FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski should overhaul the Universal Service Fund’s Lifeline program “only if such reform translates as eliminating the USF altogether,” said Heartland Institute scholar Bruce Edward Walker Tuesday. The draft Lifeline reform order, expected to have circulated late Tuesday, has been met with some ambivalence (CD Jan 10 p1). Late Tuesday, the commission said a Lifeline and Link Up reform order and rulemaking notice is tentatively scheduled for a vote at the Jan. 31 meeting. Walker meanwhile said universal service has reached “97 percent of the population, a fact reported in the Federal Communications Commission’s own research that seems to elude the chairman.” Customers are already paying too much in USF fees, Walker said. “Government fees account for 15 percent of customers’ regular service charges on average, which is more than double the sales tax levied in most states. Additionally, 59 cents of each USF dollar collected from users’ bills isn’t appropriated to build out and connections but to cover the administrative costs of perpetuating a completely unnecessary bureaucracy."
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, doesn’t think he should have to ask congressional Commerce Committee chairmen to act as intermediaries in his ongoing standoff (CD Jan 6 p1) with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski over access to documents related to the LightSquared proceeding, a Grassley spokeswoman said. Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is blocking a vote on the pending nominations of Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai to seats on the FCC because Genachowski has refused to provide the documents. Genachowski has argued that the FCC historically has honored document requests only from the chairman of committees with jurisdiction over the commission, and he has cited supporting guidance in the Congressional Research Service’s non-binding Congressional Oversight Manual.
Civil rights and “digital divide” erasure advocates gave mixed reviews to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s Lifeline reform proposals Monday. As expected (CD Jan 9 p7), Genachowski promised what he called “cost controls” and “a budget” for Lifeline and Link-Up, with most of his efforts focused on rooting out some 200,000 duplicate claims and building a database to prevent future “waste.” The draft order will circulate Tuesday, Genachowski said.
Opponents of efforts to redefine rural service areas in Montana are merely trying to “delay, delay, delay” at the expense of rural customers, Montana Independent Telecommunications Systems said in reply comments in docket 09-197. “Those who would be most harmed by further delay in this redefinition proceeding are the rural consumers still waiting for access to mobile communications within this remote area of service.” At the heart of Tuesday’s comments is a petition from Triangle Communication System (TCS), which is seeking eligible telecom carrier status in Montana. Montana regulators have already signed off on the petition, and Montana Telecom urged that the federal commission should give the Montana commission credence. Montana regulators “like the FCC,” have “a strong interest in extending voice and broadband service ... to areas where consumers have little or no access to such services,” Tuesday’s reply comments said (http://xrl.us/bmnni7). “The FCC can be assured that [Montana regulators] conducted a thorough analysis before unanimously concluding in two separate Orders that the redefinition and subsequent designation of TCS as an ETC was in the public interest.”
General Communication said subsidiaries GCI, Alaska Digitel, Alaska Wireless Communications and Unicom will “partially opt-in” to a federal program to send emergency alerts to subscribers on their wireless devices. “GCI reserves the right to change its election at a later date, in accordance with Commission regulations,” the company said in a filing at the FCC (http://xrl.us/bmnnqd).
The FCC adopted a final rule that implements provisions of Section 104 of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA). It amends the commission’s rules “to ensure that people with disabilities have access to the incredible and innovative communications technologies of the 21st century,” the FCC said in a Federal Register notice (http://xrl.us/bmnbhz). The final rule will be effective Jan. 30, except for sections that contain information collection requirements not yet approved by the Office of Management and Budget. The effective date of those sections will be announced in the Federal Register, the commission said. The commission also is seeking comment on whether to adopt a permanent exemption “for small entities that provide advanced communications services,” it said in a separate Federal Register notice (http://xrl.us/bmnbh3). The FCC requested comments on implementing Section 718 which requires Internet browsers built into mobile phones “to be accessible to and usable by persons who are blind or have a visual impairment.” Comments are due Feb. 13, replies March 14.
An ordinance approved by the Philadelphia City Council placing controls on satellite dishes and antennas is necessary because of the “uncontrolled proliferation” of both “in haphazard fashion throughout our neighborhoods,” the city said in a non-docketed filing at the FCC. The city responded to a Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association petition asking the FCC to rule on whether Philadelphia’s antenna law is preempted by the commission’s over-the-air reception devices rule. The city’s ordinance limits installation of antennas to the area between the street and a building’s facade. “We believe that the City has crafted rules that will work for the benefit of our community, within the bonds of federal restrictions,” the city said. “The Commission should uphold this ordinance as a lawful exercise of traditional local government powers.” The council approved the ordinance in part because of historical preservation and public safety concerns, “but it also addresses broader and equally legitimate local government concerns of protecting and fostering viable communities, whose residents obviously care about their surroundings,” the city said.
The FCC’s controversial revamped Web page was cited as an example of agency Web pages that don’t work as intended, in a report in the January issue of the American Bar Association’s magazine, ABA Journal. “In an irony perhaps only lawyers can appreciate, the Federal Communications Commission’s newly revamped, state-of-the-art website has ... a major communications flaw: Information on the agency’s rule-making is as buried as a pirate’s treasure,” the article said (http://xrl.us/bmm5ui). The journal cited a report by University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Cary Coglianese (http://xrl.us/bmm5vs). “From the standpoint of making rulemaking information accessible to ordinary citizens, it is striking the website is not as clear and accessible as the agency’s former site,” Coglianese wrote. “The new site does not list ‘rulemaking’ or ‘regulation’ prominently on the home page. Instead, the new site includes a tab for ‘rulemaking’ as one pull-down option under the heading ‘Business and Licensing.’ ... If a citizen seeking to find out about FCC’s policy work goes to the FCC website, she might be forgiven for not looking for a tab labeled ‘Business and Licensing.'"
Despite Q3 progress on BTOP projects overall, some faced delays due to problems in negotiating franchise agreements and getting permits. An $11 million project in Oregon stalled in Oregon City over franchise fee issues, while a project in Ohio was behind schedule due to delays in “make-ready” and other permitting. But NTIA expects the pace of delivered miles to continue to increase in coming quarters now that most infrastructure recipients have completed environmental and historic preservation requirements, it said.
Staff at the FCC Wireline and International Bureaus recommended trimming some data gathering requirements from the FCC’s rulebook, but officials at the Wireless Bureau have dug in and are urging the commission to stick to the books, according to a public notice dated late Friday and circulated Tuesday. Under Section 11(a) of the 1996 Telecom Act, the FCC is required to determine whether rules should be repealed or amended “as the result of meaningful economic competition between providers of” telecom service. “Although the staff reviewed all rules within the scope of Section 11, they paid special attention in the 2010 biennial review to rules relating to data gathering,” the FCC said in Friday’s notice (http://xrl.us/bmm2j4). “That special focus on data collections was undertaken as part of the Commission’s reform agenda to improve data quality and processes, identify areas where additional data collection is needed, and eliminate unnecessary collections.”