It will be “more of the same” for the FCC in 2012, Chief of Staff Eddie Lazarus told the Practising Law Institute conference Friday. The FCC still has significant work left expanding broadband adoption and addressing the country’s spectrum deficiencies, he said. Privacy experts on a separate panel said they expect the FTC and FCC to increase their focus on online privacy and cybersecurity issues in the coming year.
The Washington Independent Telecommunications Association, which represents small telcos in the state, alleged that competitive local exchange carrier PAETEC has been avoiding access charges. The group asked the state commission to stop PAETEC from its activities and revoke its authority to operate in the state. It’s uncertain what the FCC’s order on Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation would do to state access charge disputes, said the group and PAETEC.
New FCC ex parte rules were violated at least 11 times since taking effect June 1, a Communications Daily review of all filings and the agency’s own checks found. Some filings were made late -- from a day in many instances to a few weeks -- and others didn’t contain enough information on what was discussed during lobbying meetings. The filings were made by companies and associations big and small. They covered proceedings ranging from changing the Universal Service Fund to pay for broadband deployment to retransmission consent, ISP speeds, disabilities access legislation passed in 2010 and getting low-power TV stations to fully vacate the 700 MHz band for wireless broadband in the small portion they occupy.
The Rural Cellular Association panned the FCC universal service overhaul (CD Nov 19 Bulletin). “I appreciate the FCC’s work to modernize USF, but unfortunately the Order confirms our previous concerns that wireless services are significantly underfunded,” RCA President Steve Berry said. “Adequately funding wireless services would have encouraged competitive carriers to participate -- needless to say, this was a missed opportunity for the FCC to promote industry competition and the build-out of advanced high-speed mobile services."
The GOP overcame Democratic opposition to FCC process reform proposals, approving two bills Wednesday in the House Communications Subcommittee. On a party line vote, the subcommittee voted 14-9 on HR-3309, which requires rulemaking shot clocks, cost-benefit analyses and a variety of other process changes. However, Democrats supported HR-3310, a bill that would consolidate many FCC reports and eliminate others. The subcommittee approved that bill by voice vote but said more work needs to be done before the next markup in the full committee.
The telecom world largely responded cautiously as the FCC on Thursday adopted its Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation regime changes. But telecom officials and observers predicted lawsuits would begin pouring in after the 400-plus page order is published and digested. Meanwhile, the order itself hadn’t been finished, an FCC official told us. Staff were continuing to incorporate edits agreed upon by the commissioners late in the process but before the vote, and the order won’t be ready for release until at least the end of next week, the official said. Less-substantive changes are also still being made.
The AT&T/T-Mobile deal, spectrum bills and controversy over possible GPS interference drove communications industry lobbying in Q3, said quarterly lobbying disclosure reports due Thursday. Most telecom, cable and Internet companies increased their spending from Q3 2011. Public safety continued its high level of spending as Congress moved closer to decide on providing money and possibly spectrum for a national network. Google continued to increase its Washington presence, spending more than T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel combined last quarter.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s proposed universal service order lacks a “clear vision or roadmap,” leaders of the largest rural telecom associations said in meetings with FCC staff last week. Leaders from OPASTCO, NTCA, the Western Telecom Alliance and the National Exchange Carrier Association, along with executives from rural telcos, said the proposed overhaul isn’t comprehensive enough. “Such ambiguity, together with the imposition of new near-term constraints and the overhang of additional constraints or reductions in support to be considered in a further notice of proposed rulemaking, would only chill investment by RLECs and deter lenders and outside investors by perpetuating regulatory uncertainty,” the rural leaders said, according to an ex parte notice posted on docket 10-90.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s proposed universal service order would raise speed standards to 6 Mbps down/1.5 Mbps up, prune the so-called “right of first refusal” for incumbents, cut down the $2.2 billion set-aside for price cap carriers and reduce the transition time for rate-of-return carriers from 10 years to five, telecom and FCC officials told us Wednesday.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski offered reassurance Thursday, in a speech at FCC headquarters as he prepared to circulate the FCC’s version of Universal Service Fund and intercarrier comp overhaul, most likely late Thursday evening. Genachowski’s speech was short on details on how his proposal differs from plans already before the commission, particularly the ABC plan. Instead, he reassured consumers they have nothing to fear and that the proposed reforms will, in the long run, drive down the size of their monthly phone bills.