Claims that a stay of the C-band lump sum election deadline could jeopardize the timing of the band's auction are "fanciful" as bidders face much bigger uncertainties than the lump sum elections, ACA Connects told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a reply Monday (docket 20-1327, in Pacer). ACA said excluding integrated receiver/decoder costs from the lump sum amount is "illogical." Its filing was in response to oppositions from the FCC and others to its proposed stay. The FCC, in its opposition Friday to the petition for writ of mandamus, said ACA's stay is about getting a larger lump sum reimbursement amount to pay for replacing satellite distribution via the C band with fiber, but the lump sum isn't supposed to "provide a windfall" or cover fiber costs. Intelsat, SES and content companies Discover, Disney, Fox and ViacomCBS said a delay in the lump sum election could mean uncertainty and delays that "impair the ongoing planning, purchasing, and work necessary to carry out the C-Band transition on the FCC’s tight schedule." Also opposing ACA's stay were AT&T, Verizon and CTIA.

Cable ISP interests like NCTA's pole attachment declaratory ruling petition (see 2007170023), while telecom, localities and utilities interests are more mixed, judging by docket 17-84 comments last week. The petition "confirms what the Commission already knows ...: utilities often charge unjust and unreasonable pole replacement fees" that impede network deployment, ACA Connects said. It urged codifying policies including that a utility can't assess pole replacement fees if there isn't "insufficient capacity" on an existing pole. Charter Communications said despite being told make-ready charges must reflect just the costs caused by an attachment, pole owners "frequently leverage their superior bargaining position" to make an attacher seeking access buy a new pole and pay for installation. Altice said it has run into high make-ready fees for replacements, and the FCC needs to clarify that pole owners must share in the cost of replacements in unserved areas. It applauded expedited processing of pole attachment complaints for unserved areas. Calling the petition "anti competitive, misleading and ill-informed," the Coalition of Concerned Utilities said electric utility pole owners often voluntarily replace poles and add capacity. NCTA's petition would require they pay for these capacity expansions and obligate them to expand rapidly, even at the expense of safety and reliability, the coalition said. The Edison Electric Institute, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Utilities Technology Council said the FCC has acknowledged that leaving pole owners with unrecoverable costs would create a disincentive for utilities to build taller poles or replace poles. Next Century Cities said the digital divide won't be closed more quickly by cutting local government authority to determine the cost of replacing poles, with the FCC sole arbiter. Putting attachment complaints on an accelerated docket is a problem for municipalities now, as they lack time and resources to adequately respond that quickly, it said. AT&T said NCTA's push that it's unjust in unserved areas for a pole owner to make a new attacher pay for all the replacement costs is an attempt to change rules. Rules also let access disputes be eligible for an accelerated docket, it said. USTelecom said the issues raised in the petition are better off as part of a rulemaking, adding that cable has been successfully building out networks to new locations. The Wireless Infrastructure Association backed the petition, saying pole owners should share in replacement costs everywhere, not just unserved areas.

The FCC’s methodology for calculating regulatory fees is “deeply flawed” and “would not survive judicial review,” NAB said Tuesday responding to the 2020 reg payments order (see 2008310056). “However, we very much appreciate Chairman [Ajit] Pai and his staff correcting certain errors in the proposal’s original calculations to result in reduced fees for many radio broadcasters. NAB urges the Commission to convene stakeholders to take a closer look at its approach to regulatory fees to ensure they are fairly and equitably applied for all entities that utilize Commission resources.” ACA Connects praised the order for continuing to phase in higher fees for direct broadcast satellite providers. “Next year the FCC must eliminate this long-inexplicable disparity between cable/IPTV and DBS regulatory fees once and for all,” said ACA President Matt Polka. “The DBS industry is mature and its two providers, AT&T/DirecTV and DISH, are not exactly fledglings. It is time to stop treating them with kid gloves.”

