A federal court pushed back remaining briefing in its review of an FCC VoIP symmetry order on intercarrier compensation. In a one-page order Tuesday in AT&T v. FCC (docket 15-1059), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted the unopposed motion of the Department of Justice and the FCC to delay the timetable a few weeks (see 1509180064). The D.C. Circuit set an Oct. 5 due date for the DOJ/FCC brief responding to AT&T's opening brief, which has already been filed (see 1507310057). The brief of intervenors supporting the commission will be due Oct. 26, the reply brief of petitioner AT&T Nov. 9, and briefing will close Dec. 7.

The FCC Wireline Bureau teed up Windstream's petition for a limited waiver to collect more access charge revenue to offset charges it couldn't collect from Halo Wireless (see 1509020059). In a public notice Monday, the bureau set comments for Oct. 21, replies Nov. 5.

The FCC held up Sprint's application to discontinue long-distance services to domestic wireline customers, saying it needed more time to review comments from 11 parties. In a public notice issued Friday, the commission said Sprint's application under Section 214 of the Communications Act wasn't automatically granted, emphasizing that the action shouldn't be considered a final determination. The Oglala Sioux Tribe Utility Commission (OSTUC) had said the application shouldn't be granted until Sprint complied with obligations to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (see 1509140033). In other comments filed in docket 15-186, 10 individuals objected to, or voiced concerns about, Sprint's plans to discontinue the long-distance services. Sprint had no comment Monday. Sprint said in a filing that the OSTUC comment was "untimely and substantively flawed," noting that although the comment was dated Sept. 1, it wasn't received until Sept. 11. Sprint said OSTUC's concerns largely weren't relevant to the FCC's discontinuance process and were otherwise "meritless." In a separate response to the filings of the 10 individuals (most of which were hand-written), Sprint noted that all seemed concerned about the difficulty of finding inexpensive alternatives. The company said it had reached out to all of them with additional information regarding "the numerous available options for obtaining replacement services at acceptable rates from alternative providers." Several of them indicated they had already transferred their service to new providers, "demonstrating the availability of acceptable alternatives," Sprint said. While the others expressed reservations about changing service, "generally due to their positive experiences with Sprint, none of the commenters requested a delay in the discontinuance of service, and many of them expressed appreciation that Sprint reached out to discuss the matter," the company said. The telco asked the commission to approve its application.

Ace Telephone Association and Great Lakes Comnet sought post-deal FCC OK of ATA's takeover of GLC and its subsidiaries. ATA subsidiary Ace Telephone Co. of Michigan bought 51 percent control of GLC's common stock Oct. 6, but "inadvertently overlooked" the need to ask for FCC approval of communications license transfers until recently, a joint application for approval said Wednesday. "The Joint Applicants truly regret that they did not obtain prior Commission approval of the transfer of control, and are now promptly seeking to correct that oversight through this Joint Application," the applicants said. FCC approval is in the public interest, said the applicants, which called the oversight "purely inadvertent" and added the companies and their customers, who continue to receive service as they did before the takeover, won't be negatively affected. "The transaction has no adverse impact on customers, and will not trigger any rate increases," they said in an accompanying public interest statement. "As the Joint Applicants are relatively small entities, the transaction has not and should not lead to the concentration of any market share, nor will it present any anti-competitive issues, or eliminate a competitor, because GLC [and its subsidiaries] will continue to provide service as they did before the transfer of control." The applicants asked for special temporary authority to operate for 60 days, pending FCC approval of their license transfer application. ATA and a subsidiary provide local and long distance telecom, broadband and video services in Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan, while GLC and its subsidiaries provide tandem switching and transport services to other telecom carriers in Michigan, and also operate in several other states. GLC is challenging in court an FCC order that sided with AT&T in an access charge dispute (see 1508190065).

USTelecom representatives plugged the potential competitive benefits of their forbearance petition and other requests for incumbent telco regulatory relief in a recent meeting with FCC officials. "We discussed how legacy regulatory requirements divert resources from broadband to legacy services, handicapping the ability of USTelecom members to invest in fiber and modern IP services to deliver better and more competitive services to consumers and businesses," said a USTelecom ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-92. The USTelecom officials noted "the large percentage of households" that have switched from traditional voice services to mobile and IP-based services, and "the breadth of cable competition" in both residential and business markets. They also discussed the seven categories of relief sought in their forbearance petition. "Our discussion focused on Category 1 (remaining aspects of sections 271 and 272 obligations, equal access rules and the nondiscrimination and imputation requirements set out in the Section 272 Sunset Order), Category 3 (requirement to provide a 64 kbps voice channel where copper loop has been retired) and Category 7 (rules prohibiting price cap incumbent LECs’ use of contract tariffs for business data services)," the filing said. The USTelecom officials also discussed their petition for a declaratory ruling that ILECs are no longer dominant in the voice market and possible relief from accounting regulations in the commission's proceeding on Part 32 rules.

