The FCC should rule “customer drop” pole attachments need no advance notice to investor-owned utilities, ACA Connects said in a Friday-posted filing about a Tuesday call with the Wireline Bureau. Such attachments are adjuncts to existing, approved attachments, ACA said. The proposed ruling “would provide greater clarity for attachers and utilities and is an immediate step the Commission can take to help new broadband customers get online rapidly -- a matter that has taken on heightened urgency during the COVID-19 epidemic,” the cable group said in docket 17-84.
Approve a blanket six-month delay of the June 20 effective date of transparency-in-billing provisions of the 2019 Television Viewer Protection Act (see 2003060049), NCTA, USTelecom and ACA Connects asked the FCC Friday in docket 20-61. They want the extension "immediately to allow MVPDs to redirect all necessary resources towards addressing COVID-19."
The FCC defended a previous rule saying forbearance from requirements to unbundle and make available to competitors at avoided cost resale analog copper loops, as requested in a USTelecom petition in docket 18-141, "served the public interest," said a respondents' brief. The brief was posted by the FCC Thursday on Incompas et al. v. FCC (case No. 19-1164) before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The California Public Utilities Commission filed a separate petition against the forbearance order, and the court consolidated the cases.
Peerless Networks asked the FCC for temporary waiver of access stimulation traffic-ratio rules, in a petition Wednesday in docket 18-155. There's a "surge of traffic" resulting from telecommuting and "statewide 'shelter-in-place' orders" relating to COVID-19, it said. Peerless seeks waivers through June 1, extended in 60-day intervals as warranted.
The FCC should clarify carriers can "sign and sue" when localities show imbalance of power in right-of-way franchise and permitting, CenturyLink said in comments posted through Tuesday in docket 20-46 as the Wireline Bureau reviews a petition from Bluebird Network and Uniti Leasing in a dispute with three Missouri cities (see 2003190056). Cameron, Maryville and St. Joseph said Bluebird sold assets and facilities on public land to a third party not lawfully authorized to do business in Missouri when the transaction was initiated. The petition "represents the proverbial tip of the iceberg" of ROW disputes, Incompas said: "For every dispute that makes it to the FCC," members "routinely encounter other delays and demands from municipalities that never see the light of day." Replies are due April 7.
ILECs failed to prove ending their avoided cost resale of unbundled networks would "speed the deployment of advanced networks," Incompas replied, in filings posted through Monday in docket 19-308. The CLEC group wants the FCC to refrain from forbearance (see 2002060006). USTelecom wants the FCC to implement its proposal to eliminate "outdated and unnecessary unbundling regulations" that had required incumbent LECs to open their networks to competitors, it said. The record "strongly supports eliminating UNE DS1 and DS3 loops in all price cap areas," AT&T said. The forbearance proposal would hurt CLECs' ability to compete, said the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. "Eliminating CLEC access to the DS1 and DS3 loops would impair the ability of CLECs to serve all customers in an area, and cause customers to lose important competitive options." Since comments were filed Feb. 5, "the coronavirus has elevated considerations of public safety to an even greater importance," the Michigan Internet and Telecommunications Alliance said. "Commission use of data that is widely recognized as flawed for determining access to DS0 loops would not constitute sound policy decision-making," CLEC Sonic Telecom said. The FCC "cannot simply transplant findings and analysis from the Business Data Services ('BDS') proceeding to this one," said Uniti Fiber.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau granted a motion to dismiss a Crown Castle Fiber-Commonwealth Edison pole attachment dispute (see 1908210028), in an order in Friday's Daily Digest. Both companies filed a motion to dismiss March 16, after a confidential agreement.
The FCC denied GCI Communication's application for review (see 2001220024) and upheld last March's waiver denial regarding broadband mapping requirements in the USF Alaska plan, in an order for docket 16-271 in Thursday's Daily Digest. The Alaska Telecom Association requested the initial waiver, which the FCC deemed overly broad (see 1903040026).
Bluebird Network and Uniti Leasing reached a settlement with the city of Joplin, Missouri, over a right-of-way dispute, said a notice Thursday in FCC Wireline Bureau docket 20-46. A petition over ROW disagreements with three other Missouri cities (see 2002200020) remains, the companies said.
Modified FCC rules for reporting submarine cable infrastructure outages updated in December (see 1912270049) will take effect April 20, says Thursday's Federal Register. The FCC said it's narrowing the scope of reportable outages and clarifying the definition of "outage."