Citing concerns about being elbowed out of the Connect America Fund Phase II competitive bidding process, the satellite industry is pushing the FCC to ensure that satellite is evaluated on equal footing with fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). "The FCC has a longstanding policy favoring technology neutrality for CAF that has served the public interest resulting in increased innovation, service quality and reduced costs to consumers," the Satellite Industry Association said in a filing Tuesday in docket 10-90. Due to such satellite innovations as high-throughput space stations and broadband via nongeostationary constellations, SIA said, "It would be a mistake for the FCC to abandon such a policy now."

The FCC extended for another year, until Dec. 15, 2016, a temporary small-business exemption from the net neutrality order’s enhanced transparency reporting requirements. The exemption provides relief for ISPs with 100,000 or fewer broadband subscribers. Without further action, it was to end Tuesday. The FCC released the order Tuesday, as expected (see 1512140048). Chairman Tom Wheeler promised to seek a commission vote on the exemption next December.

The American Cable Association asked the FCC to revise financial qualifications a draft order would require of applicants seeking to participate in its planned reverse auction for broadband-oriented Connect America Fund Phase II subsidy support. The qualifications under consideration “are so onerous that they would act as a disincentive” to small-provider participation in the auction, said ACA in a Wednesday filing in docket 10-90 on a meeting with agency officials. Instead, the FCC should “tailor the requirements so that 'serious' smaller providers could participate,” said ACA, which represents small cable and telco video providers. To allow experienced small applicants to participate while ensuring they're financially qualified, ACA suggested smaller providers shouldn't be required to submit audited financial information before bidding. It said such information can cost $50,000-$100,000 -- “a large amount for a smaller bidder with no certainty of prevailing” in the auction, under which low subsidy bidders would generally win support. If the FCC remains concerned about small applicants' wherewithal, it could require them to put “a reasonable amount of money in escrow” that could be forfeited if they didn't comply with post-auction requirements, ACA said. And it said smaller participants should be allowed “to obtain a Letter of Credit ('LOC') other than from a 'top 100 bank' that has a Triple B or better credit rating and that is insured by the FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation] or FCSIC [Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation].” That requirement might work for larger providers, ACA said, “but most of ACA's smaller providers only have relationships with community -- not top 100 -- banks." This "is not only driven by longstanding relationships within a community; it also has a sound financial basis” because “big banks find it inefficient and unprofitable to make small loans (or loan commitments)” and “smaller providers in turn are loathe to pay the high fees big banks demand,” the group said. ACA said it plans to offer specific alternative financial qualification proposals.

The FCC shouldn’t prefer fiber over wireless in its planned USF reverse auction to allocate high-cost subsidies in areas where large telcos declined support going forward, CTIA and an aide to Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said this week. Another agency official told us Tuesday that an FCC draft order to set a USF reverse auction framework would favor fiber solutions, but said “everything is up in the air.” Others have concerns FCC eligibility requirements could discourage participation by smaller providers. An FCC spokesman declined to comment Tuesday.

CTIA got support from others, including USTelecom, on its petition for reconsideration asking the FCC to rethink the data security requirements imposed on carriers in its latest Lifeline overhaul order. CTIA responded to various public interest groups that said in the initial comment round that the FCC should reject the petition. The American Cable Association earlier filed in support of CTIA. Comments were posted in docket 11-42.

Industry parties and others continued to support FCC proposals to Lifeline USF subsidies to broadband service and revamp administrative oversight, but divisions remain over specifics. In reply comments filed in docket 11-42 responding to initial comments on the FCC’s NPRM (see 1509010073 and 1509040045), parties generally backed giving low-income consumers expanded choice and shifting responsibility for verifying Lifeline subscriber eligibility from telecom carriers to a third party. But there was disagreement over whether the FCC should establish minimum Lifeline standards for broadband/voice service. Numerous tribal groups also filed reply comments urging the FCC to retain and even increase enhanced Lifeline tribal support.

A lengthy list of retransmission consent practices, from broadcasters ceding negotiating rights to tying arrangements, could be up for examination if FCC commissioners sign off on a draft NPRM circulated last week (see 1508120051), an informed person said.

Associations, ISPs and others urged the FCC Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau (CGB) to extend or make permanent the small-provider exemption to the updated transparency rules adopted in the 2015 net neutrality order, in comments posted Wednesday and Thursday in docket 14-28. Some of the filers told us that they are optimistic CGB will keep the exemption.

Fiber to the Premises networks are the best route for a rural broadband build-out under Connect America Fund Phase II, the American Cable Association said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 10-90. While the agency has been supporting LECs in bringing broadband to such underserved, high-cost areas, FTTP networks "have much lower operating costs, enable providers to offer virtually any service, and provide a relatively easy path for upgrades -- all of which present the possibility of diminishing, if not eliminating, the need for subsidies beyond the initial term," ACA said. With the benefits of FTTP networks evident in urban areas, "rural consumers and areas in which they live and work should not be left behind," ACA said. But FTTP networks are more expensive to install than upgrading fiber/copper DSL networks, meaning FTTP is at a disadvantage in CAF competitive bidding unless the process "gives weight to the value of a cost-effective and fiscally responsible FTTP network build," ACA said. The association said the agency should give FTTP bids priority in cases where it "is clearly superior to bids for lower speed broadband." It said that means bidders offering to build FTTP networks to 90 percent of the locations in the eligible unserved areas in the bid, bidding no more than the reserve price for those areas, and committing that they will seek no further CAF financial support after 10 years. The commission also should establish a cost-per-location limit above which fiber would be deemed too expensive and not support FTTP in those areas, ACA said.

The FCC released its declaratory ruling clarifying its interpretation of the Telephone Consumers Protection Act, approved over a dissent by Commissioner Ajit Pai and partial dissent by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly at the June 18 FCC meeting (see 1506180046). Pai in particular complained that the order will mean more class-action lawsuits under the TCPA. “While the Commission’s past interpretations have addressed nuanced aspects of the TCPA rules, changes in how consumers use their phones, how technology can access consumers, and the way consumers and businesses wish to make calls mean that we are presented with new issues regarding application and interpretation of the TCPA,” the ruling said. “Through their complaints and comments, consumers have expressed their frustration with unwanted voice calls and texts and have asked the Commission to preserve their privacy rights under the TCPA.”