Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld said the FCC must provide more clarity on its Communications Act Section 214 discontinuance of service rules as the IP transition moves forward. His comments came in a meeting with Daniel Alvarez, an aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. The agency could pursue several approaches, from an enforcement letter of inquiry to a general inquiry into industry practices to an information request or some combination “as long as the Commission actually does something,” Feld said. “Continued failure of the agency to act undermines the confidence of the public in the agency’s ability to manage the transition and protect consumers.” The FCC posted Feld’s filing Monday in docket 12-353 (http://bit.ly/T3yW3b). Feld said he did not specifically discuss AT&T’s IP transition pilots, but said there remains “considerable confusion over the relationship between the pilot projects and Section 214(a).”
The FCC Wireline Bureau Connect America Cost Model order provides too much support to price-cap LEC territories, said the American Cable Association in an application for review (http://bit.ly/1jJQCI3) posted Monday in docket 10-90. The order is “erroneous” because it presumes too high a cost and too low of a “take-rate” -- revenue from users -- in calculating the funding, ACA said. The commission should have instead used figures suggested by ACA, the group said. It said that would let support be provided “more efficiently, enabling many more unserved locations to be supported in the Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II."
The FCC urged the Supreme Court to deny a petition for writ of certiorari to a plaintiff who alleged that Clear Channel violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit “correctly determined that the FCC’s use and explication of its TCPA exemption authority is entitled to deference,” the commission said in a brief in opposition (http://bit.ly/1szMaVW). “Further review is not warranted.” The FCC said a phone call from a TV or radio station whose purpose “is merely to invite a consumer to listen to or view a broadcast is not a telephone solicitation within the TCPA restrictions.” The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the complaint, and plaintiff Mark Leyse challenged the FCC rule in his petition, said the agency.
The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks comment on Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) annual reports, it said in a public notice in docket 02-60 Thursday about increasing broadband use for providing such medical care (http://bit.ly/1qyAZus). In an accompanying order, the bureau waived the annual reporting requirements for rural healthcare pilot program and HCF consortium leads for funding year 2013. The bureau asked how it should structure those reports for funding year 2014 and beyond. Comments will be due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Neustar objects to an FCC “second level protection order” in the Local Number Portability Administrator vendor context, it told Wireline Bureau and Office of General Counsel officials Monday, said an ex parte filing posted in docket 09-109 Thursday (http://bit.ly/1qwx3dG). That order assumes the “most important documents and information in the record” are “highly confidential,” and places the burden of proof on parties who wish the information to be made public, said the company. “Full transparency is required to produce the kind of record that will support notice and comment rulemaking, which is required in this proceeding.” The FCC is seeking comment on an advisory group’s recommendation that Telcordia get the LNPA vendor job, a contract Neustar has that’s up for renewal (CD June 11 p16).
U.S. schools need 100 Mbps or more of Internet access today, and 1 Gbps by 2017, dozens of CEOs and heads of educational technology companies said in a letter sent to the FCC chairman and every commissioner posted Thursday in docket 13-184 (http://bit.ly/1uH5gVG). A revamped E-rate program would focus on broadband connectivity and infrastructure, invest in more upgrades to connect every school to fiber and every classroom to Wi-Fi, and improve broadband affordability by maximizing competition, the letter said. A revamp should also increase transparency and accountability to reduce costs by releasing more data on existing network infrastructure and the price paid by schools for E-rate services, the letter said. “Nowhere is the opportunity so vast, the need so urgent, and the policy so vital for advancing a brighter, more connected educational future.” Commissioner Ajit Pai said Wednesday he won’t vote to approve any E-rate revamp that increases its budget (CD June 19 p1). The CEOs writing the FCC were from Channel One, Girls Who Code, Kickboard and other entities.
Net neutrality rules won’t be effective if broadband ISPs “can simply shift blocking, degradation and discrimination upstream to where the broadband access providers interconnect with the rest of the networks that constitute the global Internet,” Netflix executives told FCC General Counsel Jonathan Sallet and other agency officials Monday, said an ex parte filing in docket 14-28 (http://bit.ly/1pjLDS8). Netflix said it supports FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s initiative to bring greater transparency to the issue of interconnection congestion (CD June 16 p1). “Strong net neutrality” will ensure broadband ISPs don’t use their “gatekeeper power” to prevent consumers from “using the online services they want and have paid for,” Netflix said.
If the FCC increases from 4 Mbps to 10 Mbps the minimum broadband speeds for recipients of high-cost USF funds, 4.7 million locations would be eligible for support, said the Wireline Bureau in a public notice Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1sogvXp). That’s an increase from the 4.25 million locations eligible under the lower speed threshold, the bureau said. Some 3.6 million locations would count as “unserved” by 10 Mbps/768 kbps, compared with 2.7 million unserved by 3 Mbps/768 kbps, it said. The results were produced using version 4.1.1 of the Connect America Cost Model. Detailed results and a list of eligible census blocks are at http://fcc.us/18RrTfQ. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has circulated a notice of inquiry asking about increasing the minimum download speeds to 10 Mbps, for purposes of determining whether ISP services are broadband (CD June 4 p1).
Inmate calling services (ICS) data will be due July 17, the FCC said Tuesday in a public notice in docket 12-375 (http://bit.ly/1r33IFr). A template form and related instructions for ICS providers are available at http://fcc.us/1r33SMZ, the notice said. The Office of Management and Budget approved the FCC’s one-time mandatory data collection of inmate calling rates June 2 (CD June 13 p11).
Level 3 Communications could face competition in its bid to buy tw telecom, but it is tw telecom’s “natural merger partner” because the two have “similar and yet complementary” assets, said Canaccord Genuity analyst Greg Miller in an emailed report. Level 3 said Monday it plans to buy tw telecom for $7.3 billion, including debt (CD June 17 p7). CenturyLink had been seen as close to buying tw telecom in 2012, Miller said. CenturyLink did not comment.