The FCC’s Task Force on Optimal Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Architecture scheduled its first meeting for Jan. 26, the FCC said in Wednesday’s Federal Register. The task force, which the FCC established to comply with the commission’s Text-to-911 Further NPRM (see 1411140062), will examine the current PSAP structure to determine whether further consolidation is warranted. The task force will meet 1-4 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room.

Motorola Solutions is investing in speech enhancement developer VocalZoom, Motorola Solutions said Wednesday. It didn’t disclose terms, but said other investors include 3M, Japanese firm FueTrak and OurCrowd. Israeli company VocalZoom has created an optoelectronic microphone that can enhance a speaker’s voice by creating a “virtual cube” so it substantially stands out above background noise. Motorola Solutions said its investment is connected to its plans to enhance public safety and commercial communications. VocalZoom’s technology “is the only technology of its kind that is not affected by any background noise, and has the potential to provide disruptive voice clarity in any condition,” VocalZoom Chairman Yechiel Kurtz said in a Motorola Solutions news release. The technology “has the potential to be the difference of whether a firefighter can communicate at a dangerous fire scene or if a transportation or utility worker can give or receive information in a noisy work environment,” Motorola Solutions Chief Technology Officer Paul Steinberg said in the release.

The Call+ calling app is available for landline and mobile users in the U.S., including Hawaii. The free app allows users to obtain 24 hours of unlimited free and uncapped calls to more than 85 countries by completing a quick in-app offer, Call+ said in a news release. The app also is available for landline users in the U.K., Italy, France and several other countries, it said.

Wiley Rein bought McBee Strategic Consulting. McBee will operate independently as a wholly owned subsidiary of the firm, Wiley Rein said Wednesday in a news release. The transaction will make Wiley Rein the only Washington law firm to bring to market strategic services like public policy practices and digital media practices, "in a robust, integrated offering," it said. The firms will operate separately with more than 310 legal, advocacy and communications practitioners, Wiley Rein said.

The FCC should adopt net neutrality rules that address the full scope of harms of last-mile ISP networks, said New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute in a letter in dockets 10-127 and 14-28. The oversight and measurement regime should be structured to ensure that ISPs don't continue to use interconnection "as a mechanism for extracting tolls and degrading their customers' service," it said. A nationwide measurement endpoint platform with server placements geographically dispersed across major markets and key points of interconnection should be part of the regime, it said. There also should be a focus on measuring the technical indications of congestion levels "in interconnection paths between the end-user and a wide footprint of transit networks," it said.

The FCC released its E-rate order Friday, which increases the E-rate spending cap by $1.5 billion. The commission adopted the order at its Dec. 11 meeting despite opposition from Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Ajit Pai (see 1412110049). Affected parties have 60 days from issuance of a Universal Service Administrative Co. or FCC decision to seek an appeal with the issuing agency or 60 days to seek an FCC review of a USAC decision, the FCC said in the order.

The FCC's adoption interconnection rules to give certain parties more favorable interconnection terms would reward behavior that's already proscribed under Section 5 of the FTC Act, said Jonathan Lee, a telecom attorney. Netflix wasn't surprised that its customers experienced degraded service levels as result of its "limiting the number of Comcast interconnection points to which it funneled its traffic," he said. Netflix's decision to limit its number of transit vendors artificially "meant that these vendors' capacity between their networks and Comcast were bound to become overwhelmed, resulting in congestion," he said in a blog post. The commission shouldn’t deceive itself into thinking that "consumer welfare" is served by "preemptively granting concessions to prevent behavior that is otherwise flatly proscribed by existing consumer protection laws," he said. Lee has worked on behalf of AT&T and other competitive and incumbent telecom service providers.

AT&T said it's increasing its quarterly dividend 2.2 percent, from 46 cents to 47 cents per share on a quarterly basis. AT&T's board approved the hike. “Returning value to our shareholders is a top priority and we’re pleased that this is the 31st straight year we’ve increased our quarterly dividend,” said AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson Friday.

The Patent and Trademark Office will host its first trade secrets symposium Jan. 8, said a PTO news release Tuesday. U.S. government, industry and legal officials will discuss issues of trade secrets theft, including proposed legislation. The event will be at the PTO office in Alexandria, Virginia, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (see here to register).

Many are taking an unnecessarily dim view of the telecom sector, especially given “the craziness” of recent price wars, said Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche. “We were marketing this past week and it was met with a lot of pity looks that we cover such a ‘horrible’ and ‘uninvestable’ space,” Fritzsche said in a Sunday note to investors. The price wars won’t go on forever, she said. “Maybe crazy and maybe we are too glass half full but recall the airline industry was once like this,” she said. “And now look how life has changed. If you don't believe us -- try to book your spring break tickets!”