The definition and purpose of telephone numbers confronted FCC and industry engineers at a numbering testbed workshop Tuesday. “The whole point is to explore as many reasonable solutions as possible” to learn what works well, said FCC Chief Technologist Henning Schulzrinne. Attendees considered what purpose telephone numbers should be used for “besides supporting real-time communications”; whether it’s possible to design a “fully-distributed ‘meshed’ system that does not rely on a master database” of number assignments; and how caching might be built into the architecture to “facilitate robustness.” Any new system has to do a much better job of presenting information about the entity to nontechnical users, Schulzrinne told the several dozen participants. It needs to be able to address consumer fraud, as well as more traditional, “not outright criminal, things that people do,” such as nuisance calls, he said. The group discussed how best to route numbers in an IP-based world, and some suggested a potential Domain Name System-like approach. “What makes a phone number unique” is that it’s a global identifier not associated with a specific provider of services, associated on a long-term basis with a person, organization or service; and -- compared with domain names -- it’s “reasonably international” in terms of usability, Schulzrinne said. It’s also usable outside the local domain, unlike, for instance, a Facebook ID, he said. As for “details” such as how many digits phone numbers contain, or whether they're assigned by one entity or another? “I'm agnostic on that,” Schulzrinne said.
Consumers are unable to dial 911 directly at tens of thousands of buildings across the country, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai told a national Emergency Number Association conference Monday, according to prepared remarks (http://fcc.us/1gv9NIT). Pai sent letters in January to CEOs of the ten largest hotel chains in the U.S., asking how many of their hotels required dialing 9 before calling 911 (CD Jan 14 p14). The American Hotel and Lodging Association gave Pai survey results showing that guests can reach emergency services by dialing 911 without an access code in only 44.5 percent of franchised properties, and 32 percent of independent hotels. The association has convened an industry-wide task force to develop best practices, and individual hotels are working on upgrading their telephone systems, Pai said. “My office will keep working with the hospitality industry on solving this problem. And I'm optimistic that the number of hotels where guests can reach emergency services by dialing 911 will keep growing.” Pai on Monday turned his attention to offices and schools, which also frequently require an access code to get an outside line. His letter asks multi-line phone system vendors about the accessibility of 911, and whether they have plans to upgrade systems. “The greatest weapon in our arsenal is awareness,” Pai said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted a petition for partial reconsideration filed by Farmers Telephone Co. of Riceville, Iowa, it said in an order on reconsideration Friday (http://bit.ly/OFVup9). “As a result, five census blocks previously deemed as unserved in the Connect America Phase I challenge process will now be treated as served,” wrote Deputy Chief Carol Mattey. Windstream had elected to serve 27 locations in the five disputed census blocks, the order said. Windstream has until April 7 to elect to receive the $19,800 in incremental support it was going to receive, by identifying an appropriate number of replacement locations in previously authorized blocks, the notice said.
The FCC released Version 4.1 of its Connect America Cost Model Friday (http://fcc.us/OFUCAT). Release of the document is part of the agency’s “continuing open, transparent, and deliberative process” to adopt a Phase II cost mode, the Wireline Bureau said in a public notice (http://fcc.us/OFUWQ1). The new model contains updated State Broadband Initiative Round 8 data, modifies certain default input values and makes several technical changes, the bureau said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau announced a new “rate floor” of $20.46 a month Thursday (http://bit.ly/1eWEVvf). It’s part of the agency’s attempts to phase out excessive subsidies for basic phone service, “which allowed some phone companies to charge their customers as little as $5 a month” when the average suburban or urban customer was paying $16, said Chief Julie Veach in a statement (http://fcc.us/Ny4wTU). “The reforms have been gradually eliminating these excessive subsidies to level the playing field for all consumers and contain the cost of the program, which is funded by universal service fees ultimately paid by consumers.” A new rate survey found that the average monthly rate in urban and suburban areas is $20.46, higher than the agency expected, an FCC official told us, so the bureau is seeking comment on extending the phase-in. Comments in docket 10-90 are due March 21, replies March 31. Commissioner Ajit Pai opposes the rate floor, saying in a statement that it’s equivalent to “a rate hike of up to 46 percent in the next few months.” Pai opposed what he called an “FCC-initiated increase” in rural phone bills (http://fcc.us/OFnuJ2): “Why should the FCC saddle rural Americans with rate increases when doing so may not save the Universal Service Fund a dime and may in fact divert scarce funds away from broadband deployment? And why should the FCC override state-set rates to raise costs for consumers?” The economy is good for many in Washington, D.C., but “a recovery hasn’t yet reached much of rural America,” Pai said. “Let’s not add to the challenges our fellow citizens face by increasing their phone bills. Instead, let’s freeze the rate floor indefinitely and reexamine this misguided policy."
