The FCC raised the minimum broadband speeds required of Connect America Fund (CAF) recipients to 10 Mbps download Thursday, but CenturyLink complained the commission didn't provide enough in return to offset the costs, and that fewer expensive-to-serve rural ones will get service than had the commission done more (see 1411260040).

The question of whether and how much to increase the length of Connect America Fund support in return for recipients providing faster broadband remains under discussion at the FCC, with the commission scheduled to take up the issue Thursday (see 1411260040), industry representatives involved in the debate said. One issue that has emerged is a sentiment within the agency that CAF recipients continue to get funding for five years, as they do now, the representatives said.

The draft Connect America Fund order FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is circulating before a scheduled vote at the commission’s Dec. 11 meeting would give price-cap carriers some but not all of what they’ve sought in return for backing an increase in the minimum broadband speeds for systems built with CAF support, from 4 Mbps to 10 Mbps downstream, said industry officials involved in the debate. Wheeler is proposing the faster speed requirement in the draft order (see 1411200032).

Content companies requesting a stay to stop the FCC from allowing access to confidential programming contracts in the AT&T/DirecTV and Comcast/Time Warner Cable mergers “have no apparent reason to want the commission’s [merger] review to be expeditious,” said the FCC in an opposition response filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Monday. The document’s release has already been stayed to allow for an expedited pleading cycle, but the programmers -- which include Univision, CBS and Viacom -- want the document release halted until the court has had time to rule on a petition for review filed by the content companies last week (see 1411140063). The programmers may fear that the mergers will lead to lower prices for programming, the FCC said in their response to the motion to stay. The American Cable Association, Comcast, TWC and Charter joined Dish, AT&T and DirecTV with filings Monday supporting the planned release of Video Programming Confidential Information (VPCI) and restarting the 180-day shot clocks for both mergers. Meanwhile, NAB filed Monday in support of the content companies, arguing the court should stay the release of VPCI. “The Court should ensure that the issues here are carefully and fully considered.”

The FCC, with Commissioner Mike O’Rielly approving and concurring only in part, denied the American Cable Association’s petition to review the cost model used to determine funding for Connect America Fund Phase II, an order released Wednesday said. The dispute was over the model used to come up with the amount price-cap carriers will be offered to serve locations in their service territory that are above a specified funding benchmark, but below an extremely high-cost benchmark, said the order adopted Nov. 5 and posted Wednesday in docket 10-90. The area also can't be served by a competing, unsubsidized provider to be eligible for funding, the order said. ACA had argued the 8.5 percent cost of money used in the model was too high because it assumed interest rates will increase. Though ACA believed the rates will remain low, the commission was not persuaded “ACA’s predictions regarding future interest rates are more valid than the Bureau’s well-reasoned predictive judgment,” the order said. The commission was also not persuaded that “using a slightly lower cost of money would have a material impact on achievement of the Commission’s universal service goals,” the order said. The Wireline Bureau didn't overstep its authority and its decisions were not “clearly in error,” O’Rielly said in a statement, but he believed a lower cost of money would “be a more accurate prediction of interest rates over five years.” O’Rielly also said he disagreed with “the assumption, implicit in the analysis" that the CAF should aim to support more locations even if they're lower cost. The program's purpose shouldn’t be to “maximize the number of locations that receive a subsidy,” he said, but to “focus support on locations that are truly high-cost and are in areas that are not served or are unlikely to be served by a competing provider.” ACA declined comment on Thursday.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a proposal Tuesday to change the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor to be “technology neutral,” he said in a blog post Tuesday. As expected (see 1410220044), the draft proposal would open the definition up to include providers of linear online video, the blog post said. The change would give the new MVPDs “the same access to programming owned by cable operators and the same ability to negotiate to carry broadcast TV stations that Congress gave to satellite systems in order to ensure competitive video markets,” Wheeler said, referring to program access and retransmission consent rules.

There's “no sound reason” to allow LECs receiving Connect America Fund Phase II support to not serve specific locations in unserved areas and instead serve locations in partially served areas, NCTA Vice President-Associate General Counsel Jennifer McKee told FCC Wireline Bureau officials Oct. 17, according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1DAN8mL) posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. If the agency allows the flexibility, the burden should be on the LECs to show the specific locations they want to serve in the partially served areas that aren't being served, the American Cable Association said at the same meeting. LECs should also not be excused from serving all areas in an unserved Census block for which they're receiving CAF support, said Ross Lieberman, ACA senior vice president–government affairs, and Kelley Drye’s Thomas Cohen, counsel to ACA. CenturyLink and USTelecom had said they would be willing to support providing faster broadband speeds under CAF if granted the flexibility (see 1409100036).

Modified FCC confidentiality orders protecting documents in the AT&T/DirecTV and Comcast/Time Warner Cable transactions aren’t enough for sensitive contract data, said CBS, Viacom and other content companies in a joint application for review (http://bit.ly/1voV5ZV) and a request for an emergency stay (http://bit.ly/1rJO7bt) posted Friday. “The Orders were promulgated in the face of both substantial public comment opposing disclosure and the Commission’s historical recognition that disclosure of these programming contracts would cause substantial competitive harm,” said the emergency stay, also filed on behalf of Disney, Discovery Communications, Scripps Networks, Time Warner Inc., TV One, 21st Century Fox and Univision. A similar application for review from a group of broadcasters objecting to the orders is likely to be filed soon, an attorney connected with the proceeding told us.

Independent programmers, mid-sized pay-TV companies and Public Knowledge disagreed with larger programmers and broadcasters on Mediacom’s requests for the FCC to restrict programmers and broadcasters in content negotiations, in comments posted online in docket RM-11728 Tuesday. The proceeding is about a petition submitted by Mediacom in July (CD July 25 p13) asking for new FCC rules that would restrict bundling, volume discounts and programmers’ ability to halt online access to their content to provide leverage during negotiations.

AT&T’s planned buy of DirecTV received support from independent programmers, state entities and labor organizations, while multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) again said the deal that is worth about $67 billion appears to hurt the video programming market. Dish Network and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association urged conditions and a showing that proposed commitments would be realized, if the FCC approves the deal. Initial comments on the proceeding were due Tuesday night.