The FCC can't legally reclassify mobile broadband as a Title II service, Verizon said in a letter filed at the FCC last week, just before the start of the two-day federal Christmas holiday. CTIA made similar arguments in a white paper also released last week (see 1412230048). Verizon brought the initial challenge that led to parts of the 2010 net neutrality rules being scrapped by a federal court in January and the current FCC push to rewrite the rules (see 1401150062).
The revolving door rotates freely in government public relations. At just one federal agency with about 1,700 total employees, at least 14 public relations experts and lawyers who advise on issues including PR came or left during the Obama administration. Careers of PR practitioners exiting the FCC since about Jan. 21, 2009, spanned the gamut. Some job changes resembled the traditional revolving door, with officials leaving for the industries their employer used to regulate, others were so-called reverse revolvers coming to the agency from entities that lobbied the FCC, while other career paths were less orthodox and don't fall under the revolving door rubric at all. That is according to Communications Daily Freedom of Information Act requests, other records and interviews with those who reviewed our database.
Lawmakers in California and Florida bowed legislation this month to overhaul ethics rules within their states’ utility regulatory commissions in response to recent controversies. Both the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) have faced similar legislation before. This time, legislators have shied away from focusing on provisions to reform state revolving door laws related to the private sector. Public interest advocates who continue to support strengthening revolving door laws say they believe strengthening existing laws can be difficult.
In trying to slow the Washington revolving door, President Barack Obama's 2009 executive order 13490 prohibited many federal officials joining the government from being able to work, in some cases, on issues of interest to their former employers. So why are Gigi Sohn, a top aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, and others with ties to entities with a past record on net neutrality able to be involved in the agency’s deliberations on the issue?
Comcast’s willingness to hire representatives with a background at the FCC gives the cable operator an advantage when dealing with the agency, said attorneys and executives -- some former FCC officials themselves. Though industry observers disagree over whether that advantage stops at merely having one’s phone calls returned or extends to more palpable agency favors, all said inside knowledge of FCC processes and personnel gives Charter Communications, Comcast and Time Warner Cable a boost when dealing with the commission.
CTIA, Google and NCTA opposed giving hotels chains like Marriott and other companies more wiggle room to manage a Wi-Fi network on their premises without violating the FCC’s Part 15 rules and Section 333 of the Communications Act. Google said the act and FCC precedent make clear blocking unlicensed networks is forbidden and there's “no need for a new proceeding to confirm this.” But Cisco, a leading maker of Wi-Fi equipment, said companies should be able to regulate networks at premises they own and operate.
AT&T's argument that it approves of net neutrality rules, though not under Communications Act Title II, is “disingenuous,” said Cogent Communications CEO Dave Schaeffer on a panel sponsored by The Capitol Forum Tuesday. ISPs want to be able to create “slow lanes” to be able to say “the only way to get normal speeds” is to have a direct relationship with the ISP, Schaeffer said, advocating a Title II net neutrality approach.
Federal and state regulators’ authority under Communications Act Sections 251 and 252 to require interconnection agreements in an IP format remains an open question given continued proceedings at the FCC and at the state level, industry lawyers said Friday. AT&T is suing the Michigan Public Service Commission in U.S. District Court in Kalamazoo over the PSC’s decision earlier this year to require the telco to allow IP-to-IP interconnection with Sprint (see 1404170038). There are also ongoing or recent interconnection issues in Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio and Puerto Rico, said Benjamin Aron, Sprint state regulatory counsel-Northeast, at an FCBA event.
The FCC is expected to approve the order proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler to raise E-rate’s spending cap by $1.5 billion, at its meeting Thursday (see 1411170042). A number of significant other issues were up in the air, but education, library and industry lobbyists said they expected the commission to take steps to make it easier for schools and libraries to get connected to broadband, including requiring Connect America Fund (CAF) recipients to submit bids to serve the institutions. Schools and libraries have complained about not getting bids from broadband providers to serve them.
Europe won't have a true digital economy unless governments embrace cooperation, said European Commission Digital Single Market Vice President Andrus Ansip Tuesday during a webcast hearing by the European Conservatives and Reformists group in Brussels. Saying there are 28 different sets of rules in the areas of consumer and data protection and other areas, Ansip said he has "no illusions" about the scale of the challenge, but warned EU members that if they won't agree on more harmonization, there won't be a digital single market (DSM). Panelists from industry, standard-setting bodies and groups saying they represent consumers laid out a wish list of priorities for the DSM.