AT&T’s proposed elimination of long-term contracts for special access services (CD Nov 26 p3) would harm competition and hurt consumers, several CLECs said in filings Monday. The competitive providers asked the FCC to reject the proposal, which they claim is effectively an attempt to raise prices. Some said they're heartened by Chairman Tom Wheeler’s remarks Monday (CD Dec 3 p1) on the importance of regulating during market failures. The special access market, they say, is a prime example of a failed market. An AT&T spokesman told us IP is a “superior” technology and will offer a “cost advantage” over current technologies. He directed us to a blog post last week by Senior Vice President-Federal Regulatory Bob Quinn (http://bit.ly/IdRQPS), which cites the benefits of moving from TDM to IP-based services.

The U.S. export procedure for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal may be in violation of international treaties, said a National Associations of Manufacturers (NAM) commissioned report dated November 2013. If foreign nations challenge U.S. LNG and coal export restrictions at the World Trade Organization (WTO), WTO dispute officials may rule in favor of the challengers, said the report. Former WTO Appellate Body Chairman James Bacchus authored the report.

A Republican Senate bill would change how the FCC’s USF doles money out to rural states. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., introduced the USF Equitable Distribution Act of 2013, S-1766, on Nov. 21, and the text of the bill appeared online last week. Ayotte has on multiple occasions in the past year criticized the USF, in particular the amount of money New Hampshire receives relative to its contributions to the fund. The bill’s purpose, according to its text, is “to provide for the equitable distribution of Universal Service funds to rural States.” The short piece of legislation provides for changes to the Communications Act of 1934, proposing the following language be added: “Not less than 75 percent of all amounts collected by providers of interstate telecommunications from consumers in a rural State for the purpose of making contributions … shall be allocated to the provision of universal service to consumers in that rural State.” An aide to Ayotte told us Friday that New Hampshire is a huge net-donor to the USF, receiving fewer than 40 cents for every dollar it contributes, whereas most other rural states are big net-recipients of the USF. The Ayotte bill won’t increase the size of the USF, the aide added. A rural state is defined as one in which “the total population density is not more than 200 people per square mile,” according to the bill. The FCC declined comment on the legislation. FairPoint applauds Ayotte’s efforts “to raise awareness” of areas that don’t see a good return on their USF contributions as well as the bill’s efforts to “remedy the situation” and help create “a fair distribution of USF-based funds,” a spokeswoman for the telco told us. FairPoint offers service in many rural markets across 17 states and serves New Hampshire. S-1766 lists no co-sponsors and is referred to the Commerce Committee.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation faced off in oral argument Tuesday in Washington against the Department of Justice on FBI phone surveillance authority. EFF wants the government to release a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion from January 2010 that the FBI has invoked when explaining its authority to access U.S. citizens’ call records in certain ways. The government has pressed back against EFF’s Freedom of Information Act request from February 2011. Attorneys argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in EFF v. U.S. Department of Justice, case number 12-5363.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation faced off in oral argument Tuesday in Washington against the Department of Justice on FBI phone surveillance authority. EFF wants the government to release a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion from January 2010 that the FBI has invoked when explaining its authority to access U.S. citizens’ call records in certain ways. The government has pressed back against EFF’s Freedom of Information Act request from February 2011. Attorneys argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in EFF v. U.S. Department of Justice, case number 12-5363.

Thousands of small freight brokerage companies might have to shut down Dec. 1 due to the "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century" Act, according to an appeal filed by the Association of Independent Property Brokers & Agents (AIPBA) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. It said one provision of the 600-page transportation bill, Section 32918, requires the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to raise the bond requirement for freight brokers from $10,000 to at least $75,000. FMCSA issued a new rule Oct. 1 to implement the provision, without public participation, AIPBA said. The appeal said FMCSA's manner of enforcing the new bond amount was done improperly, and FMCSA should have to go through proper rulemaking and fact-finding before FMCSA enforces a new bond amount.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has a decidedly different leadership style than former Chairman Julius Genachowski, representatives from public interest groups said in interviews. After a meeting with the public interest community Tuesday, it became clear that Wheeler is more likely to take strong positions than his predecessor, and more likely to reach out to a diverse group of voices, some attendees said. The true test of Wheeler’s inclusive rhetoric will come when he faces a truly politically divisive issue, they said.

Pennsylvania residents could see major changes to their wireline services in the state if the Legislature votes for a bill that would eliminate carrier of last resort obligations (COLR) for local exchange carriers in competitive areas and limit the USF, said industry, two Pennsylvania Public Utility commissioners, the state’s consumer advocate and other interested parties at a House Consumer Affairs Committee hearing Thursday. House Bill 1608, sponsored by Rep. Warren Kampf (R), would remove the PUC’s oversight of ILECs, and it would allows ILECs to self-declare whole exchanges as competitive. The bill would end the state’s USF on Jan. 1, 2019, and prevent the PUC from raising the amount of money contributed to the fund each year.

DENVER -- The three-judge panel that heard an FCC USF case left attorneys impressed with its preparation for the oral argument, the attorneys said in interviews afterward. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday heard a challenge of the FCC 2011 Connect America Fund order, which revamped the rules of the $4.5 billion-a-year fund and set intercarrier compensation on a path toward bill-and-keep (CD Nov 20 p2). “They were engaged,” said Stinson Morrison attorney Harvey Reiter, who argued that the revamp of the USF and intercarrier compensation rules unlawfully hurt his rural CLEC clients. “They followed everything. I was amazed that they could jump from one issue to another. I think the court was pretty active.” But another attorney predicted a possible Supreme Court challenge if the 10th Circuit follows an irrelevant “tangent” in upholding the intercarrier compensation rules.

While the IP transition could see action first, the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum remains one of the highest priorities for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a senior commission official said Wednesday. The auction remains the single issue on which Wheeler is spending the most time, the official said. Some industry observers feared a slight pivot on Wheeler’s part in recent days, highlighted by last Thursday’s blog post promising action in January on the transition (CD Nov 30 p1).