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."

The FCC needs to make continued Lifeline program overhaul a priority, the “Lifeline Reform 2.0 Coalition” told the agency in a letter Monday. The coalition is comprised of Telrite, Blue Jay Wireless, Global Connection of America and i-wireless. The Lifeline program would benefit from a rule change permitting eligible telecom carriers (ETCs) to retain proof of eligibility for audit purposes, and to “respond to negative media stories that claim an ETC did not require proof of eligibility, the coalition said. ETCs should be required to do a non-commission-based review and approval of all enrollments, the group said. Minimum standards for state eligibility databases would enable real-time enrollment and “guard against denying Lifeline service to eligible consumers,” the group said. The coalition also asked for a safe harbor from enforcement actions for alleged duplicate enrollments for Lifeline subscribers that have been submitted to the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) or a similar state database. Commission rules don’t define a “duplicate” for purposes of the one-per-household rule, the coalition said. “Despite the lack of clarity regarding duplicate accounts prior to NLAD implementation, the Commission has undertaken a misguided and harmful process of proposing multi-million dollar fines against ETCs for failing to eradicate 100 percent of end-user fraud allegedly perpetrated in the form of intra-company duplicate enrollments in the Lifeline program,” it wrote. “The Commission should establish a safe harbor reflecting a minimum level of due diligence that a Lifeline ETC should employ to screen for duplicates.” A Lifeline provider that has conducted appropriate due diligence to identify duplicates should not be liable for retroactive reimbursements to USF, the coalition said.

AT&T’s “advanced discussions” on deploying gigabit fiber broadband to six North Carolina cities shows incumbent providers “have moved a long way in their thinking” about next-generation network deployments, said Gig.U Executive Director Blair Levin Friday during a speech at the Connecticut Gigabit Summit. AT&T said Thursday it was entering final negotiations for the deployments with the North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN), an initiative among six municipal governments and four research universities -- Duke, North Carolina State, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest (CD April 11 p14). The AT&T negotiations don’t mean “we've hit a tipping point but we know a lot more about what any provider, including incumbents, need,” Levin, former manager of the National Broadband Plan, said in a prepared version of the speech. Although NCNGN’s “multi-community collaboration entailed upfront costs and a feeling of slogging that often accompanies multi-stakeholder coordination, it brought scale to the project,” Levin said. Since scale is important to providers, regional approaches “may be the only way some communities obtain an upgrade,” he said. NCNGN used a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to obtain feedback on the AT&T proposal from all community stakeholders, which “is a model that can be utilized by other communities throughout the country,” Levin said. The RFP process works only if local governments get flexibility, so “taking options off the table takes away the creativity and leverage local governments need to obtain new investments,” he said.

The FCC should implement updates to the existing high-cost rules “as soon as possible” to strike a balance between preserving and advancing universal service in areas served by rural rate-of-return regulated LECs, NTCA told aides to every commissioner except the chairman Wednesday, said an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1sNJzoX). “Such updates must ensure that predictable and sufficient support is available both for recovery of prior investments consistent with rules in place at the time those investments were made, and also for the additional future investments that are essential to ensure access by rural consumers to reasonably comparable services at reasonably comparable rates going forward.” The commission should proceed with “substantial caution” with respect to consideration of policies that might be based on the “purported presence of an ‘unsubsidized competitor,'” NTCA said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau approved average schedule formulas as proposed by the National Exchange Carrier Association, it said in an order Thursday (http://bit.ly/1oR27VI). NECA proposed to revise the formulas for average schedule interstate settlement disbursements in connection with provision of interstate access services for July 1 through June 30, 2015. Formula changes will decrease settlement rates by about 1 percent, at constant demand, the order said.

