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.

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.”

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.

Despite widespread EU access to broadband services at the end of 2012, “significant challenges still remain in delivering high speed broadband” to all of the EU, said a European Commission report released Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1cv6eg7). The report, by broadband market research company Point Topic, showed 93 percent of EU households had DSL Internet (standard broadband) coverage, but only 12.4 percent of rural EU households had access to next-generation broadband at the end of 2012. The EU has made it an agenda item to spread next-generation broadband access to all citizens by 2020.

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.

The American Cable Association urged the FCC to do a review of license applications involving shared services agreements (SSAs) in permit-but-disclose proceedings, “rather than have them acted upon by the Media Bureau under delegated authority,” ACA said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1cOoFvO). Only by doing so can the FCC “ensure that the public values of competition, localism and diversity are fully served by its reviews of transactions involving U.S. broadcast licenses,” it said. The association also supported a letter from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., that recommended the FCC avoid making decisions on pending transactions on SSAs until the GAO finishes its review on such transactions, it said. Rockefeller sent the letter to Chairman Tom Wheeler this week (CD Nov 27 p3). GAO started the study on SSAs and hasn’t determined when the report will be issued, a GAO spokeswoman said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee rescheduled its hearing on National Security Agency surveillance oversight. It was originally scheduled for Nov. 21 but was postponed. It will now be Dec. 11 at 2:30 p.m. in 226 Dirksen, the committee said in a notice Wednesday. NSA Director Keith Alexander, Deputy Attorney General James Cole and Office of the Director of National Intelligence General Counsel Robert Litt will testify.

APCO supports a “meaningful and enforceable” certification process for entities to verify they are in compliance with the FCC’s requirements for 911 circuit auditing, backup power for central offices and network monitoring, the association of public safety workers told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Monday (http://bit.ly/IoLoWR). APCO wants covered entities to be “defined in functional terms to include current and future providers of service” to public safety answering points (PSAPs), the association said. It also supports “immediate and verified outage reporting” to PSAPs, it said.

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.