USTelecom petitioned the FCC to give ILECs a break on various legacy rules so they can concentrate on the buildout of fiber and modern communications networks. The Monday petition has a list of rules for which it seeks commission forbearance.
Education and library groups battled in E-rate modernization replies filed at Tuesday’s deadline over increasing funding for the program. The FCC “continues to lack sufficient baseline data to determine the ‘high-capacity connectivity'” needed to make decisions on future E-rate funding, so it’s “premature” for the commission to consider increasing funding, said the American Cable Association (http://bit.ly/1pGbkL3), echoing comments telcos made earlier (CD Sept 18 p11). More data would only back up the need for more funding, emailed American Association of School Administrators (AASA) Associate Executive Director Noelle Ellerson. Arguing the FCC isn’t able to increase funding without more data is “short-sighted, ill-willed, and certain to not only undermine the long-term success and sustainability of the E-rate program but to also threaten the continued persistence of the connectivity gap if not further exacerbate it,” Ellerson said. “In a time when almost every single classroom and the majority of libraries in the nation have lower speed internet access than the average American home while serving multiple times more users per day, it is time to ensure that our libraries and schools are connected with the quality of connectivity that is sufficient and scalable for today’s ever-growing connectivity needs,” said a joint letter from more than 30 companies and groups, including AASA and the National Education Association. The commission should ensure there’s sufficient funding for low-income schools and libraries to have adequate broadband and Wi-Fi connections, said minority groups including the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, the NAACP and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (http://bit.ly/1rGyuoB). But an increase shouldn’t hit consumers or pull money from other USF programs like Lifeline, and distinctions should be removed between funding broadband connections to schools and libraries, and Wi-Fi within the facilities, the groups said. Echoing Chairman Tom Wheeler’s call for closing the connectivity gap facing rural schools and libraries, the American Library Association (ALA) said (http://bit.ly/1E0H4VL) “over half of all libraries report speeds of 10 Mbps or less -- for rural libraries this increases to about 70 percent.” ALA also called for more funding.
Since House Republicans said in December they plan to overhaul the 1996 Telecom Act, there has been limited Commerce Committee leadership outreach to House Democrats and committee Republicans, said lawmakers and Capitol Hill staffers. Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., hasn’t yet sought out his Democratic counterpart. Republicans said the minimal outreach is by design, with substantial dialogue expected to kick off soon.
The House Commerce Committee received 50 responses to its white paper on USF policy, the committee revealed Thursday, posting all comments online (http://1.usa.gov/1lBg6gN). It had issued the white paper in August as part of the Communications Subcommittee initiative to overhaul the Communications Act, and responses were due Sept. 19. It was the fifth white paper on aspects of the overhaul issued this year. Respondents include major companies such as AT&T and Verizon as well as state groups like NARUC and NASUCA and Microsoft, which has responded to every white paper so far. Other commenters include the Nebraska Public Service Commission, the Oregon Telecom Association and the Telecommunications Association of Maine. “We urge Congress to encourage the FCC to create an inclusive environment where all eligible providers have an opportunity to compete for support with the goal of closing the gap between broadband available in urban and rural areas,” the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association told House lawmakers. Microsoft lauded the shift in focusing USF on broadband and encouraged Congress to “continue to afford the FCC with authority and flexibility to reform the mechanism for contributing to the universal service fund, as needed.” The Alaska Communications System noted that “contrary to the prevailing view in Washington,” it “has never considered the USF system as ‘broken,'” but said it’s “vital to include safeguards that ensure that available funding is used efficiently.”
The FCC should allow Wilkes Telephone Membership Corp. to include $147,149 owed by Halo in 2011 as part of its base period revenue for that year, NTCA said in an emergency petition (http://bit.ly/XWgnAf) posted Monday in docket 10-90 on behalf of the member company. It requests a waiver from a commission rule that requires that funds included as 2011 revenue be collected by March 31, 2012. The rural North Carolina company, which relies on Universal Service Fund support, has not been able to collect the money from Halo, which declared bankruptcy in 2012, the petition said. Not being able to count the funds “would not only create a one-time impact, but would continue to cause a financial impact to Wilkes every year” that the base period revenue is used to calculate USF support, the petition said.
Don’t use USF money to build out service where providers already are providing broadband and phone service, the American Cable Association recommended to Congress. ACA also recommended that broadband service not be assessed for USF contributions but that USF should support broadband service. Distribute the support “efficiently” and “on a competitively neutral basis,” with “fiscally responsible” USF programs, it said. ACA submitted its comments to the House Commerce Committee in response to questions about overhauling USF policy. Those comments were due Friday but have not been released online by the committee (CD Sept 22 p7). It’s fine for states and state regulators to create USF programs as long as they don’t give money to regions already served and as long as “any eligible telecom carrier [ETC] can compete to obtain support on a competitively neutral basis,” it said. “For federal universal service programs, the role of the states and state commissions should be more circumscribed” and “largely to examine whether a provider is a ‘bad actor,'” ACA said. “ACA suggests that the FCC take over the ETC designation process for its programs, which it does already in select instances, and permit states to participate in that process if they have material information about the qualifications of the potential ETC.”
Congress received divided views on how important state authorities should be in any new communications regimen, in comments due Friday to the House Commerce Committee on a white paper about overhauling Communications Act USF policy (CD Sept 22 p7). Groups representing smaller telecom companies and state regulators emphasized the importance of an ongoing state role, and several commenters pointed to the FCC Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service and its potential importance for federal-state cooperation. Bigger industry groups such as CTIA advocated more limited state involvement.
Industry officials urged Congress to reconsider many elements of USF support policy, despite lauding the broad principles that have guided it. House Communications Subcommittee Republicans issued a white paper last month (http://1.usa.gov/1pmX66c) asking several questions about USF, seeking responses by Friday. It was the fifth white paper the subcommittee issued as part of efforts to overhaul the Communications Act, an initiative announced in December. Initial responses, which the committee has not posted online but were shared with us, were on what parties considered necessary changes to the USF contribution mechanism.
Calls by education and library groups, and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in a speech Wednesday, to increase E-rate funding are running into opposition from telcos, in comments filed in the E-rate modernization Further NPRM. The Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance and USTelecom said they worry expanding E-rate could cut into other USF programs like the Connect America Fund.
FCC Inspector General David Hunt told a House Communications Subcommittee Wednesday that he has been unable to hire criminal investigators, despite recurring requests. Hunt said his office “initiated a discussion with management” on its need to hire investigators in early 2012, but has been unable to do so. Hunt also questioned FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s decision to set up a USF Strike Force under the Enforcement Bureau and whether its efforts duplicate work more properly handled by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).