An order saying T-Mobile may have misled the California Public Utilities Commission is “meritless and without basis in fact,” the carrier’s spokesperson said Monday. Dish Network thinks the CPUC is right to hold T-Mobile to “commitments it made under oath while its merger was under review, including that the CDMA network will be operational until July 1, 2023,” a spokesperson said. In the Friday order in docket A.18-07-011, assigned Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen and Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer required T-Mobile to appear at a Sept. 20 9:30 a.m. PDT virtual hearing to “to show cause why it should not be sanctioned” for violating a CPUC rule on “false, misleading, or omitted statements.” T-Mobile told the agency under oath that its CDMA network would be available to Boost customers until they were migrated to Dish Network's LTE or 5G network, that maintaining CDMA service during the Boost migration wouldn't affect T-Mobile's 5G buildout, that all former Sprint customers would have a seamless upgrade during migration and that Dish would have up to three years to complete the Boost migration, the order said. T-Mobile omitted or gave misleading information about PCS spectrum being used to provide service to Boost customers on the CDMA network and the same spectrum would be required for the 5G network buildout, it said. After more investigation, the CPUC might later add charges on “the early retirement of the Sprint LTE network,” the order said. T-Mobile looks “forward to presenting evidence and setting the record straight through the upcoming process,” its spokesperson said. “For months, T-Mobile has been working aggressively to ensure no customer is left behind as we transition” to 5G. DOJ earlier raised “grave concerns” about what T-Mobile soon shuttering its CDMA network may mean for Boost customers (see 2108090008). “DOJ will have the final say but it seems increasingly likely that T-Mobile will have to delay the shutdown of CDMA,” Lightshed Partners analyst Walt Piecyk emailed Monday. Dish CEO Charlie Ergen noted the CPUC show-cause order Monday at the Technology Policy Institute Forum in Aspen, Colorado (see 2108160057).
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
Connecticut should adopt one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) requirements, local governments and the telecom industry commented Thursday at the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). Union workers and some pole owners advised caution in the agency's ongoing pole-attachment proceeding. The Florida Public Service Commission expects to develop rules soon to reverse preempt FCC jurisdiction over pole attachments. Several other states are also mulling attachment issues.
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska should propose connections-based contribution for state USF, said Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA) representatives in a presentation at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s virtual Wednesday meeting. Adopting a flat surcharge of about $2.20 monthly per voice connection would stabilize the fund and generate about $25 million in funding, said consultant and former FCC Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey. Nebraska, New Mexico, Maine and Utah previously took that approach, she said. The proposed change should bring in enough money to restore Alaska USF distributions to frozen 2016 levels, said Kemppel Huffman’s Dean Thompson. MTA recommends independent governance of the state fund by either issuing a request for proposals to find a third-party auditor or restructuring the Alaska Universal Service Administrative Co. board to have independent members rather than telecom industry members as it does now, said Mattey. Allowing companies that contribute to and receive money from the fund to also administer it is unique to Alaska, she said. MTA plans to formally submit its proposal by Sept. 1, said Director-Legal, Regulatory and Government Affairs Ryan Ponder. RCA Chairman Bob Pickett said he wants to resolve AUSF changes well before the fund sunsets June 30, 2023, and expects an active fall in the AUSF docket (R-21-001). The Oklahoma Corporation Commission last week adopted connections-based contribution on an interim basis (see 2108050049).
A sudden transition in New York governors could affect how the state spends federal infrastructure and pandemic rescue dollars tagged for broadband, said state observers after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced his resignation Tuesday, effective in two weeks. With Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) succeeding him, some predicted a change in style from a governor who they said had outsize influence over the New York Public Service Commission.
California regulators should reject prison-phone provider claims that a competitive market is already bringing reduced intrastate rates, consumer groups said in Monday reply comments in docket R.20-10-002. They responded to Global Tel*Link (GTL) and Securus telling the California Public Utilities Commission earlier this month that proposed limits on inmate calling service (ICS) rates and some fees are illegal (see 2108030041). A 7 cent cap would be “just and reasonable,” said the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office (PAO). GTL and Securus arguments that the interim rules wouldn't allow them to recover costs are “invalid,” the PAO said. It plans to meet by videoconference Thursday with aides to President Marybel Batjer and Commissioner Darcie Houck, and Friday with aides to Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen, the public advocate said in filings Monday and Tuesday. The Center for Accessible Technology urged the CPUC to reject ICS provider arguments that they lack market power. “That ... providers cannot set prices as high as they might like is not evidence that the market is competitive.” The proposed decision “properly views the market through the lens of the end-user, who has no choice of IPCS [incarcerated persons calling services] service provider,” replied The Utility Reform Network: Provider “arguments claim theoretical negotiation dynamics and restrictions on rate changes within the RFP process but lack the end-user perspective entirely.” The Prison Policy Initiative said “numerous factors other than market competition can lead to lower calling rates: facilities may demand or encourage carriers to offer lower rates; legislative bodies may require lower rates; carriers or facilities may simply want the administrative ease of a uniform rate structure for inter- and intrastate calling; carriers may lower voice calling rates and compensate by boosting revenue through unregulated services that are bundled in the same contract.” A 7 cent rate “is feasible for all facilities ... based on existing lower rates in facilities with populations less than 500 people” in other states, including local jails in Maryland, New Jersey and Washington state, said the Californians for Jail and Prison Phone Justice Coalition. Providers repeated their opposition to the interim plan. “The arbitrarily low single-rate cap and limits on ancillary service fees are unworkable and unlawful,” and would “undermine the substantial progress” made through competition, commented GTL. The CPUC may vote Aug. 19 on the draft order.
