E-rate, Number Portability, Pole Attachment Items Get FCC OK

The pole attachment order clarifies the statutory right of communications providers to use the same space and cost-saving techniques that pole owners use, such as placing attachments on both sides of a pole. The order makes clear that attachers “have a statutory right to timely access to poles,” the commission said.

The FCC proposes to reduce costs and speed access to utility poles without affecting “utilities and states that regulate their own pole attachments or those that are municipally or cooperatively owned,” said Wireline Bureau attorney Wesley Platt. The FCC also sought comments on establishing rental rates for attachments that are as “low and close to uniform as possible consistent with Section 224” of the Communications Act, he said. Pole attachment reforms were recommended in the National Broadband Plan “to minimize the market place distortions arising from the current differences in pole rental rates,” he said.

The notice suggests a specific timeline for attachment requests and seeks comment on the timeline for all attachments, including those for wireless facilities, Platt said. There are proposals for rules concerning the use of contract workers to perform make-ready work and rules “to reform the FCC’s access dispute resolution process,” he said. An order clarifies that the nondiscriminatory principle of Section 224 “implies that communications providers have a statutory right to use space and cost-saving techniques where practical and where consistent with the pole owner’s use of those techniques,” Platt said. The order confirms that pole access must be timely “in order to be just and reasonable,” he said. In a further rulemaking notice the FCC proposes maintaining the existing 45-day deadline for utilities to respond in detail to requests for attachments. The FCC also that utilities should tender an estimate to perform make-ready work no later than 14 days after completing the initial survey assessment

The further notice was necessary because the commission thought there were issues requiring “additional record and additional work-through to address all the issues,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said: There are “legitimate concerns and issues on all sides.” Commissioner Robert McDowell praised the items for avoiding infringement on the statutory rights of utilities and acknowledging that Section 224 “embodies terms that have resulted in different treatment” for cable and telecommunications providers. Although it’s “in the weeds,” good pole attachment policy “is integral to ensuring ubiquitous and robust broadband deployment,” Commissioner Michael Copps said.

The commission also approved a non-controversial follow-up order to an order approved a year ago, which required wireline, wireless and some VoIP providers to transfer a customer’s existing phone number to a new provider within one business day, instead of the previous four-day requirement. The order adopts standardized data fields for simple ports and North American Numbering Council recommendations for porting process provisioning flows.

"This order provides carriers with the nuts and bolts information they need to implement the commission’s order last year that reduced the porting intervals from four days too one,” said Wireline Bureau Chief Sharon Gillett said. “The ability of consumers to transition seamlessly and quickly from one provider to another is critical to creating a truly competitive environment."

"Not only do consumers have to be able to port their numbers, the providers need to complete the ports in a timely manner,” Copps said. “The FCC figured this out over a dozen years ago when it implemented a four-business day interval, and I think the shortened interval we adopted in last year’s Porting Interval Order was a much-needed and achievable update."

"This order finalizes some key outstanding issues such as clarifying, in great detail, what the Commission means when it says a port must be completed in one day,” said McDowell, the only other member of the current FCC on the commission when it approved the order. “For example, the order explains that business days are Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. … Such information may seem basic but it is critical to ensure that all stakeholders are operating under the same assumptions to avoid confusion and delays."

The notice on E-rate takes “another important step toward the goal of updating E-rate for broadband,” said Genachowski. The item offers proposals aimed at streamlining the application process, providing greater flexibility in choosing cost-effective useful broadband services and expanding the reach of broadband to classrooms, said Gillett. “We believe these proposals will increase the availability and use of broadband by children and communities throughout the country."

The agency seeks comment on proposals intended to reduce “the cost of participating in the program and making it more accessible particularly to smaller schools and libraries,” said James Bachtell, Wireline Bureau attorney. The suggestions include simplifying the application and competitive bidding process for schools and libraries, “while maintaining appropriate safeguards to mitigate potential waste, fraud and abuse,” he said. The item also seeks comments on simplifying ways for schools to calculate their discounts, he said. The notice proposes ways to provide full E-rate support for wireless Internet service which would support use of portable learning devices outside schools and libraries, and let applicants lease low-cost fiber connectivity from municipalities, he said.

Another portion of the notice seeks comment on indexing the $2.5 billion cap on E-rate disbursements to inflation “to maintain the purchasing power of the current program,” Bachtell said. Every year the demand for funding far exceeds the cap, he said.

Copps said the item considers a broad array of possibilities. E-rate deserves to be empowered “so it can keep up with the latest technologies” and new online educational tools, he said. It’s critical that all future changes include adequate safeguards against abuse, said Commissioner Meredith Baker. “It’s our obligation to ensure that money is spent wisely to achieve the goals set out by Congress."

The pole attachment item facilitates “wireless providers’ access rights to existing, usable electric utility poles while ensuring attachments are done in a safe manner,” CTIA CEO Steve Largent said. NCTA strongly supports the commission for moving forward on the pole attachment recommendations “to ensure reasonable and timely access to utility poles,” CEO Kyle McSlarrow said.