Some last-mile ISPs are playing “chicken” with the Internet, said Level 3 General Counsel Michael Mooney in a blog post Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1j4E3Mr). Contrary to popular belief, Internet access for the end-user doesn’t necessarily slow down simply because lots of people are using the Internet at the same time, Mooney said. It also slows down when “ISPs try to strong arm the content providers into paying” by “refusing to increase the size of their networks unless their tolls are paid,” he said. “These ISPs are placing a bet that because content providers have no other way to get their content to the ISPs subscribers, that they will cave in and start paying them.” Level 3 has in many cases “offered to sit with the ISP to hammer out a fair, equitable, scalable and resilient network architecture, but to no avail,” Mooney said. VoIP calls, online video and interactive Web browsing are all at risk, he said. “Some say network neutrality is a solution looking for a problem. We disagree.” The FCC should address interconnection issues as part of its net neutrality proceeding, Mooney wrote in a follow-up comment. “In the same way as last mile ISPs should not be able to discriminate directly against third party provided content, they should not be able to do the same thing indirectly by forcing content companies and intermediary providers into a no win choice of either paying the ISP arbitrary tolls or suffering through lower bitrates and degraded service quality for streaming video.” Netflix recently agreed to a paid peering deal with Comcast, and others besides Mooney want the FCC to address whether such pacts should be allowed (CD March 5 p1).
Comments are due April 3 in response to a petition by the National Exchange Carrier Association on behalf of its rate-of-return member carriers asking the FCC for a waiver of section 51.909(a)(4) of its rules for the 2014-15 tariff period, said a public notice Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1j4Gte7). That section requires NECA to adjust its switched access rate caps if a carrier enters or exits the association. “NECA states that a waiver would avoid the need for tariff revisions at the federal and state levels required to effectuate de minimis changes in rates associated with 2014 pool election changes and will better serve the public interest than strict enforcement for the upcoming year,” the notice said.
The FCC special access comment deadline was extended to Oct. 6, said a notice in Tuesday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/OtSqfF). The nearly five-month extension will give the FCC more time to collect data on the special access market before the submission of comments and replies, the notice said. The Wireline Bureau expects to begin collecting data this summer, after the Office of Management and Budget approves the collection, the notice said. Replies in docket 05-25 will be due Nov. 17.
The Association of BellTel Retirees -- a group of retirees from Verizon Communications, Verizon predecessors Bell Atlantic, Nynex and GTE, and Verizon spinoff Idearc Media -- said Tuesday it’s pursuing two resolutions at Verizon’s next shareholder meeting that would give more administrative power to the telco’s shareholders. Verizon’s annual shareholder meeting is May 1 in Phoenix. One resolution would require Verizon’s board to obtain shareholder approval for severance and termination payment packages offered to senior executives when they are above a specific threshold, the group said. A second resolution would amend Verizon’s company bylaws to allow shareholders to nominate a “limited” number of members of the telco’s board so Verizon management “will not have sole power to select all board members,” the BellTel group said in a news release. The group said it has previously won votes on three other resolutions at shareholder meetings and has negotiated eight other proposals off the ballot.
The special access market is “in the midst of a major transition in terms of technology, consumer demand and competition,” USTelecom told an aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1qMGILO). It’s “essential” that cable companies be required to provide “the same detailed market data as other competitors in this marketplace,” since cable’s role in the market “has been one of the most debated questions” in connection with the pending data request, USTelecom said. CLECs have argued that cable companies don’t offer competitive alternatives to business customers due to technological inadequacy or lack of “business acumen,” yet “somehow, the cable industry will exceed $10 billion in business services revenues this year,” USTelecom said. Cable network capabilities have also “long been able to deliver the equivalent of ILEC TDM-based dedicated connections,” the association of ILECs said. It’s crucial that the commission analyze “cable’s highly successful participation in the business services marketplace,” it said.