Broadband deployment has gained traction this year as a campaign issue for gubernatorial candidates, government and industry observers told us in interviews, but it still isn’t viewed as a marquee component for most campaigns. Broadband has been a campaign issue in multiple contests this election cycle, taking a special prominence in Iowa and New York. Incumbent governors in the two states -- Terry Branstad, R-Iowa, and Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y. -- have both issued plans to encourage broadband development as part of their re-election bids. Recent polls have shown both Branstad and Cuomo leading their opponents by double digits.

The FCC plans to deliver its Communications Act Section 257 triennial review to Congress “in the near term,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., in a letter released Thursday. “I recognize the concern you raise regarding timely reports and current data,” Wheeler said. “Since becoming Chairman, I have made it a priority to review and improve FCC processes, including our efforts to meet our statutory reporting obligations.” The agency is “actively working” on that review, Wheeler said. That section of the act refers to agency’s “mandate to identify and eliminate market-entry barriers for small businesses and entrepreneurs,” as Wheeler phrased it in the letter. Wheeler referred to his recent testimony before the House Small Business Committee and the efforts the agency has taken to address diversity issues in the media and wireless spaces. The commission's last 257 triennial report, the 2009 report, was issued in March 2011.

The FTC’s lawsuit against AT&T for allegedly misleading its customers over promised unlimited data programs and subsequently throttling some of those users’ data arrangements has put the agency squarely in the mobile regulatory space, said industry lawyers in interviews. The suit announced Tuesday alleges AT&T throttled or slowed data speeds of millions of unlimited data users since October 2011, sometimes after the consumer had used only 2 GB of data. AT&T throttled its unlimited data plan users more than 25 million times, affecting 3.5 million unique users, said the suit. The FTC is seeking injunctive relief against AT&T and expects restitution for affected consumers to be worth millions of dollars, said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez in a conference call Tuesday. The carrier disagreed with the allegations.

The FTC’s lawsuit against AT&T for allegedly misleading its customers over promised unlimited data programs and subsequently throttling some of those users’ data arrangements has put the agency squarely in the mobile regulatory space, said industry lawyers in interviews. The suit announced Tuesday alleges AT&T throttled or slowed data speeds of millions of unlimited data users since October 2011, sometimes after the consumer had used only 2 GB of data. AT&T throttled its unlimited data plan users more than 25 million times, affecting 3.5 million unique users, said the suit. The FTC is seeking injunctive relief against AT&T and expects restitution for affected consumers to be worth millions of dollars, said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez in a conference call Tuesday. The carrier disagreed with the allegations.

CenturyLink won't file a petition for reconsideration on the FCC Wireline Bureau’s decision to approve the proposed Level 3/tw telecom deal, a CenturyLink spokeswoman said Monday. CenturyLink had not pushed the FCC to deny the merger, but did urge the agency to impose conditions on the approval, including a requirement Level 3 give CenturyLink and other incumbent local exchange carriers access to the entrance conduit at Level 3’s on-net buildings (see 1410240028). The commission has previously ruled that LECs don't have a reciprocal right to gain access to the facilities of a competitive LEC under the Telecommunications Act’s Section 251(b)(4), the bureau said in an order Friday. Revisiting the determination of reciprocity is better done under a separate proceeding, the bureau said. Level 3 and tw telecom had argued the deal would improve competition because Level 3’s global footprint and tw telecom’s more extensive operations in metropolitan areas would allow it to more effectively compete for customers. “On balance, we find that any potential loss of competition that may occur as a result of the transaction is outweighed by the public interest benefits that will likely result from this increased competition,” the bureau said. The companies' shareholders still need to approve the deal Tuesday, a Level 3 spokeswoman told us. The FCC approval "does not come as a surprise. There is very little overlap between the two networks ... so the deal wasn't expected to raise anti-trust concerns," said Equity Research Senior Analyst Jennifer Fritzsche in a note to investors Monday.

The FCC seems likely to increase the broadband speed requirement for getting Connect America Fund funding, and the agency could increase the amount of E-rate funding, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly predicted in a speech Monday at an NTCA event. O’Rielly also urged the organization to push for USF reform this year so the commission would be able to move on to other issues, like allowing rate-of-return carriers to get CAF support as they want, O’Rielly said. He pledged to “do what I can to push for rate-of-return reform” by summer and called it “a necessary part of meeting our obligation under the statute to ensure that all consumers have access to reasonably comparable services at reasonably comparable rates.”

The FCC seems likely to increase the broadband speed requirement for getting Connect America Fund funding, and the agency could increase the amount of E-rate funding, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly predicted in a speech Monday at an NTCA event. O’Rielly also urged the organization to push for USF reform this year so the commission would be able to move on to other issues, like allowing rate-of-return carriers to get CAF support as they want, O’Rielly said. He pledged to “do what I can to push for rate-of-return reform” by summer and called it “a necessary part of meeting our obligation under the statute to ensure that all consumers have access to reasonably comparable services at reasonably comparable rates.”

Federal infrastructure funding provides critical benefits to local communities and economies, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill need to act quickly to provide long-term solvency to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), said National Association of Counties President Riki Hokama in an Oct. 22 letter (here) to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio. President Barack Obama signed into law in August a bill that authorized federal spending for highway projects through May 31, 2015 (see 14081001). The Highway and Transportation Funding Act, HR-5021 (here), also gave the HTF nearly $11 billion to fill its coffers. Hokama did not specify how lawmakers should reform the fund’s revenue strategy, but emphasized that uncertainty surrounding the fund is preventing some highway projects from taking place. Some lawmakers have lashed out at raising corporate taxes to make the fund solvent (see 14050625). Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., pushed House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., in early October to find a way to fix Highway Trust Fund insolvency over the long-term, although she also did not offer a specific remedy. The cost of construction may also threaten highway projects by outpacing inflation, so a long-term trust fund solution is even more critical, said the Oct. 22 letter.

The FCC’s inmate calling service rulemaking notice (http://bit.ly/1xaqAVP), released Wednesday, lays out options for setting interstate and intrastate phone rates, and barring or limiting commission and ancillary charges, as expected. It explores in more detail taking “a market-based approach” to encourage competition to reduce rates, while also ensuring “fair but not excessive ICS compensation.” The further notice, which was approved Oct. 17 (see 1410170047), also seeks comment on the agency’s legal authority to enact further reforms beyond last year’s interim interstate rate caps.

Neustar is petitioning the FCC for a declaratory ruling to throw out the North American Numbering Council’s recommendation that Telcordia be named the next local number portability administrator and that the LNPA selection process be reopened, alleging that NANC and a working group violated federal transparency laws.Neustar, according to a number of ex parte filings filed as recently as last Friday (see 1410220037), had been pressing the commission to allow it to continue serving as the LNPA. The company is arguing that it had been performing the function “flawlessly” and raising questions about Telcordia’s ability to not favor certain companies and questioning the adequacy of its plan.