Telcos Oppose Public Knowledge Bid to Revise and Put on Hold FCC Discontinuance Relief
Telcos opposed a request to redo an FCC order further easing telecom discontinuance duties and related regulatory processes (see 1806070021). Comments were posted Friday in docket 17-84 on Public Knowledge's Aug. 8 petition for reconsideration and motion to hold the…
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June order in abeyance due to 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals litigation on a December order. PK's claims that the FCC "ignored the record" and "the Order eliminated consumer protections are unfounded, and its suggestion that the rules adopted in this Order could compromise critical federal agency missions is reckless and is equally unsupported," said USTelecom: "The Order reflects a careful balancing of the needs of consumers with the important goal of removing regulatory barriers that cause unnecessary costs or delay when carriers seek to transition from legacy services to next-generation broadband services." Verizon said PK "inaccurately describes" FCC "decisions and reasoning, and mischaracterizes the views" of NTIA, which "supports the Commission’s streamlining efforts." NTIA did note continuing concern about the impact on federal entities of some copper retirements and telecom service discontinuances (see 1807200057). PK "also seeks what it calls abeyance, but is actually a stay of the ... Order, by asking the Commission to keep its decision from becoming effective," Verizon said: "The Commission’s rules prohibit combining a motion for stay with any other requested relief," and it's "also substantively deficient." CenturyLink opposed PK's request to eliminate an "alternative options test." The test "permits a carrier to discontinue legacy voice service on a streamlined basis as part of a technology transition, after notifying affected customers, if the carrier shows that those customers will have access to at least two substitute voice services: stand-alone interconnected VoIP service from the discontinuing carrier itself and stand-alone facilities-based voice service from another provider," CenturyLink said. It knocked PK's claim that NTIA's concern "requires the Commission to reconsider" its test: "NTIA simply noted its continuing concern about the potential impact on government customers of legacy services being discontinued in remote or less populated areas and outside the scope of U.S. General Services Administration-negotiated contracts."