The “widespread” comments filed on inmate calling service overhauls are “not consistent” and “plague the industry” with much regulatory uncertainty, Global Tel*Link said in a letter to the FCC posted Tuesday in docket 12-375. The company continues to back a joint proposal made by itself, Securus and Telmate (see 1410100086), the letter said. The joint proposal ”would lead to windfall profits for the largest companies,” Pay-Tel Communications President Vincent Townsend and company counsel Marcus Trathen of Brooks, Pierce told Wireline officials April 2, according to an ex parte filing also posted Tuesday. The joint proposal supports inmate calling rate caps that favor their clientele in prisons, said Pay-Tel, which serves more jails.

North American Portability Management negotiated an agreement with Neustar over the transition from the company to Telcordia as the local number portability administrator, an FCC spokesman told us Monday. The spokesman didn't reveal the terms of the agreement, including whether it involved an agreement by Neustar not to challenge the commission’s March 26 order conditionally naming Telcordia the LNPA and authorizing NAPM to begin contract negotiations (see 1503260043). NAPM agreed “to terms with Neustar [on a separate agreement] that will ensure a smooth and cost-effective transition,” the spokesman said in a statement. Neustar didn't comment Monday. The company, in an SEC filing Friday, said NAPM hadn't given Neustar notice that it's not renewing the LNPA contract with Neustar by the April 1 deadline. The passing of the deadline automatically renews Neustar’s contract as the LNPA for another year, under the same terms and conditions as the previous contract, including pricing, Neustar’s filing said. Several telecom attorneys following the proceeding said Monday the notice had been expected and they were confused that it had not been issued. The FCC spokesman said only that the SEC filing was a formality but wouldn't elaborate. Telcordia also didn't comment.

Allied Fiber is poised for the launch of a distributed Internet exchange “like right now,” CEO Hunter Newby told us Monday: “Possibly eight weeks for this to be tested and operated.” Allied has been constructing a 700-mile fiber route between Miami and Atlanta, expecting operations by June, and connections through Jacksonville and a northeast segment including routes connecting New York, Chicago and Ashburn, Virginia. Allied has outlined plans to make its long-haul network nationwide, building out to Seattle and Vancouver. Newby said big content providers “like this idea” and are “very eager to see this happen,” promising to “name names” soon. This would allow for peering with the world's biggest content providers without local access or last-mile providers “standing in the way,” Newby said. The net neutrality “debate only exists because there is extortion at the last mile,” he added, saying that debate doesn’t extend to the “neutral meet points.” Focus on “neutral network infrastructure” is an “antidote to net neutrality” and important for job growth overall, he said. Laying the physical infrastructure was a “pain” and the real struggle, full of challenges involving rights of way and other construction obstacles, he explained. The FCC and Congress should keep “playing ball” with the incumbents and shouldn’t interfere with the environment for peering and media rooms, he said: “We don’t need anybody to tell us how to come in and be fair and neutral. We already did it and everything’s working fine.” But the FCC “should focus on” rules for the last mile where access providers have monopolies, he cautioned, concerned about possible consumer harms in that space.

Comments are due May 1 on a Department of Housing and Urban Development demonstration project on increasing broadband adoption and use in HUD-assisted homes, the agency said in a public notice scheduled to be published in the Federal Register Friday. About 20 communities around the country are expected to take part in the demonstration, which will focus on narrowing the digital divide for students housed with HUD assistance, the notice said. Commenters are encouraged to file electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal.

The FCC should set a timetable and move forward with USF contribution overhaul, Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee counsel Andrew Brown, of Levine, Blaszak, told Nicholas Degani, an aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai, and Travis Litman, an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, in separate meetings March 31, according to an ex parte filing posted in docket 09-51 Thursday. The group represents large businesses in various industries that purchase telecommunications and IT services. The agency made significant progress in USF spending in its 2011 overhaul and temporarily stabilized the fund's size, Brown and consultant Susan Gately told the aides, according to the filing. The agency never finished the updates because it hasn’t dealt with contributions to the fund, the filling said. The fund’s contribution factor will continue to rise and December’s $1.5 billion increase in the E-rate annual spending cap (see 1412110049) threatens the stability of the fund, the ad hoc committee said. An agency federal-state joint board is charged with recommending by Tuesday whether broadband customers should pay into USF, though a footnote in the net neutrality order said the recommendation may be slightly delayed (see 1503120053).

