Cable operators large and small largely are unified on many issues that affect the industry, some of them high profile, that are pending before the FCC, our survey of executives found. Retransmission consent deals, where pay-TV operators contend broadcasters force them to pay unfair carriage fees, are the latest example of a unified message across operators of all sizes (CD May 20 p4) and the NCTA, representing big operators and programmers, and the small-operator lobbying group American Cable Association (ACA). Concern about FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to reclassify broadband transport under parts of Title II and a desire to use cheap HD set-top boxes with integrated navigation and security features are shared by many cable system owners.
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said he’s concerned the proposal for a national wireless broadband network outlined in the National Broadband Plan has not won the support of most public safety groups. Copps also said in an interview he has grown increasingly optimistic Congress will approve funding for the network, as proposed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Copps also predicted that compromise is possible among the five commissioners on comprehensive Universal Service Fund overhaul. Bringing in outsiders to oversee “every difficult issue” at the commission isn’t necessarily the way to go, Copps said when asked about the hiring of a head for the review of Comcast-NBC Universal deal. (See separate item in this issue.)
Rural telephone companies are bracing for a less sympathetic Congress in 2011, said executives from rural telco associations. They spoke with reporters at the annual legislative and regulatory conference of the Western Telecom Alliance and the Organization for the Promotion & Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies. WTA and OPASTCO members from around the country arrived in droves to lobby Washington policymakers about their concerns with the National Broadband Plan. They heard remarks Tuesday from long-time rural advocate Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who’s set to retire this year, as well as Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif.
Slow broadband speeds and insufficient access stifles small business, business owners and executives told the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee during a round table discussion Thursday. “Broadband Internet service is the ability to open doors for small businesses that have been historically shut,” said Committee Chair Mary Landrieu, D-La. “Broadband can help some small businesses function like big businesses and increase their geographic presence by moving their operations online."
Expanding Lifeline and Link-Up programs to spur broadband adoption by those who can’t afford it should be part of comprehensive Universal Service Fund revamp legislation, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va. At a hearing on the FCC’s adoption recommendations made in the National Broadband Plan, Boucher said he wants to work with Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., to integrate her adoption-focused USF bill with his own comprehensive USF bill. Boucher urged the FCC to accelerate its process to finalize details on an intended pilot program, saying the time frame for introducing his bill with Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., is “fairly near term.”
The FCC should revamp the way the Universal Service Fund contributions are figured and “broaden the base of contributors to include all broadband Internet access providers,” the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies said in an ex parte filing. The current system “is in serious jeopardy of becoming unsustainable very soon.” The commission should quickly “strengthen call signaling rules to mitigate phantom traffic” and confirm that VoIP traffic terminated on the public switched telephone network is subject to the appropriate intercarrier compensation, the association said. The organization also warned that keeping USF at its current cap won’t allow consumers in rural incumbent local exchanges’ service areas “access to broadband services that are reasonably comparable to those offered in urban areas."
A weakness in FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s proposed approach to broadband reclassification is that the commission would regulate only broadband transport in the last mile, leaving out other layers of the Internet, critics said this week. The FCC wouldn’t assert control over ISPs and or over actions at the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) level, where Comcast’s throttling of BitTorrent took place, they said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau is seeking comment on a petition filed by MeetingOne regarding contributions to the Universal Service Fund. The company requested a review of a Universal Service Administrative Co. decision that subjects MeetingOne to contribution obligations for past and future revenue, the bureau said in a public notice. MeetingOne provides IP audio conferencing services to its customers through the use of IP data packets. MeetingOne does not rely on time division multiplexing (TDM) and its conference bridge “does not directly touch the public switched telephone network (PSTN)” the company said in its petition. “MeetingOne concluded that its service is materially different” and is likely not subject to USF contributions, it said. In March, USAC rejected this argument. Comments are due June 7, replies June 22.
The departing head of FCC’s broadband work crew said the agency doesn’t need a permanent czar to ensure that the commission stays focused on high-speed Internet service even after execution of the National Broadband Plan wraps up. Blair Levin sees changes to the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation as linked and thinks they need to be done together, he said in an exit interview Friday. He remains confused why broadcasters are publicly resisting the plan’s recommendation to create a market for other uses of TV spectrum and said that, despite much speculation about what he'll do next, he himself doesn’t know.
The Title II sections of the Communications Act the FCC would apply to broadband under Chairman Julius Genachowski’s reclassification plan could still burden operators with cumbersome rules and expose them to costly legal challenges, communications attorneys said Friday. Statements from Genachowski and FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick Thursday indicated Sections 201, 202, 208, 222, 254 and 255 would remain in place after a substantial forbearance from other Title II elements (CD May 7 p1). Sections 201 and 202 “are the key provisions of the Communications Act that have sort of kept behavior in check for almost 80 years,” said telecom lawyer Glenn Richards of Pillsbury Winthrop. “Anything that folks do, they're always thinking about it in terms of ‘Will it cause a 201 or 202 issue?'"