The FCC and National Institute on Aging will host a workshop Feb. 18 to gather input on the types of research needed to “improve the functional equivalency and efficiency of Telecommunication Relay Services during and after the IP transition,” said a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice Monday (http://bit.ly/1far8AN). Panels will focus on developing a platform for the delivery of IP-based relay services to consumers and exploring “innovative IP-based technologies for relay services during and after the transition,” the notice said. FCC Chief Technologist Henning Schulzrinne and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will deliver opening remarks.

Comments are due March 3 on a CenturyLink petition seeking to convert its remaining average schedule ILEC affiliates to price-cap regulation effective July 1, said an FCC public notice Monday (http://bit.ly/1faqSSf). It said CenturyLink also seeks waivers of applicable regulations “to the extent necessary to enable such conversion.” Replies in WC docket 14-23 are due March 18.

There’s an ongoing need for a new Connect America Fund program tailored to rate-of-return regulated rural LECs to help them “sustain and promote technological evolution for the benefit of all rural customers,” NTCA told an aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Friday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1farA1O). Such a program would be tailored for smaller company operations, would recognize the “unique challenges” associated with being a smaller network in rural areas, and wouldn’t require “complex rules changes, unpredictable shifts, or wholesale disruptions in universal service distribution,” NTCA said.

Several CLECs are concerned about the “potential impact on our companies and on competition” that could result from the local number portability administration selection process currently under way. Comptel, Cbeyond, HyperCube and TDS Metrocom forwarded a letter to the FCC (http://bit.ly/1fPTdkN) that they had sent to North American Portability Management in November. “We now understand from the NAPM that it will not be responding to our correspondence during the selection process,” the CLECs said, urging the commission to properly consider their concerns. According to the attached letter to NAPM (http://bit.ly/1iDcplv), previously unpublished, the CLECs had three main concerns. First the potential “regional multi-vendor approach” could “create economic and operational hurdles” if every carrier needs to deal with a different LNPA services vendor in each region, the CLECs said. This could cause some carriers to “rethink operating in multiple LNPA regions,” they said. “We believe that your assessment of the bids must take into account the increased costs for smaller carriers.” Second, the cost of any transition would hurt smaller carriers, which “simply do not have the wherewithal to undertake a costly and complex transition to a new LNPA provider, particularly if our transition costs are not offset by considerably lower LNPA charges to our companies,” the CLECs said. Third, the impact on consumers and businesses needs to be given adequate weight in evaluation of the proposals, the CLECs said. “If a change in LNPA is made, there is substantial risk that the transition will not be smooth,” with “failures along the way” as carriers try to modify their systems in such a short period, they said. “LNP is our lifeblood; it’s how we get customers. If what were one-day ports slip to become one-week ports or one-month ports under a new LNPA, it will have a devastating impact on small carriers and our ability to compete for business.” Large companies can weather such rough patches far more easily than can smaller companies, the CLECs said. “Please ensure that the potential for disruption of a smooth functioning LNPA process, and the impact of such disruption on small carriers and their customers, is thoroughly considered and evaluated as you examine the various proposals.” An “uninformed” LNPA selection could have “devastating consequences” for smaller carriers, the CLECs said. Neustar and Telcordia have both asked the FCC to step in and “restore transparency” to the bidding process (CD Feb 7 p9).

Maps of “illustrative results” for version 4.0 of the Connect America Cost Model are available, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Thursday (http://bit.ly/1khYYuN). The maps display areas potentially eligible for Connect America Fund Phase II offers of model-based support to price cap carriers. The maps offer a visualization of census blocks eligible using two potential funding thresholds: $48 (http://fcc.us/1khZf14) and $52 (http://fcc.us/1khZk4R). The thresholds refer to per-location, per-month costs: A $52 funding threshold, for instance, would mean support is only provided in census blocks where the average cost per location is at least $52, the notice said.

The New America Foundation met with FCC Office of Strategic Planning Chief Jonathan Chambers to push for creation of an “Upgrade Fund” in an E-rate revamp, to facilitate widespread fiber investment (http://bit.ly/1byCWiE). “If the Upgrade Fund were considered to be the ‘carrot’ to encourage fiber investment ... a ’stick’ in the form of actual service requirements would help ensure that internet service providers (or, in some cases, communities themselves) actually take advantage of the dedicated infrastructure funding available,” NAF said. The group also asked the commission to review its support of “non-traditional” students: “Use of current state definitions of elementary and secondary education have led to unequal treatment of learners in Head Start, pre-kindergarten, career and technical education, and juvenile justice programs across states. The FCC should seek to ensure students have the same access and opportunities for learning, regardless of the state in which they happen to reside.” The data collection process in the E-rate program could be improved by supporting integration with other datasets, like those maintained by the National Center for Education Services, NAF said. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is looking to use E-rate to upgrade the Internet speeds schools get, to high-speed broadband (CD Feb 6 p4).

There’s a strong interest in “dark fiber,” dark fiber provider Fatbeam told the FCC in a filing Thursday (http://bit.ly/1byBVXC). Of the 11 school districts the company services via the E-rate program, five decided to subscribe to dark fiber. “This shows a strong interest in dark fiber,” said the firm. “The Commission should equalize the funding between dark and lit fiber.” Schools lease dark fiber because of the promise of lower monthly charges, and they can increase capacity “by simply replacing electronics,” Fatbeam said. “Dark fiber provides the district the ability to enter into long term contracts without concern of future bandwidth limitations or cost increases."

The FCC Wireline Bureau released a list of census tracts in high-cost price cap areas that may be suitable for IP transition experiments, it said in a public notice Thursday (http://bit.ly/1fXGFHl). The agency last week voted to accept proposals for experiments (CD Jan 31 p1). “Proposals in price cap territories will be entertained at the census tract level, with [Connect America] funding only provided for locations in eligible census blocks within that census tract,” the notice said. Eligible locations include only those in census blocks that are unserved by any provider of 3 Mbps/768 kbps, and those where the average cost per location equals or exceeds the likely monthly funding threshold per location, it said.

"We treat all traffic equally, and that has not changed,” Verizon said in a statement responding to an article in Hacker News alleging Verizon was throttling Netflix speeds (http://bit.ly/1ercGtd). “Many factors can affect the speed a customer experiences for a specific site, including that site’s servers, the way the traffic is routed over the Internet, and other considerations,” Verizon said. A Verizon customer noticed speed problems connecting to Netflix, and asked an online Verizon support technician for help troubleshooting. “Is Verizon now limiting bandwidth to cloud providers like Amazon’s AWS services?” the customer asked, according to a widely distributed screenshot. “Yes, it is limited bandwidth to cloud providers,” the technician responded. “I suppose this started recently and this is why my Netflix quality is also bad now,” the customer said. “Yes, exactly,” the Verizon representative responded. Verizon’s official statement said the company representative was “mistaken.” Verizon plans to “redouble our representative education efforts on this topic,” it said.

Comments are due Feb. 19 on a USTelecom petition for waiver of the FCC’s rules on “non-exogenous cost data filing requirements” for the short-form tariff review plan, a public notice said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1boedKs). USTelecom asks that all price cap LECs receive a waiver from the requirement that they submit PC-1 and IND-1 forms. They also seek a deadline extension. Reply comments in WC docket 14-18 are due March 3.