Public Knowledge and other consumer advocates filed in opposition to an April 27 request by Daniel Berninger, founder of the Voice Communications Exchange Committee, that the FCC stay its order imposing net neutrality rules and reclassifying broadband Internet access as a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act. A stay of the order would deny consumers open Internet guarantees and cause uncertainty for consumers and companies, the groups said. Berninger failed to show that his petition met any of the four factors considered in stay requests: likelihood of succeeding on the merits, suffering irreparable harm, harm to other parties, and public-interest considerations. “Mr. Berninger argues that protecting consumer access to the Open Internet should wait while telephone and cable companies fight these protections in the courts," said Harold Feld, Public Knowledge senior vice president, in a release that has a link to the opposition filing. "Mr. Berninger thinks it would be better for himself and his business if broadband companies could prioritize his services over those of rivals, and claims to suffer irreparable harm from his inability to negotiate such business arrangements. ... It might benefit Mr. Berninger and a few privileged others for telephone and cable companies to pick winners and losers on the Internet. But a universe that allows AT&T or Comcast to pick Berninger as the winner is a world where all the rest of us lose.” AT&T, CenturyLink, CTIA, USTelecom and the Wireless ISP Association filed Friday for a partial stay (see 1505010059). The American Cable Association and the NCTA also filed for a stay of the order pending judicial review. Telecom industry officials have said they doubt the FCC will stay its order, though the petitioners can also seek a court stay.

CTIA and USTelecom filed to intervene in support of the FCC order that aims to shift the contract for local number portability administration from Neustar to Telcordia. The associations said if Neustar is successful in its court challenge to the FCC order, it would harm their members "by eliminating 'significant cost savings over the existing contract'" with Neustar that the FCC determined will result from giving the LNP administrator contract to Telcordia. The groups cited comments by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. The joint motion was filed April 27 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

AT&T, CenturyLink, CTIA, USTelecom and the Wireless ISP Association jointly sought a partial stay of the FCC’s net neutrality rules, approved by a divided commission Feb. 26 (see 1502260043). The Friday request targets the parts of the order reclassifying broadband as a common carrier service, but not the meat of the rules. But industry officials acknowledge it's unlikely the FCC will stay the highly contested order, which dominated debate at the FCC for the better part of a year. Verizon, which successfully challenged the FCC's 2010 net neutrality order, didn't sign onto the petition.

Windstream joined other telcos offered as much as $10.1 billion total over six years from the FCC to deploy broadband to rural areas in saying it's analyzing the USF offers (see 1504290066). "In the coming days and months Windstream will be busy analyzing the statewide offers to determine where its own investment combined with the offered support is sufficient to meet the program’s obligations or where Windstream instead will be compelled by economics to move to the competitive bidding stage," said Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Eric Einhorn in a statement Wednesday. The telcos have until Aug. 27 to decide whether to accept the money state by state, and where they decline, subsidies will be offered on what the agency called a competitive basis. "The task of extending broadband networks to these remote areas will take some years," said USTelecom President Walter McCormick.

USTelecom urged the FCC to reconsider parts of its December E-rate order, particularly rules allowing self-provisioning by schools and libraries and the need for additional safeguards to ensure efficient spending in the USF program. USTelecom said it agrees with many of the questions raised about the order by Cox Communications in a March petition for reconsideration. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition defended the order, saying allowing schools and libraries to receive money to lease dark fiber or build their own facilities was a badly needed innovation. The filings were posted in docket 13-184.

European regulators seem to be moving toward lighter-handed regulation and net neutrality rules, while the U.S. has moved in the opposite direction, said Peter Davidson, Verizon senior vice president-federal government relations, at a symposium Tuesday. The session was sponsored by USTelecom and the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO). “American leadership in this sector is at stake,” Davidson said.

USTelecom laid out in some detail its arguments on why the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should overturn the FCC’s February net neutrality order. The pleading was made as part of USTelecom’s initial March 23 appeal of the order (see 1503230066). The FCC “reversed decades of precedent” in the order, the group said. Industry officials on both sides of net neutrality said the big question at this point is whether the court will stay the order, a decision that could come at any time. In one other development, Full Service Network, TruConnect Mobile, Sage and Telscape sought review of the order Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia.

Lobbying spending for Comcast soared in Q1 to $4.62 million, from $3.09 million in the year-ago quarter. The company mentions its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable among lobbying priorities, which also included online video issues and “preserving the open Internet.” TWC spent less on lobbying, $1.7 million vs. $1.93 million a year earlier. AT&T, which also has an acquisition pending, also spent much more this Q1 than last, spending $4.37 million vs. last year’s $3.67 million. NCTA spent less in Q1 than it did during that time a year ago: $3.78 million vs. $4.14 million before. Verizon spent $3.35 million, down from $3.55 million. CTIA spent $3.13 million, somewhat up from last year's Q1. Spending for USTelecom dropped to $1.18 million from $1.25 million. Q1 lobbying forms were due Monday, and other communications companies also reported spending (see 1504200042 and 1504210048).

Public Knowledge struck back Wednesday at ISPs and associations challenging the FCC’s net neutrality order, filing a motion for leave to intervene in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to the various challenges filed so far. Meanwhile, USTelecom President Walter McCormick explained the group’s challenge in a speech to the Media Institute.

CenturyLink became the latest to file an appeal of the FCC’s net neutrality order, filing a petition Friday for reconsideration in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The company became the second ISP to appeal the order; AT&T filed Tuesday. USTelecom, of which CenturyLink and AT&T are members, also has appealed, as well as Alamo Broadband, the American Cable Association, CTIA and NCTA (see 1504140046). All but Alamo, which filed in the 5th Circuit, appealed to the D.C. Circuit.