The FCC could learn much about process from state utility commissions, said state commissioners in interviews amid their lawsuit against the federal regulator over usurping state powers (see 1606030053). State commissioners from both parties and four states said it should be a priority for the FCC to answer stakeholder concerns about transparency and politicization at the federal agency. NARUC President Travis Kavulla told us his Montana Public Service Commission "and probably most state commissions have much more sunshine than the FCC does." The FCC isn’t dysfunctional, but to maintain public trust it shouldn’t take openness concerns lightly, said Florida PSC Commissioner Ronald Brisé.
FirstNet will be critical to enhancing public safety situational awareness in an increasingly dangerous world, said chief technology officers from major equipment vendors last week at the APCO 2016 conference in Orlando (see 1608160050). A key capability enabled by the dedicated LTE network is live-streaming video, expected to be a major part of body-worn IoT and virtual reality interfaces envisioned by companies including Motorola Solutions and Harris, the CTOs said.
Verizon and XO Communications sought to strike Windstream objections to their proposed transaction at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (docket A-2016-2535279). Verizon and XO objected in a filing Tuesday to Windstream’s Friday amicus brief protesting the deal, with the combining companies saying Windstream should have filed a petition to intervene by the PUC’s April 25 deadline. "In effect, Windstream has attempted to disguise its late-filed ‘Protest’ to the Joint Application as an ‘Amicus Brief’ and to sandbag Joint Applicants with a pleading that is effectively factual testimony, without allowing the opportunity for discovery, responsive testimony or cross-examination," Verizon and XO said. In the disputed brief, Windstream said the deal “is neither necessary nor proper for the service, accommodation, convenience, nor safety of the public." In their main brief Friday, Verizon and XO said the deal "will result in a stronger company that will be better able to provide enhanced services to Pennsylvania customers." Verizon and XO dismissed criticisms of Core Communications and the Pennsylvania Office of Small Business Advocate (OSBA), both of which filed timely petitions to intervene. Neither entity "identifies a single customer or competitor of XO in Pennsylvania that has complained about the transaction," Verizon and XO said. "Neither intervenor identifies any valid basis to conclude that the transaction risks causing any harm.” But Core and OSBA said they saw no substantial public benefits. "XO is a major provider of transport and related services to other competitors, and its merger into Verizon can only result in the elimination of a substantial avenue for competitors to interconnect with Verizon on reasonable terms and conditions,” Core said in its brief. In a separate brief, OSBA said it’s “very concerned that the proposed transaction would result in the worst case scenario for XO's business customers: no benefits will emerge; rates will increase by more than they would have in the absence of the transaction; and the loss of a meaningful competitor in the market will result in not only [removing] a competitive option, but a potential diminution of available services for commercial customers.” All protesters said the deal could be approved with conditions. Windstream and OSBA separately asked for a condition requiring Verizon to continue making unbundled DS1 and DS3 capacity available over fiber or other IP-based technology. Windstream also sought a requirement that Verizon commit to complying with any requirements imposed on price cap ILECs in the FCC ongoing business data services proceeding. OSBA sought conditions requiring Verizon to file VoIP interconnection agreements per Section 252 of the Telecom Act and to cease retiring copper loops facilities serving business customers until it obtains PUC approval of a wholesale alternative on fiber "that mimics the economics of Ethernet over Copper (such as deployed by XO).” Core sought conditions requiring Verizon to offer transport for interconnection to all competitors at cost-based TELRIC [Total element long-run incremental cost] rates, and to offer IP interconnection at standard and reasonable terms and conditions to all Pennsylvania carriers.
Cable and phone companies in Louisiana said they’re working around the clock to restore service after flooding in the southern part of the state forced many people to abandon their homes. Local broadcasters stayed on air to report on flooding and raise money for recovery efforts, NAB said. The floods forced the Louisiana Public Service Commission to close its Baton Rouge headquarters. The historic flood damaged at least 40,000 homes and killed about 10 people, with 20 parishes declared federal emergency disasters, according to news reports.
ORLANDO – FirstNet is encouraged by the industry proposals under evaluation for the contract to build the national public safety network, FirstNet CEO Mike Poth said Tuesday at the APCO 2016 conference. The likely high pricing of broadcast spectrum in the current incentive auction also is good news for FirstNet because it may make public-private partnerships in the D-Block more attractive, he said. Earlier, government and public safety officials said planning and coordination are key to maintaining communications in recent political conventions and other major national events.
ORLANDO -- As public safety gets further along in building wireless LTE networks, an emerging challenge is swaying users to come aboard, said FirstNet early builder network officials on a panel at the APCO 2016 conference. But early tests showed the benefits of a dedicated public safety network, they said. Later, FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson said a recent police shooting of an African-American man in Minnesota showed the need for public safety communications technology to catch up with commercial systems.
