Phone companies will face automatic daily fines of up to $25,000 in California for failure to meet service quality measures, ruled the Public Utilities Commission at its Thursday meeting. The CPUC passed the order in a 3-2 vote, with the two dissenting commissioners supporting an alternate proposed decision. Under the approved decision, phone companies will face the fines if they fail to meet the commission’s metrics for (1) out-of-service repair interval, (2) customer trouble reports and (3) answer time for trouble reports and billing and non-billing inquiries. The order requires telcos to submit federally mandated outage reports to the Communications Division. Companies can suspend accrued fees if they make investments in service quality in an amount equal to twice the fine, it said. The alternate proposed decision similarly imposed $25,000 daily automatic fines, but the fines wouldn't start to accrue until a company failed to meet the standards for three consecutive months. “Our decision today provides additional protection for those who have traditional landline telephone service, and it also calls for continued monitoring of the Federal Communications Commission’s proceeding on rural outages, and allows for workshops on how to deal with 911 service and other safety related issues,” said CPUC President Michael Picker. “There are many other actions underway that will continue our efforts to look at telecommunication issues, including a competition study, and a network exam. Clearly we’re not at the end of the discussion." Commissioner Catherine Sandoval, who wrote the alternate proposal, said the decision "advances the CPUC’s work to protect communities and compliance with California law.” At the meeting, however, Sandoval said she would soon release a dissenting statement.
In an era of what some say is creeping spectrum scarcity, the FCC released an NPRM Thursday designed to expand access to private land mobile radio (PLMR) spectrum. Among the key questions raised is whether the agency should amend its rules to allow 806-824/851-869 MHz band incumbents in a market a six-month period to apply for expansion band and guard band frequencies before the frequencies are made available to applicants for new systems. The Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC) proposed the change, the FCC said. The commission also asked whether it should extend conditional licensing authority to applicants for site-based licenses in the 800 MHz frequencies and the 896-901/935-940 MHz bands. The FCC sought comment on whether to make available for PLMR use frequencies on the band edge between the industrial/business pool and either general mobile radio service or broadcast auxiliary service spectrum. “Traditionally, the PLMR services have provided for the private, internal communications needs of public safety entities, state and local government entities, large and small businesses, transportation providers, the medical community, and other diverse users of two-way radio systems,” the NPRM said. “PLMR licensees generally do not provide for-profit communications services. The Commission is committed to bringing about more efficient use of PLMR frequencies in order to alleviate congestion in this crowded spectrum, the demand for which continues to grow.” Comments deadlines are to be set by a pending notice in the Federal Register. “We are glad to see the FCC release this item as it proposes a number of productive spectrum policies,” said Mark Crosby, president of the Enterprise Wireless Alliance and an LMCC board member. “We also look forward to a healthy dialogue on the merits of providing spectrum priority to incumbent 800 MHz licensees, in particular business enterprise entities. The FCC has noted that expansion band spectrum is designated primarily for [Specialized Mobile Radio] stations. EWA will need to determine whether limiting business enterprise incumbents to B/ILT spectrum in the expansion band, without access to guard band spectrum, provides any meaningful opportunity for system expansion.” EWA is also concerned that “without an effective construction verification process, and reliance exclusively on self-certification, it is exceedingly difficult to distinguish parties with the intention and ability to actually provide service from those hoping to flip spectrum for monetary gain,” Crosby said. “The PLMR community has precious few spectrum resources. It is imperative that the rules promote its intensive utilization and deter speculation.”
Sharpening proposed copper abandonment rules in the District of Columbia would make a bad idea worse, Verizon said. The Public Service Commission proposed rules requiring notification by any telco planning to abandon its copper facilities (docket RM27-2016). In comments last month, the Office of the People's Counsel and the Communications Workers of America suggested tweaks to strengthen the rules (see 1607260027). In replies Monday, Verizon said the recommendations of the OPC and CWA "could turn the copper retirement process into a lengthy approval proceeding for the District alone, negating federal and District policies encouraging fiber deployment.” The PSC “should reject these recommendations and not move forward with the proposed copper retirement rules,” it said. The Fiber-to-the-Home Council, with members including network equipment vendors, supported the telco. FCC rules mandating battery backup power and requiring retail customer notification for planned copper retirement ensure that a uniform set of rules applies to all providers, it said. "A state-by-state approach will only serve to confuse customers, be duplicative, and create a patchwork of rules."
