Competify hammered USTelecom white papers that cited competitive success of the broadband business market served by special access services (see 1602110061). "USTelecom represents an industry in denial," Competify emailed Thursday night. The USTelecom white papers "follow the same tired logic that we’ve heard for years," said the group of CLECs, tech companies and others. "Connections to individual buildings remain a competitive bottleneck. Twenty years after monopoly services were allegedly opened to competition, the majority of business still have only one dedicated connection -- the incumbent telco's. Over the past ten years, there have been multiple studies, including the FCC’s own data, demonstrating what every consumer knows to be true -- that broadband incumbents are overcharging all of us billions of dollars annually.”
Several changes to the Lifeline program proposed by commenters in the FCC proceeding would make it "significantly more challenging" for the disabled to participate in Lifeline, said disability advocates in an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 11-42. The advocates "strongly oppose" the use of a voucher system for the administration and distribution of program subsidies, they said. A voucher system would require recipients to physically visit or otherwise actively contact a provider to be able to continue receiving service on a monthly basis, said the American Foundation for the Blind, Arc, Hearing Loss Association of America, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and a few other groups. Such a requirement would impose unnecessary burdens on the significant segment of current program participants who face various physical, cognitive and communications challenges, the groups said. If the commission were to adopt the use of vouchers, many qualified recipients with disabilities may be at the risk of losing this vital and affordable communications link, the filing said. "We therefore urge the Commission to maintain the current system of automatic deposit of benefits on a consumer’s Lifeline phone and ensure that the benefits remain easy to use and maintain for consumers with disabilities."
USTelecom issued three white papers on the business broadband market since the 1996 Telecom Act. The papers look at the Internet economy growth, the rise of competition in the broadband business market and the FCC's related role (see here, here and here), said a USTelecom release. "These papers document the huge successes in this marketplace, which are exactly the competitive outcome Congress envisioned, and that the FCC has said it wants to see,” said USTelecom CEO Walter McCormick. “We hope the FCC will innovate with us by modernizing policy and regulation so industry can leverage the competition we have today to a greater future for tomorrow.” The FCC is reviewing special access services in the business broadband market.
The FCC authorized Midwest Energy Cooperative and Northern Valley Communications to receive funding for rural broadband experiments, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Tuesday in docket 10-90. Northern Valley was authorized $2 million to provide broadband to 411 locations in 258 census blocks in South Dakota, and Midwest was authorized $211,532 to provide broadband to 421 locations in 31 census blocks of Michigan.
Alaska Communications and USTelecom opposed General Communications Inc.'s petition for the FCC to reconsider its decision to relieve local telcos of equal access and dialing parity duties in rural Alaska as part of a broader order on a USTelecom forbearance request (see 1601280031). Both entities' opposition filings were posted Tuesday in docket 14-192. The FCC should dismiss GCI's petition as defective, or deny it because it failed to show the commission erred in providing the forbearance relief from the "outdated" rules, said Alaska Communications, which already had told us it would oppose the petition (see 1601290045). "The decision to forbear was a reasoned response to the dramatic changes in the wireline voice market since these requirements were established, and the equal access and dialing parity obligations are no longer necessary for competition and consumer protection going forward," USTelecom said.
Inmate calling service providers and their critics generally continued to disagree on the need for additional ICS regulation being considered in an FCC Further NPRM, following up on initial comments (see 1601200053). In reply comments mostly posted Tuesday in docket 12-375, Securus and Telmate urged the commission not to expand ICS regulation, though Pay Tel Communications opposed some potential new mandates and supported others. The Human Rights Defense Center, Martha Wright Petitioners, Prison Policy Initiative and other advocates for inmates and their families called for the agency to adopt various new regulations. The National Sheriffs' Association said the FCC should take a "hands-off approach" and allow video calling, video visitation and other new technologies, and shouldn't ban exclusive contracts.
Florida Power & Light was dismissive of Verizon's request for urgent FCC intervention in their pole attachment dispute (see 1602030050). "Verizon needs to be saved from itself because it has chosen, unilaterally and unlawfully, to withhold from FPL and its customers nearly $6.5 million, an amount which increases with every passing day, pursuant to a contract under which both companies operated amicably in a successful infrastructure development partnership for decades. Had Verizon adhered to the Commission's precedent prohibiting self-help or its own standard customer service contract policy, there would be no parallel litigation, no pending appeal and no default," said FPL in a filing Monday in docket 15-73. Contrary to Verizon's "misrepresentation," the utility made no threat to "disrupt service" or "remove Verizon's facilities," but has said only that if the telco doesn't cure its default, FPL will "terminate Verizon's rights to attach to any of FPL's poles. ... While FPL has put Verizon on notice that FPL is asserting and preserving its rights to collect the millions Verizon owes, Verizon can easily solve the problem of its own making at any time by paying its debt."
New telecom revenue reporting materials were released, said the FCC Wireline Bureau in a public notice in docket 06-122 listed in Tuesday's Daily Digest. It said the materials include (1) the annual Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet (FCC Form 499-A) and accompanying instructions (FCC Form 499-A Instructions) to be used to report 2015 revenue, and (2) the quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet (FCC Form 499-Q) and accompanying instructions (FCC Form 499-Q Instructions) to be used to report projected and collected revenue on a quarterly basis in 2016. The worksheet materials included various revisions after no comments were filed on the proposed revisions, said the PN, which was posted along with the forms on a bureau Web page.
CenturyLink asked a court to stay FCC inmate calling service rate caps pending further judicial review of ICS rules. "A stay is warranted because the rate caps will prevent CenturyLink from recovering its reasonable cost of providing ICS in several jurisdictions, in violation of the Communications Act's requirement that the Commission 'ensure that all [ICS] providers are fairly compensated,'" the telco said in a motion filed Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the consolidated case (Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461). CenturyLink said the rate caps violated the act in other ways, and the telco is likely to succeed on the merits of its challenge and suffer irreparable harm absent a stay. The telco said its bid for an administrative stay is still pending at the commission (see 1601280033), but it filed its request with the D.C. Circuit to meet its deadline for any further stay motions (see 1602040023). Global Tel*Link, Securus and Telmate previously filed stay requests (see 1601270029 and 1601290067).
CenturyLink and USTelecom sought to back AT&T's challenge to FCC decisions declining to remove price-cap telco "eligible telecom carrier" obligations to offer voice service in high-cost areas where they no longer receive USF subsidies under a broadband-oriented Connect America Fund (see 1601110036). "The result is an unfunded mandate," CenturyLink said in a Thursday motion for leave to intervene filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is reviewing the case (AT&T v. FCC, No. 16-1002). USTelecom's motion said AT&T is challenging an FCC order issued in response to a USTelecom forbearance petition (see 1512170052). Meanwhile, Bruce Kushnick of the New Networks Institute said the FCC based much of its USTelecom forbearance order "on biased and manipulated information or else major facts were totally ignored." In a filing posted Thursday in docket 14-192, the institute asked the commission to investigate "the data used in this and every related FCC order." Kushnick alleged major telcos have manipulated their accounting to gain regulatory advantages (see 1512230049).