The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks comment on petitions filed by CTIA and USTelecom seeking clarification and reconsideration, or, in the alternative, waiver of three high-cost universal service rules (http://xrl.us/bne89z). The telecom associations have asked the commission to clarify that the broadband reporting obligations in section 54.313(a)(11) of the commission’s rules, and the rule requiring five-year service quality improvement plans and associated progress reports, only apply to carriers receiving Connect America Fund Phase II support. USTelecom also seeks clarification that the Interstate Access Support portion of frozen high-cost support is not subject to the broadband deployment certifications required by section 54.313(c) of the commission’s rules. Comments in docket 10-90 are due Aug. 6, replies Aug. 21.

CTIA and USTelecom want the FCC to clarify certain broadband reporting obligations in the USF/intercarrier compensation rules. The commission previously denied a request by USTelecom to reconsider imposing new reporting requirements on eligible telecom carriers whose support is being eliminated, but “did not discuss considerations for ETCs whose legacy support is being eliminated,” the groups wrote in their petition for reconsideration (http://xrl.us/bnc4oh). The commission also needs to address reporting requirements for incumbent wireline ETCs whose support is subject to elimination, they said. The commission’s third order on reconsideration “leaves unsettled what reporting and related requirements actually apply to wireless and wireline ETCs,” they said. The groups asked the commission to eliminate obligations to collect and file broadband data, which was “potentially called for” in an “ambiguous” section of the order. They also asked the commission to limit the filing of five-year service quality improvement plans and progress reports to ETCs that receive Phase II support, and to eliminate a requirement that an ETC certify that “frozen” Interstate Access Support (IAS) was used for broadband deployment. “This certification is impossible to make because the Commission requires that IAS support be used for other purposes … and carriers cannot spend this funding twice,” they said.

USTelecom petitioned the FCC for review of the Wireline Bureau’s order setting limits on high-cost loop support recovery. “Uncertainty and lack of clarity around present and future effects” of the benchmarks, which are based on a quantile regression analysis, “pose risks to the delivery and expansion of rural broadband availability,” the group said (http://xrl.us/bncvkm). USTelecom argued that the benchmarks will not only impact those carriers affected by reductions this year, but will also result in a “chilling effect on investment for rate-of-return ILECs whose support is currently unchanged.” And because companies don’t understand how the regression analysis works, it will be ineffective in providing incentives for prudent investment, USTelecom said. The association of ILECs asked the full commission to postpone implementation of the order until it can resolve concerns about “accuracy, transparency and predictability.” USTelecom is just the latest of several organizations to seek review (CD June 25 p14).

FCC options of scaling back program access rules drew no support from telcos, DBS providers and small cable operators, while operators that also own programming want the ban on exclusive deals for such content fully sunset. That’s according to initial comments on a rulemaking notice (CD March 22 p8). The document sought comment on whether to sunset the rules -- last extended for five years and expiring Oct. 5. Options the commission sought comment on other than keeping the rules or removing them in their entirety drew no support in docket 12-68. USTelecom and some others linked broadband service to keeping the rules, as cable rivals have in the past on video competition, saying subscription-video provider access to channels affiliated with operators helps them sell video and broadband.

Parts of many cellular networks potentially face traffic overload due to increasing video traffic, said Tom Soroka, USTelecom vice president-engineering and technology, in a webinar hosted by USTelecom. “No doubt, there’s been a video explosion,” he said. “Just about any mobile backhaul network needs the highest capacity they can get their hands on.” Video will consume two-thirds of mobile data traffic worldwide, 7.6 exabytes out of the 10.6 used per month, by 2016, according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index for 2011-2016 released in February (http://xrl.us/bigzmr). “There’s no one grand silver bullet solution,” Soroka said. Service providers will have to conduct cost-benefit analyses to determine the extent of network optimization in order to meet the increasing data demands, he said. Adtran posed one solution in the webinar: Optical Networking Edge, designed to help network providers offer a reliable, scalable network. “Years ago, most backhaul was over copper circuits,” Soroka said. “Now it’s moving toward packet over optical solutions. The current phase will be to eliminate as much transport overhead as possible,” he said, citing the use of Internet Protocol over optical circuits in the next phase of backhaul transformation.

Companies on both sides of the special access debate continued their eighth-floor FCC rounds this week. USTelecom met with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Tuesday to encourage the commission to pursue mandatory data requests it said would demonstrate “robust competition” for high-capacity special access services to business customers (http://xrl.us/bnbsdn). The group urged the agency to make no “rush to judgment,” but rather to wait until it had all the data it needed to make an “informed decision.” Meanwhile Tuesday, Sprint Nextel met with Clyburn and aides to argue against the current pricing flexibility triggers, saying there’s already an “extensive record demonstrating lack of competition in the special access marketplace,” and additional evidence is “not needed” for the commission to suspend the triggers while it develops a new pricing flexibility framework (http://xrl.us/bnbsdv).

President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Thursday that aims to make the deployment of broadband infrastructure more efficient and less expensive, White House officials said. The order encourages a “dig-once” policy for broadband deployment that calls on federal agencies to provide guidance to states for including broadband conduit during the construction of federal highways. House and Senate Democrats supported the administration’s order, which they said would promote broadband deployment with bigger savings for taxpayers.

The FCC shouldn’t make any substantive changes to the special access pricing flexibility triggers until it gathers and analyzes competitive data, large telcos that sell such services have been telling commissioners in meetings this week. Those who buy special access have continued to express frustration at a system they say favors incumbents in areas where there’s no competition, allowing them to raise prices without fear of losing customers. A draft order that’s been circulating for over a week plans to seek data to reform the 1999 pricing flexibility rules, and FCC officials have said the existing special access framework is “broken” (CD June 5 p3).

USTelecom encouraged the FCC to pursue mandatory data requests so competitive providers will provide data they are “unlikely to voluntarily provide,” said an ex parte filing detailing a meeting Thursday between USTelecom Vice President Glenn Reynolds and an aide to Commissioner Robert McDowell (http://xrl.us/bnbkmu). ILECs, in contrast, have provided extensive data “demonstrating robust competition for the provision of high-capacity services to business customers,” Reynolds said. An FCC “rush to judgment” on special access is “perplexing” given how competitive the markets are where AT&T is requesting Phase II pricing flexibility relief, he said. USTelecom represents large ILECs including AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink.

USTelecom representatives raised concerns about a provision in an FCC order released last week approving a temporary waiver the group sought of the June 1 deadline for implementing new Lifeline eligibility rules on eligible telecom carriers (CD June 1 p5). The group raised concerns about a statement in the order: “During the waiver period, in accordance with sections 54.410(b)(2)(i) and 54.410(c)(2)(i), these states must provide notice to the ETCs that their subscribers have complied with the Lifeline eligibility requirements and have executed a certification form.” USTelecom said the provision draws a conclusion it should not regarding ETCs. “While this language may address the issue of whether ETCs are entitled to seek reimbursement prior to having received customer certifications, it takes for granted a very important factual matter, that is, whether states have actually modified (or intend to modify during the waiver period) their processes to seek and collect end-user certifications,” USTelecom said (http://xrl.us/bna5sn). “It stands to reason that a state cannot send notice to ETCs that customers have executed a certification form if it has not actually required customers to execute such form. And this concern is not merely a hypothetical one, as the regulatory agencies from at least two jurisdictions that are covered by the waiver have already acknowledged that they will not be able to comply with the June 1st requirement to collect end-user certifications.”