The FCC rejected the requests by Alaskan telco Adak Eagle Enterprises and subsidiary Windy City Cellular for a waiver of its universal service funding caps. In a 14-page order approved 5-0, commissioners found AEE/WCC provided "no basis" for relief despite arguments WCC could go bankrupt without more support. In a 2012 order, the Wireline and Wireless bureaus found AEE/WCC had unjustified costs and denied their waiver from a $250/line monthly high-cost support cap imposed under the 2011 USF/intercarrier compensation reform order, though it granted a temporary extension of their previous interim monthly support levels of $33,276 and $40,104 to give the companies time to adjust and avoid service disruptions. AEE/WCC filed a petition for reconsideration and application of review in 2013 seeking above-cap support levels, triggering a lengthy FCC revenue proceeding during which further temporary extensions of interim support were granted. In Thursday's denial, the full commission found AEE/WCC "continued to have excessive and unreasonable expenses." The commission upheld a bureau finding that WCC was not the only voice provider on a significant portion of Adak Island due to the presence of GCI, an alternative provider. It said AEE and GCI provide voice support to those areas of Adak Island where the vast majority of people live. The commission disputed AEE/WCC's contention that the bureau determination was based on promises of future service, concluding that it was based on "current and actual" service. The FCC acknowledged AEE/WCC's claim that without further support it could discontinue service at one cell site, causing some consumers to lose coverage in that area, but it said some trade-offs were needed to ensure USF support was used "efficiently" to expand overall national coverage to as many people as possible. "It is not a guarantee of support ... for every cell site," the order said. The agency acknowledged AEE/WCC's warning that WCC could go bankrupt without higher support, but said it couldn't justify a waiver based on such a threat. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly issued a joint statement recognizing that "serious questions remain" despite the extensive record, but said that without "sufficient answers" the agency could not provide a waiver. "Rather than prolong this already lengthy inquiry, it is important to provide a response," they said. "We are very mindful of the potential impact on residents of Adak, but there is no evidence that they are at risk of losing access to communications services." A lawyer for the company had no immediate comment.

Public Knowledge prodded the FCC to step up efforts to educate consumers about the ongoing transformation of phone networks, particularly in light of "aggressive" transition efforts by carriers. In a Monday ex parte filing on a meeting with FCC officials, Public Knowledge said the commission needed to inform consumers about the changes affecting their communications services. The public-interest group recommended the FCC assess the information available to consumers on the phone transformation and develop and distribute new educational materials to help consumers understand the transition. Public Knowledge also said it will participate in a May 12 House Rural Telecom Policy briefing, sponsored by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., called "The Impact of Technology Transitions on Rural Communities." The briefing will be 2-3 p.m. in Rayburn 2203.

“Retail tracking technology has been somewhat controversial,” and its use has been discontinued by retailers such as Nordstrom and cities such as the City of London, after “consumers were made aware of the practice and expressed privacy concerns,” wrote FTC Chief Technologist Ashkan Soltani in a blog post Thursday. Soltani cited a recent OpinionLab survey that found eight out of 10 shoppers said they don’t want stores to track their movements via smartphone. Forty-three percent of shoppers said they would be less likely to shop at a favorite retailer if the store used a tracking program, he said. “Privacy issues are further exacerbated by the fact that most consumers are not aware that their device information may be captured as they walk by a store or visit an airport.” Retail tracking generally works by monitoring an individual's movements in or near certain locations, Soltani said. “Early retail analytics services relied on in-store cameras to optically record individual's movements (reflected ‘photon emanations’ to be geeky) in order to count foot traffic or create heat maps of which product displays might be most popular.” Newer approaches monitor signals from an individual’s devices as the device searches or communicates with nearby devices and networks, Soltani said. Active monitoring is when the cell provider or Wi-Fi hot spot connects directly to the device, he wrote. Passive monitoring is when the signals from the device are intercepted, he said. Some retail analytics providers “hash” or “obfuscate the original identifier” to reduce privacy concerns, but hashing is of “limited effectiveness,” Soltani said, as was pointed out in the FTC commissioners' majority statement in the agency's settlement announced last week with Nomi Technologies (see 1504230036). The degree of notice given to consumers when this technology is deployed varies, and passive techniques generally operate under an opt-out regime, Soltani said. “Retail tracking has many benefits for retailers and consumers alike,” but the “technology does present privacy trade-offs,” he said. “There are a number of things that industry could do to alleviate the privacy concerns and address some of the gaps in consumer awareness.”

Days after IFA organizers’ revelation that Microsoft will mount an exhibit at the Berlin show in September to promote the release of Windows 10 (see 1504270040), CEA confirmed that it’s nearing a contract that would return Microsoft to the CES exhibit floor for the first time in four years. “We are working with Microsoft on space for 2016 but have not finalized a contract with them,” Karen Chupka, CEA senior vice president-International CES and corporate business strategy, emailed us Wednesday. CEA also is “waiting on a contract” from Microsoft’s “Xbox group” to exhibit at CEA’s inaugural CES Asia show in late May in Shanghai, Chupka said. “As a result we don't count either as an exhibitor until a final signed contract is received.” Microsoft ended its 14-year run as a CES exhibitor and keynoter with the January 2012 show, saying then that CES no longer served its needs “because our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing” (see 1112230090). As for whether Microsoft will return to CES next January in a keynoting role as well as an exhibitor, Chupka said: “We haven’t confirmed all of our keynoters so I cannot answer this at this time.” Microsoft representatives wouldn't comment about their IFA and CES show participation.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board's meeting on the history, constitutional implications and oversight of counterterrorism activities conducted under executive order 12333 will be at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia May 13, a PCLOB meeting invitation said Tuesday. The meeting begins at 10:15 a.m. National Constitution Center CEO Jeffrey Rosen will kick-off the day with a welcome, followed by a panel on “Separation of Powers and History of E.O. 12333.” Panelists include University of Texas Law School professor Robert Chesney, University of Chicago Law School professor Aziz Huq, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law professor Deborah Pearlstein and University of Texas-Austin Intelligence Studies Project Director Stephen Slick. The second panel on “First and Fourth Amendment Implications of E.O. 12333 Activities: The Impact of New Technologies,” includes George Washington University Law School professor Orin Kerr, New York University School of Law professor Katherine Strandburg, University of Virginia School of Law professor Robert Turner and American University Washington College of Law professor Steve Vladeck. The third panel on “E.O. 12333 in Practice,” includes Beacon Global Strategies Managing Director Michael Allen, Visiting Scholar at Brown University’s Watson Institute Timothy Edgar, Third Way's National Security Program Director Mieke Eoyang and Matt Olsen, ABC News contributor and former director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

