Huawei questioned the legality of rules barring U.S. providers from using its and ZTE's equipment in networks funded by the USF, in comments on implementation of the Secure Networks Act (see 2003120061). Filings were posted in dockets 19-351 and 19-352 Monday. “Since June 2018, Huawei has repeatedly highlighted the constitutional, statutory and procedural flaws in the Commission’s approach to addressing national security risks to the communications supply chain,” the Chinese vendor said. The Networks Act “requires the Commission to rely on specific national security determinations made by other agencies (or Congress) and does not allow the Commission (or the Bureau) to make such judgments itself,” Huawei said. ZTE cited differences between November's order (see 1911220033) and the act and said decisions about covered companies must be made by “an executive branch interagency body” not the commission acting alone. The agency should first focus on reimbursements for companies that need to replace equipment from the Chinese vendors, the Rural Wireless Association said. RWA said COVID-19 raises new concerns: “Given the unprecedented events of the last few weeks, the fact that the Secure Networks Act does not require final designation until 2021, and the ultimate desire by all parties operating covered company equipment to replace those elements as soon as practicable, the Commission should abstain from issuing any final designation public notice before March 2021.” WTA asked the FCC to reconsider its rules. “A plain reading of the Act requires the Commission to replace its current designation process with an equipment-centric approach instead of the company-centric approach it adopted,” WTA said. USTelecom said the FCC must rely on language in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2019 in crafting rules. The act “compels the Commission to confirm its designation of Huawei and ZTE as entities that produce covered equipment,” the group said: The earlier supply chain order "presented significant evidence describing why both Huawei and ZTE warrant designations as ‘companies that pose a threat to national security.’”

Parties interested in the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund debated how auction procedures should measure satellite providers' performance, in comments posted through Monday in docket 20-34. The Wireline Bureau sought feedback on whether newer low earth orbit satellite technologies like SpaceX should be offered a special carve-out (see 2003020075).

Approve a blanket six-month delay of the June 20 effective date of transparency-in-billing provisions of the 2019 Television Viewer Protection Act (see 2003060049), NCTA, USTelecom and ACA Connects asked the FCC Friday in docket 20-61. They want the extension "immediately to allow MVPDs to redirect all necessary resources towards addressing COVID-19."

The FCC defended a previous rule saying forbearance from requirements to unbundle and make available to competitors at avoided cost resale analog copper loops, as requested in a USTelecom petition in docket 18-141, "served the public interest," said a respondents' brief. The brief was posted by the FCC Thursday on Incompas et al. v. FCC (case No. 19-1164) before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The California Public Utilities Commission filed a separate petition against the forbearance order, and the court consolidated the cases.

A draft FCC NPRM on wireline phone charges is stirring some industry concerns, stakeholders said. Small, rural LECs may have different interests than ILECs owned by national companies in a proposed FCC rule to change the way wireline voice services are billed, said NTCA Senior Vice President-Industry Affairs and Business Development Mike Romano in an interview. Commissioners vote Tuesday on a draft NPRM on docket 20-71 to determine whether the agency should prohibit telcos from assessing certain access charges as separate line items once the FCC mandates they're detariffed (see 2003100065).

State commissioners should keep watch on telecom to protect consumers during the COVID-19 outbreak, said NARUC President Brandon Presley in a Thursday interview. “Once this crisis is behind us, we’ve got to view broadband service as a national security issue, in the sense of economic security,” he said. “I won’t have much toleration for anybody that comes to tell me that internet is a luxury.”

ILECs failed to prove ending their avoided cost resale of unbundled networks would "speed the deployment of advanced networks," Incompas replied, in filings posted through Monday in docket 19-308. The CLEC group wants the FCC to refrain from forbearance (see 2002060006). USTelecom wants the FCC to implement its proposal to eliminate "outdated and unnecessary unbundling regulations" that had required incumbent LECs to open their networks to competitors, it said. The record "strongly supports eliminating UNE DS1 and DS3 loops in all price cap areas," AT&T said. The forbearance proposal would hurt CLECs' ability to compete, said the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. "Eliminating CLEC access to the DS1 and DS3 loops would impair the ability of CLECs to serve all customers in an area, and cause customers to lose important competitive options." Since comments were filed Feb. 5, "the coronavirus has elevated considerations of public safety to an even greater importance," the Michigan Internet and Telecommunications Alliance said. "Commission use of data that is widely recognized as flawed for determining access to DS0 loops would not constitute sound policy decision-making," CLEC Sonic Telecom said. The FCC "cannot simply transplant findings and analysis from the Business Data Services ('BDS') proceeding to this one," said Uniti Fiber.

American Tower promotes Tom Bartlett to president-CEO, succeeding Jim Taiclet, becoming president-CEO, Lockheed Martin, effective June 15, replacing Marillyn Hewson, becoming executive chairman; American Tower also advances Rod Smith to executive vice president-chief financial officer and treasurer ... ICANN appoints Mikhail Anisimov, ex-.RU/.РФ, as head-global stakeholder engagement, Eastern Europe and Central Asia ... T-Mobile Executive Vice President David Carey retiring, effective April 30.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation condemned a net neutrality bill by New York Senate Energy and Telecom Committee Chairman Kevin Parker (D). It pales compared with language in the state budget, said EFF Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon in a Friday interview. Parker introduced SB-8020 Tuesday (see 2003110017). Falcon blogged Thursday that the bill “ignores critical net neutrality issues such as zero rating” and “would legalize paid prioritization” by ISPs. Due to Parker’s rank, SB-8020 bill seems to be the leading alternative to passing net neutrality through the proposed budget by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), Falcon told us. EFF is working with Cuomo to strengthen budget language that’s not yet as strong as California’s law but prefers it to Parker’s bill. “Industry wants to get this out of the budget process” because it wants to avoid a bipartisan vote; legislators must vote on the budget but nothing forces them to vote on a stand-alone bill, the EFF official said. One thing EFF is working on with Cuomo’s office is to make sure rules stop anti-competitive conduct against internet companies; currently, only end users would be protected, he said. NCTA and USTelecom declined comment. Parker didn’t comment.

Dozens of ISPs of all sizes agreed to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's suggestion the industry not take adverse action against customers for the next two months amid the coronavirus pandemic, he announced Friday morning. Those companies won't terminate service to any residential or small-business customers because of inability to pay due to such disruptions; will waive any related late fees; and will open their Wi-Fi hot spots to anyone. Pai is also seeking that the providers make other changes, including related to bandwidth caps.