Payphones got no love in comments filed in response to petitions for reconsideration of the Lifeline Order: A proposal to extend Lifeline funding to payphones was characterized as nonsensical, confused, and misplaced by those who commented on the idea, although NASUCA did say it “sympathizes.” This is not the first time the industry has blasted payphone operators’ request for Lifeline money (CD Jan 20/11 p9). Commenters also generally supported petitions to eliminate various “burdensome” reporting and auditing requirements. Tribal interests did not appreciate USTelecom’s claim that it was too difficult to comply with a requirement that carriers provide Tribe-specific information upon reasonable request. Reply comments in docket 11-42 are due Tuesday.

Netflix made a rare visit to the FCC to lobby against three top ISPs’ exclusion of some video transmitted by Internet Protocol from broadband data caps. The company said the exclusion is a net neutrality issue and doesn’t necessarily fall under statutory exemptions on preferential treatment of cable programming. The online video streamer took aim at AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, during executives’ first visit to lobby the FCC in two years.

Correction: Total USTelecom PAC spending for the 2011-2012 cycle through April 20 was $123,500, with $71,000 to Republicans and $52,500 to Democrats (CD May 4 p2).

Technical impediments make it “difficult and prohibitively expensive” for FairPoint to comply with new call signaling rules adopted in the USF/intercarrier compensation order, USTelecom said Friday in comments supporting FairPoint’s petition for waiver (http://xrl.us/bm59ds). USTelecom said FairPoint’s petition was “fully consistent” with its own proposal in support of the commission’s efforts to eliminate phantom traffic. FairPoint’s petition “will not create obstacles to the elimination of phantom traffic,” USTelecom said.

The Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance and USTelecom support the petition of FairPoint’s ILECs to be permitted to convert the company’s special access services from rate-of-return regulation to price cap regulation, the associations said in FCC filings posted Wednesday in docket 12-71. “FairPoint is in a unique situation” because it’s the only price cap ILEC in the country with rate-of-return affiliates that settle on a cost basis, ITTA said (http://xrl.us/bm55aa). “The request to be permitted to convert the FairPoint Petitioning LECs’ special access services to price cap regulation would ease a significant resource and financial burden on FairPoint and streamline its regulatory obligations.” They should also remain subject to rate-of-return carriers’ schedule for transitioning their intercarrier compensation rates to bill-and-keep, because this would give the smaller, predominantly rural telcos time to adjust their operations to respond to marketplace changes, ITTA said. USTelecom said granting the petition would reduce costs, increase incentives for efficiency, and provide other ratepayer benefits (http://xrl.us/bm55ce). “FairPoint has thoughtfully developed a proposal that benefits consumers, meets several disparate Commission policy goals, and is applicable to FairPoint’s unique regulatory situation,” USTelecom said.

Communications and electronic groups increased campaign contributions to GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney in Q1, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. But industry groups vastly favored President Barack Obama, giving his reelection campaign $4.75 million in the 2012 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission data current as of April 21.

The FCC seeks expedited comments on USTelecom’s petition for waiver of several rules in the Lifeline order, the Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bm5z6y). USTelecom seeks a temporary waiver from the obligation to obtain a signed customer certification and a notice of customer eligibility from certain states prior to seeking reimbursement. It also requested the waiver apply to eligible telecom carriers in those states which make initial determinations of customer eligibility and are unable to modify their procedures in time for the ETCs to comply with certain sections by June 1. USTelecom asked that the waiver last until a state is able to provide ETCs with the required notices of eligibility and customer certifications. Comments are due May 15 in docket 12-23.

The House’s successful passage of four cybersecurity bills last week turned the spotlight to the Senate, which has failed to reach a compromise between two of its leading cybersecurity bills. Nevertheless, telco groups said they're optimistic that the House’s movement on non-regulatory cybersecurity bills will help break the Senate cybersecurity stalemate.

USTelecom filed a petition for waiver of some of the Lifeline rules Wednesday, arguing that eligible telecom carriers have no control over whether states will meet their obligation to provide ETCs with notice of a subscriber’s eligibility, a prerequisite to an ETC’s ability to enroll new customers in compliance with three sections of the Commission’s rules (http://xrl.us/bm5ajm). USTelecom requested a waiver of those rules, to apply in a state where eligibility determinations reside with state officials, and where the state is unable to modify its Lifeline enrollment procedures to meet the June 1 deadline. Without the waiver, “some or all new low-income consumers will not receive Lifeline benefits to which they otherwise are entitled,” USTelecom said. In California, Florida, New York and Texas, more than 50,000 low-income subscribers would see their benefits denied -- “a draconian result that the Commission should make every effort to avoid,” the association said.

Incumbent LECs roundly condemned several legacy telecom regulations in reply comments posted Wednesday in docket 12-61 in support of USTelecom’s petition for forbearance, breaking out the thesaurus to describe the rules they say unfairly shackle ILECs while allowing other carriers to thrive. State commissions opposed the petition, arguing the elimination of several reporting requirements would harm consumers and make it harder for commissions to do their jobs.