The National Exchange Carrier Association requested permission to withdraw a waiver petition Wednesday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1kypfDF). NECA had sought an expedited waiver of Section 51.909(a)(4) of the commission’s rules, which required NECA to adjust its interstate pool switched access rate caps to reflect changes when carriers enter or exit NECA’s Traffic Sensitive Pool. “Upon further evaluation, NECA pool election changes increase rates by a higher percentage than what was in the original waiver request, an increase the Commission does not consider to be de minimis,” NECA Vice President-Government Relations Jeff Dupree emailed us.

The FCC Wireline Bureau waived the requirement that price-cap eligible telecom carriers (ETCs) receiving frozen or incremental support file new five-year build-out plans by July 1 (http://bit.ly/1kodFIi). “Because the Bureau just finalized the Connect America Cost Model, and price cap carriers have not yet had the opportunity to make a state-level commitment for Connect America Phase II, we find that it is not in the public interest to require price cap ETCs to file new five-year plans in 2014 for the same reason as last year: they do not yet know which areas they will be serving in the future,” the Thursday order said. Price cap ETCs got a similar waiver in 2013.

Telcordia criticized a Neustar assertion that the FCC is legally required to hold a third round of notice and comment before selecting the next Local Number Portability Administrator. In a letter posted Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1kiOyXa), the Ericsson subsidiary, which has expressed interest in the LNPA job, called Neustar’s claims “meritless” and mostly an attempt to “derail and delay the process.” Neustar’s true motivation is clear, Telcordia said, pointing to its first quarter earnings call (CD April 17 p4): Neustar collects nearly $500 million per year from its LNPA contract. “Neustar’s arguments are wrong and mere repetition does not create law where none exists,” Telcordia said. “It is now up to the Commission to perform a classic adjudicative function akin to the approval of a license or authorization -- to apply the rules and the procurement documents to determine which entity or entities will be authorized to enter into a contract with North American Portability Management LLC ... to provide LNPA services."

The “911 exception” to the FCC’s IP Relay Service rules has been eliminated, said the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau in an order Tuesday (http://bit.ly/S75J80). The FCC had required IP relay providers to let unverified users of its service place calls to 911 operators. 911 centers began seeing a growing trend of “spoofing 911 calls via IP Relay,” the bureau said. Sprint told the bureau last month that IP relay has been used to “trick Public Safety Answering Points” into “dispatching emergency services based on false reports of emergency situations,” the order said. Because these calls at times have required the dispatch of police special weapons and tactical teams, “this mischief has been referred to as ’swatting.'” Because those actions “have the potential to cause alarm and even danger for the targeted residents and emergency service personnel, in addition to wasting the limited resources of emergency responders,” the bureau granted a one-year waiver of the requirement that IP relay providers enable unverified IP relay registrants to place calls to 911 during a “guest period.” Allowing such use of the service for 911 calls “endangers the safety the public,” said the bureau. It said the agency will proceed with a rulemaking on this and other issues addressing the provision of IP Relay services.

Part of the FCC rural call completion order may need clarification, said the Wireline Bureau in a public notice Monday seeking comment on the need to “clarify Appendix C” (http://fcc.us/1jxp1KN). That appendix describes criteria for categorizing different types of call attempts. It’s possible that “the relevant criteria in Appendix C were inadvertently drafted in a way that fails to reflect the Commission’s clear intent” regarding the “answered” and “ring no answer” categories of call attempts, the bureau said. Level 3 and Verizon have met with commission staff recently to explain that one of the codes identified in the appendix to denote an answered call is also used to indicate that the calling party has hung up before the called party answered, the bureau said. “Level 3 contends that including calling-party hangups as answered calls would result in a ‘much higher’ reported call-completion rate than a provider would report if it excluded them,” the notice said. Verizon expressed concern about using call signaling data to identify “ring no answer” calls. Comments in docket 13-39 will be due seven days after publication in the Federal Register.

