The FCC should grant the petition by Bright House Networks and others for a declaratory ruling that intraMTA wireless calls exchanged between LECs and wireless carriers aren't subject to reciprocal compensation in some cases, ITTA said in comments filed Monday. The comments, which hadn't been posted in docket 14-228, were made available to us by the association. The rule requiring reciprocity “has no application” to traffic exchanged between LECs and interexchange carriers over switched access trunks, ITTA said. The Dec. 10 petition was filed by Bright House, CenturyLink, Consolidated Communications, Cox Communications, FairPoint Communications, Frontier Communications, LICT Corp., Time Warner Cable and Windstream. CTIA urged the commission in a comment filed Monday to re-affirm the compensation is reciprocal, because it's “consistent with the Commission’s goals for intercarrier compensation reform.” The argument that interexchange carrier traffic isn't subject to reciprocity “has no merit,“ CTIA said. All intraMTA CMRS traffic is “’local,’ even if carried by an intermediate carrier such as an IXC,” CTIA said.

Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, representing SmartSky Networks, asked the commission to reiterate that the 14.0-14.5 GHz band won’t be the exclusive one for air-ground communications and won’t limit these services in other licensed or unlicensed bands, said an ex parte letter filed Friday. Qualcomm supported the use of the 14.0-14.5 GHz band for air-ground service to offer customers "an in-flight mobile broadband experience that is equivalent to what is available on the ground today," it said in a comment Thursday. Earlier, a group representing flight attendants raised safety concerns about the proposal (see 1502060034). “We have been -- and will continue -- to work with all relevant safety and security federal agencies to ensure that the risks of in-flight communications are carefully considered and addressed before moving forward," emailed an FCC spokesman.

Correction: The draft net neutrality order would ban paid prioritization outright as one of its bright line rules, said Gigi Sohn, an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1502060056).

Correction: Broadcast lawyer Jack Goodman, not CE lawyer Robert Schwartz of Constantine Cannon, was the speaker at the FCBA panel Friday who said over-the-top providers could be entitled to the compulsory copyright license that facilitates cable and DBS distribution of broadcast signals (see 1501300057).

The FCC has an outstanding staff, but some issues are too big to be handled on "delegated authority" and the should be decided by a vote of the members, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said Monday in a blog post. O’Rielly proposed new guidelines for the use of delegated authority. “Over the past few years, it seems more and more work has been delegated and it now appears that there is a renewed effort to push even more of the Commission’s work to its staff,” he wrote. This may be, in part, to speed things along, he said: “While that’s a worthy goal, I stand ready to act quickly on any matters presented to the full Commission.” Among his proposed guidelines is that any commissioner can request that an item be “bumped up” to the full commission for a vote. “In fact, some people already thought this was in the Commission’s rules or customary FCC practice but recent items have proven otherwise,” he said. The FCC should also require that all bureaus notify commissioners 48-hours ahead of taking action on delegated authority, O’Rielly said. Some parts of the FCC follow that, but others provide only 24-hours notice or none at all, he said. “The 48-hour time frame should become standardized across the Commission to allow Commissioners time to decide whether they would like to request an item be decided by the full Commission,” he said. The FCC should also have rules for what can be decided by staff without a vote, he said. “In the past, some controversial issues that were decided on the quick consisted of rough frameworks or outlines (e.g., term sheets),” O’Rielly said. “It cannot be acceptable to punt an item’s entire fate to a bureau. That is no way to operate an agency that has so much impact on the American economy.”

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel formally released staff changes at her office Thursday, with David Goldman and Clint Odom now on Capitol Hill. Priscilla Delgado Argeris, formerly wireline aide, now will handle wireless and public safety issues. Valery Galasso has been moved up in the office to handle media issues. Rosenworcel also hired Travis Litman as wireline aide and Jennifer Thompson as special adviser and confidential assistant.

Corrections: The name of the report that set 100 Mbps download speeds as a goal for a third of the U.S. population by 2020 was the FCC National Broadband Plan (see 1501280056). ... CTC Technology & Energy incorrectly listed the Benton Foundation as a client, said Benton Executive Editor Kevin Taglang (see 1501280049).

Broadcasters would benefit if the FCC delays the TV incentive auction, Matthew Berry, chief of staff to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, said Wednesday at a conference sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy. “It’s simple,” Berry said. “If broadcasters want to receive top dollar for their spectrum they’re going to need wireless carriers to come to the auction with as much money as possible.” That means giving carriers enough time between the AWS-3 auction and the incentive auction to raise capital, he said. More time also will give the FCC time to change its proposed rules on dynamic reserve pricing and in other areas that will mean more compensation for spectrum sold in the auction, he said. Berry also said it's not too late for the FCC to simplify rules for the auction. “There are no mulligans,” he said. “The law passed by Congress gives us one chance to get this right.” Berry said even without process reform, the FCC could operate much more smoothly than it does today. Berry cited complaints by his boss on the sharp partisan split at the agency (see 1501210046). “Reaching consensus in an unanimous vote on contentious issues is hard, hard work,” he said. “But you can do it.” The politicization of the FCC raises major questions about the agency's legitimacy, said Gus Hurwitz, a professor at the Nebraska College of Law, who also spoke at the conference. “This is an expert agency -- we have it for its expertise,” he said. “It’s not acting as an expert agency.”

Comptel, ITTA and NTCA are uniting in opposition to the Comcast/Time Warner Cable transaction, a wireline industry official told us Wednesday. The groups had been set to announce their new organization Wednesday, but the Washington, D.C., event was rescheduled to Monday, Feb. 2, due to inclement weather. The new organization will be wireline-centric, and the event will include briefings on how the merger would harm competition, the industry official told us. Comptel, ITTA and NTCA didn't comment.

A group of content and edge providers, led by Aquto, asked the FCC not to clamp down on zero rating, the practice of giving some apps an advantage over others on wireless networks, as a part of broader net neutrality rules. The issue is widely viewed as among the trickiest facing the FCC as it finalizes rules (see 1411140046). “Sponsored data and zero-rating arrangements hold great promise for content and edge providers, whether they are new entrants or incumbents, who can use them to promote innovative offerings, attract new customers, and grow a robust subscriber base,” the companies said. “Sponsoring the delivery of Internet data is merely a more modern incarnation of toll-free calling or free shipping, which for decades have provided undisputed benefits to businesses and consumers alike.” The companies urged the FCC to “avoid taking any action that would limit the flexibility of Internet service providers to offer, or of content and edge providers to use, plans of this sort.” BBA Studios, DataMi, LotusFlare, Syntonic and Wazco also signed the letter.