The FCC should move forward on rules to speed siting of wireless infrastructure, said Wireless Infrastructure Association President Jonathan Adelstein in a meeting with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last week. “WIA emphasized the importance of the FCC’s current efforts to reduce regulatory barriers … and the opportunity to encourage investment in innovative 5G services and Internet of Things solutions,” said a filing in docket 17-79. WIA said streamlining wireless infrastructure siting rules would lead to better broadband deployment on tribal lands. Illinois' DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference said, meanwhile, the FCC must allow flexibility. Illinois state law gives city governments “extensive discretion” on permitted uses, special uses and variances for land uses, it said. “This discretion is rooted in the variety of urban, suburban, and rural small and medium communities, and in how land use planning impacts each type of community differently.” Different land uses within a municipality are based on different siting and aesthetic requirements, “for example undergrounding or camouflage along main commercial routes,” the group said. “These specific needs must be addressed in the application process and require municipalities to examine applications on an individual basis to ensure collocation requests are structurally sound and aesthetically appropriate given the location.” Comments were filed in docket 17-84.

Restoration of the UHF ownership cap discount would be cause irreparable harm because the FCC almost never denies transactions or later requires their unwinding, said a combined reply (Pacer) from public interest groups seeking a stay of the discount’s return. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an administrative stay of the discount’s restoration (see 1706020058) and is expected to rule on the actual merits of the stay after receiving the groups’ filing. The precise timing of that ruling isn’t clear, attorneys told us. Though Sinclair and other opponents of the stay said restoring the discount isn’t irreparable because the deals it makes possible could be denied or walked back later, Common Cause, Free Press and the other groups said in practice either move would be rare. “They cannot point to a single example of such disapproval in this century,” the groups said of the broadcasters. “Similarly, their suggestion that if the Court were to reverse the Commission, the Commission might require divestiture of stations acquired during the pendency of this litigation also flies in the face of the reality that no mandated television divestiture has been effectuated in decades.” The groups used similar logic to attack the FCC argument for restoring the discount, that it would be reconsidered alongside the national ownership cap later this year. Two sitting commissioners have said the agency lacks authority to change the cap, the groups said. The rulemaking is arbitrary because it's conditioned “on the mere possibility that the Commission will, in the future, open a proceeding to consider something that, as of now, a majority of the Commission believes it cannot or should not do,” the filing said. Without the stay, “the nation’s television ownership structure will be significantly and irreparably altered well before this Court will have time to reach a determination on the merits,” the groups said. “Granting a stay would maintain the status quo pending judicial review, would not harm broadcasters.”

Email domains in Russia, France and Germany generated 237,000 pro-net neutrality comments filed with the FCC in a seven-day span in May, the National Legal and Policy Center said in a news release Wednesday. NLPC said its forensic analysis found that thousands of the comments were the same comment submitted repeatedly from the same foreign filer, using the same international email domain and same international address. It said thousands more were from foreign domain extensions but used nonexistent U.S. addresses. It said many of the comments filed by foreign filers used international or U.S. addresses seemingly generated by www.fakeaddressgenerator.com, since the fake addresses roughly match addresses used in filed international comments. NLPC last week said it found more than 465,000 pro-net neutrality public comments submitted with email addresses that didn't match up with the signers' names or the same email addresses were used to file multiple comments (see 1705310019). NLPC President Peter Flaherty said, "The gaming of the FCC’s comment system appears to be massive and now encompassing overseas bot campaigns utilizing fake foreign physical and email addresses to submit comments. But gaming the system to generate hundreds of thousands of comments from people that aren’t even U.S. citizens and may not even exist is unprecedented." NLPC said it plans to submit the data to a professional data forensics expert for a deeper comments analysis. The FCC didn't comment. Separately Wednesday, the Internet Foundation released a video of recent comments by ISPs on their network and broadband investments, with IA saying those levels of investment run contrary to the companies' claims the existing net neutrality rules stifle innovation and investment. IA CEO Michael Beckerman in a statement said, "Broadband investment enables a virtuous circle of innovation for the whole internet ecosystem. Strong, enforceable net neutrality rules allow this virtuous circle of growth to continue." And the Application Developers Alliance emailed us that at its meeting with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1706050055), it said it believes Congress needs to act on establishing net neutrality rules.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been across parts of Wisconsin this week as part of his sweep of Plains states to talk rural broadband issues, according to his Twitter feed. Pai tweeted Monday that he discussed regulatory barriers to rural broadband with Badger State companies and Sen. Ron Johnson, R.-Wis. (see 1706050054), including permitting fees, rights of way and paperwork. He tweeted Tuesday about meetings with the state broadband director (see here) and about visiting a cheese curd maker (see here). Pai is road tripping to five northern Plains states this week, with stops also planned in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota and Wyoming (see 1706020053).

CTA, unlike much of the tech industry, has “not taken a position” on the Paris climate accord, nor on President Donald Trump’s decision Thursday withdrawing the U.S. from the agreement, spokesman Jeff Joseph emailed us Monday. The Information Technology Industry Council released a statement criticizing Trump's decision Thursday as “a setback for America’s leadership in the world.” Earlier in the week, Adobe, Apple, Facebook, Google, Intel and Microsoft were the tech firms among the two dozen companies taking out full-page ads in major newspapers urging Trump not to withdraw the U.S. from the climate accord on ground that the Paris agreement "benefits U.S. businesses and the U.S. economy in many ways."