AT&T has begun working with special access customers to migrate them from legacy time-division multiplexing services to IP services. The carrier said Thursday it has negotiated multiple agreements enabling TelePacific Communications to “accelerate” its migration to IP-based services like Ethernet data and IP voice. AT&T asked the FCC to approve its tariff revision in December eliminating long-term discounts for special access services. After the FCC suspended the tariff for investigation (CD Dec 10 p1), AT&T withdrew it and announced it would refile soon with “more evidence” (CD Jan 9 p1). The company hasn’t yet refiled, a spokesman said. TelePacific CEO Dick Jalkut praised AT&T’s “flexibility,” in a statement. TelePacific is a California CLEC catering to business customers. An AT&T spokesman declined to disclose the terms of the contract. “Generally speaking, wholesale customers are at different stages on their migration path to IP,” he said. “Although many customers are already moving to replace TDM services with IP-based services, we understand that others may be on a longer migration path to IP and that, as a result, may want to continue to purchase TDM services in the near term. As our discussions continue, we will be flexible to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers throughout the course of the entire TDM-to-IP transition. There isn’t a one-size fits all approach.” Willkie Farr attorney Thomas Jones, who represents CLECs, said without appropriate FCC regulation “designed to constrain AT&T’s market power” over wires connecting to business customers, “AT&T will always have the power to dictate the terms of sale for local transmission facilities purchased by its competitors.” Regardless of which electronics are connected to AT&T’s wires, “AT&T has powerful and understandable incentives to use its market power over wireline connections to businesses to slow roll innovation and diminish competition,” Jones told us. That ultimately leaves AT&T “in charge of the transition to IP and packet-based services,” Jones said. “This is, for all of us, the inconvenient truth of telecommunications policy.”

Unregistered IP Relay users are making fraudulent calls to 911 “in an attempt to trick Public Safety Answer Points” into dispatching emergency services based on false reports, Sprint told FCC officials Wednesday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1si915L). “Due to the risk of life and safety to first responders and the public,” the commission should “provide immediate relief on this matter” by “waiving the requirement to handle calls to 911 from unregistered IP Relay users,” Sprint said.

"The transition to fiber is already well underway,” Verizon’s David Young said in a blog post Friday (http://vz.to/1si8513). About 70 percent of Verizon’s footprint will soon be “fiberized,” said the vice president-federal regulatory affairs. Only 6 percent of homes in those areas still get service over copper lines, and keeping the copper network running is very expensive, he said. “Unfortunately, there are some who for a variety of reasons are trying to put the brakes on fiber upgrades, and by extension, fiber deployment,” Young said. “They think that the old copper networks should be kept indefinitely.” No existing telco will be able to invest in fiber if it’s forced to keep the old “redundant” and “costly” copper network up too, he said. “The social benefits of a transition to fiber must outweigh the preference that a few holdouts might have for a more familiar technology,” Young said, urging policymakers to be “courageous."

ILECs have failed to report and demonstrate the consumer benefits of the lower pole attachment rates, as required by the FCC’s 2011 pole attachment order, Florida Power and Light told agency officials Monday (http://bit.ly/1i4EkIY). The order gave “explicit direction” that the cost savings from lower pole attachment rates accrue to consumers, the company said. After three years, “ILECs have never demonstrated that those specific consumer benefits have been achieved,” it said. “Based on research and general industry knowledge, the benefits very likely have not been achieved.” The company is “considering filing a petition for declaratory ruling” to determine whether ILECs have delivered the promised consumer benefits, it said.

The E-rate program must recognize the “unique role of libraries in the broadband social landscape,” the Urban Libraries Council told FCC officials Monday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1i4Lf4Y). It must also recognize the “structural differences” between libraries and schools, ULC said. “Libraries play a critical role for the 90 million adult Americans not currently in the workforce. These individuals cannot access broadband at work or through schools, and many either do not have broadband at home or do not have reliable access to broadband in a home,” ULC said. More than 60 percent of libraries report they are the only free public Internet access location in their communities, it said. The FCC should “define a desired state of library access for high-speed circuits to each library building and internal wireless broadband connectivity,” ULC said, citing a goal of 4-5 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream for each Wi-Fi user during peak hours.