Utility companies are hopeful the FCC will act on the Edison Electric Institute’s petition for clarification that the statute of limitations on all pole attachment complaint proceedings is two years and refunds aren't "appropriate" before a "good faith notice of dispute” (see 2104210046). ISPs remain opposed to the petition and say the issue has been addressed by the commission in recent rulings. Replies are due Sept. 10 in docket 17-84.

The FCC revived its proceeding on broadband access in multiple tenant environment buildings Tuesday, announcing it will seek comments on revenue sharing and exclusivity agreements. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in July encouraging the FCC to prevent ISPs from signing exclusivity agreements with landlords and promote competition (see 2107090006).

Congress should establish a 72-hour window for critical infrastructure entities to report confirmed cyber breaches, industry witnesses told the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee (see 2108310060). A hearing considered draft legislation from Chairwoman Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and House Homeland Security Committee ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y.

Industry witnesses will suggest refining cyber incident reporting legislation that the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee will consider at Wednesday’s noon virtual hearing (see 2108270066). The U.S. government should consider a federal incident reporting program that includes mandatory disclosure requirements, said FireEye Mandiant Global Government Chief Technology Officer Ronald Bushar in a statement. The focus of mandatory reporting should be compliance support, not punishment for noncompliance, said Bushar, who is to testify. “Fines and other financial or legal punishments do not properly reflect the truth that, barring gross negligence or willful misconduct, organizations that suffer a cyber attack are victims of a crime.”

Congress should limit the scope of any cyber incident reporting legislation, CTA, the Internet Association, Information Technology Industry Council and 15 other industry groups wrote lawmakers Friday, before the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee’s Wednesday hearing on incident reporting. The Business Roundtable, BSA|The Software Alliance, ACT|The App Association, CompTIA, Software & Information Industry Association, TechNet and Telecommunications Industry Association also signed. Legislation should include reporting timelines no less than 72 hours, they wrote. Reporting should be limited to verified incidents and reporting obligations limited to victim organizations, they said. Hearing witnesses are: USTelecom Senior Vice President-Cybersecurity Robert Mayer, ITI Senior Vice President-Policy John Miller, Heather Hogsett, Bank Policy Institute senior vice president-technology and risk strategy for its technology policy division, FireEye Mandiant Vice President Ronald Bushar, and American Gas Association Managing Director-Security and Operations Kimberly Denbow.

Transaction Network Services asked FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff to grant USTelecom's petition to clarify its call blocking notification rules and allow the use of session initiation protocol code 603 "exclusively," said an ex parte letter posted Friday in docket 17-59. The FCC should "defer any requirement relating to SIP Codes 607 or 608 until standards bodies have finalized the standards and the technical complexities have been addressed," TNS said.

The House Homeland Security Cybersecurity Subcommittee plans a Wednesday virtual hearing on the draft Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act. The measure, led by subpanel Chairwoman Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., would direct the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to work with stakeholders to establish requirements and processes for critical infrastructure owners and operators to report some cyber incidents to a new Cyber Incident Review Office within the agency. Cyber “first responders” would receive the information to prevent similar attacks, the bill said. The new office would be separate from CISA’s other voluntary programs, the bill said. “In the many hearings, briefings, and oversight that followed” the SolarWinds and other recent cyberattacks, “we consistently heard that the Federal government -- and CISA in particular -- needs better situational awareness about where, when, and how these attacks are happening,” Clarke said in a news release. “With better information, CISA will be able to detect malicious campaigns early, help owners and operators defend their networks, and understand long-term trends in adversary behavior.” USTelecom Senior Vice President-Cybersecurity Robert Mayer and Information Technology Industry Council General Counsel John Miller are among those set to testify. Ronald Bushar, Mandiant Global government chief technology officer, and Heather Hogsett, Bank Policy Institute senior vice president-technology and risk strategy, are also witnesses. The panel will begin at noon EDT.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau redesignated USTelecom as the registered consortium for the industry-led robocall traceback group, said an order posted Wednesday in docket 20-22 (see 2106180056). “This is a vote of confidence from the FCC and a recognition of the value and track record the ITG brings to the robocall wars,” said USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter in a statement.

Industry disagreed whether the FCC should grant Edison Electric Institute's petition for declaratory ruling on pole attachment rate disputes, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 17-84. Comments were due Monday (see 2107230030). The petition "fails to offer any compelling reason for the commission to revisit either of the well-established policies that EEI seeks to overturn," said ACA Connects, which NCTA echoed. USTelecom agreed and said EEI's proposals "would further exacerbate the digital divide by creating additional barriers to broadband deployment by reducing the likelihood that electric utilities will charge just and reasonable rates." EEI's argument is "flawed" and an attempt to "reverse recent commission precedent," said Crown Castle Fiber. The Coalition of Concerned Utilities, which includes the Arizona Public Service, Exelon, FirstEnergy, the Hawaiian Electric companies, Minnesota Power and NorthWestern Energy, said EEI's petition is "simple to implement, practical from a dispute resolution perspective, productive because it encourages collaboration and settlement, and fair in that pole owners would be informed sooner rather than later of any potential disputes." Granting the petition would "[restore] business certainty to the relationships between pole owners and attaching entities," said Duke Energy, which American Electric Power echoed.

The FCC should reconsider its decision to phase down Lifeline voice-only support, said stakeholders in reply comments on NASUCA's petition to refresh the record posted Wednesday in docket 11-42. Replies were due Tuesday (see 2106280011). Consumers relying on Lifeline voice services "cannot be ignored," said CTIA. The FCC should pause the phasedown until it can "consider the implementation of [the emergency broadband benefit] program and more fully evaluate additional data concerning how consumers use support for broadband and other services," it said. The FCC has a "social obligation" to assist low-income consumers who rely on voice-only support, said USTelecom, which NTCA, Public Knowledge and Next Century Cities echoed in similar comments. The commission "needs to act now to stop the elimination of voice subsidies to assure a bad situation doesn’t get worse," said NARUC. Some Lifeline-eligible consumers "may be unable to find affordable voice-only services" and are "disproportionately likely" to be consumers of color or with disabilities, said MediaJustice and the Center for Accessibly Technology. The record "shows broad support for retaining voice-only support," said New America's Open Technology Institute, saying voice services "have been crucial" for accessing healthcare services during the pandemic.