The FCC said it plans to give the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) information that E-rate applicants submitted in FCC Form 471 Item 21, along with funding request number (FRN)-level data from the Universal Service Administrative Co.’s (USAC) Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) review classifications, in response to an IMLS request. Form 471 Item 21 provides “a narrative description of products and services for which discounts are sought, as well as line item detail and the cost associated with the products and services,” the FCC said in a Friday public notice. USAC’s PIA reviewers determine each FRN based on the predominant service or requested product involved, such as voice services, the FCC said. The commission said it “recognizes that this disaggregated, filer-specific data” should generally be exempt from public disclosure, but said it can disclose such information to IMLS because it’s a federal agency. IMLS said in its request that it’s using the data for policy research, to identify national library and museums’ needs and to measure how federal programs affect both institutions. IMLS said it would maintain the data’s confidentiality by restricting access to a minimal number of staff members, and plans to refer any Freedom of Information Acts requests to the FCC. Affected parties have until April 28 to protest IMLS’s request. The FCC said if it does not receive any oppositions by that time, it will disclose the data to IMLS (http://bit.ly/RvIaoX).

After several extensions, Vonage is in compliance with the FCC’s rule banning fake ringing tones, it told the FCC in a letter Thursday (http://bit.ly/1l9er2f). Vonage “has undertaken significant efforts to come into compliance with the Rule on such a short deadline,” it said.

Neustar urged the full FCC to take responsibility for selection of a new Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA), rather than delegating that authority to the Wireline Bureau. Selection of a neutral numbering administrator is a “Commission responsibility that is not within the authority of the Bureau,” Neustar said in a letter to the FCC Monday (http://bit.ly/RmOrDw). “Given the significance of the LNPA-selection decision, the Commission should not delegate that decision to the Wireline Competition Bureau but should instead address the issue in an order by the full Commission,” Neustar said. “The Commission has not, to date, made any such delegation of authority, and it should not do so.” The bureau has approved a “framework” to govern evaluation of proposals by North American Portability Management LLC and the North American Numbering Council (NANC), but “nothing in any prior Commission order has authorized the Bureau to act on the NANC’s recommendation,” Neustar said. Neustar previously asked the Wireline Bureau to mandate a new round of bids, which the bureau declined to do (CD Feb 12 p7).

Qualified interconnected VoIP providers should get direct access to phone numbers, Vonage told aides to every FCC commissioner Wednesday and Thursday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1eqYSzK). The commission has developed an “extensive record” over the last three years, including “real-world data from the numbering trial,” that demonstrates the benefits of direct access, Vonage said. Direct access promotes IP interconnection, the VoIP provider said: During its numbering trials, it was able to reach IP interconnection agreements with multiple providers, including Verizon. “There is little doubt that Vonage would be able to greatly expand its IP interconnections if the Commission were to adopt its proposed rule allowing direct access by interconnected VoIP providers, as the value of an IP interconnection arrangement for a potential IP interconnection partner is directly related to the volume of customer telephone numbers that Vonage can provide access to under the IP interconnection arrangement,” the VoIP provider said. IP interconnection drives several consumer benefits, such as the provision of innovative products, lower costs and improved service quality, Vonage said: “Granting direct access to telephone numbers to qualified interconnected VoIP providers is a simple, concrete step, supported by an extensive record, that the Commission should take now to advance the IP transition."

If the FCC plans to revise “core elements” of the Connect American Fund Phase II program -- such as the cost model or the challenge process -- it should reopen all core elements to eliminate aspects that are not competitively neutral, the American Cable Association said in meetings with aides to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday (http://bit.ly/1ijdiBs). For CAF Phase II competitive bidding to be successful, the maximum number of qualified providers need to participate, ACA said. Many of ACA’s small and mid-sized cable operators want to participate, but will only do so if “unreasonable barriers are eliminated,” ACA said. That’s why they're “heartened” to hear the commission is considering streamlining the eligible telecom carrier designation process, ACA said. ACA recommended several changes to CAF Phase II: non-ETCs should be able to apply to become an ETC after winning a bid, and groups that participate in the competitive bidding process should need only one ETC. ACA recommended a 60-90 day shot clock should be instituted for state decisions, and that states be prohibited from imposing requirements in addition to those adopted by the commission.