The FCC released data detailing $9 billion in Connect America Fund Phase II support accepted by price-cap telcos, a Tuesday commission release said. It contains links to various attachments that detail the carriers' broadband-oriented USF support by state and county that's expected to expand high-speed Internet service to 7.3 million rural customers in 45 states over 2015-2020 (there is also a map). The carriers accepted about $1.5 billion of the $1.675 billion in annual support that was offered by the commission, with CenturyLink and AT&T leading the way with $506 million and $428 million, respectively (see 1508270068).

Many RLECs in the Midwest plan to quit offering video service, which should be additional fuel for the FCC's consideration of changes to the "totality of circumstances" test for good-faith negotiating, NTCA said in a filing posted Monday in docket 10-71. The filing included a summary of a survey of 68 RLECs done by Vantage Point Solutions, submitted to back up NTCA's assertion that such multichannel video programming distributors are finding that marketplace "increasingly difficult for smaller MVPDs in the face of escalating program costs, unreasonable demands with respect to bundling and tiering of content, and 'take-it-or-leave-it' negotiating tactics by content owners," NTCA said. As a result, more than two-thirds of the RLECs surveyed lost money on video services, while 5 percent had profit margins on video products higher than 6 percent, NTIA said. "Particularly given that NTCA members serve areas that, in some cases, may have no access at all to over-the-air signals, such trends and reports are troubling," the group said. According to the survey, taken in December, 88 percent of RLECs surveyed rated frustration with retrans consent negotiations an "8" or higher on a 1-10 scale. Fifty-four percent of respondents saw programming costs go up 100 percent or more after their latest retrans consent negotiations, including 22 percent whose rose more than 200 percent, Vantage Point said. Without changes to the rules on content acquisition, "video competition in rural areas of the country will disappear" because 66 percent of respondents said they wouldn't offer video service in five years if current trends continue, Vantage Point said.

The FCC's proposed USF industry contribution factor for 4Q is 16.7 percent of international and interstate telecom revenue -- as expected by an industry consultant, down from 17.1 percent this quarter (see 1509020052) -- the Office of Managing Director said in a public notice in docket 96-45. If the commission takes no further action within 14 days, the proposed contribution factor will take effect.

The FCC understands the promise broadband access offers for low-income households, Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero said in a commission blog Monday. It noted the beginning of Lifeline Awareness Week and commended state regulators for making the program work for low-income users and telecom ratepayers who fund it through USF fees. "Broadband can help families fully engage in civic life and meaningfully access health services, job opportunities, and educational resources," wrote DelNero. "All network users benefit when everyone, regardless of income level, can communicate and innovate through broadband access." DelNero said initial comments (see 1509010073 and 1509040045) on proposals in the Further NPRM to expand Lifeline to broadband and promote program efficiency "reveal the remarkable variety of ways that broadband can enrich and transform lives," including by bringing better communications access to people with disabilities, children doing homework, parents needing information about state programs, and people living on tribal lands. Replies are due Sept. 30.

Sprint shouldn't be allowed to discontinue domestic wireline long-distance service until it satisfies certain duties regarding the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, said the Oglala Sioux Tribe Utility Commission in South Dakota in comments to the FCC in docket 15-186. The OSTUC said Sprint hasn't provided information the tribal commission needs to take a position on the carrier's planned service discontinuation (see 1506190036). To satisfy the FCC public interest standard, Sprint must meet all applicable requirements to discontinue service, including on the PRIR, the OSTUC said. "Sprint has refused to recognize the jurisdiction and authority of the OSTUC," which regulates telecom and other utility services on the PRIR, leading to litigation between the parties, the tribal commission said. A federal court recently denied a Sprint request to block the tribe from exercising jurisdiction over Sprint's telecom service on the PRIR, the OSTUC said. Sprint hadn't met tribal consumer protection duties or provided the OSTUC with any information about its planned service discontinuance on the PRIR, the tribal commission said. "Until Sprint demonstrates that it has met its obligations to 'inform customers prior to termination of service that they may file a complaint with the Commission' and comply with other applicable requirements on the PRIR, the FCC should not allow Sprint's planned termination of service on the PRIR to go into effect." The OSTUC said that Sprint had said consumers could buy alternative long-distance service from wireless carriers such as itself, but the tribal commission said it doesn't believe Sprint provides wireless service on the PRIR and there may not be other alternatives on the reservation. The OSTUC comments were dated Sept. 1, and posted on the FCC electronic filing system Monday. Sprint had no comment, but plans to file a response soon, a company spokesman told us Monday.