The Rural Cellular Association didn’t rejoice on the one-year anniversary of the interim cap for the Universal Service Fund high-cost program. Instead, the association of small wireless carriers Friday sent a scathing white paper to acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps. RCA scolded the agency for delaying removal of the “interim” measure, and for imposing the cap in the first place.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Deputy Managing Editor for Privacy Daily. Bender leads a team of journalists and reports on state privacy legislation, rulemaking and litigation. In previous roles at Communications Daily, he covered telecom and internet policy in the states, Congress and at the FCC. He has won awards for his reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW). Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of multiple dystopian sci-fi novels. Keep up to date with Bender by reading his blog and following him on social media including Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn.
The FCC should extend the deadline for deaf people to register 10-digit phone numbers for Internet-based telecom relay service, said AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Purple Communications and five other telecom relay service providers. Many relay users are unaware that they will lose service if they don’t register numbers by June 30 (CD April 17 p3). The companies’ Wednesday petition didn’t suggest a new deadline, but said Dec. 31 “might be achievable” if the FCC acts quickly to address registration and implementation problems.
The FCC circulated Friday a draft order on Verizon’s petition for unbundling rules forbearance in Rhode Island, commission officials told us. It’s not clear what the draft recommends. It’s expected that meetings with Verizon and competitive local exchange carriers will heat up this week. The FCC is under a statutory deadline to rule by May 15 on the petition. If it comes out soon, a decision on a Verizon challenge that’s pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit could influence the final order (CD April 7 p8). Verizon is challenging a 2007 FCC order denying it unbundling relief in Providence and five other markets.
Telecom Relay Service providers gave mixed reviews to a proposal designed to prevent uncertified companies from providing unregulated service and to tighten certification requirements for Internet-based telecom relay providers. Companies must be certified to receive reimbursement from the interstate TRS fund. Petitioner Purple Communications framed its plan as an effort to protect consumers. But in comments at the FCC last week, some accused the company of trying to thwart competition by smaller companies.
The FCC must fix its audit program for the Universal Service Fund high-cost program, USTelecom and CTIA said Friday in a scathing letter to commissioners. The associations queried the accuracy of a November audit report from the FCC Office of Inspector General, which said the high-cost fund had an error payment rate of 23.3 percent. “The current audit program … results in misleading statistics generated as improper payments under the” 2002 Improper Payments Information Act, “which undermines the credibility of the audits and the USF,” they said.
The FCC will vote May 13 on shortening the number porting shot clock for wireline and intermodal ports, as expected (CD April 23 p1), the agency said Thursday. The current draft recommends shortening the interval to two business days from four, but it’s possible that will be edited, an agency official said. Commissioners will also vote on discontinuance requirements for interconnected VoIP providers, and the agency’s yearly rulemaking notice on regulatory fee assessment and collection. The FCC also plans to present an update on the DTV transition and an “action plan” for helping consumers.
The FCC should address “significant marketing advantages” enjoyed by cable companies as it tackles local number portability issues, Verizon said in a Wednesday letter to acting Chairman Michael Copps. The company also lashed out at non-cable rivals, accusing some of breaking existing portability rules. Verizon competitors responded with vitriol.
The FCC should allow rate-of-return carriers to allocate federal audit expenses completely to interstate jurisdiction, said small carriers supporting a petition by the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. The change would make recovery of audit expenses more certain, and save small companies time and money, they said. However, Verizon condemned the petition as having “no basis,” and urged the FCC to do away with jurisdictional separations altogether.
The FCC needs more time to finish an overdue revamp of jurisdictional separations, said states, carriers and consumer advocates. In comments last week, they supported the commission’s tentative conclusion to extend the eight- year-old freeze on separations, but fought over how much longer the “interim” measure should last. Without FCC action, the freeze will expire June 30.
FCC commissioners are studying a rulemaking notice that would set permanent rates paid to video relay service providers under the Interstate Telecom Relay Service fund, an FCC official said Monday. The FCC circulated the notice last Wednesday, according to the agency’s Web site. Relay providers get paid based on consumer usage by the minute. The National Exchange Carrier Association, which administers the fund and proposed the permanent rates, had been following a three-year interim plan established in 2007.