A move to give states USF money in line with what they pay in to the fund is understandable, but has some troubling implications, said Aspen Institute Fellow Blair Levin Monday in remarks to the Alaska Telephone Association. Levin reacted to legislation introduced in December by Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., which would ensure rural states get back 75 cents of every dollar they pay into the fund (http://1.usa.gov/M6dTts). “The troubling part is that if Senators look at the issue through the lens of their own state and only try to solve for the question of how to get their state more money or find a formula that works best for their own state, we will never improve Universal Service,” Levin said in prepared remarks. “Indeed, it is unlikely that Universal Service will survive, unless, like mythical Lake Woebegone, we can create a situation in which all states are above average in obtaining USF support.” The House Republican leadership is proposing to rewrite the Telecom Act, noted Levin, a Democrat and primary author of the FCC’s 2010 National Broadband Plan: “If the Republicans take the Senate, delivering a bill whose purpose will be dramatic deregulation is not unthinkable.”
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly encouraged commission restraint Monday, as he detailed his policy priorities to a Hudson Institute audience (http://bit.ly/1i4SpJ1). As commissioners prepare to vote on an order Thursday that would set procedures for proposing and evaluating IP transition trials (CD Jan 27 p7), O'Rielly cautioned that trials must not impede the innovation that’s already been happening as the telecom industry has moved to IP. He also elaborated on his vision of “economic freedom” and what it should mean to the FCC.
Rate-of-return regulated ILECs face “different challenges” than those faced by price cap regulated carriers serving rural areas, NTCA Thursday told aides to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, and aides to Commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1dSGxdJ). Any IP transition experiments must be the subject of “thoughtful review in advance” and then “tailored” to account for critical differences between the different regulatory and statutory frameworks governing universal service distribution in those areas, NTCA said. “It should also be made expressly clear that any experiment would not be intended to disrupt current universal service mechanisms or to prejudge potential updates or modifications to those mechanisms,” NTCA said. The commission should avoid using USF funding to support an experiment that would “overbuild networks already supported by USF resources,” it said: The agency should “preclude any opportunity whatsoever for gamesmanship through creating pairing of purportedly ‘unserved’ and served areas."
In light of mandates in the Communications Act, the FCC must ensure that only properly designated eligible telecom carriers (ETCs) may participate in any potential IP transition rural broadband experiment that uses USF resources, NTCA told an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler Friday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1eTgu2D). Those ETCs must be common carriers that offer supported services throughout designated areas, and must be required to offer voice telephony that is reasonably comparable in price and quality to service in urban areas, NTCA said. To the extent that those ETCs would also presumably be required to offer broadband as a condition of receiving such USF support, such broadband must be reasonably comparable in price and quality to broadband in urban areas, the association said. “Failure to design any experiment rules in accordance with these mandates could call into question the legal underpinnings of the program, and could relegate consumers in the affected areas to substandard services as a matter of price, quality, or both,” it said.
Video interests reign, as industry has spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying Capitol Hill on key communications issues, Q4 lobbying disclosure reports showed this week. Spending was often significantly up from the same period last year, particularly for stakeholders with video interests, but not always. Many disclosure reports highlighted pending priorities before Congress, such as the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), which expires at the end of 2014 and is the source of much debate -- such as whether the reauthorization should address updates to retransmission consent law. Lobbying is widely expected to spike in 2014 as the House takes on an overhaul of the Communications Act.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s net neutrality decision loomed large as the House Communications Subcommittee held its first hearing on updating the Communications Act 24 hours after the decision’s delivery. The Wednesday hearing focused on former FCC chairmen: Dick Wiley, Reed Hundt, Michael Powell and Michael Copps. It quickly turned into scrutiny of the Tuesday Verizon v. FCC court decision, which vacated the agency’s 2010 rules (CD Jan 15 p1), and what the FCC’s role over broadband should be.
The FCC would receive $339.84 million for its salaries and expenses under a consolidated 2014 appropriations deal, lawmakers said this week as details of the legislation were unveiled. The FCC had requested a budget of $359.3 million for FY2014 (http://fcc.us/1aC0J0L). The $1.012-trillion spending package’s details were released in several documents covering how different government branches and agencies are funded by 12 appropriations bills. The continuing resolution and sequestration had left the FCC with $322 million for FY2013, despite a request for $346.8 million for that year (http://fcc.us/1alfuos). “The bill provides that $339,844,000 be derived from offsetting collections, resulting in no net appropriation,” said the explanatory document covering the FCC (http://1.usa.gov/1a4fY4A). It said the total includes $300,000 for “consultation with federally recognized Indian tribes, Alaskan Native villages, and entities related to Hawaiian Home Lands, and $11,090,000 for the FCC Office of Inspector General.” It also included provisions on in-flight mobile services emphasizing that the FCC can determine its rulemaking only from a technical perspective and cannot determine the “social or security implications,” the text said. “The FCC is directed to consult with the Secretaries of Transportation and Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation prior to a final rulemaking,” it said. “The Chairman of the FCC shall keep the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations apprised of any developments in this rulemaking.” There are also administrative provisions for the FCC in sections 510 and 511. The first extends an exemption for the USF and the second prevents the agency from “changing rules governing the Universal Service Fund regarding single connection or primary line restrictions,” it said. The same statement mentions the FTC, which would receive $298 million for salaries and expenses, under the act. NTIA would receive $46 million and the National Institute of Standards and Technology $850 million, according to a different explanatory statement (http://1.usa.gov/1hTJ2xY). “This appropriation is partially offset by premerger filing fees estimated at $103,300,000 and $15,000,000 from fees to implement the Telemarketing Sales Rule,” it said of the FTC appropriations.
NARUC’s Washington advocacy arm will eye all IP transition and broader FCC developments very closely, its new head told us. State regulators will also undoubtedly be watching what happens with any Communications Act update, a process that is largely welcomed, multiple commissioners told us, all stressing the need for a state role. Michigan Public Service Commission member Greg White was named chairman of the Washington Action Program group of commissioners last week and laid out plans for the group, which tracks all Capitol Hill and federal agency happenings in Washington for NARUC.
Accuracy of state maps of broadband availability, as oversight shifts to the FCC from NTIA, is generally considered good. And any issues are on very small geographic levels, in a project that’s more comprehensive than anything ever amalgamated in the U.S. That’s according to stakeholders in interviews Thursday. The night before, government, public interest and city officials discussed the national broadband map, as data collection funding is ending for all states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia for maps that some said will be used to parcel out $1.75 billion a year of USF-for-broadband money. Some have criticized accuracy, while acknowledging improvements since the National Broadband Map went online in February 2011 (CD Jan 10/13 p5).
The FCC is looking for economists versed in microeconomics, econometrics and industrial organization theory. The agency is likely trying to beef up its team in advance of some mathematically complex actions it’s expected to take this year, such as retooling some USF cost models, and analyzing the state of the special access market, said economists in interviews. The real question, they say, is whether the new hires will be expected to justify decisions the agency has already made, or actually drive the decision-making process.