USTelecom described data sources and methodologies it used in charts of a petition seeking FCC forbearance relief for incumbent telcos from unbundling discounts and other wholesale duties (see 1805040016), in redacted versions of sensitive materials the ILEC group filed, posted Monday in docket 18-141. "Although USTelecom derived the data series for these Charts from publicly available data, including primarily Commission data, the descriptions include proprietary information that reveals sources and methods of analysis used," said a cover letter. USTelecom submitted a confidential version that can be viewed by parties under a protective order. Comments are due Aug. 6, replies Sept. 5.

Telecom parties urged the FCC to ensure carrier telecom relay service fund costs can be passed on to consumers through specific related fees. AT&T, CenturyLink, CTIA and USTelecom filed comments supporting an ITTA petition asking the commission for a declaratory ruling to clarify that it is and has been permissible under truth-in-billing rules and Communications Act Section 225 for carriers recovering TRS fund contribution costs to include related line-item fees on consumer bills. "Such action will provide regulatory certainty regarding a common and pro-consumer industry practice," CTIA said. But 16 "Enterprise Users Commenters" -- including 3M, Mastercard, Office Depot and Sears -- urged the FCC to deny the petition, which they said should have been filed as a petition for rulemaking and is substantively deficient. Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 03-123.

AT&T and Verizon opposed and others supported a CenturyLink petition asking the FCC to allow local carriers and VoIP partners to collect higher end-office switching charges in certain cases even if the VoIP providers don't control last-mile facilities. Separately responding to an NPRM, rural telcos backed giving certain RLECs an option to shift their business data service offerings from rate-of-return regulation to incentive-based price caps, while AT&T and Sprint urged the FCC to ensure such price caps are set appropriately. Comments were due Monday on the CenturyLink petition in docket 01-92, and on the NPRM in docket 17-144.

USTelecom asked the FCC to stay and reconsider parts of a rural call completion order it adopted and released in April along with a Further NPRM (see 1804170025 and 1804180025). The ILEC group supports the order's requirements that covered providers monitor the performance of their intermediate providers and correct problems but seeks a stay of the monitoring rule (Section 64.2111) "during the pendency" of the further notice, said one petition posted Tuesday in docket 13-39. USTelecom said it would be irreparably harmed absent relief because the monitoring rule currently will take effect Oct. 17 regardless of whether the FCC has adopted obligations for intermediate providers. It's "unrealistic and counterproductive for the Commission to mandate monitoring requirements for non-safe-harbor providers by an arbitrary date before it has established the registration, self-monitoring and service quality standards for Intermediate Providers," the group said. "The Commission established its initial 6 month transition period after acknowledging that 'covered providers will need some time to evaluate and renegotiate contracts with Intermediate Providers in order to comply with the monitoring requirement.' However, those same contracts cannot be renegotiated or amended until all the parties have an understanding of the service quality standards for which Intermediate Providers must monitor." In another petition, USTelecom said "industry and consumers would be better served by reconsideration of the uncodified rules governing the monitoring obligations of non-safe-harbor providers."

USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter made his case for congressional internet legislation to protect data privacy and promote openness and innovation across all sectors. "There is only one internet and it deserves a national policy framework," he said Wednesday at The Media Institute, tracking prepared remarks, with tweaks. A national framework is one of five internet "pillars" along with universal connectivity, consistent safeguards, cybersecurity collaboration and a regulatory agency update, he said.

State net neutrality actions show a strong public rebuke of the FCC December order that took effect Monday (see 1806110054), consumer advocates said on a National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) webinar Wednesday. But a Montana commissioner and broadband industry officials dismissed efforts as politically driven and probably not effective. A Rhode Island net neutrality bill cleared a key Senate committee Tuesday and lawmakers could pass restrictions on state ISP contracts by the end of next week, said sponsor state Sen. Louis DiPalma (D) in an interview. California lawmakers plan more hearings next week.

NTIA will call a meeting with stakeholders in early July to discuss implementing recommendations in a report to the president on botnets (see 1805300065), said Deputy Associate Administrator Evelyn Remaley Thursday. The next step is to develop a “prioritized road map,” with the purpose of increasing the resiliency of the internet and communications landscape against distributed threats. That's due within 120 days of the report’s approval and will involve coordination among the departments of Commerce and Homeland Security and industry, civil society and international partners.

The FCC approved 3-1 an order to further relax telecom service discontinuance duties and related regulatory processes in an effort to remove barriers and encourage the industry shift from legacy wireline to next-generation, IP-based offerings. Commissioners also voted 4-0 to adopt an order to relieve certain rural telcos of USF contribution obligations on their broadband services to equalize their treatment with other carriers and promote affordability. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel largely dissented on the discontinuance order and concurred on the rural telco USF order.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed hiking a USF Rural Health Care cap by 43 percent, from $400 million to $571 million per year, to reflect inflation since program inception in 1997. He circulated a draft order to increase the cap for the current (2017) funding year ending June 30, index the program for inflation going forward and allow unused funds from prior years to be carried forward to future years, said a release Wednesday. It noted recent demand exceeded the budget, creating uncertainty for participants. Rural healthcare (RHC) and telco interests welcomed the announcement.

Major parties urged the FCC to end two remaining rural call completion duties of providers covered by a 2013 order, after the agency ordered in April that their data reporting requirements be eliminated. CTIA, ITTA, NCTA, Sprint and USTelecom said the data recordkeeping and retention obligations should be scrapped, and Verizon said they should be reduced. NTCA opposed that. Parties offered various views on implementing the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act, in comments posted Monday and Tuesday in docket 13-39 on a Further NPRM attached to the April order, which made covered originating long-distance providers accountable for intermediate carrier performance (see 1804170025 and 1804180025).