The draft order on circulation revising who pays to move toll-free traffic and who gets paid (see here) hews fairly closely in many areas to the USTelecom consensus proposal (see 2006080002), FCC and industry officials and representatives said in interviews last week. Agency and company representatives said it's unlikely to be voted out soon because it's not a high-priority item. The regulator didn't comment Friday.

USTelecom, the Session Initiation Protocol Forum and carriers warned FCC staff of potential pitfalls in implementing secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) as a tool to block unwanted robocalls. “Widespread deployment by originating and terminating VoIP providers will reduce the effectiveness of illegal spoofing and assist efforts to quickly identify calls with illegally spoofed caller ID information,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 17-97: “Deployment obligations beyond voice service providers’ authentication at origination and verification at termination, however, can undermine the framework.” They said every Form 499 filer should “be required to certify that it has implemented an appropriate robocall mitigation program and the Commission should maintain a database identifying the providers that issued those certifications.” Representatives of the two groups, AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier and Verizon spoke with staff from the Wireline and Public Safety bureaus.

USTelecom countered an Incompas grandfathering proposal on dark fiber (see 2002060006). Incompas proposed that even if the FCC decides CLECs aren’t impaired without access to dark fiber, “it should nevertheless require incumbent local exchange to indefinitely continue to offer unbundled access to any dark fiber arrangements ordered before January 6, 2020,” USTelecom said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-308: “This outcome would be contrary to the Communications Act, Commission and judicial precedent, and Congressional intent.” USTelecom spoke with Office of General Counsel and Wireline Bureau staff. “USTelecom’s claim of a concession is completely and utterly false,” emailed Incompas CEO Chip Pickering: The Telecom Act “serves as the government’s contract with the people to guarantee they have access to broadband competition. Dark fiber is the bridge to broadband for both urban and rural communities. Cutting it off will leave millions of Americans in the dark.”

Industry and callers urged caution, in FCC comments on a July Further NPRM on robocalls (see 2007160045) in docket 17-59. The rules offer companies two safe harbors from liability for the unintended or inadvertent blocking of wanted calls, and the FCC sought comment on other ways to protect consumers from robocalls and inform them about blocking efforts. Comments were due Monday on the NPRM, aimed at implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (Traced Act).

USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter and Incompas CEO Chip Pickering had video calls with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on their agreement on whether and how much access LECs need to provide to DS0, DS1, DS3 and operation support systems (see 2008060044). They also spoke with Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel, said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-308. “The Compromise Proposal was negotiated in direct response to the issues raised in this proceeding and with the intention of bringing an end to the debate over whether and to what extent certain unbundled network elements will continue to be available,” they said: “The proposal recognizes the significant changes in a modern communications market that has seen increased competition for voice and broadband service. It also recognizes that some providers, primarily in less populated areas generally subject to less competition, may still be impaired" without access to incumbent LEC facilities" to offer competitive alternatives.”

CTIA and USTelecom officials pressed an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for action on regulatory relief on pro forma filings (see 2006050039). The proposal got broad support in comments filed at the agency (see 2007270039). By taking the steps sought “the Commission can meaningfully reduce confusion and administrative burdens associated with non-substantive assignments and transfers of control,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-186. “These reforms are consistent with the record, the Commission’s long-standing view that pro forma assignments and transfers of control serve the public interest, and the Commission’s efforts to streamline procedures so Commission staff and regulatees can make more efficient use of resources and better serve customers and promote competition,” they said.

USTelecom and its members urged the FCC to act on a February consensus proposal on toll-free access rates (see 2006080002). Representatives spoke with aides to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-156. “USTelecom explained that it represents a wide variety of stakeholders in this proceeding and accordingly filed a negotiated compromise resolution to move forward with 8YY reform in a manner that is consistent with the principles of the 2011 USF/ICC [intercarrier compensation] Transformation Order, reduces arbitrage, and is legally sustainable,” the group said: Each component of the compromise “including the transition timelines, rates, and ability to recover revenues” is “necessary to get sufficient member support amongst various stakeholders to move forward.” Carriers on the calls included Verizon, Frontier and Windstream. NTCA discussed the issue in a call with Wireline Bureau staff. “Make explicit in any upcoming order … that, in the absence of mutual agreement, no party may force a change to any RLEC’s existing interconnection points that define financial responsibility for interconnection and transport of calls pursuant to any tariff, contract, or other arrangement even if the intercarrier compensation rates applicable under such vehicles may be altered by a Commission order,” the group said.

USTelecom representatives sought changes to proposed broadband data collections rules, in calls with FCC Wireline and Wireless bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staff. “Require only a single category of reporting such as ‘mass market services’ as opposed to requiring providers to distinguish between residential and residential-and-business locations,” asked a filing posted Monday in docket 19-195: “This distinction is not relevant from a service availability standpoint and it would be unduly burdensome because providers do not currently code services in that way for business purposes or for FCC Form 477 reporting.” Data verification “can be achieved via the challenge and crowdsourcing resources alone and additional measures are not necessary,” the group said: Hold off on enforcement actions “for at least one full year after service providers begin reporting availability.”

Six gateway providers complied “within 48 hours” of receiving letters from the FCC and FTC in April and May demanding they cut traffic allowing COVID-19-related scam robocalls originating outside the country into the U.S. (see 2005200053), FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in letters to Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Tom Carper, D-Del., released Thursday. Hassan and Carper wrote in June urging the FCC, DOJ and IRS to “aggressively” crack down (see 2006260067). The USTelecom Industry Traceback Group confirms Connexum, IntelePeer Cloud Communications, PTGi International Carrier Services, RSCom, SipJoin and VoIP Terminator/BL “continue to be in compliance,” Pai said. “We will continue to monitor these and other gateway providers to stop illegal international robocalls before they reach consumers.” Those efforts “could be one reason that there has been a notable decrease in robocall complaints filed both at the FCC and FTC in recent months,” he said. He said the FTC reports robocall complaints decreased 68% in April 2020 from April 2019, with a 60% drop in complaints in May. Pai noted the senators’ concerns about DOJ’s recent inability to collect more than a token amount of FCC-levied fines against robocallers, saying the commission lacks "authority to force entities to pay the fines levied in a Forfeiture Order. When an entity does not pay, we must refer the case to the Justice Department for collection."

The FCC and FTC have had "a notable decrease" in robocall complaints in recent months, maybe due to the agencies' work over the spring with DOJ and USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group on COVID-19 robocall scams originating overseas, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wrote Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Tom Carper, D-Del., in letters dated Aug. 6 and released Thursday. Pai said FTC complaints in April were down 68% from April 2019 numbers, and May numbers were down 60% year over year. He said the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau received 7,600 unwanted call complaints in April 2020 and 9,000 in May 2020, compared with 37,800 over the first three months of the year. He acknowledged it's often difficult to tell if the consumers are receiving specifically COVID-19 pandemic-related scam calls. The letters were in response to the senators urging a crackdown on COVID-19 robocall scams (see 2006260067).