After several extensions, Vonage is in compliance with the FCC’s rule banning fake ringing tones, it told the FCC in a letter Thursday (http://bit.ly/1l9er2f). Vonage “has undertaken significant efforts to come into compliance with the Rule on such a short deadline,” it said.
Neustar urged the full FCC to take responsibility for selection of a new Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA), rather than delegating that authority to the Wireline Bureau. Selection of a neutral numbering administrator is a “Commission responsibility that is not within the authority of the Bureau,” Neustar said in a letter to the FCC Monday (http://bit.ly/RmOrDw). “Given the significance of the LNPA-selection decision, the Commission should not delegate that decision to the Wireline Competition Bureau but should instead address the issue in an order by the full Commission,” Neustar said. “The Commission has not, to date, made any such delegation of authority, and it should not do so.” The bureau has approved a “framework” to govern evaluation of proposals by North American Portability Management LLC and the North American Numbering Council (NANC), but “nothing in any prior Commission order has authorized the Bureau to act on the NANC’s recommendation,” Neustar said. Neustar previously asked the Wireline Bureau to mandate a new round of bids, which the bureau declined to do (CD Feb 12 p7).
If the FCC plans to revise “core elements” of the Connect American Fund Phase II program -- such as the cost model or the challenge process -- it should reopen all core elements to eliminate aspects that are not competitively neutral, the American Cable Association said in meetings with aides to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday (http://bit.ly/1ijdiBs). For CAF Phase II competitive bidding to be successful, the maximum number of qualified providers need to participate, ACA said. Many of ACA’s small and mid-sized cable operators want to participate, but will only do so if “unreasonable barriers are eliminated,” ACA said. That’s why they're “heartened” to hear the commission is considering streamlining the eligible telecom carrier designation process, ACA said. ACA recommended several changes to CAF Phase II: non-ETCs should be able to apply to become an ETC after winning a bid, and groups that participate in the competitive bidding process should need only one ETC. ACA recommended a 60-90 day shot clock should be instituted for state decisions, and that states be prohibited from imposing requirements in addition to those adopted by the commission.
Price cap ILECs are concerned that the FCC might recommend an increase in the broadband speed requirement for Connect America Fund Phase II buildout (CD April 8 p1), without recommending concurrent changes in other terms for areas where carriers can elect cost model-based support, USTelecom and member ILECs told agency officials last week (http://bit.ly/1nn3HKG). The commission should “postpone commencement of a challenge process” to determine Phase II eligible census blocks until it decides on the speed requirements, USTelecom said. Any increase in speed requirements should also come with a revised 10-year term of support, USTelecom said, which would be “consistent with the substantially increased costs of deploying a higher-speed network.” Currently, Phase II support would be distributed over a five-year period. To the extent the agency proposes to increase the broadband public interest obligations by requiring high-cost eligible telecom carriers to offer high-speed broadband to schools and libraries, “such obligations should apply only to CAF II recipients who knowingly accept or decline funding with the associated obligations,” USTelecom said. Applying new obligations to ETCs who get legacy frozen support is “totally arbitrary,” it said. USTelecom also expressed concern about the schedule for phasing in the local rate floor. “The proposed $3.00 increase to be implemented January 2, 2015, followed 18 months later by another increase in excess of $3.00 will create rate shock among consumers and exceeds the threshold established in several states for the level of local rate increases that can be implemented without time-consuming and expensive state rate cases,” it said.
Qualified interconnected VoIP providers should get direct access to phone numbers, Vonage told aides to every FCC commissioner Wednesday and Thursday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1eqYSzK). The commission has developed an “extensive record” over the last three years, including “real-world data from the numbering trial,” that demonstrates the benefits of direct access, Vonage said. Direct access promotes IP interconnection, the VoIP provider said: During its numbering trials, it was able to reach IP interconnection agreements with multiple providers, including Verizon. “There is little doubt that Vonage would be able to greatly expand its IP interconnections if the Commission were to adopt its proposed rule allowing direct access by interconnected VoIP providers, as the value of an IP interconnection arrangement for a potential IP interconnection partner is directly related to the volume of customer telephone numbers that Vonage can provide access to under the IP interconnection arrangement,” the VoIP provider said. IP interconnection drives several consumer benefits, such as the provision of innovative products, lower costs and improved service quality, Vonage said: “Granting direct access to telephone numbers to qualified interconnected VoIP providers is a simple, concrete step, supported by an extensive record, that the Commission should take now to advance the IP transition."