President Jake Ward and others from the Application Developers Alliance said the group met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last week about the importance of an open internet. Privacy, data sharing and competition came up, said a filing Friday in docket 17-108. “Members depend on an open Internet -- including enforceable net neutrality rules that ensure that companies can’t discriminate against developers and their products or services, no matter how large or small the company maybe.” It said "developers need an internet -- wired and wireless -- that is open, competitive, stable, fast, and fair to all who use it. We also highlighted the need for a framework that facilitates continuous investment and innovation by the providers of Internet access.”

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., favors some elements of paid prioritization, he said Monday during a radio interview alongside FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “You might need a fast lane within that pipeline so that those [medical] diagnoses can be transmitted instantaneously, not held up by maybe a movie streaming,” said Johnson during a conversation on WTMJ (AM) Milwaukee. Johnson is a Commerce Committee member, and Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., previously pushed to legislate a ban on paid prioritization deals. Pai’s visit with Johnson is part of a road trip to five northern plains states this week, with future stops planned in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota and Wyoming (see 1706020053). Pai “will be meeting with many rural broadband providers,” an FCC advisory said Friday, promising an event with Thune. “He will also participate in a Tribal consultation on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. His trip will conclude with a speech at the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters Convention.” During Monday’s radio interview, Pai called legacy rules requiring telecom companies to maintain copper a possible burden for companies and suggested “modernizing” rules to recognize changing demands. Companies must have “a strong incentive to invest,” Pai said. Johnson said industry needs “the economic incentive to risk capital” and cautioned against what he judged the over-regulation of Communications Act Title II classification of broadband. “I know it’s a good slogan,” Johnson said of net neutrality. “All we’ve done over the last month or so is start a public conversation,” Pai said of the Title II proceeding, citing “great IT staff” who will ensure the commission can keep receiving comments. The FCC released a photo Monday showing Pai and Johnson meeting with the CEO of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.

The USF contribution is now projected to drop in Q3 from 17.4 percent to 17.1 percent of carriers' U.S. interstate and international (long-distance) telecom end-user revenue, said industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg. Universal Service Administrative Co. projected Q3 industry revenue would be $13.11 billion, about $505 million less than Q2, which, combined with previously revised estimated USF demand (see 1705240058), would raise the contribution factor to 18.2 percent, Gregg emailed Friday. But in a Saturday email update, Gregg said USAC filed another revised demand projection based on rural health care fund (RHC) changes, including a determination that collections for funding year 2016 RHC programs would exceed demand by $63.8 million. USAC revised the Q3 RHC demand downward to $35.3 million. USAC also "found that $34.6 million reserved for FY2016 Healthcare Connect Fund obligations would no longer be needed, and used this $34.6 million to further reduce" Q3 RHC demand, he emailed. "After prior period adjustments and projected interest earnings, the final adjusted demand for the RHC will be negative $1.2 million, an overall reduction of $100.9 million from the RHC demand originally projected. The revision to the RHC reduces overall USF demand" for Q3 $1.896 billion, he wrote. "Because of the drop in RHC demand, the USF contribution factor for the third quarter will go down from its current level, in spite of the continued erosion of the USF contribution base."

Pointing to a series of events it says "call into serious question [FCC] commitment to fostering free expression," Free Press is asking for a written apology to two Free Press Action Fund members not allowed into the March commissioners' meeting while wearing pro-net neutrality T-shirts, and for the FCC to rescind its lifetime ban on five protesters removed from the April meeting. In a letter released Monday to agency General Counsel Brendan Carr, it requested a policy document explaining how the agency keeps its list of people restricted from meetings and "clear and transparent articulation of an FCC policy to protect the First Amendment rights of the public and reporters to peacefully participate in future FCC open meetings." The letter said the March and April events, and security personnel's not allowing in a pro-net neutrality sign May 18, seem to point to increased efforts "to stifle free speech and public participation at open meetings." The agency didn't comment. Media organizations criticized the FCC after the manhandling of a reporter at the May commissioners' meeting (see 1705250014).

Starry CEO Chet Kanojia and investors in the startup briefed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (see here) and an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on the company’s proprietary 5G fixed wireless technology and its deployment progress in Boston and other cities. “Starry also reiterated its support for preserving commercial-to-commercial sharing in the lower 37 GHz band as proposed in the Spectrum Frontiers Report & Order and encouraged a timely issuance of the second Report & Order to unleash additional spectrum into the marketplace,” said a filing in docket 14-177. Kanojia said sharing in the lower 37 GHz band “could be more easily facilitated via a simple site-based registration system to coordinate users, eliminating the need to utilize a third-party spectrum access management system.” In response to Pai's query on inquired about satellite sharing issues and a proposal to increase power levels for proposed satellite operations, the tech upstart said it's concerned that doing so "for lower orbiting satellite constellations would have an adverse effect on terrestrial fixed operations." Kanojia was behind Aereo, which unsuccessfully tried to take on broadcasters before the Supreme Court ruled against it.