Cable and phone companies in Louisiana said they’re working around the clock to restore service after flooding in the southern part of the state forced many people to abandon their homes. Local broadcasters stayed on air to report on flooding and raise money for recovery efforts, NAB said. The floods forced the Louisiana Public Service Commission to close its Baton Rouge headquarters. The historic flood damaged at least 40,000 homes and killed about 10 people, with 20 parishes declared federal emergency disasters, according to news reports.
Significant AT&T money now backs the House speakership of Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. The carrier’s political action committee has given far more, by many tens of thousands of dollars, to Ryan’s joint fundraising committee than it has to past speakers and also more than the PACs of other major telecom and media players are giving to Ryan’s effort -- or to anyone at all in the political realm, according to Federal Election Commission records. Ryan is intent on laying out a 2017 agenda including telecom policy overhaul, with the possibility of a revived Telecom Act rewrite in the works (see 1608080022).
NAB and other groups urged the FCC to move aggressively to address the spectrum noise floor. Commenters responded to public notice asking questions raised by the Technological Advisory Council. An Office of Engineering and Technology released a public notice in June asking for comment on a TAC investigation of the “changes and trends to the radio spectrum noise floor” and whether there's a growing problem. Comments were due Thursday in docket 16-191.
Battle lines remained fairly clear in the FCC business data service rulemaking, as dozens of replies were posted Tuesday and Wednesday in docket 16-143. Most wireless parties, CLECs, business customers and consumer advocates said the FCC needs to take new steps to regulate a BDS market often dominated by incumbent telcos with pricing power. ILECs and free-market advocates said new regulation would be unjustified and harmful in a business broadband market with robust and growing competition, particularly from cable companies, which recently updated their deployment data. Cable interests and others said BDS regulation shouldn't sweep in upstarts.
The FCC may not pre-empt state limits on municipal broadband without a clear statement from Congress authorizing pre-emption, a federal court ruled Wednesday. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the FCC’s 2015 order that tried to overrule Tennessee and North Carolina laws prohibiting municipal broadband efforts to extend their systems to surrounding communities. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler stood by his commission’s order, while Commissioner Ajit Pai said the ruling showed he was right to dissent. The ruling was subject of a bulletin in this publication (see 1608100021), and some had expected the reversal (see 1606210036). Telecom groups also praised states' win.
An Iowa Utilities Board member wrestled with VoIP classification questions during oral argument live-streamed Tuesday from IUB headquarters in Des Moines. As the board mulled a proposed rule in docket RMU-2015-0002 to add VoIP to its list of deregulated services, member Nick Wagner asked what jurisdiction IUB has over VoIP. The board has jurisdiction over voice, but not broadband, and yet VoIP is a voice service that relies on broadband, he said. “How do we go in and pick one specific component?” Industry officials from AT&T, CenturyLink and other telcos said the regulator should see interconnected VoIP as an information service and therefore refrain from regulating it. "Regulations today treat the industry like we're still dealing with that old black rotary phone,” said CenturyLink State Regulatory Affairs Director Wayne Johnson. But AARP Iowa State Director of Advocacy Anthony Carroll said advocates for seniors and other consumers aren’t trying to fight the future by seeking regulation of interconnected VoIP, but want to keep protections consumers have today with traditional landlines. Iowa Consumer Advocate Mark Schuling said the problem with the industry’s classification argument is that the FCC has never definitively resolved whether interconnected VoIP is a telecom or information service. Acknowledging the lack of clarity from the federal regulator, Wagner said, “It would be very helpful if they would.” At the end of the meeting, IUB Chairwoman Geri Huser directed parties to file additional comments on the board’s questions by Sept. 1. The VoIP classification question is also central to a court case in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, where Charter Communications challenged the state Public Utilities Commission assertion of jurisdiction over interconnected VoIP (see 1605060027).
FCC staff proposed adopting video relay service interoperatiblity and portability standards developed by VRS stakeholders. Acting on delegated authority, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau proposed to incorporate the standards into agency rules and set up a process to facilitate amendments, said a bureau Further NPRM in docket 10-51 listed in Friday's Daily Digest. VRS providers will have to comply with the new standards to be compensated under the program, which subsidizes relay services allowing deaf and hearing people to communicate with one another through a sign-language interpreter.