GTL Urges New FCC Sanctions on Alabama PSC, Official for ICS Actions
Global Tel*Link sought further FCC sanctions on the Alabama Public Service Commission and David Baker, APSC Utilities Service Division director, for “recidivistic conduct” in allegedly not following FCC orders in the inmate calling service (ICS) rulemaking. In a filing posted…
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Friday in docket 12-375 responding to a Sept. 21 Wireline Bureau order (see 1509220007), Global Tel*Link accused Baker of violating the order’s prohibition and APSC restrictions on his participation in the ICS proceeding by emailing a response to a bureau official email noting the order (see 1509280034). “Mr. Baker seems incapable of following the rules promulgated by the Commission,” said GTL, which also said Baker violated the FCC’s 2013 protective order when he posted confidential information from GTL and other ICS providers on the agency’s public electronic comment filing system, an error Baker acknowledged and for which he apologized. In its recent response to the order, the APSC said Baker reasonably didn’t expect his email to be placed in the record and said it imposed new procedures to oversee filings of confidential information (see 1509300023). But citing FCC rules, GTL said Baker’s email constituted an official “filing” that he was barred from making by the FCC’s Sept. 21 order. “While Mr. Baker no doubt will portray himself as a well-meaning hapless victim of a simple oversight or misunderstanding on his part, his disregard for the Commission’s Order and rules is very difficult to understand,” GTL said. “The APSC also should be held responsible” for failing to enforce the FCC’s Sept. 21 order and its own procedures, said the company. GTL urged the FCC to impose sanctions on Baker and the APSC. It didn’t make a specific recommendation but said the agency could suspend or disbar counsel or consultants from practicing before the FCC, impose fines and issue cease-and-desist orders. In its response, Pay-Tel Communications, which was among the companies whose confidential data was briefly made public, said it believed the restrictions the FCC imposed on the APSC and Baker were sufficient. Pay-Tel called the breach limited in time, scope and impact, and said Baker seemed to have acted in good faith and had made valuable contributions to the proceeding. Pay-Tel also said further sanctions could “chill" future state regulatory participation in FCC proceedings. Any further response from the APSC and Baker is due Tuesday, according to the Sept. 21 bureau order.