NARUC may formally ask the FCC to postpone a Dec. 2 deadline to align state low-income programs with updated federal rules that added broadband as a supported Lifeline service. Association members plan to vote on a resolution seeking a delay at its annual meeting Nov. 13-16 in La Quinta, California, said draft resolutions released Tuesday. NARUC also plans to vote on three other telecom resolutions related to the Connect America Fund (CAF), VoIP applications for phone numbers and numbering best practices.
The FCC supported one-touch, make-ready pole attachment rules in local jurisdictions, saying they're consistent with federal policies. In a letter Monday to U.S. District Court in Louisville, the commission rejected an AT&T argument that federal rules preclude the one-touch ordinance. The FCC statement could deal a blow to incumbents seeking to keep Google Fiber and other new entrants off the poles, a community broadband advocate said.
CenturyLink confirmed that it's buying Level 3 in a $34 billion deal that will make it the second largest domestic telecom provider for enterprise customers. Analysts said Monday they continue to expect the deal to get regulatory OK (see 1610280052). The companies expect to close the deal by the end of Q3 2017 and need Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review, regulatory approvals by the FCC and certain state commissions, and shareholder votes, CenturyLink said. "Regulators will see the benefits of this transaction once they learn more about the details and the benefits to customers,” CenturyLink CEO Glen Post said on a conference call Monday.
Google’s decision to scale back its fiber push shows why municipal broadband remains critical to spreading high-speed broadband, community broadband advocates told us Wednesday. Google Access CEO Craig Barratt said that Google Fiber will pause operations in exploratory cities where it hasn’t begun construction, cutting jobs as the company refines its strategy. Barratt will depart as CEO but will stay at Google parent Alphabet as an adviser. The moves follow fiber build delays in California and speculation that Google Fiber was reconsidering its technology strategy (see 1609070026).
HOUSTON -- The FCC may soon launch a rulemaking on easing local barriers to small-cell deployments, said Wireless Infrastructure Association CEO Jonathan Adelstein in an interview at WIA's HetNet Expo. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said last month at a CTIA conference (see 1609070033) the agency will drive 5G growth by working with local governments to speed siting of new wireless facilities. On a Tuesday panel in Houston, Wheeler aide Edward Smith said the FCC wants to move quickly and is considering what authorities it may use to address the issue, but hasn’t made a decision.
HOUSTON -- It’s far tougher for the wireless industry to break through local resistance to small cells than it was for larger towers, Crown Castle CEO Jay Brown said Tuesday. But the business opportunity for deploying small cells equals larger towers, he said in a keynote at the Wireless Industry Association’s HetNet Expo. The wireless industry seeks “predictability and consistency” in regulation so it can quickly upgrade U.S. networks to 5G, WIA CEO Jonathan Adelstein said in an earlier keynote. As part of that effort, his association Tuesday protested a South Dakota proposal to ban wireless equipment from some highways.
