Adam Bender

The FCC ordered all U.S. carriers to immediately suspend termination payments to Tonga Communications. In an order Monday granting a petition by AT&T, the International Bureau said the Tongan company acted anti-competitively by blocking AT&T and Verizon circuits to Tonga since Nov. 24 (CD June 4 p12). The U.S. companies had refused to pay 30 cents per minute for international calls to Tonga, a new rate set by the Tongan government that’s triple what the carriers agreed to pay.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is still deciding whether to approve a new cybersecurity command under STRATCOM that would “lead, integrate, and better coordinate” day-to- day protection of defense networks, Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn told the Center for Strategic & International Studies at an event Monday. Gates is “evaluating proposals,” while “the joint staff is still working out the details of how this command would work and what the reporting relationships are,” Lynn said. No legislation is needed since the command would be a subordinate to the existing STRATCOM, he said. However, the commander of the program would have to be confirmed by the Senate, and Defense plans to “consult actively with Congress before we move forward,” he said. The new command “would not represent the militarization of cyberspace,” he said, because it would be responsible only for defense and military networks, he said. Civilian networks are the Homeland Security Department’s responsibility, he said. Protecting defense computer networks is a top priority for the Defense Department, Lynn said. DoD “has formally recognized cyberspace for what it is: a domain, similar to land, sea, air and space,” he said. However, the U.S. has room for improvement on cybersecurity, Lynn said. DoD is working to improve awareness, training and capabilities for dealing with cyberthreats, he said. Partnerships among the U.S. government, international governments, academia and the private sector will also be critical, Lynn said. “That in the end will be the only way that we'll meet the challenge.”

The FCC extended by more than four months the deadline for people with hearing problems to register 10-digit phone numbers with Internet-based telecom relay service providers. In an order Monday, the FCC said TRS providers may continue to connect calls by unregistered users until Nov. 12. The original deadline, June 30, was criticized by many telecom relay providers (CD May 1 p5), which pointed to unresolved technical problems and low consumer awareness.

Carriers must pay 12.9 percent of their long-distance revenue to the Universal Service Fund in the third quarter, 1.6 percentage points more than this quarter. Big phone companies were quick to note that’s the highest figure in the fund’s history. But some small rural carriers disputed that the high factor shows that a thorough revamp of USF is needed.

Congressional committees, agencies and the private sector will have to resolve differences in order to move forward on cybersecurity, industry and government officials said at an FCBA lunch Friday. Many Senate committees are pushing forward on bills, and it’s unclear when they'll have consensus on a single piece of legislation, said Deborah Parkinson, a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee staffer. However, a big push from the top should keep senators on track, she said.

Qwest urged the FCC not to impose a “complete when filed” rule as the commission seeks to revamp the forbearance process. The commission last month circulated a draft order on a forbearance overhaul (CD June 10 p11). Under a “complete when filed” rule, petitioners would have to include all supporting information in the initial petition or reset the time limit on forbearance proceedings. In meetings with aides to Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, Qwest said the rule would unfairly block petitioners “from providing additional data requested by the FCC, from responding to objections or arguments from third parties, or from updating the data if the petition takes 12-15 months to resolve.” But Qwest agreed that the forbearance process “could be improved.” It suggested that the FCC require third parties to produce data relevant to forbearance proceedings. “Petitioners may not have access to all such data but the information is nonetheless critical to make a determination of whether the petition satisfies the statutory criteria for forbearance,” it said. The “complete when filed” rule is receiving much discussion at the commission, said an attorney for competitive local exchange carriers. CLECs believe Qwest’s objections are fair, and would support a “nuanced” rule that would allow the petitioner to provide additional data in certain circumstances, the lawyer said.

With the FCC considering a fifth Internet policy principle, on nondiscrimination, a Comcast executive said the company has always been willing to discuss network neutrality and management issues with policymakers. Existing antitrust and FTC laws address many of the same issues, Executive Vice President David Cohen said in an interview. Last week, Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke similarly told reporters (CD June 5 p1) he’s willing to talk, adding that the phone company could find a way to live with a nondiscrimination principle.

The FCC should set a goal for everyone in the U.S. to have broadband access by early 2014, major phone companies said late Monday as comments for the commission’s national plan continued arriving. There was wide agreement that overhauling the Universal Service Fund must be a high priority.

The FCC was likely to miss its unofficial 180-day deadline to review CenturyTel’s purchase of Embarq, a commission official told us Friday. The self-imposed time limit was to expire Sunday. At our deadline Friday, FCC sources said no draft order had circulated on the eighth floor. The office of acting Chairman Michael Copps was still working out a few details, a commission official said. The FCC is expected to approve the $11.6 billion deal but has been studying company commitments offered to gain clearance (CD June 3 p2).

A federal appeals court rejected two FCC rules designed to protect deaf consumers from unwanted lobbying. Ruling late Thursday on appeals by Sorenson and Purple Communications, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver remanded the telecom relay service rules, calling one unconstitutional and the other arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedures Act. The court dismissed a challenge by Purple to a third rule on abusive marketing practices, because the TRS provider hadn’t sought FCC reconsideration.