Monica Hogan

The Supreme Court Thursday granted Facebook a petition for a writ of certiorari in Facebook v. Duguid, after the company was sued for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 1908220030). Facebook seeks clarity on what an autodialer is. Davis Wright attorney Ronnie London expects the FCC to wait for a Supreme Court ruling, not likely before 2021, before deciding whether to issue a rule defining an autodialer. The FCC declined comment.

Pursue flexibility in deregulating telephone access charges "rather than mandating a single approach," USTelecom urged the FCC in comments posted through Tuesday in docket 20-71 (see 2004010057). State regulations "may prevent incumbent LECs from sufficiently adjusting retail rates," it said. Changing existing tariffing provisions for rural LECs "without providing a reasonable opportunity for recovery of those costs elsewhere" would undermine universal service, NTCA said. CenturyLink warned the FCC could face legal challenges if a new rule doesn't allow carriers to "adequately recover" interstate costs. Uncertainty arising from the new rules would destabilize rural LECs, WTA said. Windstream wants the FCC to allow a separate line item on consumer bills for interstate charges and marked conspicuously to communicate it's not a government-regulated fee. Incompas opposes the rulemaking. States weighed in, including Pennsylvania, New York, California, Nebraska and Kansas, with some raising concerns that proposals threaten states' universal service programs and new billing rules would decrease transparency to consumers. NCTA wants the FCC to clarify "that any mandatory detariffing of charges does not apply to contracts with commercial customers or, if it does apply, that it will not result in an unwarranted windfall to commercial customers that previously agreed to pay such charges."

Industry wants the FCC to remain involved in implementing a Team Telecom executive order updating how DOD, DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security review license applications with foreign ownership ties (see 2004060071), said replies posted through Monday in docket 16-155. That will help resolve questions and "ensure that this process is used to target genuine concerns," CTIA said. CTIA said it's too early to declare mission accomplished before a required memo of understanding. USTelecom wants "sufficient time for parties to provide additional input before the Commission takes action" if the MOU provides additional clarity. NAB wants FCC licensee applicants to direct responses to the national security agencies rather than to the FCC to protect confidentiality on some matters. T-Mobile wants applicants to be able to seek a protective order. Windstream said the EO was "a step in the right direction" but silent on some "nuanced aspects of these review processes." Only in extraordinary circumstances should Team Telecom "unilaterally determine to investigate existing licensee ownership or impose new conditions on licensees whose ownership already has been approved" by the FCC, said Inmarsat.

That the pandemic showed "we can't imagine a future" with Americans lacking a connection is no reason to regulate broadband service as a utility, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter told C-SPAN's The Communicators scheduled to have been televised this weekend. "To wrap it in the red tape of regulatory strictures, the overhang of bureaucracy that would be required if we were to make it a utility, would take us backward." He's "confident a wise administration that believes in the future of progress in our internet will understand this framework and will continue it." He has seen bipartisan support for keeping the internet open and transparent and for closing the digital divide, and cited predictions it could take $100 billion in government support to extend broadband to all unserved areas. That's adequate, he said, in the context of a broader U.S. infrastructure investment that may approach $1 trillion. Asked about the debate over changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Spalter said: "The issues concerning content moderation are complex and thorny. It’s not our job, it’s not our business, and we’ll be watching with interest as these discussions take place."

Dish Network entered the retail wireless business after completing its $1.4 billion purchase of Sprint's Boost Mobile (see 2007010017), it said Wednesday. Some 9.3 million customers are involved, T-Mobile said. Dish's buy of Sprint's prepaid business was a government condition for T-Mobile's Sprint acquisition. "T-Mobile followed through on fulfilling one of the most significant commitments we made as part of this merger process," said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert. "Today’s action is a key step towards promoting vigorous competition in the wireless marketplace, particularly for price-conscious consumers in our nation’s cities," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. "With this divestiture and its existing spectrum resources, DISH has the potential to make a big impact on a wireless marketplace that is transitioning to 5G." Pai vowed to stay vigilant to ensure "T-Mobile and DISH comply in the coming months and years" with FCC conditions. Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim said: “This deal is a significant milestone in realizing" DOJ’s remedy "designed to strengthen competition for high-quality 5G networks.” Dish said it will keep the Boost brand, and reinstituted a popular payment plan that Boost ended six years ago. Dish said its "$hrink-It!" plan starts at $45 monthly for 15 GB and goes down by $5 after three on-time payments and another $5 after six. Dish is introducing a $35 monthly 10 GB plan. Bill Ho, analyst at 556 Ventures, said he's optimistic about Dish's short-term prospects in wireless provided it spends to keep prepaid customers. Companies "can buy any customer," he said, but it takes subsidies to keep them or gain new ones. Incompas CEO Chip Pickering predicted Dish will price Boost competitively and succeed at keeping and building that customer base and could use the cash flow to help fund its 5G network. Pickering said the prepaid mobile business is more valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic because there's more demand for low-cost service and new public policy in the works to subsidize it. New Street's Blair Levin expected Dish will attempt to "leapfrog" competitors with new technology and spectrum capacity when it transitions to its own 5G network. The Utility Reform Network, "always happy to see a new competitor," remains skeptical whether Dish can competitively affect the facilities-based market, said Managing Director Christine Mailloux.

