The deadline is Dec. 11 to file oppositions in WC docket 08-71 on the SureWest high-cost waiver order, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1aZbfxH). The order denied a request by SureWest Telephone for a waiver of the filing deadline for the annual high-cost universal service certification. Oppositions are also due Dec. 11 in WC docket 10-90 on the Alaska Communications Systems application for review of paragraph 41 of the Connect America Fund Phase II service obligations order, the bureau said in another notice (http://bit.ly/1aZcihe). ACS asked the commission to “entertain challenges” from any competitive eligible telecom carriers “that otherwise meets or exceeds the performance obligations established by that order and whose high-cost support is scheduled to be eliminated during the five-year term of Phase II,” the notice said.

Comments on the FCC’s proposed procedural updates to the CALM Act’s method for calculating the loudness of commercials are due Dec. 27, replies Jan. 13, said Wednesday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1dBuzWh). The proposal is based on changes in March to the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s (ATSC) recommended practices, which updated the algorithm used to calculate loudness, said an FNPRM requesting comments. Because the old standard is referenced in the CALM Act legislation, the commission is proposing to update it with the new standard.

FirstNet issued a request for information on application platforms Wednesday. “We want to hear from all interested stakeholders on their creative and innovative ideas on how this platform should operate,” said General Manager Bill D'Agostino in a written statement. Responses are due Jan. 17, and any questions or clarifications are due Dec. 3 (http://1.usa.gov/1aZ7zfB). FirstNet wants to hear from stakeholders that have helped develop mobile device application solutions and app stores and have worked with big and public safety data. It also wants to hear from stakeholders with experience in developing application security requirements as well as in app testing and certification.

The challenge process for the latest round of Connect America Fund Phase I support has been burdensome for cable companies, Cox, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and NCTA representatives told FCC Wireline Bureau officials Monday (http://bit.ly/1aZ4trP). Cable operators “have nothing to gain” from the process except “protecting their service areas” from USF-subsidized competition, they said in an ex parte filing. The cable companies asked the bureau to focus on availability of service, not provision of service, because a provider may have no customers in a particular census block even if it offers service there. The companies also asked the bureau to not award support to a price cap LEC to overbuild a competitor “based on the title or status of the individual that certifies an area is served.”

The Department of Justice, FBI and Department of Homeland Security asked the FCC to defer action on a request to transfer assets, licenses and network facilities from Stratos Offshore Services Co. to RigNet SatCom (http://bit.ly/1aYPGxw). The law enforcement agencies are still reviewing the request for “national security, law enforcement, and public safety” ramifications, they said. Such requests are typical in FCC reviews of deals, and rarely do the national security agencies seek to block the transactions.

The trade facilitation text of a potential multilateral World Trade Organization package targeted by WTO officials for the upcoming Bali ministerial summit is proving an insurmountable obstacle, as negotiators have failed to develop consensus in recent days, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo told the Trade Negotiations Committee in Geneva Tuesday. Trade officials should not aim for progress during the Dec. 3-6 Bali summit, he said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1dBhEnb). “Holding negotiations in the short time we'll have in Bali would be simply impractical with over 100 ministers around the table,” said Azevêdo. “I don’t believe that small negotiating meetings behind locked doors would do the trick either. Anyway, they are not an option. Even at this critical juncture, I don’t believe members would be ready to abandon the transparent and inclusive nature of our negotiations.” U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke echoed that Tuesday, saying more time will not benefit the process because the political will to advance a package has faltered (CD Nov 27 p15). Trade negotiators made more progress in the “past few weeks than we have over the past five years,” said Azevêdo. He encouraged negotiators and ministers to continue work in the weeks following the Bali summit.

The Patent and Trademark Office is proposing changes to rules of practice to implement an international design patent recognition system the U.S. is set to join. The 1999 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration of Industrial Designs was ratified by Congress in 2007, but implementing legislation wasn’t passed until 2012. Under the Hague Convention, industrial design owners can apply for protection in multiple member countries using a single application. The treaty won’t take effect in the U.S. until several steps, including finalizing PTO’s regulatory changes, are completed, a PTO official has said. Comments on PTO’s proposed rule are due Jan. 28, said a PTO notice (http://1.usa.gov/196bh3I) set to appear in Friday’s Federal Register.

An “Upgrade Fund” in any revamp of the E-rate system would help facilitate widespread fiber investment, said the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute to an aide to FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Monday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1aZ7M2l). If an upgrade fund is the “carrot” to encourage fiber investment, then a “stick” could be actual service requirements to ensure ISPs or communities “actually take advantage of the dedicated infrastructure funding available,” NAF said. It called for better data collection processes within the E-rate program and a review of support to “non-traditional” students in different states. “The FCC should seek to ensure students have the same access and opportunities for learning, regardless of the state in which they happen to reside,” NAF said.