The FCC gave utilities and schools some relief from Telephone Consumer Protection Act enforcement in a ruling approved by commissioners over a partial dissent by Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. The FCC granted “substantial relief” to Blackboard, a communications program used by schools, and the Edison Electric Institute and American Gas Association, which jointly sought ability to notify utility customers without violating the TCPA.
The FCC voted 3-2 to adopt an order to increase inmate calling service rate caps and cover correctional facility costs, but without restricting ICS provider site-commission payments to prisons and jails. The decision, as described in an FCC release and by officials, tracked the proposals in a fact sheet circulated last month by Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (see 1607140087). It's also consistent with expectations of most parties we talked to this week, who doubted the commission would regulate site commissions (see 1608030063). Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel joined her Democratic colleagues in voting for the order.
That the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE) recently backed speedy FCC approval of the ATSC 3.0 transmission system is further evidence the next-generation broadcast standard will “move through this regulatory process at a fairly quick pace,” said Sinclair CEO David Smith on a Wednesday earnings call. AFCCE “finds no technical reason” to delay authorization of the ATSC 3.0 transmission standard and so urges the FCC “to take the requisite actions necessary for expedited consideration,” it told the commission in July 19 comments. Smith also thinks ATSC 3.0 “over time” will be adopted as “a global standard,” following its endorsement by South Korea, he said. “The long-term consequences of that as a function of our intellectual property is going to be very interesting to watch,” he said.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment Wednesday on a petition by the Mortgage Bankers Association for an exemption from the prior express consent requirement under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for autodialed or prerecorded “mortgage servicing” calls to wireless phones. MBA cited in particular calls that aren't charged to the called party and don’t contain an advertisement or constitute telemarketing, the bureau said. “MBA notes that the TCPA authorizes the Commission to exempt autodialed or prerecorded calls to wireless numbers when the called party is not charged, subject to conditions designed to protect consumer privacy, and that the Commission has exercised this authority with respect to certain communications made by package delivery services, healthcare providers, and financial institutions,” the bureau said in a public notice. “MBA states that mortgage servicing calls are required by various federal and state requirements, and are of critical importance to mortgage borrowers.” Comments are due Sept. 2, replies Sept. 19 in docket 02-278.
The FCC doesn't appear likely to ban or restrict site-commission payments to correctional authorities in an inmate calling service (ICS) order slated for a vote at Thursday's meeting, an agency official and others told us this week. "Nothing in the order touches the site commissions between the correctional authorities and ICS providers," an FCC official said Tuesday. "It’s still up to the private negotiations." Several parties involved in the proceeding said they didn't expect the FCC to impose site-commission restrictions, though some held out hope the agency might adopt such constraints.
A CTIA petition to ease wireless industry access to New York utility poles met resistance from utilities, a wireline telco and New York City. The wireless association wants the New York Public Service Commission to apply existing pole attachment requirements to wireless providers so it can quickly deploy small cells and distributed antenna systems (DAS) that are critical to 5G services. In comments Monday in PSC docket 16-M-0330, other companies on the poles disagreed with CTIA’s claim that New York poles are largely inaccessible to wireless providers. The wireless industry is urging states to update siting and pole attachment rules.
A federal court is unlikely to rehear a panel ruling that sided with the FCC on its net neutrality and broadband reclassification order, even critics of the order said Tuesday at a discussion held by TechFreedom, New America's Open Technology Institute (OTI) and the George Washington Institute of Public Policy. Some critics said they thought the chances the Supreme Court would review the case were better, though none of them called it likely, and a supporter of the commission order put the odds at just above 5 percent. Various petitioners have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to rehear the 2-1 decision by a panel upholding its order establishing net neutrality rules and reclassifying broadband internet access as a telecom service subject to common carrier regulation under Title II of the Communications Act (see 1607290052).
TracFone and others urged the FCC to undo its planned phaseout of Lifeline support for stand-alone voice service, as parties commented on petitions for reconsideration of the agency order extending the low-income subsidies to broadband and revising program administration (see 1603310056). Consumer advocates and some Lifeline providers opposed various recon requests by telco and cable trade groups (see 1606240077). NCTA and USTelecom opposed a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission petition to clarify the state role on FCC-designated Lifeline broadband providers (see 1607200057), while Sprint supported clarification. Comments were due Friday, and some were posted Monday in docket 11-42.
Securus joined Pay Tel Communications in asking the FCC to clarify a proposal to raise inmate calling service (ICS) rate caps by ensuring the increases would account for correctional facility ICS costs and no site commission would be allowed. But Inmate Calling Solutions said it supported the agency's proposed rate caps only if site commission payments to prisons and jails aren't restricted. CenturyLink asked the FCC to equalize the rate caps for prisons and large jails and allow for state-mandated site commissions. Michael Hamden, the criminal defense attorney whose petition for reconsideration helped spark the agency's latest proposal, continued to press for curbing site commissions.
A court injunction sought by top ISPs to ban disclosure of subscriber data in California could disrupt the authority of state commissions across the country, NARUC warned Friday. In an amicus brief (in Pacer) at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, NARUC joined the California Public Utilities Commission and The Utility Reform Network in opposing the ISP lawsuit. NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay said to expect an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals if the district court rules against the CPUC.