The FCC's request to refresh the record on a telecom rate formula for pole-attachments was published in the Federal Register Thursday, triggering a due date of June 4 for initial comments and June 15 for replies. A Wireline Bureau notice sought new input on a 2011 petition by Comptel, NCTA and tw telecom (now part of Level 3) to revise the telecom rate formula to better allocate costs among carriers attaching lines to poles, which are generally owned by power companies (see 1505060055). The FCC's recent order reclassifying broadband under Communications Act Title II gives power companies more justification to charge cable broadband providers for attachments under the telecom formula, which traditionally yielded higher rates than a cable formula and which doesn't adjust cost allocation based on the number of attaching carriers.
An FCC advisory group urged the agency to take action to educate consumers about the ongoing IP technology transitions, after that Intergovernmental Advisory Committee found consumers often lacked awareness of the changes or were being told they would lose their phone service. In an filing posted Tuesday in docket 13-5, the committee said the FCC should be "proactive" in educational efforts and require providers "to inform consumers of their options well before" actual transitions occur. The group is concerned that providers might use fiber upgrades to "upsell" consumers if bundled packages of services are offered as the only replacements for phone service. Residents may find that "they are suddenly getting and paying for services they do not need, do not want and certainly do not want to pay for," the group said, noting the possibility consumers could be locked into long-term contracts. The group said it worries the transitions could harm competitive LECs and their customers by cutting off their access to DSL/copper-based networks, and undermine the reliability of public-safety service such as 911 calling. It submitted various recommendations that the FCC step up consumer education and outreach efforts akin to those used during the DTV transition. Although Congress hadn't appropriated funds like it did for DTV, the group said the FCC should require providers to notify residential and business customers of the transitions through various means, including informing government agencies of their plans, posting information on websites, running public service announcements, and providing materials and templates for agencies to use in dealing with consumers.
Smithwick and Belendiuk asked the FCC to revisit aspects of its net neutrality order. In a petition for reconsideration in docket 14-28, the law firm said FCC net neutrality rules were "too narrow, and that its forbearance from key provisions of Title II (broadband reclassification) goes too far." The firm said the order banned paid prioritization but didn't address unpaid prioritization of Internet traffic. "The FCC leaves far too much to be decided on an individual case basis," the firm said, urging the FCC to ban all forms of preferential treatment, including so-called 'sponsored data" plans, such as T-Mobile's "Music Freedom." The agency should also require broadband providers to offer stand-alone, last-mile transmission to competitors, the firm said.
A petition filed by RB Communications seeking reconsideration of an FCC forfeiture order imposing a $408,668 fine against the company has been denied by the Enforcement Bureau, said an order from the bureau adopted Monday. The FCC imposed the penalty on the company, which does business as Starfone, because it allegedly provided interstate and international telecommunications services over a four-year period without first meeting important regulatory obligations, the bureau said. "Starfone’s Petition for Reconsideration fails to present information warranting reconsideration, and in fact simply reiterates arguments that the Commission fully considered and rejected in the Starfone Forfeiture Order," the bureau said.
Frontier said its planned buy of Verizon's wireline properties in California, Florida and Texas received antitrust clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act's early termination provisions from the FTC. The transaction still needs approval from the FCC and some state governmental authorities. The FCC is 60 days into its review under its nonbinding 180-day clock. Frontier expects the deal to close in the first half of 2016, according to a company release.
Level 3 and AT&T said they signed a long-term IP interconnection agreement that would improve the efficiency of traffic exchanges and add new capacity and interconnection locations to the benefit of consumers. The agreement comes as AT&T has been sparring with Netflix and Cogent over interconnection and the potential fallout of AT&T’s proposed takeover of DirecTV on online video distributors (see 1505050028 and 1505070032).
The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment on North American Portability Management's transition plan (see 1504290045 and 1504280031) to oversee the agency's conditional selection of Telcordia to replace Neustar as the next local number portability administrator. Comments are due May 21, replies June 1, a bureau public notice said Thursday in dockets including 09-109.
The FCC seeks comment by July 7 on its process for carrying out rural broadband experiments as part of its tech transitions and rural broadband experiments orders. Comments on the necessity of the information collection is required under the Paperwork Reduction Act, said the commission in a Friday Federal Register notice.
Austin, Buffalo, Chattanooga, Los Angeles, Oakland and others including Qualcomm expressed interest in a Department of Housing and Urban Development broadband initiative to help low-income students and their families narrow the digital divide. The department plans to select about 20 HUD-assisted communities to participate in “digital opportunity demonstrations” aimed at improving tenants’ educational performance and economic outcomes through better Internet access. HUD hasn’t specified a project budget or timetable, but is seeking to stimulate public-private collaboration to boost broadband adoption and use, and at some point is expected to formally invite applications. In comments that were due Friday and posted this week, various localities and others voiced general enthusiasm for the initiative, with a few concerns sprinkled in. Chattanooga and related institutions filed the most extensive comments, noting their broadband efforts, including the 9,000-mile fiber network built out by EPB, the municipal electric power distributor. As of April, the city said, over 5,000 homes were using EPB’s $70/month gigabit offering, and “tens of thousands” were subscribed to its $58/month Mbps offering, with a new $27/month 100 Mbps offering just announced for families with students qualifying for free or discounted school lunches. Qualcomm was the only industry party to comment, saying it wanted to participate in the program to help close a growing “Homework Gap” between students with good Internet access at home and those without it (see 1505070013). “We hear too many stories of students sitting on their school steps late at night in order to complete and submit homework assignments as well as stories of parents having to drive to a local fast food restaurant late at night so their child can access the Internet,” Qualcomm said. It urged HUD to look to provide low-income students with mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets) with embedded connectivity to give them 24/7 access. Some commenters voiced concerns the HUD section criteria were too restrictive, including that communities already be participating in two or more federal “place-based” initiatives. Oakland said it wouldn’t be able to participate in the digital demonstration unless changes are made. The National Housing Conference said the initiative should do more to focus on rural areas to “avoid an unintended bias toward urban communities.”
The FCC Enforcement Bureau dismissed Cox Communications Las Vegas' pole-attachment complaint against NV Energy Wednesday after the companies reached a settlement and filed a joint motion Tuesday for dismissal with prejudice. The Cox complaint was filed Dec. 18, noted the order of dismissal released Thursday.