Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., urged the FCC not to let the commission’s program access rules expire, in a letter sent Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnsgp7). A draft order that circulated last month indicated the FCC will allow its ban on exclusive contracts among vertically integrated cable programmers to sunset on Friday (CD Sept 17 p2). But Markey said letting the rules sunset could “lead to a new dawn of less choice and higher prices for consumers.” Markey said the rules “remain a foundation for competition, and conditions in today’s video marketplace necessitate their continuance. If we do not extend the program access rules, the largest cable companies could withhold popular sports and entertainment programming from their competitors, reducing the competition and choice that has benefited consumers.” Markey was an author of the 1992 Cable Act which first created the program access rules. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and DirecTV declined to comment on the letter. NCTA would not comment on Markey’s letter but said the commission should reject any proposals to renew the ban on exclusive contracts among vertically integrated cable programmers, in an FCC ex parte filing Wednesday. “The ban no longer remains necessary to preserve and protect competition and diversity in what has become a robustly competitive and diverse video marketplace -- especially where case by case adjudication of complaints under the general provisions of Section 628(b) remains available,” the filing said. The Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance echoed Markey’s concerns in a separate letter and urged the commission to extend the exclusive contract prohibition of the program access rules for an additional five years. A group of telecom companies called the Coalition for Competitive Access to Content (CA2C) said it agreed with Markey and urged the FCC to extend the program access rules, in a separate letter. “Absent the rule, cable operators could withhold essential must-have programming that they own from their competitors, including some of the most popular national programming networks, as well as crucial regional sports networks,” the letter said. CA2C members include: American Cable Association, AT&T, CenturyLink, Consolidated Communications, Dish Network, DirecTV, Eastern Rural Telecom Association, Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance, National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies, USTelecom, Verizon, and Western Telecommunications Alliance.

USTelecom nominated Cesar Caballero of Windstream to be an ILEC representative on the Universal Service Administrative Co. board (http://xrl.us/bnsggg). Caballero is senior regulatory counsel at Windstream and has 20 years of experience in the telecom industry, USTelecom said.

USTelecom released a “Cybersecurity Toolkit” Monday, which it said is designed to be a “one-stop online source of information” for individuals involved in cybersecurity, research and planning (http://xrl.us/bnr7me). It provides links to congressional, academic and military reports, and information from groups tracking real-time cyberthreats.

Telcos and carriers expressed strong support for a USTelecom petition for reconsideration of an FCC public notice that imposed various obligations on eligible telecommunications carriers that deal with tribal groups. The rules violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), and the First Amendment, groups say. But tribal groups that commented strongly objected to the petition, calling it “misguided” and “deeply disappointing.” The public notice (http://xrl.us/bnro5r) offered “further guidance” on the tribal government engagement obligation provisions in the USF/intercarrier compensation order, and USTelecom took issue with its calls for “culturally sensitive” marketing and in-person meetings between telecom executives and tribal leaders.

Broadband ISPs excoriated the FCC for adopting unrealistic standards for its Section 706 report on the state of broadband deployment, in comments filed Thursday and Friday in docket 12-228. In response to a notice of inquiry asking what factors the commission should consider for its ninth report (http://xrl.us/bnqtzn), the telcos and cable companies aired some longstanding grievances about the commission’s findings the last three years that broadband was not being deployed on a “reasonable and timely fashion” (CD Aug 22 p1). States spoke of the need for the commission to tweak its USF rules to enable faster deployment of broadband, and interest groups expressed a need for a faster definition of broadband to enable more data-hungry applications.

The Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Wednesday approved S. Con. Res. 50 (http://xrl.us/bnqhzd). It expresses the chamber’s support for “the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet today” in response to ITU proposals that seek to change that model. The resolution passed by voice vote. The House passed an almost identical concurrent resolution in early August (CD Aug 3 p10). “Giving the U.N. unprecedented power over Internet governance will open the door for repressive regimes to undermine today’s reality of Internet freedom,” Software & Information Industry Association President Ken Wasch said in a written statement. “Granting this proposal will hurt individuals and the global economy by granting undue power to governments that seek to undermine Internet freedom and international trade. We applaud Sen. Marco Rubio and this bipartisan group of senators for vocalizing these concerns. They join esteemed colleagues in the House and industry groups across the country in urging Administration officials to continue working vigorously in opposition to efforts to enact harmful Internet governance reforms at the World Conference on International Telecommunications this December.” The resolution’s passage “is an important step forward in expressing the sense of Congress that it would be a catastrophic mistake if actions are taken to water down or replace the multi-stakeholder governance process under which the Internet has thrived,” USTelecom President Walter McCormick said. “We pledge our continuing support in working on this effort to ensure restrictions are not placed on the Internet at this critical meeting in December.” After the vote, Rubio, a Florida Republican, told reporters: “I want to be clear that America is on the record ... we don’t want to see sort of any nationally recognized right to government interference of the free flow of information on the Internet.”

Neutrality in local number portability administration is crucial to ensure the integrity of the porting process, telecom officials agreed in documents posted Friday in response to the FCC’s request for comment on the procurement documents submitted for the LNP database platforms and services. Most commenters encouraged quick approval of the documents submitted by the North American Portability Management’s “Future of Number Portability Administration Center Subcommittee” (FoNPAC). But Comcast asked for a revision to enable more competition on the regional level, and Telcordia Technologies said it wanted more guidance on how the neutrality provisions would be applied.

The FCC Office of Native Affairs sought comment on a USTelecom petition for reconsideration of the Further Guidance Public Notice regarding the Tribal government engagement obligations adopted in the USF/intercarrier compensation order (http://xrl.us/bnnedk). Comments are due Sept. 26 in WC docket 10-90; replies Oct. 11.

Windstream’s request for a waiver of certain Connect America Fund Phase I rules got broad support from ILECs, but others questioned what they said were attempts to expand the limited Phase I funding beyond its intended scope, when broader Phase II funding is on its way. Wireless carriers questioned the numbers, and said the money would be better spent on wireless buildout. Windstream, which only accepted one percent of the commission’s $60 million offer, sought a waiver of the requirement to connect to one unserved location for each $775 received, and a waiver to let it use funds to deploy second-mile fiber (July 25 p3).

Special access providers, free-market think tanks and congressional Republicans criticized the FCC for suspending pricing flexibility triggers before obtaining meaningful data (CD Aug 22 Bulletin). But in its Wednesday order the commission said it already had enough data to know the market was broken. CLECs and other purchasers of special access services commended the commission for taking what they called long overdue action. Congressional reaction was split along partisan lines, as written statements from House GOP members denounced the decision, while Democrats commended the commission for taking steps to suspend what they called its outdated special access rules.