Broadband Data-Collection Proposals Raising Cost Concerns
Telecom groups and companies are sounding alarms on broadband data collection proposals as FCC commissioners prepare to vote next week on the subject. Meanwhile, industry sources expect little opposition to a wireline item extending a ban on exclusive contracts with apartment buildings, they said. The FCC agenda for next week’s meeting was released late Wednesday.
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Data collection proposals pose costs for carriers, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association and USTelecom said in an ex parte. In particular, collecting by nine-digit ZIP codes would be “extremely costly,” they said. “It is critical that the Commission be cognizant that the ultimate goal is universal broadband deployment -- not simply the collection of data,” they said. The groups warned the FCC against unintentionally “diverting these companies’ limited resources that otherwise could be used to actually build out such networks in under-served areas.”
T-Mobile said changes in reporting requirements would “impose unnecessary and burdensome requirements on wireless carriers.” T-Mobile agreed with USTelecom and NTCA on 9- digit ZIP codes, saying they “would not yield more accurate data than the current 5-digit” system. It also called burdensome a proposal that carriers be required to file separate reports on “mobile Web browsing” subscribers and “full Internet browsing” subscribers, and another that would force carriers to report geographic coordinates and service radius of transmission facilities. CTIA has made similar arguments (CD March 13 p12).
The broadband order is expected to swap the FCC minimum speed for broadband -- 200 kbps -- for a tiered approach. The lowest tier would set 768 kbps as the minimum speed, an FCC source said. A further notice considers a proposal for automatically increasing the speed standards, and another to create a mechanism for consumers to comment on speeds, the source said.
Meanwhile, wide approval is expected for a wireline order to bar telecom providers from signing exclusive contracts to sell services to apartment buildings, industry sources said in interviews. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told reporters last week he was seeking a vote on the proposal (CD March 5 p1). Surprises are unlikely, since it’s “politically incorrect” to oppose bans on exclusives, a competitor source told us: “You can’t say no.”
Incumbents and CLECs generally backed the exclusives ban in July and August comments (CD Jan 4 p8). In a reply comment, Comcast didn’t expressly oppose the ban, but urged the FCC not to move forward without “evidentiary proof of genuine market failure or consumer harm.” In an ex parte last November, AT&T said it supported the ban, adding that the FCC shouldn’t bar preferential marketing agreements. Outright opposition came mainly from the Real Access Alliance, representing building owners. It wants no FCC action.
Martin hasn’t said if the MTE order would deal with the commercial market, on which the FCC also has sought comment. Competitive telecom companies “would be disappointed” if the FCC didn’t, a CLEC lawyer said. In the docket, CLECs raised concerns about continuing problems providing telecom services in the commercial market.
Also on the agenda are one media and two wireless items. The FCC will consider matters involving satellite carriers’ carriage of digital broadcast TV signals. On wireless, the FCC will consider an order related to spectrum sharing on the 2495 to 2500 MHz band. The item also looks at an order, a declaratory ruling and a further notice about changes in service rules for Broadband Radio Service and the Educational Broadband Service. The other wireless item relates to a report and order on changes to radiated power rules.