NCTA, USTelecom Cite Strong Fixed Broadband Competition; Incompas Not Convinced

The FCC denied a request that Friday's deadline be extended. It did extend comment and reply deadlines by a week, to Sept. 17 and Oct. 1, respectively, in a related Telecom Act Section 706 proceeding in docket 18-238 on the status of advanced telecom capability deployment. The latter extension is "appropriate" to "avoid a conflict" with Jewish holidays, said a Wireline Bureau order. "We otherwise deny movants' requests to extend the deadlines in both proceedings," the order said, citing the need to meet the Dec. 31 deadline (the agency has also said it plans to include its 706 report in the communications marketplace report). Public Knowledge and others sought extensions in both proceedings, a longer one on 706 comments.

PK Senior Vice President Harold Feld criticized the lack of greater relief, though he welcomed the willingness to accommodate religious holidays. "It is unfortunate that this Commission places such a low value on public participation," he emailed. "The Commission has known for months about the deadline in the RAY BAUM's Act. ... If the Commission were concerned about meeting its statutory deadline while giving the public a genuine opportunity to engage, it could have released the PN back in April. The Commission chose to release this notice at a time least convenient for members of the public to participate. This will not only distort the record and omit critical information, it undermines confidence in the future product and in the Chairman's commitment to 'data driven' policy. Have we learned nothing from relying exclusively on carriers for the broadband map, that the FCC effectively plans to rely exclusively on carriers for the competition report?" The agency didn't comment.

NCTA said there's "robust competition across all services." Continue "to create a regulatory environment that encourages more deployment by eliminating unnecessary regulation," the cable group recommended: The FCC should "quickly move forward with a declaratory ruling in its Wireline Infrastructure proceeding prohibiting local governments from imposing duplicative franchise requirements on broadband and other new services provided over the same network" and "implement competitive bidding procedures in all of its high-cost universal service programs."

"Deployment at higher speeds is continually increasing in a process of competitive leapfrog," commented USTelecom, which attached a pair of reports. "There were at least two providers of basic wired broadband infrastructure available to 86 percent of U.S. households as of the end of 2016 -- 90 percent if fixed wireless is included." Don't "limit analysis narrowly to 'fixed' broadband, because mobile technology is increasingly competing for fixed broadband business," it asked. "While mobile increasingly is a substitute for fixed, the reverse is not true." It urged the agency "to fully fund programs" such as the Connect America Fund and "look for ways to consolidate and streamline" provider reporting duties.

Incompas welcomed decisions on one-touch, make-ready pole attachments and to facilitate small-cell wireless deployment. But "the high-speed broadband internet access services marketplace, as well as the business data services marketplace remain highly concentrated in most geographic areas," it commented. "Fiber builders use unbundled network elements ('UNEs') to build more and faster broadband. ... USTelecom seeks to cut off the bridge to broadband competition with its request that the Commission forbear from its UNE/resale policies." Incompas called for improving Form 477 data collection and said there should be at least three broadband providers offering service over their own facilities for the FCC to find local markets are competitive.