AT&T objected to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposed special access overhaul, suggesting it would increase regulation and decrease broadband investment and deployment. AT&T's top lobbyist said further investment in broadband facilities for 5G and in rural areas is needed. "But imposing regulation on special access prices and contract terms is not going to produce it," Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice-present-external and legislative affairs, said in a statement Tuesday responding to Wheeler's remarks to the Incompas Policy Summit Monday (see 1604110065). "The entire notion that more layers of FCC regulation will yield more broadband investment is absurd on its face, and proves that this FCC remains ‘an economics-free zone.’ The Commission’s proposals will instead lead to far less investment in broadband infrastructure -- especially in rural areas -- the very opposite of where we should be going as a nation." The FCC didn't comment Tuesday.
The FCC proposal to impose stricter privacy rules on ISPs would create an uneven playing field, favoring edge providers like Google and Amazon, doesn't use an economic approach and needlessly would impose heavy security requirements to protect customer information that is essentially public, panelists at a Technology Policy Institute discussion said Monday. But Lisa Hone, FCC associate Wireline Bureau chief, said the FCC NPRM is still just a proposal. The commission expects "vigorous comment," she said. "From a staff perspective, we’re interested in hearing what works and what doesn’t work for customers and ISPs."
One House Republican used this week's planned telecom floor vote to set up possible chamber consideration of the FCC’s February 2015 net neutrality order decision to reclassify broadband as a Communications Act Title II telecom service. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., filed an amendment to the Republicans’ No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act (HR-2666) Monday on reclassification and the net neutrality order's authority.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently grilled all five FCC commissioners about net neutrality, the Commerce Committee on which he sits disclosed last week. Cruz, an ardent net neutrality critic who at times incorporated that criticism into his campaign for president, submitted questions for the record to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the other four commissioners about the topic following the committee's March 2 FCC oversight hearing (see 1603020051).
Complications for an FCC headquarters move are mounting. A lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the owner of its current building, and the General Services Administration ruled that its current location is considered to be on a floodplain. The commission has been seeking extra money from Congress for the move, which in part is needed because agency staff has shrunk (see 1602100058).
FCC efforts to address contraband cellphones in prisons have stalled and it's time for the agency to move forward, Commissioner Ajit Pai said at a field hearing Wednesday, streamed from Columbia, South Carolina. Pai was joined by Gov. Nikki Haley (R). She said it's time to stop protecting the wireless industry and focus on public safety. A CTIA official said the industry supports a solution that still allows “lawful” use of cellphones.
A draft special access tariff order and Further NPRM are expected to circulate Thursday at the FCC for consideration at the agency's April 28 monthly meeting, informed sources told us Wednesday. The draft order flows from an FCC investigation of large incumbent telco tariff practices, and the FNPRM would propose a new regulatory framework, said one source, who said a delay is possible but unlikely. "We expect both items to be circulated" Thursday, said a telecom industry official. An industry attorney said there was some momentum for placing the items on the April meeting agenda, with slippage still possible.
Mobile health app developers unsure of what federal laws and regulations they must comply with just got a little help from the FTC and other agencies. The commission announced Tuesday the release of a multiagency, interactive guidance tool that asks developers 10 high-level questions regarding an app's function, the data it collects and services that it provides. The tool then provides detailed information about laws and regulations -- including the FTC Act, the FTC’s health breach notification rule, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act -- that might apply to the product.
The FCC can't give VoIP providers full numbering rights without classifying them as telecom carriers that provide telecom services under Title II of the Communications Act, NARUC said in challenging a 2015 order that gave interconnected VoIP (I-VoIP) providers direct access to phone numbers (see 1506180060). "Its implementing regulations giving I-VoIP providers direct access to numbers/portability" in all but name deem it a telecom service, the state regulatory group said in its brief filed late Monday (NARUC v. FCC, No. 15-1497). "An entity cannot 'be deemed' to be a telecommunications carrier unless it is offering a service that conforms to the Act's definition. In 2011, the [U.S. Court of Appeals for the] 10th Circuit rejected a similar FCC analysis." The commission's brief is due May 19.
The FCC is giving interested parties until May 27 to file initial comments on proposed privacy rules for ISPs. Replies are due June 27. The NPRM, released by the FCC Friday night, runs 147 pages, with accompanying statements by the commissioners. It mentions the FTC, the nation’s more traditional privacy cop, 189 times. The FCC approved the NPRM 3-2 Thursday with dissents by Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly (see 1603310049).