Users of Facebook’s Messenger app can now have face-to-face video conversations with friends, said Stan Chudnovsky, Messenger head of product, and Facebook Engineering Manager Param Reddy, in a blog post Monday. Video calls must be made from a cellphone to another mobile phone, but it doesn’t matter if one person is on iOS and the other on an Android device, the post said. “If you’re messaging with someone and realize that words just aren’t enough, you can simply choose the video icon in the top right corner of the screen and start a video call right from within an existing Messenger conversation.” Messenger already allows voice calls for its more than 600 million users and as of Monday, the video calling capabilities are available in Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Laos, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, the U.K., the U.S. and Uruguay.

ESPN filed a breach of contract complaint against Verizon in New York State Civil Court Monday over its offering of "skinny bundles" that don’t include all of ESPN’s offerings. ESPN wants the court to enjoin Verizon from offering the bundles and seeks damages, the complaint said. “Consumers have spoken loud and clear that they want choice, and the industry should be focused on giving consumers what they want,” responded a Verizon spokesman via email: “We are well within our rights under our agreements to offer our customers these choices.” "ESPN is at the forefront of embracing innovative ways to deliver high-quality content and value to consumers on multiple platforms, but that must be done in compliance with our agreements," ESPN said. "We simply ask that Verizon abide by the terms of our contracts.” The American Cable Association issued a news release in support of Verizon Monday. “Verizon deserves credit for putting this programming cost issue in the national spotlight by offering a small-sized service that programmers say their contracts do not permit,” ACA said. “Responses by the large programmers to the Verizon’s Custom TV plan only underscore what everyone already knew -- programming contracts prohibit cable operators from giving their customers more of the choice that they want.”

The FCC “intraMTA rule” entitles wireless carriers to enter into reciprocal compensation arrangements with respect to the exchange of LEC-wireless carrier traffic, but has no application to traffic exchanged between LECs and interexchange carriers over switched access trunks, the LEC Coalition said in a meeting at the FCC. The Wireline Bureau sought comment on a LEC petition on the issue in December. “The record overwhelmingly supports this position and confirms that granting the Petition, and the relief sought therein, would be consistent with longstanding industry practice, Commission and judicial precedent, and the public interest,” the coalition said. The only opposition has come from long-distance phone companies “whose conduct and lawsuits necessitated the filing of the Petition in the first place,” the coalition said. The filing was made in docket 10-90. Various rural associations also elaborated on their support for the LEC petition, in a separate meeting at the FCC, a second filing in docket 14-228 said. “The intraMTA rule was adopted to address traffic exchange arrangements between commercial mobile radio service providers and local exchange carriers, and has focused upon such CMRS-LEC relationships without ever previously being extended or interpreted by the Commission to allow its invocation directly by interexchange carriers and others transiting or intermediary service providers,” said the filing by the Eastern Rural Telecommunications Association, National Exchange Carrier Association, NTCA and WTA.

Some 84 percent of U.S. broadband households take the do-it-yourself route for setting up entertainment and computing devices, and six in 10 set up smart home devices on their own, a report from Parks Associates said. But consumers’ need for tech support persists and will grow as they bring more connected devices into the home, Parks said. Just over a quarter of U.S. homes owned a connected health device by the end of last year, it said. Despite the comfort with using and installing smart devices, 60 percent of U.S. broadband households have concerns over device and data security when using them, Parks said. Tech support is a key factor in ensuring a positive user experience in the IoT, monitoring devices for proper operation and protecting the connected home from online attacks, it said. "Consumers appreciate the convenience and control that comes with increased connectivity, but they are aware of the potential risks," analyst Patrice Samuels said. "High-profile media reports, such as the reported possibility that Samsung TVs with voice recognition could capture users' personal information, only heighten their concerns.” Manufacturers and security providers must design security into smart products and communicate directly with consumers about their “ongoing efforts to combat security risks,” she said.

Mergers in the start of 2015 weren't able to match the strong Q1 of the previous year for the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector, a Mergermarket report said. The 612 deals worth $144.3 billion were a 20.5 percent decrease in value and 61 fewer deals than in Q1 2014, the report said. But TMT still had a healthy start to the year, with the second-highest value for a first quarter since 2006 and the second-largest deal count on Mergermarket record. Resembling Q1 2014, the activity was mainly driven by five mega-deals, which constituted almost half of the industry's total activity, Mergermarket said. This was overwhelmingly dominated by a trend of consolidations between telecommunications companies, with four out of the five target companies in the top deals for Q1 2015 active in the telecommunications industry, the report said.