The USF contribution factor for Q2 will jump from 16.7 percent to 17.4 percent of carrier interstate and international telecom end-user revenue, emailed industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg Thursday. He said Universal Service Administrative Co. projections for Q2 industry revenue were $13.6 billion, about $356 million less than the previous quarter, which, combined with projected USF demand of $1.99 billion, will cause the contribution factor to go up. The Q2 revenue decline "continues the downward trend in the USF contribution base, which places upward pressure on the USF assessment factor. USF revenues for the four quarters ending the second quarter of 2017 are $3.35 billion lower than revenues for the four quarters ending the second quarter 2016, a 5.6% decline," he wrote.

The Free State Foundation recommended ways the FCC can "weed out regulations" no longer needed. FSF said the commission should make its telecom forbearance process under Communications Act Section 10 the "deregulatory tool" Congress intended by "placing the burden" on those seeking continued enforcement. FSF President Randolph May and Senior Fellow Seth Cooper in a Wednesday commentary in The Hill said the agency should "breathe life" into its periodic Section 11 reviews by creating a presumption that telecom regulations are no longer necessary due to competition, absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. They urged reducing regulation on small businesses through Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, encouraging new technologies and services through Communications Act Section 7, overhauling video competition policy and doing further trials of process reform, as Chairman Ajit Pai "commendably" started.

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions initiated a "virtualized testbed" to help industry combat unwanted robocalls and caller ID spoofing. The testbed, to be run by Neustar, is intended to ease implementation of ATIS task force technical solutions for authenticating and verifying caller information, a joint release said Tuesday. "This functionality enables network operators to stop suspicious calls before they reach their subscribers, or provide notifications that allow consumers to decide whether to answer a call." The framework also is designed to assist law enforcement in finding the source of unwanted calls.

Consumer groups are wrong when they claim ISPs have access to user data not available to edge providers like Google and Facebook, said Richard Bennett, free-market blogger, in a blog post. ISPs can track people only when they're using ISP services, Bennett noted. “The large error is the implication that Google can only track you when you’re using Google and Facebook can only track you when you’re using Facebook," he said. "In fact, Internet advertising networks embed trackers in web pages off all kinds, even non-commercial ones such as those operated by ‘consumer groups.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai indicated Friday the agency will act to guarantee parts of ISP privacy rules don’t take effect Thursday (see 1702240055).

The FCC Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council will meet 1-5 p.m., March 15, in the Commission Meeting Room, for the last time under the charter for its fifth iteration, the agency said in a notice set to appear in Thursday's Federal Register. The meeting will be the first since the start of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s administration, which has raised questions about CSRIC’s future role in cybersecurity policy (see 1701250077 and 1702060059).

Time Warner shareholders signed off on the $108.7 billion purchase by AT&T, voting at special shareholder meeting Wednesday. In a news release, TW said it still expects to close on the deal before year's end.

There are 16 common data breach scenarios that can affect every part of an organization, said a Verizon news release outlining a report Tuesday. "Breaches are growing in complexity and sophistication," said Bryan Sartin, executive director of Verizon's Research, Investigations, Solutions and Knowledge (Risk) team, which performs cyber investigations for companies and government. "Breaches touch every part of an organization up to and including its board of directors." The telco said 10 of the 16 scenarios represent more than 60 percent of the 1,400 cases investigated by the RISK team over the past three years. The other six are less common but still considered "highly damaging."

APCO encouraged the FCC to collect still more detailed information on when and how states divert 911 funds to other purposes. It said the FCC should “clearly define NG9-1-1 [next-generation 911] as part of the information collection on NG9-1-1 expenditures." The FCC should seek information on how states and their vendors are ensuring NG-911 components are fully interoperable, APCO said. The FCC also should provide guidance on what constitutes a “cybersecurity program” and additional information “about the types of cybersecurity programs states and [public safety answering points] are participating in and implementing,” APCO said. Also helpful would be data on the number of 911 texts received, “broken down by emergency and non-emergency, as well as the methods PSAPs use to receive texts,” APCO said. “The Commission’s fee diversion reports provide valuable insight into the 9-1-1 funding environment, as well as areas such as technology deployment and cybersecurity,” the filing said. “The reports will be even more useful advocacy and planning tools if the Commission collects more detailed information.” The group commented in docket 09-14 in response to an agency 911 fee diversion report (see 1701130065).

Parties seeking to administer an FCC national deaf-blind equipment distribution program in individual states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories can apply for Consumer and Governmental Affairs bureau certification through April 7, said a commission public notice in docket 10-210 in Wednesday's Daily Digest. Current state administrators certified under a pilot program also must notify the FCC by April 7 if they don't wish to continue in the permanent program, which the FCC adopted in August (see 1608040065). The pilot program ends June 30 and the permanent program begins July 1. Also known as iCanConnect, the program is budgeted annually at up to $10 million, and gives those who are deaf-blind and meet income guidelines free equipment designed to make telecom, internet access and advanced communications services accessible. Installation, training and other technical support are also available.

AT&T, IBM, Nokia, Palo Alto Networks, Symantec and Trustonic formed the IoT Cybersecurity Alliance Wednesday to “use their combined expertise to help tackle today's top [IoT] security challenges,” AT&T said: IoTCA “will research and raise awareness of ways to better secure the IoT ecosystem.” AT&T said the group also intends to “influence” cybersecurity standards and policies. “Be it a connected car, pacemaker or coffee maker, every connected device is a potential new entry point for cyberattacks," said AT&T Chief Security Officer Bill O’Hern. "Each device requires very different security considerations. It's become essential for industry leaders and innovators like those in the founding members of this Alliance, to work together to help the industry find more holistic security approaches for IoT.”