FCC Bureau Officials Welcome State, Local Input, Offer Updates

FCC priorities affect state and local officials across the board, officials said, welcoming input from those stakeholders. FCC bureau officials spent Tuesday afternoon briefing state and local stakeholders on recent commission actions as part of its latest outreach webinar. The FCC has faced criticism from NARUC for not appropriately engaging in a dialogue with state and local municipalities. But the FCC wants to pay attention to them, said Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Greg Vadas, despite leadership changes under way at the FCC: “We know this is a time of transition.”

"The big development we've had in the last few months is City of Arlington,” Steinberg said, referring to the Supreme Court decision in City of Arlington v. FCC this summer. The Supreme Court favored the FCC and upheld the FCC’s authority in issuing its Shot Clock Ruling on wireless siting. “The law that you've been operating under for three years is going to remain in effect.”

The FCC Technology Transitions Policy Task Force is working in “close coordination with NARUC Task Force on Federalism and Telecommunications,” according to a presentation from acting Deputy Director Patrick Halley. That task force recently slammed the FCC in a draft document for not reaching out enough to it in recent years (CD June 11 p14). He emphasized the changes in technology and the FCC’s focus on shifts -- from wireline to wireless, TDM to IP, copper to fiber. “We're talking about gigabit cities,” he said, saying communities are embracing faster speeds. He said VoIP investment has risen from $3.8 billion in 2006 to $15.9 billion in 2012 to a projected $22.6 billion in 2016. The FCC issued a public notice about conducting a series of technology trials, with comments due July 8, and it welcomes input from state and local parties, he said.

Local developments also attract much interest from the FCC task force and will be a focus, Halley said. “Verizon’s network was completely destroyed as a result of Hurricane Sandy,” he said, referring to ongoing developments on Fire Island, N.Y. He mentioned Voice Link, Verizon’s fixed-wireless alternative set to replace its landlines on the western half of the island. “There is no longer a copper wire going into the home in those areas,” he said, describing the task force’s interest in looking at Voice Link benefits as well as “what are the potential risks,” as a Voice Link customer “potentially loses some of the service capabilities” of traditional landlines. The trials will provide “some actual on-the-ground data,” he said.

States worry about wireless cramming, said Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau Policy Division Acting Deputy Chief John Adams, citing an April 17 FCC workshop on bill shock and cramming that had “quite a bit of state participation.” He found that participation “really encouraging to see.” The emphasis on wireline cramming may have led to the increase in wireless cramming, he said, and consumer complaints may only be the “tip of the iceberg” on wireless cramming. The consumer advocates of NASUCA reiterated its concern about wireless cramming in a resolution this month and urged state legislatures to pass laws targeting such charges, emphasizing the problem with wireless bills (CD June 18 p12).

State reports inform the FCC’s views here, Adams said. He highlighted the work of the Illinois Citizens Utility Board, which found that half of all wireless bills it examined showed “suspicious charges,” and a joint study of the Vermont attorney general and the University of Vermont, which looked at 1,000 Vermont wireless consumers. “What they found was that half of the consumers were unaware that third-party charges could even be placed on their wireless bills,” Adams said, saying half of those bills did show such charges. Since 2006, Vermont had received fewer than 25 complaints of wireless cramming, he said. The FCC’s lack of a “specific statement about VoIP” prevented Adams from offering any insight on “what states should or should not do” about slamming, he said. Enforcement Bureau Associate Chief Eric Bash said the FCC can levy a maximum fine of $150,000 per violation. The FCC has engaged in various cases against violators, such as in five cases against third-party carriers in recent months resulting in $13 million in proposed forfeitures. “We certainly welcome hearing from you about matters of mutual interest,” Bash said, offering his phone number and email address.

Officials also gave updates on text-to-911, spectrum auction planning, Lifeline and public safety developments, among other issues. Suzy Rosen Singleton, an attorney in the Disability Rights Office of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, emphasized the different text-to-911 trials happening in states and communities around the country. State and local officials should tell their constituents to make a voice, relay or TTY call to 911 if possible, that text-to-911 is still mostly unavailable in the country, but it will become increasingly available throughout the rest of 2013. Public Safety Bureau Policy & Licensing Division Senior Analyst Tim May said 911 call centers are primarily regulated at the state and tribal level, and the FCC hoped to be “using our ability to regulate commercial providers” in its text-to-911 work. The Public Safety Bureau is still “in the process of reviewing” the record associated with the derecho and Superstorm Sandy, said Associate Bureau Chief Jeffery Goldthorp. The big takeaway was how much technology had changed now compared to years past, he said.