There is a general consensus within the industry that the current wholesale/resale certification process is not working, the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance told an aide to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai Tuesday, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bnkyuq). “Not only is it administratively burdensome for wholesale carriers, it also creates incentives for resale customers to provide inaccurate certifications” to avoid USF line item charges, ITTA said. ITTA said it endorses Cincinnati Bell’s reform proposal, under which the resale customer would provide the wholesale carrier with its Form 499 ID and the wholesale carrier would check this against the Form 499 Filer ID database to identify whether the resale customer is a contributor. If the reseller contributes to the USF, the wholesale carrier would not be obligated to contribute on the basis of the telecom services it sells to the reseller. If the commission decides to require service-specific certifications, as proposed in the contributions reform further notice of proposed rulemaking, “it must give carriers sufficient time to adopt the new system and specific guidance on how to implement it to avoid uncertainty and confusion,” ITTA said.
The quantile regression analysis model used for capping high-cost loop support to rate-of-return carriers continues to provide uncertainty for Western Telecommunications Alliance members, WTA told an aide to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai Tuesday, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bnkys4). The projected yearly changes “create more unpredictability,” preventing telcos from being able to “properly plan to deploy broadband throughout their service territories to fulfill the goal of the National Broadband Plan,” WTA said. The regression analysis should not apply retroactively to past investments, and the commission should hold off on moving forward with issues in the further notice of proposed rulemaking “until the concerns with the QRA are fixed and the impacts are known,” WTA said.
Three U.S. security agencies asked the FCC to put off action on Suddenlink’s sale, a request the FBI and Homeland Security and Justice departments routinely make as the commission reviews telecom-related deals. The national security agencies “are currently reviewing this matter for any national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues but have not yet completed that effort,” Justice said in a Wednesday filing in docket 12-207 (http://xrl.us/bnkyqu). The cable operator’s being bought for about $6.6 billion by private equity and pension investors (CD Aug 2 p16).
Verizon’s FiOS pay-TV service began carrying BBC America in HD and VOD, the telco and the cable channel said in a Thursday news release.
Compliance with ITU-T recommendations, transit rates, roaming and roaming price transparency, taxation, investment, cost-oriented pricing, mutual agreement on routes, spam, taxation, accounting rates and fraud are some of the “key issues” for the SAMENA Telecommunications Council in revising the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) later this year, an invitation to a roundtable discussion circulated to over 300 possible participants said. A June 14 roundtable talk on the ITRs was canceled after an ITU official canceled at the last minute (CD June 13 p13). The council has members in over two dozen countries located mainly in the Middle East, Africa and EurAsia, its website said. The website has become less specific about its number of members since June, when it reported 45 operators and dozens of other members. “Modernization” of the treaty “can leverage the sustainability of the current multi-stakeholders telecommunications model only through the support of decisive, consensus-driven and collaborative efforts,” a spokesman said in the email invitation. Close communication between “all stakeholders” will aid understanding of issues surrounding ITRs “and the amendments that could dramatically alter the operator community’s vision of the future as well as the global regulatory landscape,” he said. The roundtable is scheduled for Sept. 17 in Dubai. The SAMENA Telecommunications Council spokesman at our deadline recalled the invitation after an email query asking for clarification on the possible amendments.
Deployment of aerial communications architecture (DACA) raises interference concerns that have never been fully addressed by proponents, CTIA said in reply comments filed at the FCC. The commission approved a DACA notice of inquiry at its May meeting (CD May 25 p 3), exploring the use of balloon-mounted systems and other aerial base stations that could be quickly dispatched to disaster areas to keep communications alive when other systems falter. “The record demonstrates that both public safety interests and commercial mobile licensees have significant concerns regarding the interference to wireless users that may result from a DACA deployment,” CTIA said (http://xrl.us/bnkykv). “No DACA proponent offers an operational description or sufficient specificity as to how an aerial solution could overlay a terrestrial network in the aftermath of disaster and avoid interference to the underlying licensee’s ongoing (albeit possibly limited) operations and restoration efforts. Instead, DACA proponents sweepingly proclaim that unproven technologies will solve all concerns. Otherwise, they make high-level assertions that interference risks can be managed easily or, remarkably, they simply ignore interference management concerns.” Oceus Networks, which is conducting a trial demonstration to assess the technological capabilities of DACA for emergency use, encouraged the FCC to launch a rulemaking now that comments are in on the NOI. “Oceus Networks recommends that the FCC focus a rulemaking to govern permissible DACA use under two scenarios: (1) after an event cripples communications, to supplement communications while terrestrial networks are being restored; and, (2) as primary communications in areas of the country where fixed public safety broadband infrastructure has not been built,” Oceus said (http://xrl.us/bnkymh). “Oceus Networks recognizes the need to avoid harmful interference. With proper coordination and planning, modern networking techniques can effectively mitigate interference. Giving first responders broadband capabilities is a key goal for modern public safety incident response. Broadband can support high-definition video, sensor platforms, and mapping functionality for first responders, as well as advanced messaging applications."
A German law requiring identification of prepaid mobile SIM cards violates human rights, a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Parliament and a civil liberties activist said Thursday. Nine EU countries -- Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Spain -- have such laws, said Pirate Party member Patrick Breyer, and his brother Jonas Breyer, a lawyer with the German Working Group on Data Retention. They want the ECHR to recognize the right to anonymous communications and Internet access, they said. Anonymity is essential for such things as press sources, confidential business dealings and self-help groups, Patrick Breyer said. Most EU governments prosecute crimes successfully without a blanket ban on anonymity, said Jonas Breyer. The European Commission and Council of Europe have both criticized such laws, Patrick Breyer added.
An attorney for AT&T wrote to refresh the record on a petition for declaratory ruling filed by the Michigan Pay Telephone Association in 2006, which asked for commission intervention to compel AT&T Michigan to implement the “new services test” as applied to AT&T’s payphone access rates (http://xrl.us/bnkupk). The commission should deny MPTA’s petition because it is inconsistent with the commission’s own determination that the states, not the commission, are responsible for application of FCC pricing standards to state payphone line rates, AT&T said. Principles of res judicata and collateral estoppel should bar MPTA’s petition, AT&T said.
The Rural Cellular Association asked the FCC to “comprehensively examine all of AT&T’s pending and future” spectrum deals even if it approves the carrier’s buy of 700 MHz spectrum from Triad. “AT&T continues to feed its insatiable appetite for spectrum with another buying spree,” said RCA President Steve Berry. “These acquisitions raise serious competitive and spectrum aggregation concerns. Any one of these license transfers standing alone may appear relatively innocuous, but the collective impact of AT&T’s various transactions could continue to harm competition and exacerbate existing marketplace distortions."
The Application Developers Alliance launched its first industry working groups Wednesday. The two groups -- one will focus on business and revenue, the other on emerging technologies and research -- will shape the group’s events and services, the Alliance said in a news release. The groups will be made up entirely of Alliance members, who will provide guidance through policy recommendations, white papers and other reports. “Looking thoughtfully into the future of the industry and supporting the ability of developers to create profitable revenue streams are essential parts of our mission, but this is just the beginning,” said Alliance President Jon Potter. “We will be announcing several more groups in the coming months."