Verizon could need to increase capital expenditures if states act against the company due to investigations of copper service quality and fiber upgrade policies, said 556 Ventures analyst William Ho. Verizon has highlighted how much it already spends building and maintaining its network in ongoing investigations in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Also, in a District of Columbia Public Service Commission rulemaking that followed a two-year probe, the telco warned about the potential cost of proposed copper abandonment rules (see 1607260027). The worst-case scenario for the telco “may be that regulatory judgments or edicts require fiber technology,” Ho emailed Friday. “If they weren't planned for, there may be increases in subsequent years’ capex projections.” To keep spending stable, Verizon could shuffle money from other areas, he said. The company might need to reconsider how its business plan balances repairing older copper and installing new fiber, he said. Ideally for Verizon, fiber would be the norm for telecom networks, the analyst said. “Copper as we have in today's world is less efficient and costlier than fiber in terms of future proofing and operations/maintenance.” In the next three to four years, Verizon could use 5G fixed wireless to spread and keep up its network at less cost, he said. “It makes sense in some places as the cost to serve and operational costs like truck rolls and copper maintenance may be nullified.” Verizon wouldn't comment. Replies are due Monday in the D.C. PSC copper abandonment rulemaking, and the state probes are in various stages of comments. The Maryland PSC will determine next steps in its Verizon inquiry after it gets a response from the Communications Workers of America to Verizon’s July testimony about a practice in which it moves customers with major copper problems to fiber (see 1607140027), a commission spokeswoman said. The PSC sent a letter last week asking CWA to respond to the Verizon testimony by Sept. 6. Separately, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities staff is reviewing comments from a public hearing last week in which the state's Division of Rate Counsel backed state action and Verizon claimed it had invested $100 million over the past two years in “proactive preventative maintenance” of its network (see 1608050043). Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission asked for CWA testimony by Sept. 29 and Verizon testimony Dec. 1, ahead of hearings scheduled the week of Feb. 6 (see 1607180020), according to the proceeding schedule. In New York, Verizon told the state commission last week it's spent hundreds of millions more dollars than it makes on its network there (see 1608010047).
A bureau of the California State Library should consider the appropriate regulatory structure for telecom oversight by a revamped California Public Utilities Commission, said proposed legislation that surfaced Wednesday. Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D) filed an amendment stripping original language of a bill on damages from the California energy crisis in 2000, and inserting in its place another piece of the CPUC reform package worked out between Democratic legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown (D). The amended AB-2903 would require the California Research Bureau by Jan. 1, 2018, “to conduct a study of telecommunications service governance to determine what regulatory structure would provide the appropriate regulatory oversight of telecommunications services and to assess the overarching goals of the various programs carried out by the commission, including a discussion of whether the commission, as a whole, is strategically aligned towards a clearly articulated public goal. The bill would require the study to review specified matters and to take into account the history of telecommunications service regulation in the state and changes in technology to make recommendations for guiding principles that clearly define California’s goals for the regulation of the telecommunications industry.” Other provisions include a requirement that CPUC appoint an ethics ombudsman and a prohibition on public utility executives becoming CPUC commissioners within two years of utility employment. At a hearing Wednesday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted 12-5 to pass SB-1017, another part of the CPUC reform package. The bill aims to increase public access to utility-supplied documents at CPUC. At the hearing, AT&T, CTIA and other industry officials raised concerns about the measure in its current form, saying the bill could result in disclosure of confidential and sensitive information. The bill’s sponsor, state Senator Jerry Hill (D), committed to addressing confidentiality concerns in amendments now in the works. “We’ll be there,” he said. The committee placed two other parts -- SB-215 and SB-512 -- in the committee’s “suspense file,” a category reserved for bills deemed to be costly, for a vote expected later in the month. The three bills already cleared the Senate and the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee (see 1606300027). The committee also placed on suspense the Senate-passed SB-745, which makes various changes to grant programs provided by the California Advanced Services Fund, including a requirement that CPUC prioritize unserved housing developments.
States should worry about vulnerability of their utilities and other infrastructure to cyberattacks, cybersecurity experts said on a panel live-streamed Thursday from the National Conference of State Legislatures Summit in Chicago. "We are unprepared,” said Integrated Justice Information Systems Institute Director of Operations Ashwini Jarral. A December attack that knocked out power in Ukraine was an attack on the types of utilities, equipment and systems for which U.S. states and their public utility commissions are responsible, said Andrew Bochman, Idaho National Laboratory cyber and energy strategist.
The FCC may not pre-empt state limits on municipal broadband without a clear statement from Congress authorizing pre-emption, a federal court ruled Wednesday. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the FCC’s 2015 order that tried to overrule Tennessee and North Carolina laws prohibiting municipal broadband efforts to extend their systems to surrounding communities. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler stood by his commission’s order, while Commissioner Ajit Pai said the ruling showed he was right to dissent. The ruling was subject of a bulletin in this publication (see 1608100021), and some had expected the reversal (see 1606210036). Telecom groups also praised states' win.