Oklahoma adopted a connections-based contribution method for state USF on an interim basis Thursday. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission voted 2-0, with a concerned third commissioner abstaining, for a proposed order to replace the 6.28% revenue-based monthly fee with a $1.14 per connection surcharge. In Texas, state senators are pushing Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and the Public Utility Commission to act before rates spike for rural customers. Alaska, California and Oregon are mulling changes.
Inmate calling service providers rejected proposed California limits on intrastate rates and some fees. The California Public Utilities Commission received comments Monday on an interim order, up for a possible Aug. 19 vote, that would include a cap of 7 cents per minute on intrastate rates for debit, prepaid and collect calls (see 2107130047). Consumer groups supported the plan and urged the CPUC to next seek ways to reduce video call and text-messaging costs. Also, the CPUC teed up implementation of the state’s $6 billion broadband law.
T-Mobile asked the California Public Utilities Commission to delay a possible status conference on Dish Network’s CDMA complaint at least until after Dish modifies its petition to address the impact of its $5 billion AT&T agreement (see 2107190003). T-Mobile doesn’t think the conference is needed but said it should be held at the earliest the week of Aug. 16, the carrier Monday emailed Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer through the service list for docket A.18-07-011. Dish replied that it disagreed with T-Mobile’s request except for scheduling the conference for that Aug. 16 week. The companies clashed over the weekend about the AT&T agreement. Dish never told the CPUC the company was in talks with AT&T “or the potential ramifications of the agreement on its migration efforts,” T-Mobile wrote Friday to Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen. The timing suggests Dish had “ulterior motives” as it complained about the CDMA shutdown to the CPUC, T-Mobile said. “At a minimum, the timing suggests DISH was focused on negotiating this agreement with AT&T, and thus distracted from executing on CDMA migration efforts over the ten months that have elapsed since T-Mobile first provided DISH with notice of the CDMA sunset. It is also possible that DISH has been purposely dragging its feet in upgrading its Boost CDMA customers so that it can save itself money by finalizing the agreement with AT&T and then transitioning those customers directly to AT&T’s network when it is ready to accept Boost customers, rather than incurring the costs of transitioning them to T-Mobile’s network first.” Dish wrote Saturday to Rechtschaffen that T-Mobile’s arguments lack merit. The AT&T agreement doesn’t alter customer harm that would result from T-Mobile prematurely shutting down the old network, said Dish: AT&T's network doesn’t support CDMA.
It's not just congressional Democrats upset about wireless industry lobbying and other efforts to keep a lower lid on customer surcharges for mental-health services related to hotlines, we found. State legislators are also irked, they said in recent interviews. Federal lawmakers continue to be upset, they said.
New York will continue defending its broadband affordability law, with a pact between the state attorney general and ISP plaintiffs a procedural step on the way to appeal, said an AG office spokesperson Friday. New York reserved appeal rights while agreeing not to enforce its law, in the agreement with ISP associations including the New York State Telecommunications Association (NYSTA), USTelecom and CTIA. See our bulletin. “The parties have conferred and agree that the Court’s holdings on preemption” in its June 11 preliminary injunction order “resolve the substantive legal issues in this matter and render the entry of final judgment appropriate,” said the stipulated final judgment (in Pacer). New York reserves the right to appeal the stipulated final judgment, declaration and permanent injunction, it said. “Defendant expressly reserves all appellate rights in this matter.” Assistant AG Patricia Hingerton asked (in Pacer) Judge Denis Hurley to order the proposed stipulation be filed by the parties Friday in case 2:21-cv-02389 at U.S. District Court in Central Islip, New York. Hurley ruled last month that ISPs would likely succeed on conflict and field preemption arguments, and granted the motion for preliminary injunction by NYSTA, CTIA, ACA Connects, USTelecom, NTCA and the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (see 2106110064). New York appealed June 30 to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2106300071). “It looks like the parties agreed to take steps to move the appeals process forward,” emailed New York Public Utility Law Project Executive Director Richard Berkley. “This case would never have ended after a decision by the trial court; it was always going to be appealed. So this would save the time of having to fight it out in the lower court, then start moving it up the appeals courts' ladder.” ISP groups declined to comment.