Industry and callers urged caution, in FCC comments on a July Further NPRM on robocalls (see 2007160045) in docket 17-59. The rules offer companies two safe harbors from liability for the unintended or inadvertent blocking of wanted calls, and the FCC sought comment on other ways to protect consumers from robocalls and inform them about blocking efforts. Comments were due Monday on the NPRM, aimed at implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (Traced Act).

The Wireless Bureau denied ACA Connects' request for a stay on the C-band lump sum election deadline (see 2008140033). By saying the stay would give the FCC more time to revise the lump sum payments amount, ACA is assuming, without proof, the agency or court will side with it on the amount issue, said Monday’s order. It rejected ACA arguments that integrated receivers/decoders should have been included. The cable association didn't immediately comment. ACA also saw wireless and satellite interests opposed to its ask that the FCC review its C-band final cost catalog (see 2008170003), in docket 18-122 postings Monday. ACA's disagreement "does not warrant a reversal of the lump sum determination," and changing the lump sum amounts now could delay the accelerated transition, Intelsat said. SES said the cost catalog reflects the Wireless Bureau "reasonably exercis[ing] its discretion," and the underlying methodology and assumptions were fully explained. AT&T said ACA's argument isn't about fair treatment but about trying to get C-band licensees to cover big costs of a technology transition for earth station operators, even though that doesn't promote the FCC goal of a fast, seamless move. Verizon agreed ACA is trying to turn the spectrum proceeding "into a fiber subsidy plan for its members, or at least maximize their opportunity to profit from the relocation." CTIA also commented. Discovery, Disney, Fox and ViacomCBS said the bureau sensibly excluded costs of integrated receiver/decoder equipment from lump sum payments by concluding that's an expense for transitioning satellite operators, but installing them is a cost for moving earth stations. CenturyLink backed ACA, saying staff "clearly erred" by excluding integrated receiver/decoder costs.

ACA Connects is "once again seeking handouts" from the FCC with its application for review of the C-band final cost catalog (see 2008170003), NAB said in an opposition Friday to be posted in docket 18-122. It said ACA arguments that the cost of integrated receivers/decoders should be included in the C-band lump sum are unconvincing, and the record's clear that selecting and buying such equipment should be seen as part of the satellite transponder transitions and guided by satellite operators and programmers, not MVPDs. ACA didn't comment.

Numerous C-band earth station operators, especially small broadcasters, will likely opt for the lump sum option in the C-band clearing, we were told by industry and law experts. Sept. 14 is the deadline for lump sum election. ACA Connects, protesting the lump sum's not including integrated receivers/decoders, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to stay that deadline (see 2008270052).

Not including the cost of integrated receivers/decoders (IRD) from the C-band lump sum amount available to earth station operators is contrary to regulatory plain text and common sense, ACA Connects said in a writ of mandamus application Thursday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to stay the Sept. 14 C-band lump sum election deadline. Lawyers involved in the C-band proceeding said ACA's ask faces an uphill challenge at the D.C. Circuit, but the cable group had seemingly no other option given the rapidly approaching deadline. The FCC didn't comment.

Vertix Consulting isn't likely to challenge the FCC legally if the agency opts not to override a search committee, even though the firm opposes the team chosen as C-band clearinghouse to manage and distribute the relocation payments (see 2008190045), Vertix Partner Greg Weiner told us. "We will have spoken our piece," he said, adding if the agency agrees with its challenge about the CohnReznick team, the agency's choice apparently will be between the Vertix team and a third one. The FCC didn't comment.

ACA Connects, which asked for a response by Aug. 20 to its request that the deadline for C-band earth station lump sum elections be stayed (see 2008170003), now is amending its ask to an Aug. 26 deadline. It said in a docket 18-122 post Monday that without a decision by then, it will seek a stay of the Sept. 14 deadline from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The FCC moved the deadline from Aug. 31 to Sept. 14 last week, but never addressed ACA's petition (see 2008200052). T-Mobile officials told Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staff T-Mobile doesn't oppose a brief deadline extension, but other deadlines leading up to and including the C-band auction start need to remain the same. It said satellite operators also need adequate time to update their C-band transition plans after all the lump sum elections are made.