Vonage offered the FCC 11th-hour legal backing for giving VoIP providers direct access to phone numbers without classifying interconnected VoIP as a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act, despite NARUC and NTCA arguments to the contrary. Meanwhile, Level 3 pushed back against, and Verizon basically endorsed, AT&T arguments that the FCC shouldn't adopt Level 3's proposals to ensure that competitive LECs can collect local switching charges when partnering with VoIP providers that gain direct access to phone numbers.
A market modification should mean that TV stations wanting to be carried by satellite in that new territory must either be forced to be included as must-carry or must negotiate a new retransmission consent agreement, Dish Network said in a notice posted Friday in docket 15-71 regarding the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization Act. In a meeting with staff, Dish executives raised the argument that market modification proposals before the FCC could create situations where satellite companies are forced to carry two stations affiliated with the same broadcast network in the same geographic area, with the best fix being to abandon the approach of letting a station whose market has been modified choose between retransmission consent or must-carry. Dish also reiterated its point that satellite companies should be allowed to say whether a proposed market modification is technically or economically doable without having to provide confidential business or market information. Similar, separate conversations with the FCC about market modification raise the point that satellite companies aren't required to provide evidence regarding areas they don't serve, so "it would be anomalous to require detailed showings for modified markets when such showings are not required for unmodified markets," DirecTV said.
NARUC and NTCA objected to an FCC draft order to give interconnected VoIP providers direct access to phone numbering resources without being classified as offering Title II telecom services under the Communications Act. NTCA voiced "urgent concern" about the FCC decision to consider the draft order at Thursday's monthly meeting, while NARUC detailed legal arguments and warned the agency not to authorize VoIP direct numbering without classifying VoIP service under Title II. Meanwhile, AT&T urged the FCC not to adopt Level 3 proposals intended to ensure competitive LECs can collect access charges when partnering with VoIP providers that gain numbering access.
NARUC and NTCA objected to an FCC draft order to give interconnected VoIP providers direct access to phone numbering resources without being classified as offering Title II telecom services under the Communications Act. NTCA voiced "urgent concern" about the FCC decision to consider the draft order at Thursday's monthly meeting, while NARUC detailed legal arguments and warned the agency not to authorize VoIP direct numbering without classifying VoIP service under Title II. Meanwhile, AT&T urged the FCC not to adopt Level 3 proposals intended to ensure competitive LECs can collect access charges when partnering with VoIP providers that gain numbering access.
SmartEdgeNet disputed Public Knowledge and Bandwidth.com criticisms of a draft FCC order that would authorize VoIP providers to obtain phone numbers directly from numbering administrators (see 1506080030), an item that's on the agency's agenda for the June 18 meeting. "Neither submission raises any real concerns regarding the assignment of telephone numbers to interconnected VoIP providers," SmartEdgeNet (SEN) said in docket 13-97. "The submissions of both Bandwidth.com and Public Knowledge seem more devoted to inducing fear and uncertainty -- and therefore delay and excessive regulation -- than to identifying any actual problems that might arise from permitting interconnected VoIP providers to directly receive allocations of telephone numbers, or suggesting meaningful solutions to any problems they claim to be worried about."
As it looks more closely at LTE-unlicensed, the FCC should refrain from rules that would slow the technology's potential growth, CTIA said in a Thursday filing. When the FCC approved an order on the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band, Chairman Tom Wheeler promised a public notice on LTE-U, also known as licensed assisted access (LAA), was on its way (see 1504170055). Comments on the resulting PN were due at Thursday in docket 15-105.
SmartEdgeNet disputed Public Knowledge and Bandwidth.com criticisms of a draft FCC order that would authorize VoIP providers to obtain phone numbers directly from numbering administrators (see 1506080030), an item that's on the agency's agenda for the June 18 meeting. "Neither submission raises any real concerns regarding the assignment of telephone numbers to interconnected VoIP providers," SmartEdgeNet (SEN) said in docket 13-97. "The submissions of both Bandwidth.com and Public Knowledge seem more devoted to inducing fear and uncertainty -- and therefore delay and excessive regulation -- than to identifying any actual problems that might arise from permitting interconnected VoIP providers to directly receive allocations of telephone numbers, or suggesting meaningful solutions to any problems they claim to be worried about."
As it looks more closely at LTE-unlicensed, the FCC should refrain from rules that would slow the technology's potential growth, CTIA said in a Thursday filing. When the FCC approved an order on the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band, Chairman Tom Wheeler promised a public notice on LTE-U, also known as licensed assisted access (LAA), was on its way (see 1504170055). Comments on the resulting PN were due at Thursday in docket 15-105.
As it looks more closely at LTE-unlicensed, the FCC should refrain from rules that would slow the technology's potential growth, CTIA said in a Thursday filing. When the FCC approved an order on the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band, Chairman Tom Wheeler promised a public notice on LTE-U, also known as licensed assisted access (LAA), was on its way (see 1504170055). Comments on the resulting PN were due at Thursday in docket 15-105.
The House is set to vote on its trade preference package on June 11 under expedited rules and the next day will take up Trade Promotion Authority, Trade Adjustment Assistance and Customs Reauthorization, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said late on June 10. McCarthy outlined the plans in a press release following a Republican caucus conference. That message marks the first concrete timeline from House Republican leadership for trade votes in this Congress.