Windstream said the FCC shouldn't move 8YY toll-free originating access fees to a bill-and-keep, no-payment regime over three years. That would be "a radical step" that provides a "windfall to large 8YY providers and shift costs to consumers," said the telco, noting "widespread existence of 8YY abuse" hasn't been demonstrated. The agency should either let 8YY revenue "decline on their own over time" or consider "a longer transition period," filed the carrier, on meetings CEO Tony Thomas had with Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mike O'Rielly, and aides to all four commissioners, posted Tuesday in docket 18-156. On the recent Connect America Fund Phase II auction, "Windstream highlighted its concerns around the ability of some of the winning bidders to fulfill their deployment obligations," saying "the weighting methodology applied to latency did not adequately reflect consumer differentiation between high-latency and low-latency services." It noted its continued support for the deal it reached with other USTelecom members on a proposal to delay ILEC forbearance relief from mandatory wholesale network unbundling discounts until February 2021.
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
The Office of Management and Budget cleared FCC rural call completion reporting duties associated with "covered carrier" points of contact through Oct. 31, 2021, said a commission rule regarding docket 13-39 for Wednesday's Federal Register. Replies are due Nov. 19 on petitions to reconsider an FCC staff order setting a framework for measuring broadband performance of fixed service provider recipients of high-cost USF support (see 1810220023), said Tuesday's FR.
Free Conferencing asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revisit a 2-1 panel ruling that the company intentionally interfered with a Qwest (CenturyLink) tariff contract with local carrier Tekstar (see 1809250012). "The split panel decision here conflicts with this Court’s decision in Qwest Communications Corp. v. Free Conferencing Corp., 837 F.3d 889 (8th Cir. 2016) (Qwest I)," said Free Conferencing's petition (in Pacer) for en banc and panel rehearing in Qwest v. Free Conferencing, No. 17-2412.
The FCC should reject a ZVRS Holding request to extend authorizations of its CSDVRS and Purple Communications for at-home interpreting in video relay service through December 31, 2020, "while prohibiting every other provider" from doing so, filed Sorenson Communications, posted Monday in docket 10-51. It would be "discriminatory" and an "an extraordinarily unfair competitive advantage." ZVRS and Purple seek to extend a one-year at-home interpreting trial by two years "while denying other providers the ability to participate," Sorenson said, citing a Wednesday letter from ZVRS. "Rather than simply assigning existing interpreters to work from home, ZVRS has attempted to use the pilot program as a recruiting tool for new interpreters." ZVRS didn't comment.
Rural telco groups urged FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and aides to bolster USF support mechanisms for high-cost rural areas. NTCA, ITTA, USTelecom and WTA officials asked the commission to address USF "sufficiency and predictability" concerns by year-end, including by adopting their proposals to increase funding for rate-of-return carriers (see 1810010045), said a filing posted Thursday in docket 10-90 on meeting Pai aides. "NTCA noted the overwhelming support from stakeholders ... and among policymakers generally for longer-term funding to promote universal service in rural areas," in a meeting CEO Shirley Bloomfield and Senior Vice President Mike Romano had with Pai and an aide. "Adopt and implement a straightforward set of reforms ... for each of the already-existing USF mechanisms," NTCA recommended. It sought action on an "outdated rate floor policy."
ITTA urged the FCC to give eligible rural telcos more than one chance to opt out of rate-of-return business data service regulation, apparently modifying its previous calls for an annual opportunity. AT&T said it's "reasonable" for RLECs to have a single opportunity as contemplated in a draft order scheduled for a vote at Tuesday's FCC meeting (see 1810110018). ITTA also discussed the rate of return that would apply to the BDS offerings of carriers not electing incentive-based regulation, said its filing on calls its officials had with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, posted Friday in docket 17-144. TDS Telecom urged an annual RLEC opportunity to opt out of RoR BDS regulation, in calls and voicemails to aides to all four commissioner aides. Speaking with a Wireline Bureau staffer, AT&T said the FCC "is poised to resolve the regulatory status of eligible carriers’ low speed TDM transport, and the issue does not mandate the opportunity for annual opt-in in perpetuity, particularly given the risks of gaming the Commission has identified."
The FCC expects to "fully fund" all eligible rural healthcare provider requests for single-year support in funding year 2018 under its $581 million budget, Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday at a Connected Care Health Conference in Boston. "Every rural clinic or hospital seeking to lower its cost of service for this next year is eligible for full funding," he said. "We’re aiming to end waste, fraud and abuse in the program. Each program dollar that’s wasted is by definition a dollar that isn’t going to improve digital health. And unfortunately, some carriers have been treating the program as a piggy bank to be raided and haven’t been complying with our rules. To date, we’ve made real progress in rooting out this abuse, including by taking enforcement actions, and we’re not going to let up until the problem is solved."
The FCC revised Part 36 jurisdictional separations rules to let all telecom carriers "use the simpler" processes previously reserved for smaller carriers. "We harmonize our Part 36 rules with the Commission’s previous amendments to our Part 32 accounting rules," said a unanimous order released Wednesday in docket 14-130. The amendments "further our goal of updating and modernizing our rules to eliminate outdated compliance burdens on carriers," it said. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said federal-state joint board members "may disagree on how to pursue long-term separations reform," but he's "encouraged by the Commission’s progress on extending the existing separations freeze." He looks forward to "further actions to eliminate unnecessary and technologically-irrelevant separations burdens."
CenturyLink said its sale of ex-Level 3 fiber network assets in Tucson to FirstDigital Telecom is complete. It's the last of three metropolitan divestitures DOJ required, CenturyLink said Tuesday, citing its 2017 takeover of Level 3.
NTCA said the FCC should approve small carrier relief from broadband testing duties, after no one opposed its application for review of a Wireline Bureau order and the Wireless ISP Association supported it (see 1810090037). The regulations should be limited to require rural providers to test only "network segments that are reasonably within [their] control," the RLEC group replied, posted Monday in docket 10-90. NTCA "ultimately welcomes measures intended to ensure accountability in performance of networks that leverage universal service support" but any testing requirements should "be deferred until such time as equipment that enables rural providers to complete testing in an economically reasonable and administratively efficient manner is available."