Large telcos are seeking renewed USF voice support in remote areas where funding was cut off but their obligations to provide phone service continue under a transition to broadband-oriented mechanisms. Representatives of AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier Communications, Verizon, Windstream and USTelecom jointly discussed the issue with FCC officials in a series of recent meetings, and Frontier sought relief in separate meetings with two commissioners, according to filings in docket 14-192. “It will happen, with some sort of path to broadband,” USTelecom Senior Vice President Jon Banks told us.
The Supreme Court could eventually review USF False Claim Act (FCA) litigation, a lawyer in one of the cases said at an FCBA seminar Wednesday. Vinson & Elkins attorney Jeremy Marwell said fraud allegations against recipients of USF support don’t qualify under the FCA, but he acknowledged it’s a “close question,” particularly in light of mixed court rulings to date. While Marwell was on the winning side of a July 2014 E-rate decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled the FCA doesn’t apply to USF programs (United States ex rel. Shupe v. Cisco, No. 13-40807), other cases are pending in the 7th Circuit and D.C. Circuit, which could create a circuit split. Marwell said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the cases go to the high court.
Comments to the FCC are due March 21 under the Paperwork Reduction Act regarding reporting and record-keeping duties of recipients of USF Mobility Fund Phase I support. The FCC estimates it will take respondents up to 15,874 hours collectively to comply with requirements in submitting Form 690, according to a notice Wednesday in the Federal Register.
AT&T's and T-Mobile’s lobbying punch rose in Q4 compared with the same period last year. T-Mobile, which transitioned from the fourth-largest carrier to the third, spent $1.97 million in 2015’s Q4, well up from the $1.3 million it spent in Q4 a year earlier. AT&T, the largest carrier and now owner of DirecTV, continued its heavyweight spending at $3.49 million, up from the $3.06 million in the same quarter last year. Sprint and Verizon, meanwhile, spent less on lobbying. Sprint dropped to $635,313 this year from $772,658 in that quarter a year earlier, and Verizon spending was $2.52 million, down from $2.97 million a year ago.
Two wireless companies asked the FCC to delay use of an Oklahoma map that will reduce the scope of areas in the state eligible for enhanced tribal Lifeline USF support. Assist Wireless and Easy Wireless backed a request by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (see 1511190020) for an extension of the Feb. 9 FCC deadline for applying the Oklahoma Historical Map to tribal Lifeline support, which offers a $34.25 monthly subsidy for low-income subscriber service instead of the general $9.25/month subsidy. But instead of the OCC's proposed 90-day extension, the FCC should provide a 180-day extension, Assist and Easy said in a filing posted Monday in docket 11-42. "The new map contains poorly-defined borders that have made it impossible to implement," the wireless companies said. "The Commission’s post-hoc consultation with Tribal Nations also has made it futile to even attempt to transition to the new map because the Commission has yet to announce publicly whether that consultation will result in modifications to the boundaries (poorly) depicted in the new map." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently denied Assist's request to stay implementation of the deadline pending further judicial review (Assist Wireless v. FCC, No. 15-1324). In an order, the court also set a schedule for briefs, with petitioners' brief due Feb. 9.
The Alaska Telephone Association called on the FCC to adopt the group's proposals to encourage broadband deployment in the state (the "Alaska Plan"). The commission should approve the Alaska Plan when it overhauls USF support mechanisms for rural rate-of-return carriers, the ATA said in a filing posted Monday in docket 10-90. "In adopting the Plan, the Commission should freeze support at 2011 levels adjusted to account for corporate operations expense limits and the $250 cap per line per month, and include both the incumbent LEC and CETC [competitive eligible telecom carrier] components," said the group, which called the proposals a "carefully coordinated and unified approach" to reforming support for both wireline ILECs and mobile CETCs. General Communications backed the Alaska Plan, the company said in a filing posted Friday on a meeting with agency officials.
Lifeline USF rules in a June FCC order will become effective as early as Feb. 4, said a Wireline Bureau public notice posted Friday in docket 11-42. The rules strengthen document retention requirements, ensure only Eligible Telecom Carriers directly serving low-income customers receive Lifeline reimbursement, and require ETCs to use a uniform snapshot date to request reimbursement, the PN said. Related FCC information collection requirements were modified and approved by the Office of Management and Budget Jan. 5 after a Paperwork Reduction Act review, the PN said, noting parties should expect 10 listed rules “to become effective on or after" Feb. 4. Rural telco groups recently urged the FCC to reconsider the snapshot rule that requires ETCs to report their Lifeline subscriber numbers as of the first of each month. The requirement will at times prevent rural ETCs from being reimbursed for providing Lifeline benefits, said John Staurulakis Inc., NTCA and WTA in a filing posted Wednesday. “To eliminate the need for costly billing system changes or the use of burdensome manual processes ... the Commission should allow RLEC ETCs to take a ‘snapshot’ of their number of subscribers as of their carrier-specific billing dates,” they said. Addressing the FCC’s current rulemaking to modernize Lifeline, the rural groups voiced concerns about proposed use of a third party to verify consumer low-income eligibility. Saying rural consumers were accustomed to ETCs taking care of such administrative details, they asked the commission to allow them to collect and forward eligibility documents to any third-party verifier. In a filing posted Friday, Public Knowledge repeated support for expanding Lifeline to broadband coverage and further explained why it believed the FCC has legal authority to allow service to be provided by non-ETCs. FCC officials have said they could act soon on the rulemaking. “We’re hopeful for February, and if not February, then we’re very hopeful for March,” Phillip Berenbroick, PK counsel-government affairs, told us.
The National Exchange Carrier Association backed a FairPoint Communications request for an FCC declaratory ruling on cost recovery the telco said it's due under Connect America Fund (CAF) and intercarrier compensation (ICC) transition rules. "NECA agrees the specific CAF-ICC rules governing such calculations are unclear, and supports issuance of a ruling by the Commission clarifying application of the rules in the particular circumstances faced by FairPoint," said a filing posted Friday in docket 10-90 from the group, which administers certain telco cost-recovery pooling mechanisms. "NECA stands ready to revise and refile with the Commission FairPoint’s [eligible recovery] amounts for the periods beginning January 1, 2015 and forward as directed by the Commission, should the Commission agree with FairPoint." FairPoint, which receives USF support as a price-cap telco but is regulated as a rate-of-return carrier under the ICC transition, said rules to prevent double recovery are unjustly preventing it from collecting $4.2 million in annual revenue it formerly received from local switching support (LSS) (see 1512110070). If the FCC disagrees with FairPoint's interpretation, NECA asked it to clarify that FairPoint isn't entitled to recover LSS-related revenue requirements through NECA pools. The FCC invited comments by Tuesday (see 1512180033).
The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) got support from the American Hospital Association on its December petition seeking fundamental changes to the FCC’s rural healthcare (RHC) USF program. USTelecom said the FCC should reject the petition out of hand, a position supported by other groups representing wireline companies. Comments were filed in docket 02-60.
Public Knowledge wants to build on victories for net neutrality and against cable concentration, officials said at a Thursday news-media briefing on the group's 2016 agenda. The biggest threat to the open Internet “is the persistent cable broadband stranglehold over how citizens, consumers get access to video streaming, apps, devices, traditional TV content they want,” said President Gene Kimmelman. “So, this is going to be a year that we go all-out to break that stranglehold. It ranges from the set-top box to programming contracts to the actual transmission itself.” Net neutrality was just one battle in a broader fight that continues “against cable dominance,” he said.