It’s not proper for the FCC to solicit last minute data about fou...
It’s not proper for the FCC to solicit last minute data about four carriers’ broadband forbearance petitions when there’s almost no time for other parties to review the new information, CompTel said in a letter to the commission filed…
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Monday. CompTel said it “objects strenuously” to the Wireline Bureau’s letter to carriers late last week seeking “market data” that could be used to analyze carriers’ market share in various communities. The petitions filed by Qwest, AT&T, Embarq and Frontier seek forbearance from regulation of their enterprise broadband services, similar to that won by Verizon last year. Deadlines for action on the petitions vary. But the FCC reportedly is considering combining them into one order, which means a vote would have to be taken by Sept. 11, the deadline for the Qwest petition, which was filed first. The letter sent Thursday by Wireline Bureau Chief Thomas Navin asked carriers to provide the new data by Aug. 31. The terse letter gave no explanation of why the commission needed to do a “local market analysis,” except to make a passing reference to the FCC’s order last week approving a forbearance petition filed by ACS, an Anchorage telecom company (CD Aug 22 p1). Navin said the commission sought additional information “in light of the issue raised by the Commission’s recent ACS order concerning the proper geographic scope of analysis for the enterprise broadband market.” The ACS order raised questions about the proper ways to analyze market power -- for example whether the analysis should be on a local rather than national basis, especially for the isolated Alaskan market. Seeking data at the last minute, when the 15-month review period is almost over, will deny the public “a meaningful opportunity to be heard,” CompTel said. The agency should adopt a rule, as it did when it was considering the Bells’ “Sec. 271” applications, that petitions have to be considered “complete when filed,” CompTel told the commission. The Section 271 rule meant parties couldn’t make late additions to their petitions because the FCC based its decisions only on the information in the original applications. “The bureau’s invitation to submit additional evidence on the eve of a decision gives petitioners an advantage not contemplated” by the Telecom Act when it created forbearance power, CompTel said.