The Western Telecommunications Alliance (WTA) supports a telco’s petition for waiver of the monthly cap on total federal USF support, and the quantile regression model benchmarks adopted by the FCC Wireline Bureau (http://xrl.us/bn9tci). In comments Monday, WTA said the “unique circumstances” facing the telco, South Park, give its rural Colorado customers a “significant risk of losing access” to its network of broadband and voice services. Because the “very sparsely-populated rural area” has “no comparable service or coverage from alternative providers of voice or broadband,” the FCC should grant South Park’s petition, WTA said.
LAS VEGAS -- USTelecom President Walter McCormick said a quick tour of the massive floor at the Consumer Electronics Show will demonstrate to anyone who pays attention why the FCC should act on the group’s December petition for declaratory ruling asking the agency to determine that ILECs should no longer be considered dominant in providing switched access services. Others on a panel chaired by McCormick expressed hope that the FCC’s Technology Transitions Policy Task Force will mean the FCC becomes better able to keep up with the speed of technological change.
The data roaming decision reaffirms the FCC’s Title III authority to pass net neutrality rules, the commission told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in its surreply brief late Friday (http://xrl.us/bn9sts). That December decision, Cellco Partnership v. FCC, also supports the agency’s position that its net neutrality order doesn’t impose common carriage requirements, it said. Verizon had argued last month that the Cellco decision -- which upheld the rule requiring carriers to offer roaming agreements on “commercially reasonable” terms -- supported its position that net neutrality rules impose “per se common carriage” obligations on broadband providers (CD Dec 26 p1).
Sprint Nextel and AT&T oppose a joint proposal put forward in the New York Public Service Commission’s proceeding on its state USF and intrastate access charges. The two major telcos have argued for months that intrastate access issues should be resolved in litigation, not as part of a multiparty negotiation. “There should be no further delays in reforming New York intrastate originating access rates,” Sprint said Friday in its comments to the PSC (http://xrl.us/bn9sqr), calling Verizon’s current proposal, introduced in November and attracting wide support, “an effort to delay reform further.” Parties who signed on to the November joint proposal include PSC staff, the New York State Department of State Utilities Intervention Unit, the Cable Telecom Association of New York, Verizon, Verizon Wireless, Frontier, Level 3, a group of smaller ILECs, Time Warner Cable, tw telecom and Windstream.
The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for another five-year term through July 1, 2017. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski commended the Senate action in a news release, saying she’s a “strong advocate in seeking to extend the benefits of broadband to all Americans.” There’s speculation that Clyburn could be in line to become acting FCC Chairman if Genachowski decides to leave the commission, as is expected by many (CD Nov 8 p1). Commissioner Robert McDowell separately hailed Clyburn’s reappointment and touted her willingness to seek bipartisan agreement on issues like USF reform. The Senate also confirmed the appointment of FTC nominee Joshua Wright, an economist and law professor at George Mason University and former FTC Scholar in Residence.
JSI Capital Advisors encouraged the FCC to reformulate its quantile regression analysis, make “fair and well-reasoned decisions” on outstanding USF waivers, bring the RLEC Connect America Fund and Remote Areas Fund to fruition, and hold a “carefully executed” rulemaking proceeding on the transition to all-IP networks. “All could potentially be white knights for RLECs in 2013, but such regulatory miracles will require consistent, ingenious, and sensible input from the RLEC industry,” the telecom analysts said in a research note (http://xrl.us/bn8wyy). JSI also called the FCC’s current approach to intercarrier compensation reform flawed: “Carriers that invest in critical infrastructure and provide vital telecommunications services in rural areas of the nation must be able to depend on a more equitable regulatory process than the one we are now seeing from the FCC."
State telecommunications associations in New York and Maine oppose Time Warner Cable’s Nov. 13 FCC petition seeking limited ETC classification and Lifeline participation, they told the FCC in filings posted this week. Time Warner Cable (TWC) wants to be categorized as an eligible telecom carrier for limited purposes of receiving Lifeline funds but hopes to avoid any redefinition of its service areas and doesn’t want other USF support. “Forbearance [of certain FCC rules associated with ETCs] would enable TWC to introduce a competitive alternative that better responds to the particular needs of low-income consumers,” it said in its petition (http://xrl.us/bn8w5e). The Wireline Bureau opened the petition for comment in a Nov. 30 notice (http://xrl.us/bn8wzg), with comments due Monday and reply comments due Jan. 14.
Congress voted Tuesday to delay for two months the 10-year, $1.2 trillion sequester as a part of the legislation to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff (HR-8). The legislation directs the president to on March 1 order the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts which were originally scheduled to kick in on Wednesday. The FY2013 spending reductions will then be “evaluated and implemented” on March 27, the legislation said. The new deadline provides Congress with less than three months to permanently end or further delay the sharp cuts which threaten federal budgets.
As 2012 draws to a close, federal agencies were preparing to dramatically reduce their expenses, a spokesman for the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said last week while lawmakers and the White House struggled to avoid a Wednesday funding sequester deadline. The Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management told federal union groups Friday that “while they are still hopeful that a deal can be reached ... they are taking prudent action so agencies can be prepared for this contingency,” said NTEU President Colleen Kelley in a statement. NTEU represents FCC and Commerce Department employees, among others. Spokespeople for OMB, FCC, FTC, NTIA, departments of Justice and Homeland Security, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and RUS did not comment.
The track record of wireline carriers in Phase I of the Connect America Fund (CAF) program versus that of wireless carriers in Phase I of the Mobility Fund demonstrates that wireless deserves more funding in the revised high-cost USF program, the Competitive Carriers Association said in comments filed at the commission. On Nov. 27, the FCC sought comment on Phase II of the mobility program, which will provide up to $500 million each year in continuing support. CTIA also offered suggestions, while acknowledging that comments were tough to write since the program is still taking shape.