NCTA and FCC filed separate briefs with U.S. Supreme Court Fri., asking it to overturn ruling by 11th U.S. Appeals Court, Atlanta, that held that Commission lacked authority to regulate pole attachment rates for cable-delivered Internet access. NCTA argued that pole attachment statute extended regulatory protections to “any attachment” by cable system, regardless of what services were provided using those attachments. Copy of FCC’s brief, filed by Solicitor Gen. Office, wasn’t available by our deadline.
N.C. Utilities Commission (NCUC) ruled calls to CLEC virtual local numbers such as foreign exchange (FX) numbers are local calls for reciprocal compensation purposes. Agency’s ruling was part of arbitration order settling interconnection contract impasses between WorldCom and BellSouth. BellSouth contended that calls originating in one local calling area and terminating in another couldn’t be local traffic by definition and must be treated as interexchange. It said regulators in Ill., Me. and Tex. all concluded that FX numbers weren’t local exchange, Conn. tentatively concluded same thing, and FCC ruled calls to FX number of out-of-state business were interstate traffic, not local. But NCUC sided with WorldCom in ruling that classification of call as local or toll depended solely on exchange prefix dialed by caller, not physical location of receiving party, as long as caller and recipient were in same LATA. NCUC said interLATA FX numbers would be interexchange, not local, for intercarrier compensation purposes. On related question, NCUC declined to rule on appropriate compensation treatment of Internet Protocol telephony, saying there was too much uncertainty surrounding issue. On other issues, NCUC said: (1) BellSouth didn’t have to unbundle operator or directory assistance services if it provided WorldCom with selective routing enabling CLEC to reach alternative operator service provider. (2) BellSouth must provide unbundled dedicated transport along routes where facilities existed, but wasn’t obligated to construct new dedicated transport routes for CLEC. (3) BellSouth was entitled to be paid for any extraordinary functions it performed if requested by WorldCom to deal with 3rd party carrier for reciprocal compensation. (4) Reciprocal compensation for Internet-bound local calling would be subject to later true-up once FCC decided on compensation method for Internet-bound calls. (5) BellSouth must notify WorldCom if it sold property on which WorldCom had installed facilities. (6) BellSouth must notify NCUC if it intended to disconnect WorldCom’s wholesale services for nonpayment at same time notice went to WorldCom. (7) WorldCom had right to opt into terms of any other BellSouth-CLEC interconnection agreement, but BS wasn’t required automatically to provide WorldCom with copies of other interconnection agreements it made.
Sen. Frist (R-Tenn.) introduced bill (S-722) April 4 that would require FCC to develop regulations to constrain telemarketers from interfering with or circumventing consumers’ caller ID services. Sens. Lugar (R-Ind.) and Reed (D-R.I.) are co-sponsors. House Commerce Committee (CD March 1 p3) in Feb. referred to full House companion legislation (HR-90) by Rep. Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.).
FCC Wireless Bureau is extending deadline for filing reply comments by one week to April 24 on privacy petition submitted by CTIA on proposed principles for protecting privacy of location- based information. CTIA last year requested rulemaking that would address best practices for wireless industry on location-specific information on wireless devices, including opt-in provision to protect subscriber privacy. As expected, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) submitted comments Fri. backing CTIA petition, which asked agency to develop technology neutral rules on collection and use of location information. Petition asked Commission to implement 1999 legislation that required commercial mobile services providers to obtain express prior authorization of consumers before using or disclosing location data. EPIC told agency it supported opt-in approach and particular scrutiny should be paid to unique characteristics of wireless devices when creating mechanisms to protect user information and notify consumers of their rights. “From the average user’s perspective, the only common denominator among these devices will be the desire to control the collection and use of location information,” EPIC Gen. Counsel David Sobel said. “The legal protections should accommodate that desire.” As for comment extension, Wireless Bureau said it was responding to motion by Sprint Spectrum to extend reply comment 30 days.
FCC’s new video description rules violate First Amendment by “impos[ing] a scheme of compelled speech” on broadcasters, according to appeal filed in U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., by NAB, NCTA, MPAA. Petition also says video description rules (FCC 01-7) violate Communications Act.
White House announced Fri. it intended to nominate 3 Washington insiders as FCC Commissioners: (1) Kevin Martin, FCC transition leader for President Bush and former aide to FCC Comr. Furchtgott-Roth. (2) Kathleen Abernathy, vp of startup network provider Broadband Office Communications, who is former U S West regulatory vp and one-time adviser to ex-FCC Comr. James Quello. (3) Mike Copps, who worked for Sen. Hollings (D-S.C.) for 15 years before leaving Hill in 1980s to work in private industry and finally Commerce Dept. in international trade area. Formal nomination won’t happen for several weeks while paperwork is prepared and security clearances completed. After that comes Senate confirmation process.
Northpoint said it will cut cable and satellite bills in half by Christmas if it gets FCC license for Multichannel Video Distribution and Data Services (MVDDS), in latest round of comments. Northpoint was supported by 10 companies and others, but continued to face strong attacks from rivals.
Adding DTV tuner to analog TV sets would add $200-$300 to cost of analog sets in 2002, Thomson Consumer Electronics warned. In comments on FCC rulemaking (MM 01-24), Thomson said that would mean “doubling or tripling the prices of roughly 40% of the TV sets sold in the U.S.,” potentially creating “a major obstacle to consumer acceptance of DTV and imperil the transition.” Company also said FCC lacked legal authority to impose “forced integration” of DTV and analog sets. Thomson said there was no need to label DTV sets that were incapable of receiving DTV over- the-air because “there are no such products on the market at this time.” Other comments were due after our deadline. Broadcasters, meanwhile, again said DTV tuner requirement was crucial to speedy DTV transition. In joint filing, NAB, MSTV and ALTV said FCC “must exercise its authority to facilitate cross-industry participation” in transition, including 100% tuner inclusion within 4 years.
Ala. PSC adopted all-service overlay with 10-digit local dialing to relieve depleted Birmingham 205 area code. PSC said it looked a 2 different geographic split plans, but rejected them as either not providing enough life for new codes or being too confusing to customers. PSC estimated overlay would last at least 8 years. Implementation schedule will be set in later order. PSC also approved statewide 711 access to state’s deaf relay service, starting July 1. Current toll-free access numbers will remain in service. FCC has designated 711 as national relay service access code to be implemented in all states by Oct. 1.
Head of Mich. PSC’s Telecom Div., Thomas Lonergan, said operation support system (OSS) testing was only major hurdle standing between Ameritech and long distance entry. If Ameritech passes OSS test, he said, it could be ready to file with FCC by year-end. Ameritech later this month is to file its latest update with PSC on its compliance with Sec. 271 interLATA long distance checklist requirements. Based on record to date, Lonergan said, Ameritech “probably” would be found in compliance with 11 of 14 checklist items, but jury still was out on OSS-related items. He said that if OSS tester KPMG gave Ameritech passing grade in its Oct. final test report, and if company had compiled satisfactory record with 3 months of actual wholesale-service performance data, Ameritech could be in position to apply for long distance entry next winter. OSS testing started last month, and Ameritech told PSC it would start collecting actual wholesale performance data in July. Lonergan said Ameritech had improved its retail and wholesale services since last summer’s service quality crisis, but some CLECs still complained that Ameritech wasn’t giving them service to which they were entitled.