NARUC Moves Numbering, Broadband Data, IP Relay, BPL Resolutions

Iowa Utilities Board Commissioner Kurt Stamp proposed reviving the universal service resolution in the Telecom Committee late Tuesday, arguing the time was ripe for NARUC action. But he withdrew his motion after a majority of the Telecom Committee indicated they didn’t want to take it up then. The resolution deeply split the telecom subcommittee Sunday and had promised to do the same to the Telecom Committee, staff members said.

The Telecom Panel resolution on broadband data collection urged the FCC to delegate to the states specific authority for broadband data collection and analysis reaching beyond the data carriers must provide for FCC broadband reports. The resolution says states have a unique relationship with the providers within their boundaries and an economic interest in promoting broadband within their borders, but different data needs. The committee deleted a clause that would have urged the FCC to develop an optional standard format and method for broadband data collection, for fear that even an optional FCC framework would be seen by industry as the de facto data standard. The committee discussed whether to add language urging the FCC to provide states with unedited versions of the broadband data it collects, but took no action on the idea.

The telecom panel adopted a resolution already passed by the Consumer Affairs Committee urging the FCC to act “immediately and aggressively,” in concert with state regulators and business associations, to alert businesses to frauds perpetrated through Internet protocol-based relay services. The resolution notes the high potential of crooks to use IP relay in frauds to obtain merchandise by deceit. It said IP relay frauds harm businesses, legitimate IP relay users and the general public that supports relay services through their phone bill surcharges. It approved a resolution accepting a “discussion paper” drafted by a broadband over power line (BPL) subcommittee on costs, subsidies and other accounting issues related to BPL implementation. The document takes no position on BPL, but is intended as a resource for helping state regulators understand accounting and cross-subsidy issues unique to BPL deployment. -- Herb Kirchhoff

NARUC Notebook…

FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate told NARUC’s Telecom Committee that the FCC “is committed to fostering broadband health care networks that will bring 21st Century medicine to all Americans.” Tate said the U.S. doesn’t have the highest ranking in all broadband categories, but “great things are happening with broadband here in America.” She said that in the medical field in particular, “broadband technology will keep us at the forefront in promoting national health.” Tate said broadband offers new ways to treat mental illness, handle medical records, and facilitate medical responses to disasters. She said the rural health care program in the Telecom Act was grossly underused, with 90 percent of funds going unclaimed. She said the FCC’s new two-year pilot health care grant program eased some regulations, such as rules that kept health providers from filing combined applications covering multiple entities, and made sure to offer benefits to health care facilities, not just the doctors and patients. She said the FCC got 81 applications from 42 states and two U.S. territories. “We'll be giving weight to those that involve multiple participants and those that can become self-sustaining.” She said the ultimate national vision “is that every health care facility in America have broadband connectivity.”

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Speakers at a NARUC panel on Universal Service Fund reform generally agreed the fund needs to be reorganized to support buildout of broadband and wireless to unserved and underserved areas. But they also noted the fund’s current problems need to be taken care of before any retargeting. Dale Lehman, director of graduate studies in communications at Alaska Pacific University, said there should be enough money in the fund for buildouts as well as operational support, if the money is budgeted right. He said reform of the current support system for competitive universal service providers is essential: “The wireless CETC system is broken and must be fixed before we can consider supporting construction of new facilities in unserved regions.” Billy Jack Gregg, West Virginia Public Service Commission director of consumer advocacy, said that in addition to reliable basic voice service, consumers also want broadband and mobility. “The current high-cost support system simply doesn’t address these most pressing needs.” He said the fund’s size doubled since 2000, but none of the money is going to broadband or wireless buildouts. He urged specific accounts earmarked for wireless and broadband buildouts. Dennis Weller, Verizon chief economist, agreed that adding broadband to the list of services supported by the federal Universal Service Fund would just make the fund crisis worse. “Broadband deployment is too important to stick into an already-broken universal service mechanism. We should do better than that.” He suggested policymakers look to successful public-private partnerships as the deployment model and use federal funding to promote such partnerships. For the most rural, highest- cost areas, he suggested direct federal grants for infrastructure deployment. Joel Lubin, AT&T vice president for regulatory policy planning, said AT&T proposed a pilot project for buildouts under which the U.S. would disburse $1 billion annually in direct one-time grants for new infrastructure in unserved or underserved rural areas. The first step, he said, is for the FCC to establish eligibility requirements and technical parameters. Applicants would have to include specific investment plans. Only one carrier would receive infrastructure grants in a specific area. State regulators would validate that applications are for unserved or underserved areas, but the FCC would make the final decision on who gets the support. Brian Staihr, Embarq regulatory policy director, said “areas that are difficult and uneconomic to serve for voice will also be difficult and uneconomic to serve for broadband.” He said universal support needs to be evaluated at a more “granular” level than is now the case. He said today’s study area averaging approach means high-cost hot spots within a generally low- cost area don’t get support. He suggested creating zones within wire centers to determine what areas are uneconomic to serve. He said newer cost models can accurately calculate support needs at sub-wire center levels.

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The chief of the FCC Wireline Bureau, Tom Navin, told a NARUC audience that one of his top priorities is to update the FCC’s current definition of broadband and determine how broadband service deployment can be accelerated. He also said his agency is looking at how it can improve its broadband deployment data collection. He noted the bureau is “studying intensely” the ConnectKentucky approach to broadband deployment and data collection. Another top priority, he said, is Universal Service Fund reform. He said his bureau wants to see universal service issues settled before moving ahead with intercarrier compensation reform: “From a priority standpoint, that’s the way we're looking at it.” Navin also said the FCC soon will be deciding on which of the 81 applications for grants under the FCC’s two-year rural healthcare pilot program will be approved. He said there were many more applications than were anticipated.