Unregistered IP Relay users are making fraudulent calls to 911 “in an attempt to trick Public Safety Answer Points” into dispatching emergency services based on false reports, Sprint told FCC officials Wednesday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1si915L). “Due to the risk of life and safety to first responders and the public,” the commission should “provide immediate relief on this matter” by “waiving the requirement to handle calls to 911 from unregistered IP Relay users,” Sprint said.
"The transition to fiber is already well underway,” Verizon’s David Young said in a blog post Friday (http://vz.to/1si8513). About 70 percent of Verizon’s footprint will soon be “fiberized,” said the vice president-federal regulatory affairs. Only 6 percent of homes in those areas still get service over copper lines, and keeping the copper network running is very expensive, he said. “Unfortunately, there are some who for a variety of reasons are trying to put the brakes on fiber upgrades, and by extension, fiber deployment,” Young said. “They think that the old copper networks should be kept indefinitely.” No existing telco will be able to invest in fiber if it’s forced to keep the old “redundant” and “costly” copper network up too, he said. “The social benefits of a transition to fiber must outweigh the preference that a few holdouts might have for a more familiar technology,” Young said, urging policymakers to be “courageous."
ILECs have failed to report and demonstrate the consumer benefits of the lower pole attachment rates, as required by the FCC’s 2011 pole attachment order, Florida Power and Light told agency officials Monday (http://bit.ly/1i4EkIY). The order gave “explicit direction” that the cost savings from lower pole attachment rates accrue to consumers, the company said. After three years, “ILECs have never demonstrated that those specific consumer benefits have been achieved,” it said. “Based on research and general industry knowledge, the benefits very likely have not been achieved.” The company is “considering filing a petition for declaratory ruling” to determine whether ILECs have delivered the promised consumer benefits, it said.
The E-rate program must recognize the “unique role of libraries in the broadband social landscape,” the Urban Libraries Council told FCC officials Monday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1i4Lf4Y). It must also recognize the “structural differences” between libraries and schools, ULC said. “Libraries play a critical role for the 90 million adult Americans not currently in the workforce. These individuals cannot access broadband at work or through schools, and many either do not have broadband at home or do not have reliable access to broadband in a home,” ULC said. More than 60 percent of libraries report they are the only free public Internet access location in their communities, it said. The FCC should “define a desired state of library access for high-speed circuits to each library building and internal wireless broadband connectivity,” ULC said, citing a goal of 4-5 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream for each Wi-Fi user during peak hours.
Nearly 200,000 customers of eligible telecom carriers receiving high-cost USF support had rates below the $14 rate floor as of Jan. 2, an FCC Wireline Bureau analysis found (http://bit.ly/1i4EkIY). Of those, about 150,000 were price cap carrier lines, and 50,000 were rate-of-return carrier lines. It’s a decrease from 220,000 lines that had rates exceeding the rate floor on July 1, the analysis showed. The change represents a monthly reduction of about $290,000 in support, the analysis said.
Vonage wants another extension in the deadline to comply with FCC rules banning fake ringing tones. “Vonage has made substantial progress” toward complying with the new rules, it said in a petition Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1i4C8B5). But “problems in the software” made it unable to meet the requirements by the April 2 deadline, it said. Another 15 days is all the VoIP provider needs, it said. It’s the third time Vonage has asked for an extension (CD March 4 p14).
Comptel submitted a proposed “managerial framework” to the FCC Wednesday as a way to best handle the IP transition (http://bit.ly/1i2DzA2). The proposal emphasizes the critical role of last-mile access and interconnection policies in ensuring retail business competition, drawing on recommendations in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. The Comptel recommendations aim to guarantee just and reasonable rates, terms and conditions for TDM- and packet-based special access services; clarify rights and obligations with regard to IP interconnection; and provide a balance in copper retirement policies. The group also proposes a detailed timeline of FCC actions: By Q2 of 2014, the agency would initiate its special access data collection and reverse prior grants of forbearance from dominant carrier regulation. By Q3 it would address ILECs’ “anti-competitive, exclusionary special access discount plans” and adopt rules addressing copper retirement. By Q4 it would clarify the “duty” of ILECs to provide IP interconnection under Section 251 of the Communications Act. By Q2 of 2015, the agency would undertake comprehensive special access changes, and address access to packet-based last-mile facilities. The Broadband Coalition released a statement supporting Comptel’s plan. NTCA Senior Vice President-Policy Michael Romano also said his association welcomed Comptel’s focus on ensuring the technological evolution doesn’t become “an excuse to cast aside” important consumer protection rules. “While the members of our organizations may not agree on every substantive policy issue raised or how certain obligations should be interpreted and implemented, we certainly agree that a well-defined regulatory backdrop that provides clear rules of the road on things like interconnection of networks is essential to the functioning of communications markets and the advancement of enduring public policy values,” he said in a statement.
Large ISPs like Verizon and Comcast have an incentive to steer their broadband subscribers toward their own on-demand services, and away from unaffiliated providers like Netflix or YouTube, Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer told FCC acting General Counsel Jon Sallet and Senior Counselor Philip Verveer Friday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1jZT4Ql). Those ISPs are “refusing to upgrade their network connections with companies like Cogent,” leading to “a degraded quality of service to end-users,” Schaeffer said. Schaeffer emphasized Cogent’s belief that broadband Internet should be reclassified as a Title II telecom service, including the common carrier obligations that accompany such a classification. “If the Commission opts not to reclassify at this time,” Cogent’s filed comments “offer ways to enhance the current transparency rule and to identify and remedy network congestion,” Schaeffer said. An FCC spokesman said Tuesday the agency would not consider regulating peering or interconnection agreements as part of its upcoming net neutrality redo (CD April 2 p2).
The FCC lawfully denied USTelecom’s “across-the-board forbearance request” regarding the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA), the agency told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a brief filed Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1i2E6Cd). USTelecom unsuccessfully petitioned (CD Feb 17/12 p14) the agency to use its Communications Act Section 10 authority to forbear from applying the requirement that price cap carriers maintain the USOA as required by the law. The FCC asked the court to deny USTelecom’s petition for review, and not order the FCC to forbear. “The FCC reasonably determined that USTelecom failed to prove that its across-the-board USOA forbearance request satisfied the section 10 forbearance standard,” it wrote. “The central premise underlying the USOA forbearance request -- i.e., that price cap carriers’ rates are not based upon costs, and therefore Part 32 no longer is necessary to ensure that those carriers’ rates are just and reasonable -- is factually incorrect."
The FCC Consumer Advisory Committee recommended E-rate priorities for the agency to follow in its modernization of the program, said a notice posted by the commission Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1lABbr3). E-rate funding should be distributed in a way that promotes “fair and equitable service” and speeds to schools and libraries of different sizes, the CAC said. Funding must not be tied to specific education outcomes, it said. “Funding based on educational outcomes has the potential to further the digital divide and deepen the gap in the effectiveness of our schools.” Funding predictability should be improved, and an electronic filing system should be implemented to “streamline and centralize the application process,” CAC said.