Ian Cohen

An application tutorial for the Connect America Fund Phase II auction of subsidies for fixed broadband services is available online, said an FCC public notice Thursday in docket 10-90. "This tutorial is designed to provide an overview of the pre-bidding component for Auction 903, including information regarding the process of applying to participate in Auction 903, a demonstration of the Auction 903 short-form application, also called FCC Form 183, and the application review process," the PN said.

Hargray Communications' planned takeover of CommSouth should be approved as soon as possible because it will result in "tremendous public interest benefits and produce efficiencies," said a Hargray filing posted in docket 18-52 Thursday on a meeting its representatives had with Wireline Bureau staffers Monday. Although FCC rules "provide sufficient protection to guard against any potential concerns regarding allocation of shared costs, Hargray has adopted internal cost allocation procedures that go above and beyond the Commission’s rules and provide additional assurances that our allocation of shared costs will be reasonable," it said. "If the Commission nonetheless continues to have concerns about the potential for unreasonable shifting of shared costs, we expressed our willingness to work with the Commission to address these concerns. For example, we discussed the Commission’s existing controls regarding operating expenditures and capital investments as well as other potential safeguards." No comments were posted on the transaction this week (they were due Tuesday); replies are due Tuesday. CommSouth serves 3,339 local lines in Georgia and also provides long-distance services.

Verizon urged the FCC to finalize a broadband speed measurement methodology well before a Connect America Fund Phase II auction of fixed broadband service subsidies starts July 24. "Potential bidders need to know (1) how the Commission will measure speed, i.e., the permitted measurement tools, the testing window, and the required number of measurements; and (2) how the Commission will determine whether the tested service is compliant," said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 10-90 on a meeting with Wireline Bureau staffers. The telco wants speed test standards to be "consistent with the real-world performance of comparable services in urban areas," and it cited gigabit-speed measurement "technical constraints." Electric power cooperatives said the FCC should "adopt performance measures that will encourage compliance with the rules and guard against waste, fraud, and abuse while also recognizing certain technical issues that may impact speed test results." Don't "penalize providers for variations in testing, inadequate customer equipment, or factors like data overhead, which can give the appearance of lower speeds even on networks that are properly engineered," said the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and others on a meeting with bureau staffers. "Data overhead and the frame size involved in measurement reduces the actual data throughput of 1 Gigabit service and therefore can have adverse impacts on speeds during testing. This means that even a perfectly-engineered Gigabit network would ordinarily test around 940 Mbps." An auction expert recently said bidder plans are complicated by absence of final broadband performance details (see 1803120037).

The FCC adjusted filing deadlines in CenturyLink's complaint alleging Verizon "chronically overcharged" it for special-access services by miscalculating discounts and frustrating remedial efforts. "Given the complexity of the case, we grant CenturyLink ten days to file its reply, and thus provide Verizon an additional three days to file its answer," said an Enforcement Bureau letter Tuesday in proceeding 18-33. It said Verizon's answer to CenturyLink's complaint is now due April 12; CenturyLink's reply and any second request for interrogatories are due April 23; and Verizon's response to a second CenturyLink interrogatory request would be due April 30. The letter said the disputants are to meet to try to resolve or narrow issues, and must file by May 7 a joint statement of all substantive or procedural proposals and disputes remaining, along with a joint statement of stipulated facts, disputed facts and key legal issues.

FCC elimination of payphone compensation audits and related rules takes effect April 16 under an order being published in Thursday's Federal Register (calendar). Modified remaining information-collection requirements must still be approved by the Office of Management and Budget before taking effect. Commissioners unanimously adopted the order at their Feb. 22 meeting (see 1802220045).

CenturyLink said DOJ cleared a proposed sale of Level 3 fiber assets in Albuquerque to Unite Private Networks, the second of three such metropolitan area network divestitures to address antitrust concerns. "CenturyLink will continue to serve former Level 3 customers in Albuquerque unless they choose to be served by UPN following the closing of the sale," said a release Wednesday noting customary closing conditions, including FCC approval. CenturyLink and Syringa Networks asked to transfer FCC licenses in CenturyLink's proposed sale of Level 3 fiber assets in Boise to Syringa (see 1803130024), said an application posted Wednesday. CenturyLink must also divest Level 3 fiber assets in Tucson under a DOJ settlement of CenturyLink's 2017 takeover of Level 3.

FCC staff granted Puerto Rico Telephone Co. a hurricane-related waiver after denying a petition for a grace period on a Connect America Fund three-year buildout deadline. "This is a common sense decision that forgives PRTC from paying back CAF Phase I support that was spent on broadband equipment much of which was destroyed by hurricane Maria,” emailed PRTC counsel Tom Navin of Wiley Rein. PRTC in February 2017 asked the agency to clarify that recipients of CAF Phase I Round 2 incremental broadband-oriented subsidy support can receive the same one-year grace period for meeting buildout requirements as CAF II recipients do in certain cases, (see 1702230009). In April, PRTC suggested a waiver of a related rule. A Wireline Bureau declaratory ruling and order Tuesday in docket 10-90 denied both requests but on its own motion granted a "limited waiver of our rules such that no support will be recovered from PRTC for locations it served within a year of its Phase I incremental support deadlines." It cited devastation from hurricanes last fall: "Allowing PRTC to retain these funds will enable it to more speedily restore, improve, and expand its network to the benefit of Puerto Rico’s residents as the territory recovers from the storms."

CenturyLink said DOJ cleared a sale of Level 3 metropolitan fiber assets in Boise to Syringa Networks, one of three such divestitures required under an antitrust settlement; the others are for Albuquerque and Tucson (see 1803080024). The sale is subject to other closing conditions, including FCC license approvals, and doesn't include the Boise area networks and assets of CenturyLink before its takeover of Level 3. "CenturyLink will continue to serve all former Level 3 customers in Boise unless they choose to be served by Syringa Networks following the closing of the sale," said a release Tuesday. "Where needed to provide uninterrupted service to its customers in Boise, CenturyLink will purchase network connectivity and services from Syringa Networks."

Comments are due April 12, replies April 27 on an FCC jurisdictional separations NPRM being published in Tuesday's Federal Register (schedule). The NPRM proposes to implement federal-state joint board recommendations to harmonize Part 36 separation rules consistent with FCC streamlining of Part 32 telco accounting rules a year ago (see 1802230019, 1710270059 and 1704250018).

The FCC issued Connect America Fund auction instructions for short-form applications to participate in the Phase II broadband-oriented fixed-service subsidy bidding, to begin July 24. The instructions "indicate how an applicant can select the specific state(s) in which it wishes to bid, select the performance tier and latency combination(s) on which it wishes to bid in its selected state(s), submit operational and financial information demonstrating that it can meet the service requirements associated with the performance tier and latency combination(s) for which it intends to bid, disclose auction-related agreements, and provide information regarding its ownership structure," said a public notice in docket 17-182 in Friday's Daily Digest. More information is available at the Auction 903 webpage.