FCC Task Force Asks More Questions, Doesn’t Endorse AT&T’s Proposal for Wire Center Trials

Pai had pushed for an FCC vote on the AT&T proposal and had tried to line up support on the commission, but instead Chairman Julius Genachowski decided to move forward with a task force-level public notice, agency officials said Friday. Tom Wheeler, President Barack Obama’s nominee as chairman, chaired the FCC’s Technological Advisory Committee, which released a report in 2011 on the sunsetting of the public switched telephone network (http://fcc.us/10nYJj4).

One FCC official said Friday that even if the commission had decided it wanted to do trials as proposed by AT&T, it would have had to ask for additional details first, so the timing would be the same. The commission has consistently gathered information through PNs in other major proceedings, including some 30 while the National Broadband Plan was being prepared, the official noted. The official questioned how a commission-level vote as proposed by Pai would have led to a quicker trials as proposed by AT&T.

The task force asks for initial comments 45 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register, replies due 30 days later. “We seek comment on several potential trials relating to the ongoing transitions from copper to fiber, from wireline to wireless, and from time-division multiplexing (TDM) to IP,” the notice said. “The Commission has a long history of using trials and pilot programs to help answer questions regarding technical concerns and to gather data and develop appropriate policy recommendations."

The notice proposes three different types of trials, seeking comment on each. They are VoIP interconnection, the transition to next-generation 911 and the move from wireline to wireless. “AT&T and others have proposed an ‘all-IP’ wire center trial,” the notice said. “We have already sought comment on this general proposal, and an extensive record has been compiled addressing it. Each of the trials discussed ... address aspects of AT&T’s proposal."

Pai released a statement questioning the commission’s approach. “The Federal Communications Commission is at a crossroads,” he said (http://bit.ly/17RSPNp). “We can embrace the future by expediting the IP Transition. Or we can cling to the past by saddling next-generation networks with regulatory constructs from the 1880s. After today’s public notice, I am more uncertain than ever which path we are taking.” Pai, who will soon be the commission’s lone Republican, said he still hopes to work with his fellow commissioners to “establish a modernized regulatory framework for the IP transition.”

"The unmistakable message to be drawn from the marketplace and the aggregated decisions of millions of American consumers is that the transition is well underway,” Pai said. “Hopefully, we will take the necessary steps -- including a robust, comprehensive All-IP Pilot Program -- to ensure that the transition is a smooth and successful one."

AT&T also raised concerns about the PN. It’s “a step forward, though we are disappointed the FCC still appears tentative about dealing with the IP transition, especially when compared with the bold and visionary goals of the National Broadband Plan,” said Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi. “Certainly, this notice might yield some interesting information, and we will of course cooperate fully with the FCC. We also intend to provide further detail on our proposed geographic trials as requested today, though we are puzzled it took the FCC six months to decide it needed such information. We continue to believe that controlled, comprehensive geographic trials will more likely identify problems and allow the crafting of solutions.” Further delay in the types of trials proposed by AT&T “creates more investment uncertainty,” Cicconi said.

FCC General Counsel Sean Lev stressed that the agency must move forward with care on transition trials. “The goal of any trials will be to assist the Commission in ensuring that its policy decisions relating to ongoing technology transitions are solidly grounded in good data,” Lev said in a blog post (http://fcc.us/ZNYTkO). He also is interim director of the task force. “The ongoing technology transitions hold the promise for tremendous benefits for consumers,” Lev said. “At the same time, we must ensure that the transitions preserve and advance the core values reflected in the Communications Act: consumer protection, universal service, competition, and public safety. To protect those core values, we need good data."

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC needed to keep four principles in mind: Protecting public safety, preserving universal service, keeping competitive markets functioning and protecting consumers. “Competition inspires private sector investment,” she said. (http://bit.ly/YL6oOa) “The competitive markets that have spurred so much technological innovation in the past will be the most effective means of making sure that consumers reap the benefits of this network transition in the future. Monitoring IP interconnection should help us determine how we can stand ready to act to ensure that network providers negotiate in good faith.”

"While technological advancements hold tremendous promise for all consumers, including persons with disabilities and low-income Americans, the Commission should explore all relevant issues to ensure that consumers are not harmed, that our networks are resilient and reliable, and that we continue to promote universal service and competition,” said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (http://bit.ly/17aGx4M). “As the first sentence of the Communications Act makes clear, the Commission’s critical mission includes ensuring that all Americans have access to communications services at reasonable charges and to promote the safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communications."

Public Knowledge said the FCC was following the correct path in issuing a PN. “While everyone wants to upgrade our phone system for the 21st Century, we need to remember that people depend on the phone system for everything from calling 911 to calling home this Sunday for Mother’s Day,” said Senior Vice President Harold Feld. “The FCC properly recognizes in the Public Notice that while any pilot program will be voluntary for the phone company, it will not be voluntary for their subscribers -- or with other phone providers in the network -- whose ability to complete calls may be compromised by sudden and unexpected changes in a system on which we have all long relied. Verizon’s decision to replace the copper network destroyed by Hurricane Sandy with untested technologies in communities like Fire Island, N.Y., show that without a clear path forward carriers will run their own ‘pilot projects’ without worrying about possible problems for the local communities.” (See separate report in this issue about Fire Island.)

NARUC was still reviewing the notice, said President Philip Jones. “But we are pleased the agency recognized the important role State regulators play in protecting consumers,” said Jones, a Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission member. “Specifically, the Commission acknowledged NARUC’s Presidential Task Force on Federalism and Telecommunications, which we established last year.” The National Emergency Number Association supports NG-911 pilots, said CEO Brian Fontes. “Next Generation 911 will dramatically expand the capabilities of local 911 centers using secure, private IP networks that will someday accept text, images, and video calls in addition to voice."