The FCC needs to make continued Lifeline program overhaul a priority, the “Lifeline Reform 2.0 Coalition” told the agency in a letter Monday. The coalition is comprised of Telrite, Blue Jay Wireless, Global Connection of America and i-wireless. The Lifeline program would benefit from a rule change permitting eligible telecom carriers (ETCs) to retain proof of eligibility for audit purposes, and to “respond to negative media stories that claim an ETC did not require proof of eligibility, the coalition said. ETCs should be required to do a non-commission-based review and approval of all enrollments, the group said. Minimum standards for state eligibility databases would enable real-time enrollment and “guard against denying Lifeline service to eligible consumers,” the group said. The coalition also asked for a safe harbor from enforcement actions for alleged duplicate enrollments for Lifeline subscribers that have been submitted to the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) or a similar state database. Commission rules don’t define a “duplicate” for purposes of the one-per-household rule, the coalition said. “Despite the lack of clarity regarding duplicate accounts prior to NLAD implementation, the Commission has undertaken a misguided and harmful process of proposing multi-million dollar fines against ETCs for failing to eradicate 100 percent of end-user fraud allegedly perpetrated in the form of intra-company duplicate enrollments in the Lifeline program,” it wrote. “The Commission should establish a safe harbor reflecting a minimum level of due diligence that a Lifeline ETC should employ to screen for duplicates.” A Lifeline provider that has conducted appropriate due diligence to identify duplicates should not be liable for retroactive reimbursements to USF, the coalition said.
AT&T’s “advanced discussions” on deploying gigabit fiber broadband to six North Carolina cities shows incumbent providers “have moved a long way in their thinking” about next-generation network deployments, said Gig.U Executive Director Blair Levin Friday during a speech at the Connecticut Gigabit Summit. AT&T said Thursday it was entering final negotiations for the deployments with the North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN), an initiative among six municipal governments and four research universities -- Duke, North Carolina State, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest (CD April 11 p14). The AT&T negotiations don’t mean “we've hit a tipping point but we know a lot more about what any provider, including incumbents, need,” Levin, former manager of the National Broadband Plan, said in a prepared version of the speech. Although NCNGN’s “multi-community collaboration entailed upfront costs and a feeling of slogging that often accompanies multi-stakeholder coordination, it brought scale to the project,” Levin said. Since scale is important to providers, regional approaches “may be the only way some communities obtain an upgrade,” he said. NCNGN used a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to obtain feedback on the AT&T proposal from all community stakeholders, which “is a model that can be utilized by other communities throughout the country,” Levin said. The RFP process works only if local governments get flexibility, so “taking options off the table takes away the creativity and leverage local governments need to obtain new investments,” he said.
The FCC should implement updates to the existing high-cost rules “as soon as possible” to strike a balance between preserving and advancing universal service in areas served by rural rate-of-return regulated LECs, NTCA told aides to every commissioner except the chairman Wednesday, said an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1sNJzoX). “Such updates must ensure that predictable and sufficient support is available both for recovery of prior investments consistent with rules in place at the time those investments were made, and also for the additional future investments that are essential to ensure access by rural consumers to reasonably comparable services at reasonably comparable rates going forward.” The commission should proceed with “substantial caution” with respect to consideration of policies that might be based on the “purported presence of an ‘unsubsidized competitor,'” NTCA said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau approved average schedule formulas as proposed by the National Exchange Carrier Association, it said in an order Thursday (http://bit.ly/1oR27VI). NECA proposed to revise the formulas for average schedule interstate settlement disbursements in connection with provision of interstate access services for July 1 through June 30, 2015. Formula changes will decrease settlement rates by about 1 percent, at constant demand, the order said.
AT&T has begun working with special access customers to migrate them from legacy time-division multiplexing services to IP services. The carrier said Thursday it has negotiated multiple agreements enabling TelePacific Communications to “accelerate” its migration to IP-based services like Ethernet data and IP voice. AT&T asked the FCC to approve its tariff revision in December eliminating long-term discounts for special access services. After the FCC suspended the tariff for investigation (CD Dec 10 p1), AT&T withdrew it and announced it would refile soon with “more evidence” (CD Jan 9 p1). The company hasn’t yet refiled, a spokesman said. TelePacific CEO Dick Jalkut praised AT&T’s “flexibility,” in a statement. TelePacific is a California CLEC catering to business customers. An AT&T spokesman declined to disclose the terms of the contract. “Generally speaking, wholesale customers are at different stages on their migration path to IP,” he said. “Although many customers are already moving to replace TDM services with IP-based services, we understand that others may be on a longer migration path to IP and that, as a result, may want to continue to purchase TDM services in the near term. As our discussions continue, we will be flexible to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers throughout the course of the entire TDM-to-IP transition. There isn’t a one-size fits all approach.” Willkie Farr attorney Thomas Jones, who represents CLECs, said without appropriate FCC regulation “designed to constrain AT&T’s market power” over wires connecting to business customers, “AT&T will always have the power to dictate the terms of sale for local transmission facilities purchased by its competitors.” Regardless of which electronics are connected to AT&T’s wires, “AT&T has powerful and understandable incentives to use its market power over wireline connections to businesses to slow roll innovation and diminish competition,” Jones told us. That ultimately leaves AT&T “in charge of the transition to IP and packet-based services,” Jones said. “This is, for all of us, the inconvenient truth of telecommunications policy.”