Public Knowledge Battles With USTelecom, NCTA Over Section 214 Petition
Behind the opposition to an FCC declaratory ruling (see 1411210037) regarding when providers need to file Communications Act Section 214 applications to discontinue service are worries that ruling and other proposals could become a “slippery slope” making the IP transition more difficult, a telecom official told us. An NPRM on the IP transition issued by the commission along with the ruling in November asks about other changes in the Section 214 approval process. In addition to the ruling on when applications have to be filed, Public Knowledge in responding to the NPRM is seeking clarity on what factors should be considered. The group believes the impact on the quality of phone service and the ability to use such other services as home health monitoring should be considered when deciding whether to grant applications (see 1411060031).
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USTelecom has petitioned for a reconsideration of the ruling. NCTA, in a comment posted Monday in docket 13-5, backs the petition. The declaratory ruling clarifies that applications need to be filed, not only when a company is discontinuing a service listed in a tariff, but also if a community thinks it’s losing service.
A community’s sentiments should be considered, said Public Knowledge, Granite Telecommunications and the Rural Broadband Policy Group, in filings also posted Monday, opposing USTelecom’s petition. The ruling would deal with “concerns about potential impairment” for customers when service is discontinued, Granite said. When copper-based TDM services are being transitioned to wireless service, the commission under the ruling will require applications when consumers could lose “access to faxing, credit card verification services, medical alert services and alarm monitoring,” Granite said.
USTelecom “bemoans” that the ruling places “additional burdens” on telcos to “maintain their lines at a suitable level of operation consistent with the traditional expectation of service to the community,” Public Knowledge said. USTelecom had said the commission should have issued an NPRM before making the declaratory ruling. The law was clear that “service” is defined by the terms of a tariff or contracts, and the ruling changes the rules, the petition said. Like Comptel's opposition (see 1501230059), Public Knowledge and Granite countered that the ruling only clarifies existing rules. A clarification does not require release of an NPRM, they said.
USTelecom also said factoring in a community’s sentiments is vague. NCTA said the ruling makes changes “in such a novel and burdensome manner” that it “cannot properly be regarded as a mere clarification. In contrast to its stated aim of terminating controversy and removing uncertainty, the Commission’s declaratory ruling has instead created controversy and uncertainty by eliminating a carrier’s ability to identify the service for which it is responsible.”