Rep. Mimi Walters, R-Calif., introduced HR-2546 Thursday to “ensure the Chief Information Office of the Federal Communications Commission has a significant role in decisions related to information technology,” its title said. An aide said the bottom line of the legislation is that it ups the commission’s chief information officer position to the same standing as the chief technology officer. The aide cited the goal of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, now law but not applying to independent agencies like the FCC, of empowering CIOs. The legislation extends that IT bill’s goals to the commission, the aide said. The three-page text of the bill shows the full title is the FCC CIO Parity Act.
The FCC is expected to move very quickly on a final order on net neutrality after voting to launch a rulemaking Thursday (see 1705180029). Chairman Ajit Pai said he hoped to move as early as October, industry lawyers said. Former officials said that’s a tough timetable, especially if new commissioners join by then, including possibly a new commissioner to replace Democrat Mignon Clyburn, whose term expires in June.
Nebraska Public Service Commission Executive Director Jeff Pursley didn’t violate his oath by continuing to consult part-time for telecom companies, Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson said in a Monday opinion. Pursley started a five-year term as PSC executive director July 1, 2015, after working as a director of consultant Parrish, Blessing and Associates (PB&A). After joining the PSC, Pursley kept a part-time role focused on federal telephone compliance for three carriers outside PSC jurisdiction: Alaska Communications Systems, Puerto Rico Telephone and Virgin Island Telephone, the AG opinion said. Windstream is a PB&A client subject to PSC regulation, but Pursley doesn’t do any work for it, the AG said. Pursley developed a model to automate population of federal forms and supporting documents for price-cap regulated carriers; he's developing a similar model for rate-of-return carriers, the opinion said. "Mr. Pursley's relationship with PB&A does not, in our view, result in his having an ownership or financial interest that constitutes an 'indirect interest' in any common carrier prohibited by his oath of office,” Peterson wrote. “Services provided by Mr. Pursley for PB&A create no conflict of interest, as they do not involve any work performed for any carrier regulated by the Commission. Nor does Mr. Pursley's work for PB&A create a business or financial interest in a common carrier regulated by the Commission.” The PSC “is pleased the AG’s Opinion found that Director Pursley did not violate his oath of office,” a spokeswoman emailed Tuesday.
Comments are due at the FCC June 15, replies July 17 on a rulemaking notice aimed at removing barriers to wireline infrastructure deployment, which was released in April by the commission (see 1704210041). "The NPRM seeks comment on pole attachment reforms, changes to the copper retirement and other network change notification processes, and changes to the [Communications Act] section 214(a) discontinuance application process," said the summary of the notice in docket 17-84 in Tuesday's Federal Register. "Comments on the Paperwork Reduction Act proposed information collection requirements must be submitted by the public, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and other interested parties on or before July 17." The summary noted the NPRM was adopted in conjunction with a notice of inquiry (NOI) and a request for comment (RFC) on related issues (see 1704200046). An FCC public notice Tuesday noted the NOI was published in the FR Thursday, and it clarified that the comments and replies for both the NOI and the RFC will be due on the same days as those for the NPRM. "These same filing dates apply to any other comment periods related to the Notice in this docket, including the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis and any of the proposed information collection requirements contained in the Notice," it said.
The FCC told a court it reasonably denied SureWest Telephone a waiver from a federally mandated USF state certification deadline the company missed in 2012 (see 1610260025). "This Court has repeatedly stressed that agencies should not waive their rules except where special circumstances warrant deviation and a waiver is in the public interest," said an FCC/DOJ brief Wednesday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that responded to arguments raised by Consolidated Communications, which took over SureWest. "SureWest’s confusion regarding the Commission’s rules -- which caused a filing error not remedied for many months -- is not the kind of special circumstance that can justify a waiver." In a 2016 concurring statement, then-Commissioner Ajit Pai agreed SureWest wasn't entitled to a waiver due to a simple mistake but said the decision to withhold $2.9 million in interstate common line support "for this minor filing error -- as we are required to do under our rules -- is exceedingly harsh." The case is Consolidated Communications of California v. FCC, No. 16-1431.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday decision to review en banc the FTC’s appeal ruling that threw out the commission's case alleging AT&T Mobility inadequately informed customers of its data-throttling program is potentially a game changer for the FCC and the FTC, industry officials said Wednesday. The agencies won’t have clarity before the fall. The court said Wednesday the en banc hearing will be the week of Sept. 18. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai hailed the importance of the decision to rehear the case (see 1705090068). Industry lawyers said usually when a court grants en banc rehearing, it's more likely than not to overturn the initial decision.