With not all on board with stakeholder calls to end eligible telecom carrier designation requirements, momentum may not be sufficient to change FCC policy before would-be bidders in the upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund take first steps to participate in the auction, according to recent interviews. Most think a repeal would take a law.

The next National Broadband Plan shouldn't be a 10-year project and shouldn't be assigned solely for the FCC to conduct and implement, said New Street's Blair Levin during a Friday FCBA webinar with panelists who worked on the original National Broadband Plan before it was released as a report to Congress 10 years ago (see 1003170154). Their consensus now is it should be shepherded outside the FCC to gain broader buy-in across government (see 2003030030). Suggestions for NBP ownership included NTIA, the Commerce Department or the White House.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai hasn't ruled out extending his term into the next administration. He answered us during an Internet Innovation Alliance chat Thursday. Asked if he would stick around if President Donald Trump is reelected, or if former Vice President Joe Biden wins and asks Pai to remain, the chairman said he hasn't been able to think about what comes next, given the work the agency has before it now. Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mike O'Rielly are likely candidates to become next Republican chair if Trump is re-elected (see 2006230059). When IIA Founding Chairman Bruce Mehlman asked whether Pai might someday run for president himself, Pai couldn't rule that out, either, but said he's not sure what he would bring to the table "besides bad jokes and the occasional good tweet." Asked if he supports updates to the USF contribution mechanism, Pai said he didn't want to get in front of Commissioner Mike O'Rielly's work (see 1910250059). But Pai said because many consumers are struggling with their finances during the pandemic, "the last thing they would want to pay is a broadband tax." Pai said the agency released list of eligible bidding areas for the upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auctions Thursday. It follows the agency's evaluation of challenges to a draft list, he said. It should give potential bidders more certainty before applications are due.

Give voice providers more call blocking authority and more liability protection, industry asked the FCC in comments posted through Monday in docket 20-93. Don't limit a safe harbor to one-ring scams because doing so wouldn't "provide the certainty against all illegal robocalls as new scams arise," USTelecom said. "T-Mobile and other carriers will be hesitant to take advantage of opt-out call blocking without a safe harbor," it said. The safe harbor should also "protect providers from liability due to inadvertent mislabeling or misidentification of a call’s level of trust," said CTIA. Avoid "prescriptive requirements governing how providers communicate with their subscribers -- for instance, call labeling requirements or a requirement to notify subscribers dialing international toll-generating numbers of the cost before connecting the call, the latter of which could be a complex and expensive undertaking," said NCTA. Incompas said a new rule for international gateway providers to verify "the nature and purpose of foreign originators would be unnecessary and overly burdensome." AT&T said FCC should require as "baseline best practices for robocall mitigation" that providers have "the capability to monitor traffic patterns that would flag suspect calling campaigns, and then robust application of the provider’s terms of service to eliminate problem customers."

A Team Telecom rejection of an international submarine cable system landing location comes late in the planning process and would send an applicant back to "square one," SubCom Managing Director-Sales David Robles told an FCBA CLE Monday. Finding a new landing location would require complex planning and negotiations, including re-engineering a submarine network and adjusting the needed length of fiber cable, he said to our Q&A: "It has huge implications for the cable system." The FCC opened a comment cycle Monday on Team Telecom recommendations on a submarine cable landing location application (see 2006220029). Scott Shefferman,Verizon senior managing associate general counsel-international legal, called such uncertainty a top challenge, along with overall uncertainty in changing executive branch review regulations (see 2006170055) and recent changes in FCC submarine cable outage requirements (see 1912270049). Katie Bristow Myers, senior attorney for Microsoft's Azure Networking, said national security changes at Team Telecom, plus broader cybersecurity threats, are among her top worries. She's concerned how quickly the company, a so-called hyperscaler, can replace the capacity it lit up with COVID-19. "We ate about two years of capacity in two months," she said, and that requires new plant construction, though she's pleased to see how stable networks in the U.S. have remained. Recently, traditional competitors banded together to build international submarine cable systems, she said. Ulises Pin of Morgan Lewis said the economic downturn could slow availability of securities financing long-term projects. Verizon's Shefferman said governance and maintenance agreements must last 25 to 30 years and should be written to survive any party's bankruptcy. Kent Bressie of Harris Wiltshire said the submarine cable industry must continue to educate governments, and protecting submarine cables requires support from fishermen. As climate change affects how and where fishing vessels operate, cables on the ocean floor face new risks, he said. Wind energy deployment can interfere with submarine cable systems without proper interindustry coordination, said Catherine Creese, director-Naval Seafloor Cable Protection Office, Naval Facilities Engineering Command.