The one-per-household limit, commissioning biennial audits and verifying the residency of customers at temporary addresses were some of the new rules criticized in the eight petitions for reconsideration of the Lifeline order received by the FCC. Oppositions to the petitions are due May 7 in docket 11-42, replies May 15, said a notice in Friday’s Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bm4kwc).
House GOP leaders plan to consider four cybersecurity bills during their much-anticipated “cyberweek,” they said Friday. The four bills are: the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) (HR-3523), the Federal Information Security Amendments Act (HR-4257), the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (HR-2096), and the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Act (HR-3834).
The Ad Hoc Coalition of International Telecommunications Companies supports USTelecom’s call for long-term, comprehensive changes to the FCC USF contribution system, the group said in a letter to the agency Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bm4ha3). The group, which includes several domestic and foreign long distance service providers, called out the “Carrier’s Carrier Rule” as “one of several irrational and inefficient processes in need of immediate reform.
BRUSSELS -- Talks on revising the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) should focus on the high-level principles needed to spur investment and boost network capacity to meet demands in the coming decades, executives told a workshop on talks to revise the ITU treaty later this year. Internet governance issues are on the front line, said an executive representing 45 operators in 25 countries.
More than a dozen technology groups urged House leaders in a letter sent Tuesday to “protect and promote, not stifle innovation” in the congressional push to increase national cybersecurity. “The House has an opportunity to take a positive, nonregulatory step forward on cybersecurity -- as regulations would divert businesses’ focus from security to compliance -- by removing legal roadblocks that prevent the private sector and government from sharing cyber threat information while protecting personal privacy,” said the letter written to Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Specifically the groups urged lawmakers to: improve private/public information sharing of cyberthreat information; enhance national cybersecurity research and development; reform the Federal Information Security Management Act; increase cybersecurity education and public awareness; and support greater public/private collaboration on cybersecurity issues. The groups also warned lawmakers not to “complicate or duplicate existing security-related industry standards with government-specific standards and bureaucracies.” The letter was signed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Software Alliance, CTIA, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Internet Security Alliance, NCTA, the Software and Information Industry Association, TechAmerica, TechNet, Telecommunications Industry Association, and USTelecom, among others.
The FCC should “reconsider its decision to require broadband deployment to one location per $775” in Connect America Fund Phase I support, Frontier told an adviser to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bm322x). The telco and Windstream had originally made that request late last year in their petition for clarification/reconsideration of the USF/intercarrier compensation order. Frontier also expressed its support for a recent Windstream proposal for “additional flexibility” when installing broadband infrastructure in high-cost unserved area. In another meeting Wednesday with the Clyburn aide, USTelecom said it also expressed support for providing additional flexibility to “maximize investment of Phase I incremental support in modern broadband facilities in rural areas” (http://xrl.us/bm324a).
Large incumbent LECs cheered a petition by USTelecom for forbearance from enforcement of several “outdated” legacy telecommunications regulations, in comments filed Monday, but others wanted to ensure that ILECs still comply with some reporting rules that they say help competitors and the commission make informed decisions. Several state commissions opposed the petition. While New York regulators don’t oppose the bulk of the petition, they said they're concerned about the potential impact on Lifeline services.
Anonymous lobbed at least three distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against supporters of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) Monday. The “hacktivist” group allegedly crashed the websites of USTelecom, TechAmerica, and the NCTA in separate, coordinated attacks.
Carriers uniformly support the launch of an integrated national database to address duplicate and eligibility concerns for the Lifeline program, according to comments filed in response to a further notice of proposed rulemaking in the FCC’s Lifeline Order. But several carriers, as well as state commissions, were wary of a proposal to use USF dollars to encourage digital literacy, questioning whether the FCC had such authority. States also expressed concerns over privacy issues, the expected cost of the national database, and AT&T’s proposal to let ILECs opt out of the Lifeline program.
Big Bend Telephone Co. will default on loan covenants by next year and could run out of cash in 2016 if its request for waiver of three new USF rules is denied, it said in reply comments Thursday (http://xrl.us/bmzxgc). BBTC pointed to comments of USTelecom and the National Telecom Cooperative Association, which support BBTC’s position due to the “particularly challenging nature” of its service area, and the “extraordinary costs” it faces. Should BBTC go under, consumers could lose access to voice and broadband services because there’s no other terrestrial provider of those services in its area, the telco said.