ADT and others criticized an FCC draft wireline broadband infrastructure order tentatively on commissioners' Nov. 16 meeting agenda (see 1710270040), while the American Cable Association supported pole-attachment provisions. The draft "threatens to disrupt vital alarm monitoring services and creates an unfair competitive advantage for [ILEC] alarm company affiliates," filed ADT Tuesday in docket 17-84. "The tilted playing field results from a confluence of changes ... relating to network change notifications, particularly for copper retirement. These changes will enable ILECs to inform their affiliates of copper retirement or other network changes long before a customer's existing chosen outside provider like ADT would be given notice, providing an unfair head start for the ILEC-affiliated companies to plan for such changes and to engage in marketing campaigns focused on converting and upselling their services." Public Knowledge and the Communications Workers of America opposed the draft's rollback of copper retirement notice and discontinuance rules. Proposals to "eliminate the advance notice requirement for retail customers and to reduce the advance notice requirement for interconnecting carriers from 180 to 90 days will leave consumers, small businesses, and anchor institutions confused and unprepared" when incumbents retire copper networks, wrote PK and CWA on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. They said scrapping a "de facto copper retirement definition will allow incumbent carriers to neglect their copper infrastructure" where consumers lack viable alternatives, and criticized a proposal to eliminate a "functional test" and "narrowly reinterpret the definition of service" under Communications Act Section 214. ACA backed proposals to exclude from pole-attachment rates the capital costs recovered from make-ready fees and create a 180-day shot clock for resolving pole-access complaints. It supported a proposed rulemaking "to address requests by attachers to overlash existing wires or install drops from poles to customers without filing pole attachment applications," meeting with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the hurricane devastation in Puerto Rico is "unimaginable," and more funds may be necessary. He concluded a two-day trip Monday during which he met with government and industry officials. The recovery path has challenges, "most notably the lack of power and functional infrastructure," he said Tuesday. "I’m heartened by the dedication of our public safety community to the people of Puerto Rico." He said everybody is pitching in: the people of territory, its Telecommunications Regulatory Board, Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers and native and Public Safety Bureau's Roberto Mussenden. "Amateur radio operators, broadcasters, cable operators, fixed wireless companies, wireline carriers, and mobile providers have stepped up to the plate, working overtime," Pai said. "Recovering ... requires an all-hands-on-deck effort. The FCC remains committed to doing everything we can to help restore communications networks." Noting the FCC's $77 million in advanced USF support, he said he believed more funding would be needed.

The FCC and others asked a court not to review two inmate calling service rate orders from 2013 and 2016, after the court in June vacated and remanded key parts of a 2015 order restricting ICS rates and fees in Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461 (see 1706130047). The 2013 and 2016 orders have been held in abeyance by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which recently asked for motions on further proceedings. The commission and most other litigants said the D.C. Circuit should summarily vacate the 2016 reconsideration order being challenged in Securus v. FCC, No. 16-1321, because it relied on the same industry-averaging cost methodology vacated in GTL. They asked the court to dismiss as moot challenges to the 2013 interim interstate ICS rate order in Securus v. FCC, No. 13-1280, because it was superseded by parts of the 2015 order that weren't vacated in GTL. "Those aspects of the 2015 ICS Order not vacated by this Court in GTL are now the governing regulatory scheme for ICS unless and until revisited by the Commission in further administrative proceedings," said the joint motion (in Pacer) filed Monday by GTL, Securus, CenturyLink, Telmate, correctional facility petitioners, state and local government petitioners, the FCC and DOJ and their supporting intervenors. "That includes the 2015 ICS Order’s recodification of the interim interstate rate caps ... which, with respect to interstate calls only, remain in effect." Pay Tel Communications asked (in Pacer) asked the court to "vacate (or at least maintain the existing stay of)" the 2016 recon order's revised rate caps and remand the order to the commission.

FCC employees generally believe the work they do is important and supervisors listen. Those are some of the 2017 results from the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey done by the Office of Personnel Management in Q2 and posted Monday. The survey asked primarily about perceptions of agency management of its workforce. Majorities said they like the kind of work they do (79 percent), are held accountable for performance results (81 percent) and the overall quality of work done by their work units is good (87 percent). Some 85 percent said supervisors listen to them and 83 percent said their work is important. Roughly a third disagreed or strongly disagreed they have sufficient resources to get their job done (35 percent) and that steps are taken to deal with poor performers (36 percent). It said 715 FCC employees completed the online questionnaire.

Civil rights groups and others urged the FCC to affirm that advanced telecom capability "means access to both fixed and mobile broadband service" under a Telecom Act Section 706 mandate to ensure ATC is deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely way. "These services are complementary, not substitutes," and the FCC should evaluate both by its 25/3 Mbps definition for fixed ATC service, said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-199 by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, American Civil Liberties Union, AFL-CIO, Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, NAACP and six other groups . "Even if the Commission considers 'deployment' to refer only to infrastructure, evidence does not support reversal [of the 25/3 Mbps benchmark]. At least six studies issued in the last year and a half find that many of the lowest income neighborhoods in the United States lack fiber-optic network access." They said the FCC "should take action to adopt subsidies, support tax policies and digital inclusion programs, and bolster robust broadband Lifeline service." A notice of inquiry proposed to keep the 25/3 Mbps fixed-service benchmark while asking about other possible benchmarks, including whether 10/1 Mbps mobile service could provide adequate ATC. That drew objections from some, including Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1709200042).

