FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler expressed impatience with the industry-led Robocall Strike Force, which presented its initial report to the agency Wednesday. The release was a high-profile affair, with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, chairman of the strike force, and all five commissioners attending. Members of the task force have met more than 100 times leading up to the presentation, commission officials said. “We have not reached the goal,” Wheeler said. “We need solutions now."
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler expressed impatience with the industry-led Robocall Strike Force, which presented its initial report to the agency Wednesday. The release was a high-profile affair, with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, chairman of the strike force, and all five commissioners attending. Members of the task force have met more than 100 times leading up to the presentation, commission officials said. “We have not reached the goal,” Wheeler said. “We need solutions now."
Incompas urged the FCC to curb business data service "market power abuse" at the commissioners' Nov. 17 meeting, the preliminary agenda for which is due Thursday. "Setting a vote on BDS would advance a proceeding that has dragged on for over a decade," said CEO Chip Pickering in a blog post Tuesday. "We currently live in the EpiPen world of broadband, where companies like AT&T and CenturyLink use their market power to overcharge customers. ... Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal to adopt a remedy to address market abuse on legacy BDS services is an important first step toward more competition that we support." The FCC "should establish a mechanism or clear guidelines for Ethernet BDS pricing that fosters competition, not monopoly rates," Pickering wrote. He said the FCC should ensure wholesale rates always are less than retail rates, and further address "lock-up agreements." Representatives of Public Knowledge, Common Cause, New America's Open Technology Institute and the Computer & Communications Industry Association pressed the agency to "promote competition and address unjust and unreasonable prices that enterprise, wholesale, and mobile wireless backhaul customers pay for TDM and packet-based BDS services." The commission should phase in proposed TDM rate adjustments in two years, rather than three years, and rates should be cut by 17 to 20 percent instead of a proposed 11 percent, said a PK filing in docket 16-143 on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, which also urged the commission "to address the high cost of Ethernet services." Charter Communications said the FCC "cannot lawfully regulate the large universe of BDS provided on a private-carriage basis." In a filing on meetings with aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Mignon Clyburn, Charter opposed any Ethernet regulation, even of incumbent ILECs at lower speeds, which it said "could have a devastating impact on BDS investment for cable and other competitive providers." Alaska Communications asked the FCC to defer any consideration of BDS regulatory changes in Alaska, given the "state's unusual market dynamics," said a filing on meetings with every commissioner except Wheeler, aides (including to Wheeler) and other FCC officials. Sprint, Frontier Communications, Level 3, AT&T and others made further BDS filings in the docket in recent days.
Incompas urged the FCC to curb business data service "market power abuse" at the commissioners' Nov. 17 meeting, the preliminary agenda for which is due Thursday. "Setting a vote on BDS would advance a proceeding that has dragged on for over a decade," said CEO Chip Pickering in a blog post Tuesday. "We currently live in the EpiPen world of broadband, where companies like AT&T and CenturyLink use their market power to overcharge customers. ... Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal to adopt a remedy to address market abuse on legacy BDS services is an important first step toward more competition that we support." The FCC "should establish a mechanism or clear guidelines for Ethernet BDS pricing that fosters competition, not monopoly rates," Pickering wrote. He said the FCC should ensure wholesale rates always are less than retail rates, and further address "lock-up agreements." Representatives of Public Knowledge, Common Cause, New America's Open Technology Institute and the Computer & Communications Industry Association pressed the agency to "promote competition and address unjust and unreasonable prices that enterprise, wholesale, and mobile wireless backhaul customers pay for TDM and packet-based BDS services." The commission should phase in proposed TDM rate adjustments in two years, rather than three years, and rates should be cut by 17 to 20 percent instead of a proposed 11 percent, said a PK filing in docket 16-143 on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, which also urged the commission "to address the high cost of Ethernet services." Charter Communications said the FCC "cannot lawfully regulate the large universe of BDS provided on a private-carriage basis." In a filing on meetings with aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Mignon Clyburn, Charter opposed any Ethernet regulation, even of incumbent ILECs at lower speeds, which it said "could have a devastating impact on BDS investment for cable and other competitive providers." Alaska Communications asked the FCC to defer any consideration of BDS regulatory changes in Alaska, given the "state's unusual market dynamics," said a filing on meetings with every commissioner except Wheeler, aides (including to Wheeler) and other FCC officials. Sprint, Frontier Communications, Level 3, AT&T and others made further BDS filings in the docket in recent days.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler anticipates the Enforcement Bureau tiger teams “should be up and running” by early 2017, he told House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. That was one of the many written answers Wheeler supplied in a 40-page document sent to the House Commerce Committee this month. He and the other four commissioners were responding to questions for the record that lawmakers submitted after a July 12 FCC oversight hearing.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler anticipates the Enforcement Bureau tiger teams “should be up and running” by early 2017, he told House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. That was one of the many written answers Wheeler supplied in a 40-page document sent to the House Commerce Committee this month. He and the other four commissioners were responding to questions for the record that lawmakers submitted after a July 12 FCC oversight hearing.
Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn likely both have some leverage on the ISP privacy rules since neither FCC Republican is expected to vote for any of the rules at next week’s commissioner meeting (see 1610120063), industry observers on both sides said Tuesday. Rosenworcel didn’t support the set-top box order at the September meeting, which kept the FCC from approving it after months of build-up (see 1609290014). FCC officials say negotiations on the item are ongoing (see 1610180052).
Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn likely both have some leverage on the ISP privacy rules since neither FCC Republican is expected to vote for any of the rules at next week’s commissioner meeting (see 1610120063), industry observers on both sides said Tuesday. Rosenworcel didn’t support the set-top box order at the September meeting, which kept the FCC from approving it after months of build-up (see 1609290014). FCC officials say negotiations on the item are ongoing (see 1610180052).
Early signs are that the industry attack on draft ISP privacy rules will center on the FCC’s determination of what kind of data is considered “sensitive” information requiring opt-in consent before it can be used or shared. USTelecom and NCTA already raised concerns the draft rules include eight categories of sensitive data, a broader definition than under the FTC’s privacy framework (see 1610060031).
Early signs are that the industry attack on draft ISP privacy rules will center on the FCC’s determination of what kind of data is considered “sensitive” information requiring opt-in consent before it can be used or shared. USTelecom and NCTA already raised concerns the draft rules include eight categories of sensitive data, a broader definition than under the FTC’s privacy framework (see 1610060031).