A federal court ruling that invalidated West Virginia one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) rules doesn’t stop states from making such rules if they first reverse pre-empt the FCC on pole attachments, said NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay Tuesday. West Virginia’s OTMR rules are pre-empted by federal law and the state may not apply or enforce them, U.S. District Court in Charleston, West Virginia, said in a Monday judgment (in Pacer). The court granted a joint motion for summary judgment by Frontier Communications, the West Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association (WVCTA) and Communications Workers of America (see 1803080028). The Public Service Commission didn’t “dispute that Article 4 conflicts with the Federal Communication Commission’s regulatory regime governing pole attachments,” nor that “Article 4 is preempted because of the conflict under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution,” so “there is no issue for this Court to determine,” wrote Chief Judge Thomas Johnston in the four-page opinion (in Pacer). “The Court must enjoin the enforcement of Article 4.” Johnston noted future actions by the state legislature or others “could lead to the dissolution of the injunction.” The state commission declined comment. NARUC’s Ramsay emailed that the decision “says nothing about whether a state can” make OTMR rules. West Virginia never reverse pre-empted the FCC to regulate pole attachments itself, and the state conceded that in the case, he said. It doesn’t mean a state that reverse pre-empted the FCC can’t make such rules, or that West Virginia can’t now reverse pre-empt and then make OTMR rules, he said. The court ruling pleased WVCTA, said Executive Director Mark Polen in an interview. Cable companies weren’t causing problems, with the law really a “punitive statement against Frontier made by the legislature and some of their competitors,” he said. WVCTA didn’t see any companies try to invoke the OTMR rules after the law took effect last summer, he added. Polen heard some talk in the legislature about West Virginia reverse pre-empting the FCC on attachments, but it didn’t seem to have legs there or at the PSC, Polen said. WVCTA is “comfortable” following the federal regime, he said. A Frontier spokesperson applauded the ruling, emailing that the law “would have allowed unsupervised attachments on our poles that would have been potentially dangerous or unsafe to our employees and the public.” The spokesperson didn’t respond to Polen blaming Frontier for the state law. Pennsylvania last week said it's weighing reverse pre-emption (see 1806140057). Courts have clashed on the legality of local OTMR rules, with one federal court ruling against requiring the practice in Nashville and another supporting a similar ordinance in Louisville (see 1711270051).
The Lifeline national verifier is operational in Utah and five other “soft launch” states, the FCC announced Monday. Universal Service Administrative Co. got Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) accreditation Friday, said USAC Communications Director Jaymie Gustafson in a Monday interview. The reveal surprised observers, coming less than a week after the USAC official told a Utah Public Service Commission workshop the release date was unknown. Growing delay brought scrutiny from states and others (see 1806070022), as has an FCC proposal to cut Lifeline support to resellers (see 1806150048).
TVs were the big winner Friday when the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative eliminated them from its final list of Chinese imports earmarked for Trade Act Section 301 tariffs of 25 percent. Other sectors didn’t fare so well, including those that import Chinese printer parts, thermostats and computer equipment used in artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. China vowed to retaliate "immediately."
Many urged the FCC to limit business-oriented caller exposure to Telephone Consumer Protection Act liability, after partial court reversal of a 2015 commission decision targeting unwanted robocalls (see 1803160053). Financial and other corporate interests, including some telecom groups, said the commission should narrow its key definition of "automatic telephone dialing systems" (ATDS) subject to TCPA wireless restrictions and give parties more protection when making inadvertent calls to reassigned numbers. Consumer groups, class-action parties and a few others resisted such pleadings, which they said would further open the floodgates to unwanted robocalls. Comments were included in docket 18-152 on a public notice inviting input on the remand and other TCPA interpretations (see 1805150014).
State net neutrality actions show a strong public rebuke of the FCC December order that took effect Monday (see 1806110054), consumer advocates said on a National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) webinar Wednesday. But a Montana commissioner and broadband industry officials dismissed efforts as politically driven and probably not effective. A Rhode Island net neutrality bill cleared a key Senate committee Tuesday and lawmakers could pass restrictions on state ISP contracts by the end of next week, said sponsor state Sen. Louis DiPalma (D) in an interview. California lawmakers plan more hearings next week.
An FCC proposal for a reassigned-number database drew a fair amount of backing and some resistance, in comments posted Thursday and Friday in docket 17-59 on a March Further NPRM (see 1803220028). Comcast, retailers, financial interests and an electric company group were among those supporting the proposal to create a database of reassigned numbers to help businesses reduce unwanted robocalls and liability under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Most telecom entities and some others were more skeptical or less enthusiastic, citing cost and other concerns, and backing market-based solutions and commission actions to address TCPA issues. There was much support for giving callers an effective TCPA liability safe harbor.
Growing delay in establishing a Lifeline national verifier is worrying some states and put Utah in a difficult situation, where its state eligibility system may terminate before the national system is available, state officials told us this week. Utah eligible telecom providers plan to self-certify consumers starting July 1, though some warned such a process can increase fraud risk.
The FCC approved 3-1 an order to further relax telecom service discontinuance duties and related regulatory processes in an effort to remove barriers and encourage the industry shift from legacy wireline to next-generation, IP-based offerings. Commissioners also voted 4-0 to adopt an order to relieve certain rural telcos of USF contribution obligations on their broadband services to equalize their treatment with other carriers and promote affordability. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel largely dissented on the discontinuance order and concurred on the rural telco USF order.
A March FCC order on wireless infrastructure attracted reconsideration petitions this week from localities, a major American Indian tribe and a tower company in docket 17-79. NATOA said the order isn’t in the public interest, fails to acknowledge existing limits and ignores impact of dense deployments in small areas, among other problems. It “will inflict serious injury” on tribes, said the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. The move is a “step forward,” but the FCC should have stepped further, said T-Mobile unit and tower company PTA-FLA. Residents of Montgomery County, Maryland, also sought reconsideration due to concerns including about possible radiation from RF emissions.
Facebook, Google and Microsoft support the Federal Election Commission rulemaking to increase online political advertising transparency (see 1805250032 and 1805290037), but the commission should look to recent industry response for guidance, they commented. The commission is considering two proposals that would update online ad disclosure requirements for the first time since 2006.