The 1996 Telecom Act set mandates for ILECs to open networks to competitors, but incumbents say enough competition exists for the FCC to grant USTelecom's petition for forbearance from a requirement to provide unbundled network elements (UNEs) to competitive LECs. At minimum, ILECs seek forbearance wherever there is evidence of facilities-based market competition, such as from a cable provider. CLECs said they still need UNE access (see 1905140012). All sides told us recently to expect the FCC to act soon.

Lawmakers expressed confidence Tuesday about prospects for Congress to pass anti-robocalls legislation this year. Three House Commerce Committee leaders said during a USTelecom event an agreement on a compromise bill may be very near. House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., have been negotiating on a bill that combines elements from the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-946) and six other measures the Communications Subcommittee examined in April (see 1904300212).

Big telecom carriers urged the FCC to pre-empt state and local 911 laws “that, on their face or in application, discriminate against VoIP customers as compared to customers buying non-VoIP wireline services.” The FCC may pre-empt those policies using 47 U.S. Code Section 615a-1(f)(1), said AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, Frontier Communications, Windstream, Comcast, NCTA and USTelecom in meetings June 5 with the Wireline and Public Safety bureaus, per a filing posted Monday in docket 19-44. They said to pre-empt when state or local law “sets a higher per unit VoIP 911 charge than the per unit 911 charge for non-VoIP wireline services,” or if the state or locality “caps the total number of 911 charges due each month from customers buying non-VoIP wireline services, but sets a higher cap -- or sets no cap at all -- on the number of 911 charges due each month from customers buying VoIP services.” Pre-empt when the nonfederal government “calculates the number of 911 charges due from customers buying non-VoIP wireline services based on the number of simultaneous calls to the [public switched telephone network] PSTN (including 911) those customers can place, but calculates the number of 911 charges due from customers buying VoIP service based on their assigned or active telephone numbers, even if the customers cannot simultaneously place calls to the PSTN (including 911) using all those telephone numbers,” said the industry interests: Such findings would help resolve 911 fee lawsuits including in Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

Upward momentum in industry's capital investment in broadband rose an estimated $3 billion last year to $75 billion, USTelecom reported Monday. The group said the administration's forward-looking regulatory framework, signaled in 2017, helped to reverse a capital spending decline from the recent peak in 2014. "Annual broadband investment rebounded in 2017 and the data now confirms that the upward momentum continued in 2018," USTelecom said, based on the providers analyzed in its initial report. It confirms a trend from February when USTelecom released an analysis of the top six broadband providers (see 1902070048). FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the preliminary report "reaffirms that our policies are working," and noted other evidence of broadband expansion (see 1905290017).

Despite calls for carriers to provide robocall-blocking tools for free, it would be a bad outcome if every carrier opted for the same, cheap option instead of employing a variety of them, said Patrick Halley, USTelecom senior vice president-advocacy and regulatory affairs, at an FCBA robocalls CLE Monday. "Carriers face legitimate costs." He said noted secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) and secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) implementation will be expensive for some carriers. Call-blocking tools' costs came up repeatedly at last week's FCC commissioners' meeting (see 1906060056). And Commissioner Geoffrey Starks on Monday wrote 14 providers seeking details on their plans to offer free, default call blocking services to consumers (see 1906100025).

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks sent letters to 14 providers seeking details on their plans to offer free, default call blocking services to consumers aimed at curbing “disruptive and dangerous robocalls.” For Starks and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, cost has been a major issue. Starks voted for the declaratory order and Further NPRM last week (see 1906060056). Also Monday, USTelecom said there are calls for robocall tools to be provided free, but that could lead to every carrier opting for the same, cheapest solution instead of employing a variety of them (see 1906100038).

ITTA and USTelecom asked the FCC to deregulate certain broadband transport services provided by rate-of-return carriers, in a filing posted to docket 17-144 Thursday. The trade groups said RoR TDM transport revenue has declined sharply in recent years, offering carrier-specific sample data as evidence, and request "nationwide relief from ex ante pricing regulation of their TDM transport services." Last fall, the agency opened two Further NPRMs, on how it could end ex-ante pricing regulation for low-speed TDM transport and looking at removing pricing regulation on TDM transport services of price-cap carriers (see 1903120039). At the time, the commission also voted to allow some RoR telcos to choose incentive regulation for business data services (see 1810230032).

AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier Communications, Verizon and USTelecom met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Monday to seek support for USTelecom's petition for forbearance (see 1905130050), the group said, posted to docket 18-141 Thursday. The ILECs ask for relief from continued unbundling of analog loops for resale to competitive LECs and the unbundling of DS1, DS3 loops and digital DS0 loops in areas where cable operators provide robust broadband competition "because retail customers have options for obtaining high-capacity services from at least two providers relying on distinct networks." Attendees included Joan Marsh of AT&T, Ken Mason of Frontier, Kathleen Grillo of Verizon and USTelecom chief Jonathan Spalter. CLECs oppose the petition (see 1906040018). "Contrary to the hyperbole of petition opponents, this is primarily an urban, business issue, not a rural or residential broadband issue," the group said.

Talks on a compromise anti-robocall bill appear to be rapidly progressing, House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., told reporters Tuesday. “We may be in a good place” after “productive discussions” with House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., on a bill that combines elements from the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-946) and six other measures the House Communications Subcommittee examined in April (see 1904300212). Walden previously said he wants a “safe harbor” provision to shield carriers if they follow the rules but block a call that isn't actually a robocall (see 1905150041). Pallone, Walden and House Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, are speaking during a Tuesday USTelecom event on anti-robocall initiatives. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, FTC Chairman Joe Simons and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., also are on the agenda. Thursday, commissioners vote on a declaratory ruling allowing carriers to block unwanted calls to their customers “by default” and giving consumers the ability to block callers not on their contact list (see 1906030008). The Tuesday USTelecom program will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Capitol Visitors Center room SVC 201-00.

New York senators will soon study a net neutrality bill passed Tuesday by the Assembly, a Senate Majority spokesperson said Wednesday. The Assembly voted 109-37 Tuesday to pass A-2432 by Assemblymember Patricia Fahy (D). Alternative measures are pending in the Senate, but Fahy told us she hopes to corral support for her bill to limit state and local government contracts to ISPs that follow open-internet rules. Passing net neutrality in New York would be significant given its size and influence, said Northwestern University law professor James Speta Wednesday.