FCC Eyes Phaseout of Rural Call Completion Reporting Duties in Draft Order, FNPRM
An FCC rural call completion order and Further NPRM draft seek new ways to solve problems with long-distance calls to rural areas, which often aren't connected or are dropped. The draft item in docket 13-39 would shift from "covered provider" data reporting and related requirements to relying on monitoring of "intermediate carrier" performance, and seek to implement a new rural calling law. Another draft NPRM in docket 17-144 would offer business data service (BDS) "incentive regulation" to rural telcos receiving model-based Connect America Fund USF subsidy report. Both items were put on the April 17 commissioners' meeting tentative agenda announced Monday and released Tuesday (see 1803260028 and 1803270052).
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NTCA, which supported keeping the rural call completion reporting duties, urged the FCC Wednesday not to allow "backsliding" in the marketplace. ITTA President Genny Morelli said "no real surprises" were in either the rural call completion draft or the rural BDS draft. She had welcomed the latter Monday.
The draft rural call completion order would "require covered providers -- entities that select the initial long-distance route for a large number of lines -- to monitor the performance of the “intermediate providers” to which they hand off calls," said a summary in the draft. Covered providers would be required to provide a point of contact to address issues and facilitate problem solving. The order would eliminate the data reporting requirement for covered providers from a 2013 order, "which has resulted in reports that the Commission has not found to be useful," but would keep recordkeeping and retention requirements.
The draft FNPRM "would propose and seek comment on rules to implement the recently enacted Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act," which "directs the FCC to establish registration requirements and service quality standards for intermediate providers," said the summary. It also would propose to eliminate the covered provider record-keeping and retention duties once the proposed "registration and service quality standards are effective."
NTCA signaled its intent to make the best of the situation. "While reporting and record-keeping requirements have served as a deterrent to those that would fail to complete calls to rural areas by either design or neglect, NTCA recognizes that a periodic review of regulations can be useful to retarget them toward the right aims and sustain and enhance their effectiveness," said Mike Romano, senior vice president-industry affairs and business development, in a statement. "Any changes to the reporting requirements must ensure that providers continue to have incentives to complete calls. We must prevent backsliding in the protection of rural consumers and businesses who depend greatly on reliable connectivity to stay in touch with families, friends, customers, and suppliers." He said the new law's implementation could "bring greater transparency to the call routing marketplace.”
The rural BDS notice seeks to offer new relief to rate-of-return carriers receiving USF support under the Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM). Those carriers don't have to justify their switched access charges and USF support based on costs, but do still have to "conduct burdensome cost studies" for their BDS products, said a draft summary.
The NPRM would: "propose to allow A-CAM carriers to elect incentive regulation for their lower speed time-division multiplexing (TDM) BDS transport and end user channel termination offerings, while maintaining the current regulatory treatment for switched services and universal service support; seek comment on creating a competitive market test (CMT) to assess the availability of competitive options for last-mile service in areas served by A-CAM carriers; seek comment on relieving A-CAM carriers’ lower-speed TDM BDS offerings of ex ante pricing regulation in areas deemed competitive by the CMT; propose to eliminate ex ante pricing regulation for A-CAM carriers’ packet-based and TDM BDS offerings at speeds above a DS3; and propose to allow other rate-of-return carriers receiving fixed support to opt into the same incentive regulation proposed for A-CAM carriers."
NTCA is reviewing the BDS item, "consulting with members who may be affected and examining more specifically what kind of incentive regulation path it offers to those looking for such a path," Romano said. Other parties we queried didn't comment.