The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld much of the FCC reclassifying broadband service as a Title I Communications Act information service, with some exceptions including on pre-emption for states' own regulations. The ruling also included a partial dissent from Judge Stephen Williams and concurring opinions from Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins.
“Service quality issues remain a high priority” for the California Public Utilities Commission as it closes an investigation into intrastate rural call completion, said a decision cleared Thursday by unanimous consent at commissioners' livestreamed meeting. It said commission staff and others completed tasks from a 2017 decision. Stakeholders should continue raising concerns in proceedings on telecom service quality in emergencies, it said. The CPUC noted it's weighing carriers’ confidentiality claims on a completed study of AT&T and Frontier networks and facilities: “This report gives us additional, in-depth information on service quality issues, and offers a basis for the Commission to consider next steps to address these issues in a more comprehensive and informed way.” Also by consent, the state agency authorized staff to weigh in on an FCC request for comments on information collection due Oct. 3, and an FCC public notice seeking comment by Sept. 30 on an AT&T federal Communications Act Section 214 application in docket 19-238 to discontinue certain services in California and several other states. CPUC members voted 5-0 to extend to Sept. 29, 2020, the statutory deadline in its docket on an interconnection fight between AT&T and Vaya Telecom. That allows for the proceeding’s second phase (see 1909240012) and consideration of a Vaya rehearing request, said Commissioner Liane Randolph.
AT&T and CTIA sought rehearing of a California Public Utilities Commission decision last month to adopt an emergency disaster relief program for customers of communications service providers. CPUC required providers to implement such programs upon a declared state of emergency by the governor or the president when a disaster results in service loss, disruption or degradation. The decision imposed obligations on landline providers “that are contrary to law,” AT&T said in one application posted Tuesday in rulemaking 18-03-011. The carrier “makes significant voluntary efforts” to help customers, but the decision “seeks to turn voluntary aid efforts … into mandates,” which “creates legal problems,” AT&T said. The CPUC is infringing on authority the legislature gave to the governor and the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES), it said. Requiring carriers to provide various products and services for free for a year or more “creates an unconstitutional taking,” it said. Requirements for voicemail are pre-empted because that's an information service not subject to state regulation, and mandates about inside wiring and jacks are unlawful because that’s competitive and deregulated, AT&T said. Having to abide by requirements for 12 months or a period specified by CalOES “is neither explained nor supported by any record evidence or legal authority,” it said. Wireless carriers do much voluntarily, but the CPUC orders imposes “unlawful and inflexible” requirements, CTIA and AT&T Mobility said in a separate rehearing application. “Imposing a rigid set of requirements on carriers will deter wireless providers from tailoring their relief measures to consumer needs.” A VoIP coalition including AT&T, Comcast, Charter Communications, Frontier Communications and the California Cable & Telecommunications Association sought rehearing Wednesday. “Members of the VoIP Coalition have no substantive objection to voluntarily offering support similar to that set forth in the Rules to their VoIP customers,” the coalition said. “However, treating VoIP as a regulated utility service and imposing these disaster relief measures as mandatory requirements on VoIP service exceeds the Commission’s jurisdiction, is preempted by federal law, and should be corrected on rehearing.”
TAMPA -- Local telecom officials and their legal representatives are wary of future federal moves to encroach on their authority. They identified a wide gulf between their need for oversight of and compensation from providers and FCC actions this year and last, plus expected future agency deregulation. In interviews this week on the sidelines of their annual conference, NATOA board members and others had much criticism for the agency.
Rural broadband providers want the FCC to update or clarify eligibility requirements for applicants in its upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auctions to award up to $20 billion in USF dollars to companies that can deliver high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved parts of rural America (see 1908010060). In comments posted through Monday on docket 19-126, industry groups differed on whether and how to expand the pool of applicants that could receive the federal funding to deliver high-speed internet service to remote communities.
TAMPA -- Municipal relations with carriers are generally better than with the FCC, some local representatives told us Monday. A lawyer for localities and a consultant to them criticized the FCC for tensions. A cable and telecom official from a Washington suburb and a NATOA board member who's a utility-company lawyer said they're getting along OK with wireless-service providers.
A fight's brewing in California over whether a state commission can study broadband affordability. Consumer advocates urged the California Public Utilities Commission last week to keep broadband part of a proposed framework for reviewing affordability of essential services. AT&T, cable and small telecom carriers disagreed, saying federal law stops the state commission from scrutinizing broadband.
Some Senate Indian Affairs Committee members voiced skepticism Wednesday about the extent of FCC efforts to improve outreach to tribal governments to improve those entities' access to spectrum. The hearing focused on GAO's 2018 findings in its committee-sought study on tribal spectrum access. That report found deficiencies in FCC outreach, and the commission said at the time of the study's November report it would follow through on the recommendations (see 1811140069). Senate Indian Affairs members last year criticized what's seen as deficiencies in FCC practices for determining broadband coverage on tribal lands (see 1810030055).
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks told the Competitive Carriers Association he met with CCA members before a keynote Tuesday to discuss security of network equipment from Huawei and other Chinese equipment makers (see 1909170023). Starks warned gear that isn’t secure will likely have to be removed from networks. Commissioner Brendan Carr said he hasn’t decided whether issues raised in a public notice Friday (see 1909160018) will be his next focus on wireless infrastructure.
Staff is entering the second phase of a lengthy process to update the FCC's main filing system. After spending about a year on internal communications and other early work, agency employees are now poised to speak with external stakeholders. The update may include ways to help prevent the agency's filing system from being overwhelmed with fraudulent or spam comments that could slow it down, and it could register users, officials told the agency's Consumer Advisory Committee. Unlike past filing system revamps, this one may have bigger changes, staff told CAC.