Outgoing local number portability administrator Neustar and Golden Gate Capital gave the FCC supplemental information and commitments on the proposed takeover of Neustar by Aerial Investors, a company run by Golden Gate. They were further responding to Wireline Bureau and Office of General Counsel queries regarding the parties' June 12 initial response to an agency information request (see 1706130031). The supplemental information included a list of operating businesses in which investment funds managed or advised by Golden Gate or David Dominik (its sole shareholder) beneficially owns a 5 percent or more interest, plus a letter from Hux Investment committing to the neutrality undertakings of the parties, said a filing posted Monday in docket 99-200.
LECs pressed the FCC not to permit interexchange carriers (IXCs) to use tariffed access services and later seek refunds on the grounds they routed intraMTA (major trading area) wireless traffic using such services to LECs. CenturyLink, Cox Communications, Windstream and Frontier Communications also urged the agency not to take any actions inconsistent with a 2015 U.S. district judge's ruling that resolved "key issues" in a way that upholds their positions (see 1511200070), said their filing posted Monday in docket 14-228 on discussions with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai and Wireline Bureau staffers. They said the FCC could help by providing further guidance on mechanisms that might be used prospectively to allow IXCs (long-distance providers) "to route commingled traffic through Feature Group D trunks, while treating intraMTA wireless traffic as exempt from access charges," though the need for such new mechanisms has decreased due to the ongoing "phase-out of terminating access charges" and new interconnection arrangements. If the FCC nevertheless seeks to devise such mechanisms, the LECs asked that it be done through a new rulemaking, not in response to their pending declaratory ruling petition. Verizon, Sprint and Level 3 again asked the FCC to deny the LEC petition and "reiterate that the intraMTA rule applies without exception to all intraMTA traffic exchanged between local exchange carriers and wireless carriers, and reaffirm that intraMTA wireless traffic is not subject to access charges -- regardless of whether an intermediary interexchange carrier or other provider is involved in routing, and regardless of the facilities on which the traffic is routed," said a June 12 filing.
The local number portability administrator transition remains on track to meet the "final acceptance date of May 25, 2018," said North American Portability Management in its monthly update Friday in docket 09-109. Telcordia/iconectiv is taking over LNPA duties from Neustar. NAPM said its transition oversight manager, PwC, continues to track transition risks, such as a lack of agreement on "key" requirements preventing certain plans from being finalized, including on "an approach and implementation commitment for LNPA transition contingency rollback"; "determination of appropriate contractual obligations governing contingency rollback and parallel operations"; and "governance of transition decision-making and resolution of potential disputes." The filing also updated the status of iconectiv's efforts to "on-board users to its new NPAC [Number Portability Administration Center] platform."
Telcordia/iconectiv and FP-Icon Holdings vowed to be neutral among industry parties as they supplemented their request that the FCC approve changes to iconectiv's local number portability administrator (LNPA) code of conduct and voting trust, and if necessary, transfer of control. FP plans to become a minority investor in the incoming LNPA, which is owned by Ericsson (see 1705180018). Both iconectiv and FP "made clear" in their request they would remain neutral, and FP's involvement "raises no undue influence concerns," said their letters posted Thursday in docket 09-109. In its letter, FP "confirms that it meets all three prongs of the Commission’s neutrality test and that no telecommunications service provider owns a majority of FP’s debt, or is a source of a majority of FP’s revenues." Iconectiv's letter made a similar representation regarding its compliance with the test.
The FCC is seeking comments by July 24, replies Aug. 22 on its inquiry into broadband competition and deployment in apartment and condo buildings and other multiple tenant environments. A notice of inquiry was released Friday in docket 17-142 after being adopted Thursday (see 1706220036).
Level 3 asked the FCC to reject, or suspend and investigate, AT&T's proposed tariffs for tandem-switched transport access service. "Tariff changes proposed by AT&T are inconsistent with the Commission’s access charge transition rules, the Commission’s order adopting those rules, Section 3(2) of the Communications Act ..., the dictionary definition of 'affiliate,' and sound public policy," said Level 3's petition posted Monday in docket 17-65. Sprint Friday made a similar request regarding AT&T's tariffs and tariffs of CenturyLink, Cincinnati Bell and Verizon (see 1706230058).
State-by-state funding under the FCC's deaf-blind equipment distribution program was announced in a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice Friday. The PN said the "iCanConnect" program was fully funded at $10 million for the funding year starting July 1.
The FTC settled with remaining defendants accused of a $70 million landline cramming operation in a case dating to 2013 (see 1604180019, 1412180047 and 1301230059). A Friday news release said commissioners voted 2-0 to approve a proposed stipulated final order, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, resolving the complaint against American eVoice, eight other companies and four individuals, including lead defendant Steven Sann and his wife, Terry Lane. The FTC said the settlement permanently bans defendants from all landline and mobile phone billing and unauthorized billing, in general. It imposes $41.9 million judgments partially or entirely suspended since defendants are unable to pay. "Sann will have to forfeit more than $500,000 in ill-gotten funds that he used to fund his IRAs, and he will also surrender an Infiniti Q56 and a Nissan 350Z," the FTC said, adding his other assets were transferred to a trustee administering his bankruptcy estate. In a parallel case brought by the U.S. attorney in Montana, the FTC said Sann was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering and wire fraud charges. The Better Business Bureau website notes American eVoice is "no longer in business." Contact information for Sann couldn't be found.
The FCC has plenty of reason to examine rules that would allow law enforcement and community institutions to get from carriers quick access to the Caller ID information they need to identify and thwart threatening callers, said the text of the NPRM approved 3-0 by commissioners Thursday (see 1706220023). “One recent study found that the incidents of bomb threats made to schools from 2011-16 increased by 1,461 percent and that over half of such threats were made by phone,” the order said. “A 2016 report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reports a substantial increase in bomb threats to schools and residences. Other media reports confirm this disturbing trend.” Among questions raised were those on privacy implications: “We endeavor to ensure that this exemption is not abused and that the legitimate privacy interests of non-threatening callers are not infringed.” Comments are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, replies to follow 30 days later.
The Office of Management and Budget approved three years of information collections that were adopted in a May 2016 FCC order revising network outage reporting duties (see 1605250061), said a summary in Thursday's Federal Register. Some rules took effect Thursday and others take effect July 24 and Aug. 1. The summary contained several compliance deadlines, including July 24 for reporting of critical communications outages potentially affecting airports, and Feb. 1 for use of an OC3-based metric for reporting major transport facility outages, with a threshold of 667 OC3 minutes for 30 minutes.