A chief House Republican on telecom matters joined with a Trump administration official Monday, keeping up her ties with administration officials that began last year. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., held her annual Women of Distinction luncheon in Nashville, where former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was a guest. Conway is counselor to President Donald Trump. Blackburn maintained especially close ties to the Trump team and was a member of its transition effort. The event’s invitation said it was paid for by Blackburn for Congress and lists ticket prices ranging from $150 to $2,500, depending on the seating. The Tennessee Democratic Party posted video of protests happening outside. Blackburn’s latest Federal Election Commission records show close to $3 million on hand in her campaign coffers, with many donations this year from telecom and media political action committees since she became subcommittee chairman. Comcast, Charter Communications, CTIA, NCTA and the American Cable Association’s PACs donated $5,000 in March, and AT&T’s did the same in February. Several other entities’ PACs, including those of Centurylink, CTA, ITTA, NAB, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and USTelecom, donated lesser amounts this year.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai invoked the words of Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., in declaring that policymakers must “return the role of state utility commissions in determining Lifeline eligibility,” citing a statement that Udall offered in introducing joint Lifeline overhaul legislation with Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. (see 1702170051). Pai was responding to a group of House Democrats’ Feb. 15 criticisms, led by House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., in a reply released Monday and dated April 28, focused on the commission’s revocation of Lifeline certification for certain broadband providers. Applications are pending before the Wireline Bureau. “I do not believe that the Bureau should approve these applications,” Pai said, citing more than 3.5 million Americans receiving subsidized broadband through Lifeline via the eligible telecom carriers that are certified. “It would be irresponsible for the Bureau to allow companies to sign up customers for subsidized broadband service through an unlawful federal authorization process that will soon be withdrawn. This would force many consumers to switch broadband providers in a relatively short period of time, which wouldn't be fair to them.” He lauded the state certification role: “By letting states take the lead on certification as envisioned by Congress, we will strengthen the Lifeline program and put the implementation of last year's order on a solid legal footing. This will benefit all Americans, including those participating in the program.” Pai laid out some of his intentions on these matters at the end of March (see 1703290054).
Charter's cable VoIP is an information service exempt from state regulation, a federal court in Minnesota ruled Monday. In an opinion (in Pacer) seen as having big ramifications for the jurisdictional question of whether states may regulate VoIP and other IP-based services, the U.S. District Court in St. Paul said the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission may not regulate Charter’s VoIP-based Spectrum Voice as a telecom service. The court granted Charter’s motion for summary judgment and denied the PUC’s separate motion for summary judgment.
CenturyLink got a tentative greenlight for its Level 3 buy from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. UTC telecom staff Friday filed an all-party settlement in docket UT-170042 to approve the $34 billion deal, the commission said in a Friday news release. Staff, Level 3, CenturyLink and the state attorney general’s public counsel signed the settlement. It includes commitments by CenturyLink to (1) file an annual report for three years showing spending on network maintenance, with explanation if the amount spent per access line is less than 2014-2016; (2) notify the UTC about major outages within 30 minutes, until 2021, and copy the UTC on Network Outage Reporting System reports about the state that it files with the FCC; (3) file annual reports on federal USF support from July this year to 2021; (4) file Communications Act Section 251 interconnection agreements between CenturyLink subsidiaries and Level 3 subsidiaries; (5) issue a news release about transaction closing and notify customers if the company’s name changes; and (6) assign a dedicated project manager to work on the transition to Next-Generation 911. The UTC will formally present the settlement May 25 to the parties, which then will accept, reject or modify the agreement, the commission said. “We are pleased to have reached a settlement in Washington in the case regarding the acquisition of Level 3," a CenturyLink spokeswoman emailed Monday. "This is an important milestone as we make progress toward the completion."