubling" for rural Americans, said NTCA, which believes mobile broadband "is simply not a substitute for a robust, high-quality fixed wireline connection that so many urban consumers take for granted." The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable urged the FCC to evaluate availability of both fixed and mobile broadband, not one or the other, and affordability of service. The Education and Library Networks Coalition asked the FCC to retain E-rate program goals of helping schools and libraries gain access to 100 Mbps near term and 1 Gbps long term.