Two FCC commissioners expressed doubts Thursday about a $12.9 million fine proposed against Scott Rhodes for apparently making thousands of spoofed, racist robocalls. A notice of apparent liability was approved 4-1 at the commissioners' meeting. Comments answering an FCC request for proposals to stop robocalls posted through Thursday in docket 17-59. Some comments were posted earlier (see 2001290024).

The FCC is expected to make changes to a draft Rural Digital Opportunity Fund order, responding to industry concerns that USF recipients could have trouble meeting financial requirements under the version that circulated earlier this month, agency officials told us Wednesday. They and stakeholders expect changes to address industry concerns about RDOF letter of credit (LOC) requirements (see 2001230005). Changes to allow New York state providers to bid in the program's phase one auctions (see 2001280039) aren't expected.

Competitive telcos support T-Mobile buying Sprint, with Dish Network entering as a fourth national carrier, Incompas said in a Friday amicus brief (in Pacer) at U.S. District Court in Washington. “This creative settlement not only remedies the effects of what would otherwise be an increase in market concentration, but affirmatively improves the competitive conditions in that market to boot,” it told the court conducting the Tunney Act review. Dish will likely “provide wholesale capacity to carriers and enterprises at low prices reflecting its low marginal costs,” Incompas said.

Competitive telcos support T-Mobile buying Sprint, with Dish Network entering as a fourth national carrier, Incompas said in a Friday amicus brief (in Pacer) at U.S. District Court in Washington. “This creative settlement not only remedies the effects of what would otherwise be an increase in market concentration, but affirmatively improves the competitive conditions in that market to boot,” it told the court conducting the Tunney Act review. Dish will likely “provide wholesale capacity to carriers and enterprises at low prices reflecting its low marginal costs,” Incompas said.

Dish Network plans to release a request for proposals for telecom transport to facilitate fiber connectivity to cell towers and data centers for its planned 5G network, the company said Thursday. "We see an opportunity to learn from nontraditional partners," said Executive Vice President-Wireless Operations Jeff McSchooler, "like utilities and municipalities that may be deploying fiber in their communities. We are exploring varying transport infrastructures to support our aggressive buildout." Vendors can email 5GtransportRFP@dish.com by Jan. 30 to request the RFP. Dish says it's committed to making its stand-alone 5G network available to 70 percent of the U.S. population by June 2023. The fate of T-Mobile's buying Sprint, approved by FCC and DOJ but held up by states' litigation, is expected to determine whether and when Dish's 5G network moves forward (see 2001150077). Company officials made a pitch to fiber providers at the fall Incompas Show (see 1911050016).

Dish Network plans to release a request for proposals for telecom transport to facilitate fiber connectivity to cell towers and data centers for its planned 5G network, the company said Thursday. "We see an opportunity to learn from nontraditional partners," said Executive Vice President-Wireless Operations Jeff McSchooler, "like utilities and municipalities that may be deploying fiber in their communities. We are exploring varying transport infrastructures to support our aggressive buildout." Vendors can email 5GtransportRFP@dish.com by Jan. 30 to request the RFP. Dish says it's committed to making its stand-alone 5G network available to 70 percent of the U.S. population by June 2023. The fate of T-Mobile's buying Sprint, approved by FCC and DOJ but held up by states' litigation, is expected to determine whether and when Dish's 5G network moves forward (see 2001150077). Company officials made a pitch to fiber providers at the fall Incompas Show (see 1911050016).

Seven telecom groups asked for changes to FCC letter of credit requirements in its draft Rural Digital Opportunity Fund order, they wrote Thursday in docket 19-126. USTelecom, NCTA, NTCA, Incompas, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, WTA and the Wireless ISP Association said LOC burdens unite them. They asked for revisions so obligations correspond more closely to risks. "Encouraging robust participation and prudentially managing risks to the fund are both important goals, but should not, and need not, be mutually exclusive," the groups said. The agency declined to comment. USTelecom separately asked the FCC to revise the RDOF item, due for a commissioners' vote Jan. 30 (see 2001150005). Otherwise, current letter of credit requirements "will prevent USTelecom members (and in our view the entire pool of potential bidders) from participating meaningfully in the RDOF auction," USTelecom said in filings posted Thursday in docket 19-126. Under the current draft, letter of credit requirements "scale dramatically and unsustainably," USTelecom said. "Critically, the compounding nature of the requirements would force participants -- ranging from small independent providers to large, publicly-traded companies -- to access more credit than they are capable of accessing." Industry had asked for changes (see 1912190073). USTelecom said the modifications made "are grossly insufficient to match the business reality that potential bidders face." USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter and CEOs including Consolidated Communications' Bob Udell and Windstream' Tony Thomas had meetings Monday with officials including Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, plus Wireline Chief Kris Monteith and other bureau officials. The Wireless ISP Association said the "modest change does not go far enough" and would preclude participation for many small ISPs. WISPA said letters of credit are treated as debt that harm RDOF recipients' ability to borrow.

