House Republicans as expected included the draft spectrum bill by Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., in spending legislation to extend the payroll tax cut and other items. The House GOP unveiled the text of the “extenders” bill Friday morning (http://xrl.us/bmkks2). The chamber is likely to vote on the package this week, the House Rules Committee said. The extenders bill is unlikely to survive in its current form, but could foreshadow a final deal that includes spectrum, said telecom lobbyists and analysts. Also Friday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., condemned House proposals to provide $3 billion for broadcaster relocation and to force public safety to return narrowband spectrum.

Friday saw at least four more appeals of the Universal Service Fund order (CD Oct 28 p1), as AT&T, NTCA, NASUCA and the Vermont Public Service Board filed in three different appellate circuits. NTCA and NASUCA each filed in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.; Vermont filed in the 2nd Circuit in New York; and AT&T filed its appeal in the D.C. Circuit. They join earlier appeals, one from CLEC Core Communications in Richmond (CD Dec 5 p11) and another from Pennsylvania regulators filed in the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia (CD Dec 6 p2).

The FCC could use a procedural rulebook, former FCC chairman and current NCTA CEO Michael Powell said in an interview to air Saturday on C-SPAN’s The Communicators. It’s an issue Powell pushed during his time at the agency and one that still needs to be addressed, he said when asked about the need for legislation changing the way the FCC operates. “The FCC really doesn’t have a rules-of-procedure book,” he said. “Other agencies have a very clearly published set of rules about how things are done.” At other agencies, processes for voting on items and how commissioners can call up items from bureaus are clearly addressed in rules, he said.

It’s too soon to grade the FCC’s Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation order, said Geoffrey Why, Massachusetts Department of Telecom and Cable commissioner, during a Practicing Law Institute panel Thursday. He agreed with the FCC that the reform is needed and “broadband is the future.” But the order’s implication is still uncertain, he said. He hopes the companies that would get the subsidies would help states like Massachusetts to solve the last mile issue. Matt Wood, policy director with the Media Access Project, agreed it’s too soon to evaluate the order. The order could potentially expand broadband but it’s uncertain if the order would improve broadband affordability, he said. The cable industry’s major concern is the right-of-first-refusal issue in the order, said Kathryn Zachem, a senior vice president with Comcast. Hank Hultquist, a vice president with AT&T, noted the new Connect America Fund has a two-phase mobility fund. In the first phase, up to $300 million will be available for mobile voice and broadband. But it’s uncertain which if any carriers will take the money, he said. The order is bad news for many rural and small companies, which would probably be put out of business as a result of the order, said Michel Guite, CEO with VermontTel. Guite said his company would probably see little impact, partly because it’s a recipient of federal broadband grants and loans. Regarding the appropriate role for federal and state regulators over broadband services, Why said it’s all about consumer expectation. Consumers don’t understand the technical differences of communications services that regulators deal with, he said. Though it’s unclear if and what agencies have authority over IP services, there needs to be a source of authority for consumer protection, Wood said. Meanwhile, a court decision on net neutrality (CD Oct 17 p1) could implicate the FCC’s authority on other issues, said Christine Kurth, aide to Commissioner Robert McDowell. It’s possible that the Congress might act on the issue of whether the FCC has authority over broadband services, she said.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said he had doubts about the wisdom of releasing the staff report on the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile deal (CD Dec 2 p5). “I'm not sure that the reasoning laid out by the staff … makes a Purple Cow,” McDowell told the Practising Law Institute Thursday. Releasing the report left the commission open to having to disgorge other records that might otherwise be subject to the deliberative process exemption, McDowell said: “The chairman has set the precedent, so I'm not sure how future commissions will deal with it.” He said the staff report was “a staff opinion” and not necessarily reflective of the full commission because it wasn’t voted upon. Asked about BART’s decision to shut down its wireless network (CD Dec 2 p11), McDowell said it may have been “a horrible mistake.” He said he understands the need for public safety, but he worried that the cell cutoff might be “a net negative for public safety.” McDowell’s formal remarks centered on what he saw as international efforts to subject the Internet to U.N. regulation. He said he hoped American policymakers and telecom leaders would “emerge from our slumber and engage” on the issue because it was critical for the next year. Asked about percolating challenges to the recently passed Universal Service Fund order (CD Oct 28 p1), McDowell said, “I think it'll hold up pretty well. I expect every order we approve to be appealed … but I think we'll do fine.” He reiterated calls for contribution reform and said he thought the best option might be to move to a numbers-based contribution system.

Spectrum and cybersecurity are top priorities for Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate Commerce committees, committee aides said Thursday. On a panel at the Practising Law Institute conference, the aides said the House and Senate are close to consensus on a spectrum bill and agree on several areas related to cybersecurity. FCC process reform action will likely continue in the House, but Senate Democrats remain uninterested, the aides said.

Competitive telcos think the FCC has turned its back on them, CLEC executives and lawyers told us. “I think the commission hasn’t taken any initiatives to promote competition,” said Eckert, Seamans telecom lawyer James Falvey. “There have been a number of issues that the CLECs have brought to the commission and said, ‘We need your help on this to promote competition.’ The commission hasn’t taken any proactive steps.”

The FCC should consider requirements that would put equipment into emergency vehicles, making each transport its own wireless center, Pisgah Comm consultant Stagg Newman said Tuesday. “We have to rethink emergency communications,” Newman said, speaking at a roundtable on retiring the public switched telephone network at FCC headquarters. “Every vehicle can be its own little cell site.” This would help expand emergency communications in an IP era but would also allow rescue agencies to save money, Newman said. Brian Fontes, CEO of the National Emergency Number Association, said he agreed that it was “important to have a wireless, public safety network” but said the FCC should also consider tweaking rules that allow incumbents to charge for 911 connections. Carnegie Mellon telecom professor Jon Peha said the FCC ought to use the newly revised Universal Service Fund (CD Oct 28 p1) as leverage to build a wireless emergency network. “It seems to me if a carrier has gotten a dime of taxpayer money to roll out LTE in an unserved area, it ought to be able to support public safety,” he said. Peha also said there ought to be one national voice for emergency responders at rulemaking agencies. Florida state Director of Broadband Programs Bill Price said emergency agencies’ needs “have to be front and center” as new IP networks are built out.

Telcos will have collected more than $16.6 billion in Universal Service Fund revenue in the fourth quarter of 2011, the Universal Service Administrative Company projected Tuesday, based on USF forms, called 499-Qs, filled out by some 6,437 carriers, USAC said (http://xrl.us/bmkcfh). It'll be used to determine the contribution methodology for the first quarter of 2012. The latest projection is about $72 million lower than the previous quarter’s projection, which may mean the contribution factor will rise. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has apparently promised to tackle contribution reform next year and the matter has arisen in the confirmation of would-be commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai (CD Dec 1 p7). One ILEC official predicted that, based on the ILEC’s own analysis, the contribution factor might approach 18 percent before the end of next year.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission appealed the FCC’s order on Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. Another appeal from NASUCA is coming, the group’s executive director, Charles Acquard, told us. More appeals might be coming from states, analysts said. The FCC looks forward to “vigorously defending” in court its “unanimous, balanced” USF and ICC reforms, an agency official said.