The FCC plans to fine Roman LD, an Irving, Texas, telephone company, $5.9 million for allegedly switching consumers’ long distance telephone services without their authorization, the agency said Thursday. The company is also accused of misrepresenting the company’s identity during telemarketing calls, fabricating authorization recordings purportedly as proof of consumers’ authorizations, and transferring control of the company without Commission approval, an agency press release said. “Consumers should be able to trust that they will not be billed for phone services they did not authorize or agree to,” Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc said in the release. The company did not comment. The bureau reviewed more than 100 complaints from consumers, which were filed at the commission, the Better Business Bureau, state regulatory agencies, and with the company, the release said. Consumers complained that Roman switched their long distance service providers without their authorization, the bureau said. In some cases, consumers complained company telemarketers pretended to be employed by the consumer’s own telephone carrier, the release said. On at least two occasions, Roman was accused of falsifying an audio recording of the authorization to make it appear that the consumer had agreed to the carrier change, the release said.

FCC’s letter of credit requirement for recipients of rural broadband experiment funding would be “onerous” if applied to Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II recipients, USTelecom said in comments posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. Rural broadband experiment recipients are required to obtain a letter of credit (LOC) equal to the amount they’ve previously received through the 10-year program, plus the amount scheduled to be dispersed to them over the following year. The LOC must also remain open for 120 days after the program's completion, USTelecom said. For CAF Phase II, the requirement should be “tailored to the amount of money ‘at risk’ annually or at most within a one to two year range,” the filing said. An LOC could be required for the first two years, with no more than one to two years of disbursements protected by an LOC, the group said. USTelecom also agreed with CoBank’s proposal (see 1503230031) to reduce the credit amount only to cover funds to be disbursed over the following year, the filing said.

An additional 55,722 census blocks were recategorized from served to unserved after the Connect America Fund Phase II challenge process, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Tuesday. Meanwhile, another 38,485 blocks were deemed served, resulting in a net increase of 17,237 unserved census blocks, the notice said. More than 140 parties filed challenges on the classification of 180,000 census blocks, the notice said. A list of the agency’s decisions on all the challenges is here.

The FCC should reform inmate calling service rates to ensure they're “just and reasonable,” said the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates in a letter to the agency, posted Friday in docket 12-375. The agency has jurisdiction to regulate interstate and intrastate ISC rates, NASUCA said. Commission payments ICS providers make to correctional facilities shouldn't be considered “just” and shouldn't be included in approved rate caps, the group said.

Battery backup power regulations being considered by the FCC (see 1503100063) should reflect “market realities” that customers are migrating to wireless for voice service, American Cable Association officials said in several meetings with agency officials, according to an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 14-174. Consumers switching to VoIP service realize their devices won't work during power outages without a backup power source, and as far as the ACA officials know, cable VoIP customers “have not expressed concern about not having line power during a power outage or with having to use some type of backup power supply,” the filing said. While VoIP subscriptions increased over the past decade, the growth has leveled off and many cable operators are losing voice subscribers to wireless, ACA Chairman Robert Gessner and other representatives of the group told David Simpson, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau chief, and other agency officials March 25, according to the filing. ”This trend would only accelerate if the Commission adopts its battery backup proposal since the new regulations would impose additional costs on VoIP providers that would be passed along to retail consumers,” ACA said. Ross Lieberman, ACA senior vice president-government affairs, and Thomas Cohen, of Kelley Drye, made the same arguments to Chairman Tom Wheeler's aide Daniel Alvarez and to an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in separate meetings the same day, according to the filing. Cohen also met with an aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly on the same day.