Cox Communications said it will support the California Public Utilities Commission's request for an extension to the FCC Dec. 2 LifeLine implementation deadline. A CPUC spokeswoman confirmed Monday her agency will file at the FCC for an extension but hasn't yet. In replies posted Sunday, the operator said it “understands that the Commission will be filing a petition with the FCC requesting an extension of time to comply with the FCC rules concerning only eligibility criteria and the benefit portability freeze.” Cox heard that at the CPUC’s Oct. 14 LifeLine workshop, which went over federal changes to add broadband as a supported service, it said. “Cox supports the Commission seeking this extension and remains hopeful that the FCC will act promptly to grant the Commission’s petition well in advance of the December 2, 2016 deadline.” Industry and some states separately supported a USTelecom petition seeking a waiver of the deadline in 25 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. (see 1610210046). The D.C. Public Service Commission declined more time in comments posted in FCC docket 11-42 Friday: “Should unanticipated events prevent the DC PSC from amending its rules by December 2, 2016, the DC PSC will inform the Commission of this fact.” New York PSC comments to the FCC joined Michigan, Missouri and Puerto Rico regulators in supporting the USTelecom petition. In the Cox CPUC replies, the cable ISP urged the commission to “promptly adopt rules to align the California LifeLine eligibility requirements with the federal requirements.” AT&T told the CPUC any diversion from federal rules is risky and the commission shouldn’t adopt exceptions proposed by consumer groups (see 1610180028). “The potential for consumer confusion is too great for the Commission to go its own way on eligibility criteria,” AT&T said. Likewise, exceptions to FCC port freeze requirements “will be complex to implement and will ultimately only harm and confuse customers,” it said. The Office of Ratepayer Advocates supports aligning rules but worries about doing it too fast, it said. “An immediate transition will likely result in significant disruption and displacement of customers from the LifeLine program, particularly at a time when details of the FCC’s implementation have not been fully worked out. A gradual transition over a longer period is preferable because it will allow the Commission to better care for the needs of customers impacted by changes in eligibility requirements.”
Democrats could take control of Louisiana's telecom regulator after commissioner elections, but no other such dramatic shifts are possible in states that elect utility commissioners. A Democrat running for a Republican seat at the Louisiana Public Service Commission -- and who has listed affordable internet as a campaign priority -- could give her party a 3-2 majority. In another race, NARUC Telecom Committee Chairman Chris Nelson is running for re-election in South Dakota. In total across the country, elections will be held for 17 state commissioner seats in 10 states.
Internet, radio and TV are key tools for connecting local communities with their government, said city, anchor institution and public broadcast officials Friday. "Technology helps us narrow the gap between government and its complicated processes, and our residents,” said Philadelphia Chief Data Officer Tim Wisniewski at the Technology Learning Collaborative annual conference there. The city seeks to encourage innovative uses of open data by developers and overhaul the city’s website to better engage local citizens, he said: “Technology on its own just looks really neat. The only way to truly improve civic engagement with government is through empathy.” The city is seeking beta testers for its new website, beta.phila.gov, and plans to test usability at the city’s Keyspot computer labs across the city over the next couple of months, he said. The presidential election makes digital literacy an even more critical issue for Philadelphians, said Free Library of Philadelphia Director Siobhan Reardon. “We have an opportunity in the next three weeks” as the political parties’ presidential nominees try to win Pennsylvania, a key battleground in the election, she said. “It’s a giant opportunity for us to get in front of these candidates to ensure that our agenda around literacy, around information [and] informed citizenry are in front of these people.” Reardon also highlighted the importance of making PCs available to communities, and also accessible. People must be able to get to the computers to use them, so the Free Library launched an effort to increase accessibility at each of its libraries, she said. While not as fresh as the internet, radio and TV remain important channels for community media, said PhillyCAM Executive Director Gretjen Clausing. PhillyCAM is the city’s public access TV provider and licensee of WPPM(LP). Radio and TV aren’t mere “legacy media,” she said. “I see these as incredibly … important and vibrant platforms.” PhillyCAM provides training in TV and radio production to empower people to report and have conversations about their communities, she said. WPPM, dubbed "people powered media," which covers a two-mile radius in Center City and went on the air for the first time Thursday, wouldn’t have been possible without congressional and FCC actions in the past five years on low-power FM radio, Clausing said.
CTIA warned the FCC to avoid a “premature schism” between state eligibility programs for Lifeline and the updated federal program as a Dec. 2 implementation deadline nears. The group joined state commissions and industry groups supporting a USTelecom petition to give some states more time to align their Lifeline rules with changes to the federal program that added broadband as a supported service to the low-income program. USTelecom asked for temporary waiver of certain rules so Lifeline providers can continue enrolling consumers in the federal USF low-income subsidy support program based on state-specific criteria in 25 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. State support was expected in comments due Friday in docket 11-42 (see 1610180028).