Seven telecom groups asked for changes to FCC letter of credit requirements in its draft Rural Digital Opportunity Fund order, they wrote Thursday in docket 19-126. USTelecom, NCTA, NTCA, Incompas, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, WTA and the Wireless ISP Association said LOC burdens unite them. They asked for revisions so obligations correspond more closely to risks. "Encouraging robust participation and prudentially managing risks to the fund are both important goals, but should not, and need not, be mutually exclusive," the groups said. The agency declined to comment. USTelecom separately asked the FCC to revise the RDOF item, due for a commissioners' vote Jan. 30 (see 2001150005). Otherwise, current letter of credit requirements "will prevent USTelecom members (and in our view the entire pool of potential bidders) from participating meaningfully in the RDOF auction," USTelecom said in filings posted Thursday in docket 19-126. Under the current draft, letter of credit requirements "scale dramatically and unsustainably," USTelecom said. "Critically, the compounding nature of the requirements would force participants -- ranging from small independent providers to large, publicly-traded companies -- to access more credit than they are capable of accessing." Industry had asked for changes (see 1912190073). USTelecom said the modifications made "are grossly insufficient to match the business reality that potential bidders face." USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter and CEOs including Consolidated Communications' Bob Udell and Windstream' Tony Thomas had meetings Monday with officials including Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, plus Wireline Chief Kris Monteith and other bureau officials. The Wireless ISP Association said the "modest change does not go far enough" and would preclude participation for many small ISPs. WISPA said letters of credit are treated as debt that harm RDOF recipients' ability to borrow.

Incompas opposes an AT&T FCC application to discontinue providing certain Ethernet services on a common carriage basis and reoffer them as private carriage. It asked to remove the application from streamlined processing because "AT&T fails to provide information necessary for the commission to assess the impact on the public convenience and necessity." Incompas said, posted Friday in docket 19-323, FCC's business data services order requires service reclassification decisions reflect "nuanced analysis."

Revisit the latest net neutrality ruling, industry and other stakeholders asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Friday petitions for rehearing and rehearing en banc in Mozilla v FCC, No. 18-1051. In October, the court upheld much of a 2018 FCC net neutrality partial rollback (see 1910010018). Mozilla filed (in Pacer) with Etsy, Incompas, Vimeo and the Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee. "Mozilla's petition focuses on the FCC's reclassification of broadband as an information service and on the FCC's failure to properly address competition and market harm," the company blogged Friday. It said "the court should have done more than simply criticize the FCC's assertion that existing antitrust and consumer protection laws are sufficient to address concerns about market harm without engaging in further analysis." The National Hispanic Media Coalition asked (in Pacer) the D.C. Circuit uphold judicial precedent by properly reviewing procedural rulings and agencies' obligations under the Administrative Procedure Act. Exclusion of consumer complaints from the public record and the FCC denying the ability to review them "requires the commission's reclassification ruling to be vacated," NHMC said. The group requested tens of thousands of consumer complaints in 2017 under the Freedom of Information Act (see 1709150031). New America's Open Technology Institute, Free Press, Public Knowledge, the Center for Democracy & Society, Computer & Communications Industry Association and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates said an NPRM failed to propose Communications Act Section 257 legal authority the agency used to justify deregulation. “We were pleased with the D.C. Circuit’s decision upholding our return to a light-touch approach to regulating broadband," an FCC spokesperson emailed. "We are confident that decision will stand and that we will continue to have a free and open Internet.”