A court delayed briefing deadlines for business data service litigation a week to 10 days, granting an FCC motion (in Pacer). An 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order (in Pacer) Monday said the FCC/DOJ brief is now due Nov. 17, intervenors' briefs Nov. 27, and petitioner reply briefs Dec. 19 in Citizens Telecommunications v. FCC, No. 17-2296 and consolidated cases. The FCC Friday cited arrival of a new general counsel for the delay request, and said other parties consented. Petitioners are challenging an FCC overhaul of its BDS regime as overly deregulatory and prescriptive (see 1709280035).

With Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) initial recommendations imminent, more than 230 local elected officials signed a letter urging FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to “more fully” consider local perspectives on broadband infrastructure deployment issues (see 1710200030). The National Association of Counties, National League of Cities and U.S. Conference of Mayors on Friday re-sent the Oct. 17 letter with additional local signatures. They asked for Pai’s attention in wireline and wireless infrastructure rulemakings and at the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. NARUC raised state concerns about BDAC and the FCC infrastructure rulemakings in separate meetings last week with FCC General Counsel Thomas Johnson and aides to four commissioners, said an ex-parte notice posted Monday in several dockets including 17-79. The committee lacks balance and the FCC "lacks statutory authority to take most of the proposed actions in these proceedings," NARUC said. In a separate letter to Pai posted Friday in docket 17-83, BDAC Chair Elizabeth Bowles said the BDAC “made tremendous progress in fulfilling its charter,” but recommended the FCC schedule a two-day meeting in January. Thursday’s meeting “should put the BDAC much closer to finalizing its recommendations in key areas, including on the model codes,” and each working group will “come ready to present a detailed, substantive work product for the BDAC to consider,” said Bowles, Aristotle president and legislative committee chair of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association. After the meeting, the BDAC likely will have “some initial recommendations for the FCC as well as a plan to tackle the next phase of work,” Bowles said. The committee may “identify areas that would benefit from harmonization as each working group seeks to complete its recommendations for the full BDAC,” she said.

Frontier Communications' stock plummeted again Friday, closing down 19 percent and leaving it with a market capitalization of just $582 million. Thursday, Moody's Investors Service downgraded Frontier's speculative-grade credit rating from B2 to B3, making it six notches below investment grade. "Frontier continues to face revenue and EBITDA pressure, although subscriber trends have improved sequentially within its acquired California, Texas and Florida (CTF) markets," said a release Thursday. "Yet, the legacy Frontier business has remained weak over the past five quarters with sharp broadband subscriber losses in each period. Although the business is starting to show signs of stabilization, the trends remain negative. Moody's expects Frontier's EBITDA and cash flow to continue to decline into 2018." Moody's also downgraded Frontier's "probability of default" rating and said its outlook remains negative. Frontier didn't comment Friday. Consolidated Communications' stock dropped 11 percent Friday after the company reported Q3 results, but Raymond James analysts kept their "strong buy" recommendation and Well Fargo analysts kept their "outperform" recommendation.

Public Knowledge argued for keeping net neutrality regulation under Title II of the Communications Act, saying it protects broadband consumers and that undoing it risks violating the Administrative Procedure Act. "While the Commission has the legal authority to decide to throw consumers to the wolves, it is not free to pretend this is consistent with its previous orders or actions," said a PK filing Friday in docket 17-108 on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. "Embarrassing as it may be for the current Commission, the APA requires -- at the least -- an acknowledgement of its previous commitment to protect consumers and an explanation as to why it no longer believes it should do so. To pretend in the final Order, as the Commission does in the NPRM, that the Commission never committed to protecting broadband privacy or otherwise protect consumers, is the definition of arbitrary and capricious." Telecommunications Industry Association CEO Wes Johnston and others urged the FCC to "remove Title II regulation of broadband, as well as Commission action to remove barriers to siting of wireless facilities," said a filing on meetings with Commissioners Michael O'Rielly and Brendan Carr and aides, and an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai, that were "introductory in nature." NCTA President Michael Powell argued for returning broadband to Title I classification in a meeting with Carr and an aide. Comcast also urged a reversal of Title II in a meeting with Pai's Chief of Staff Matthew Berry and Senior Counsel Nicholas Degani. The National Hispanic Media Coalition pitched Pai's wireline adviser, Jay Schwarz, on issuing a public notice seeking comment on open internet complaints and related material.

An FCC draft Lifeline item is "a drastic departure" from Chairman Ajit Pai's "claims to support affordable broadband for low-income consumers suffering from the digital divide," said the Lifeline Connects Coalition, Boomerang Wireless and Easy Wireless in a filing posted Friday in docket 11-42 on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. "Because the item eliminates resellers from the Tribal Lifeline program and proposes to eliminate resellers from the entire Lifeline program, despite the fact that 69 percent of all Lifeline subscribers (and 76 percent of wireless subscribers) are currently served by resellers, we urged Commissioner Clyburn’s office to work to change the item so that it does not threaten to suddenly and dramatically widen the affordability gap that places tens of millions of low-income Americans on the wrong side of the digital divide," they said. The draft is on the tentative agenda for the FCC's Nov. 16 meeting (see 1710270013). Meanwhile, TracFone Wireless submitted an emergency petition to the FCC to temporarily waive new minimum service standards for Lifeline-supported services. As of Dec. 1, "the minimum service standard for mobile voice service will increase from 500 minutes per month to 750 minutes per month; the minimum standard for mobile broadband will increase from 500 MB per month to 1 GB per month," TracFone said, asking for a waiver to implement service proposals it made in September.