The FCC is expected to approve the order proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler to raise E-rate’s spending cap by $1.5 billion, at its meeting Thursday (see 1411170042). A number of significant other issues were up in the air, but education, library and industry lobbyists said they expected the commission to take steps to make it easier for schools and libraries to get connected to broadband, including requiring Connect America Fund (CAF) recipients to submit bids to serve the institutions. Schools and libraries have complained about not getting bids from broadband providers to serve them.
The FCC is expected to approve the order proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler to raise E-rate’s spending cap by $1.5 billion, at its meeting Thursday (see 1411170042). A number of significant other issues were up in the air, but education, library and industry lobbyists said they expected the commission to take steps to make it easier for schools and libraries to get connected to broadband, including requiring Connect America Fund (CAF) recipients to submit bids to serve the institutions. Schools and libraries have complained about not getting bids from broadband providers to serve them.
A draft order FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated Thursday in preparation for possible action at the December commission meeting would, as we reported (see 1411190059), require providers receiving CAF support to offer broadband speeds of 10 Mbps downstream instead of 4 Mbps, a commission official told us.
The FCC should proceed “deliberately” before imposing “new, onerous and costly mandates” to provide backup batteries or power supplies to subscribers, American Cable Association officials told Chairman Tom Wheeler’s legal adviser Daniel Alvarez, as well as aides to the four other commissioners in separate meetings, according to an ex parte notice posted in docket 13-5 on Tuesday. The Nov. 13 and 14 meetings were among several in which providers urged caution in enacting new requirements on backup batteries, as the commission is set at Friday’s meeting to consider a draft NPRM Wheeler is circulating on issues related to the IP transition. Among them is whether the commission should take steps to oversee backup power, a top FCC official told us earlier this month, because unlike phone service on traditional copper lines, service on fiber and other networks rely on backup batteries during power outages (see 1410310047). While the item could change before Friday’s meeting, sources in industries involved in the debate expected the NPRM to seek comments on most issues, including the battery issue. An exception is that the NPRM is expected to make a tentative conclusion that incumbents have to offer competitive carriers an alternative at reasonable rates, terms and conditions when retiring last-mile services that competitors need to reach business customers, the sources said. In addition, industry sources were also expecting the commission to circulate an order before Thursday’s deadline to put items on December’s commission meeting agenda to increase CAF’s minimum broadband speed requirements from 4 Mbps to 10 Mbps. The commission declined to comment on Wednesday. Charter Communications Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Christianna Barnhart also told aides to commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn in meetings Nov. 13 and 14 that the commission should balance “the benefits of new backup power obligations with the cost to consumers and providers,” according to an ex parte notice posted Wednesday. Verizon Vice President-Federal Regulatory Affairs Maggie McCready and Vice President and Associate General Counsel William Johnson described to aides of commissioners Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai on Nov. 13 the company’s efforts provide “consumer-friendly backup power solutions for customers receiving service over fiber,” according to an ex parte notice.
The largest wireless companies teamed with public safety groups on an agreement to improve 911 location accuracy indoors. The goal is for first responders to have access to a “dispatchable location” through the availability of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies, AT&T, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), Sprint and others said in a news release on CTIA's website. The agreement was supported by CTIA and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, but criticized by groups representing state and local emergency bodies and first responders, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
The “complex nature” of Mozilla’s net neutrality proposal to classify broadband as a telecom service for edge providers “could create unexpected difficulties for enforcement" but should not disqualify it from consideration, Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld and Vice President Michael Weinberg told FCC Chief Technology Officer Scott Jordan at a meeting Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1simO8r), said an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 14-28. Any user-controlled prioritization “should truly be the result of user decisions and control, and should not involve payment from edge providers to ISPs for prioritization,” Public Knowledge said. Allowing a regulated service such as voice phone calling to operate within a specific specialized service could be permissible under strong open Internet rules, but would have to continue to operate under existing regulatory protections, they said. The commission doesn't necessarily have to address potential abuses under interconnection agreements, but open Internet rules should recognize the possibility and begin to take steps to address them, they said. The Mozilla petition is “legally riskier” than straightforward Communications Act Title II reclassification because it relies on untested definitions and relationships between ISPs and users, said Sarah Morris, senior policy counsel for the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, at a meeting Monday that included Feld, Weinberg and an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1sYNRJI) posted in the same docket. It said OTI and Public Knowledge said Title II reclassification with forbearance is the “soundest, clearest path forward.”
The “complex nature” of Mozilla’s net neutrality proposal to classify broadband as a telecom service for edge providers “could create unexpected difficulties for enforcement" but should not disqualify it from consideration, Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld and Vice President Michael Weinberg told FCC Chief Technology Officer Scott Jordan at a meeting Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1simO8r), said an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 14-28. Any user-controlled prioritization “should truly be the result of user decisions and control, and should not involve payment from edge providers to ISPs for prioritization,” Public Knowledge said. Allowing a regulated service such as voice phone calling to operate within a specific specialized service could be permissible under strong open Internet rules, but would have to continue to operate under existing regulatory protections, they said. The commission doesn't necessarily have to address potential abuses under interconnection agreements, but open Internet rules should recognize the possibility and begin to take steps to address them, they said. The Mozilla petition is “legally riskier” than straightforward Communications Act Title II reclassification because it relies on untested definitions and relationships between ISPs and users, said Sarah Morris, senior policy counsel for the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, at a meeting Monday that included Feld, Weinberg and an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1sYNRJI) posted in the same docket. It said OTI and Public Knowledge said Title II reclassification with forbearance is the “soundest, clearest path forward.”
FCC commissioners, despite partisan divisions, approved as expected (see 1410160055) issuing a Further NPRM Friday, seeking comment on a number of inmate calling services (ICS) reforms. Republicans Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly concurred in part, and questioned whether the agency has the legal authority to enact rate caps and other reforms.
The FCC approved on a 5-0 vote Friday an order designed to speed deployment of distributed antenna systems, small cells and other wireless facilities. In a late change negotiated by Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, the FCC reduced from 90 to 60 days the period of review before a collocation application can be deemed granted. In return, CTIA and PCIA agreed to work with local jurisdictions on streamlining the approval process. Commissioners noted that infrastructure buildout is as important to deployment as spectrum for robust wireless networks. The FCC also approved, 5-0, a notice of inquiry examining new developments in technology that could increase the viability of operations in bands above 24 GHz.
The White House announced its renomination of Republican FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly Wednesday, setting the stage for a Senate confirmation vote either in the lame-duck session or, more likely, next year, lobbyists told us. But if it’s pushed to next year, O'Rielly would require another White House renomination, a Senate Republican staffer cautioned, urging speedy action this year. The Senate won’t return until after the November elections.