Herring Networks favors T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint, it said in docket 18-197. A “combined T-Mobile and Sprint will implement both video services faster and deploy 5G more expeditiously,” Herring President Charles Herring told FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry, said the filing posted Thursday. Herring does business as One America News Network and AWE.

The deadline is April 1 for advanced communications service providers and equipment manufacturers subject to sections 255, 716 and 718 of the Communications Act to file their annual recordkeeping compliance certifications and contact information, the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau said in a public notice Wednesday. Those filings are to be done via the online recordkeeping compliance certification and contact information registry, it said.

Comments are due April 8, replies April 23 on Akin Gump's request the FCC clarify the definition of fax “sender” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, said a Thursday public notice on dockets including 02-278. The law firm Feb. 26 petitioned that “a fax broadcaster [be] the sole liable ‘sender,’ when it both commits TCPA violations and engages in deception or fraud against the advertiser (or blatantly violates its contract with the advertiser) such that the advertiser cannot control the fax campaign or prevent TCPA violations,” the PN noted. The firm said those whose goods and services are advertised in an unsolicited fax aren't always the TCPA-liable senders since they didn't know about the junk-fax campaign: Advertisers nationwide "have fallen victim to unscrupulous, dishonest or rogue fax broadcasters, and have been left open to liability."

The FCC wants nominations by March 19 for a Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee new working group on increasing broadband investment in low-income communities, said a public notice Thursday in docket 17-83. Nominees for BDAC membership need not reapply.

Cloud-based telecom company Ooma is looking toward subscription services to drive residential and commercial revenue growth, said Chief Financial Officer Ravi Narula on a Q4 earnings call Tuesday. Revenue for the quarter ended Jan. 31 was up 15 percent year on year to $34.7 million, 89 percent from subscriptions and services. Product revenue, which recently hovered around $12 million-$13 million, is expected to be flat from FY 2019 to 2020, while the company eyes near-term subscription revenue growth from business and residential. CEO Eric Stang said development plans are shifting to new premium services the company can enable through its office platform, and its partnership with Sprint, announced at CES, for a 4G wireless home phone that doesn’t require an internet connection will play a bigger role in the broader company portfolio over time. The company is expanding its Telo residential phone service into home security, and its $149 indoor/outdoor Smart Cam, launched at CES, has had a good "take rate" with additional services on Amazon, said Stang: “We always like it to be higher, but it's gotten off to a good start." Shares closed down 0.1 percent to $16.04.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) sued four Florida health insurance companies for alleged violations of the state no-call law, his office said Tuesday. Health Advisors of America, Duff Insurance Brokerage, America’s Best Insurance and Michael T. Smith Insurance allegedly made robocalls to Missouri residents on the restricted list. The AG office got 262 complaints about the defendants, which allegedly used at least 57 different phone numbers to conceal their identity and avoid call blockers.

NSA’s telecom surveillance program under the USA Freedom Act hasn’t been used for the “past six months,” and the administration might not ask Congress to renew the expiring program, said an adviser for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., during a podcast released Saturday. It’s unclear if the administration wants to activate the program again, said Luke Murry, McCarthy’s national security adviser. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Tuesday NSA’s implementation of phone record dragnet changes has been “fundamentally flawed.” He asked that Congress refuse to reauthorize the program and that the administration permanently end it. NSA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and McCarthy’s office didn’t comment.

If the FCC can protect incumbent C-band video delivery services, it should quickly move on an auction process for freeing up the band and reassigning some spectrum for terrestrial wireless use, Comcast told staffers from the Wireless and International bureaus and Offices of Engineering and Technology and of Economics and Analytics (OEA), according to a docket 18-122 posting Monday. It said the C-Band Alliance (CBA) approach by contrast "runs counter to the public interest" and lacks sufficient detail to show any incumbent protections. Attendees included Wireless Chief Donald Stockdale, OET Chief Julius Knapp and OEA acting Chief Giulia McHenry. Charter Communications also opposes the CBA approach (see 1902250064). T-Mobile continued its criticisms of the CBA plan. It said it's clear there would be widespread participation in an incentive auction for C-band spectrum, creating the mutual exclusivity that triggers the need to conduct an auction under the Communications Act. The carrier said nothing in the act lets the FCC issue licenses based on negotiations among private parties to avoid mutual exclusivity. Adoption of the Auction Reform Act shows Congress "specifically rejected" what the CBA is trying to do, it said. CBA didn't comment.

The Q2 USF contribution factor will fall to 18.8 percent from Q1's 20 percent of carriers' U.S. interstate and international telecom end-user revenue, consultant Billy Jack Gregg emailed Friday. Universal Service Administrative Co. projected USF-applicable telecom revenue will edge down $23 million to $12.27 billion in Q2, which combined with a previous projection of $1.92 billion in quarterly USF demand produces the expected factor drop. The Q2 revenue decline continues a downward trend that places long-term upward pressure on the factor, he noted: USF revenue for the year through Q2 is expected to be $1.9 billion lower than the year ending in Q2 2018, a 3.6 percent decline.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit orders disposing of motions, petitions or appeals in cases of exceptional public interest will be made available for free on the court's website, as well as through Pacer, it said Friday. It said the "orders of public interest" link can be found under the online services banner on the court's home page. It said people subscribed to the court's email notification system for opinions are automatically subscribed to the new service.