Washington Watch 04/21/2014
| April 21, 2014 | |
Contents
USF/ICC Transformation Order
FCC Releases Data from Urban Rate Survey
ACA Discusses FCC Policy on Partially Served Census Blocks
ACS Files Supplemental Comments on CAF Phase II
MTPCS Discusses Upcoming CAF Item, Mobility Fund Support
Open Internet
Stanford Law School Professor Discusses ISP Motivations For Blocking, Discrimination
Universal Service
USAC Provides Estimate of Demand for Funding Year 2014
FCC Seeks Comment on Request for Access to E-rate Applicant Information
USF/ICC Transformation OrderFCC Releases Data from Urban Rate Survey The Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice on April 18, 2014, announcing the posting of the fixed voice services data collected in the urban rate survey, and explanatory notes regarding the data, on the FCC’s website at http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/urban-rate-survey-data. This data was used to compute the 2014 local service rate floor for incumbent ETCs of $20.46 and the reasonable comparability benchmark for voice services of $46.96 that were previously announced. ACA Discusses FCC Policy on Partially Served Census Blocks ACA spoke with Legal Advisors to Commissioners Clyburn and Rosenworcel on April 16, 2014, to discuss what it says are harms to the public interest that would result from the FCC changing its treatment of “partially served” census blocks and the distribution of support from the CAF Phase II program. ACA claimed there is no public interest rationale for the FCC to revisit its decision on this point, and asserted the Commission put a high priority in the Transformation Order on building out broadband in census blocks without an unsubsidized provider. ACA claimed since unserved locations in served census blocks are not indicated on the National Broadband Map, there is no easy way to determine unserved locations in partially served census blocks. ACS Files Supplemental Comments on CAF Phase II ACS filed supplemental comments on April 16, 2014, on CAF Phase II rules. ACS asked the FCC either to ensure that the Connect America Cost Model offers sufficient support in Alaska for ACS to meet the applicable broadband build-out requirements, or permit ACS for the duration of CAF Phase II to elect the amount of annual frozen support it currently receives. ACS also urged the FCC to finalize all of the rules related to CAF Phase II, both those concerning model-based support and those concerning frozen support, before beginning any challenge process or other steps toward implementation. MTPCS Discusses Upcoming CAF Item, Mobility Fund Support MTPCS met with Wireline Competition Bureau staff on April 15, 2014, to discuss the CAF item on circulation and scheduled to be considered at the FCC’s April Open Meeting. MTPCS discussed the continuing need for USF support in rural areas in order to continue building mobile wireless networks and to maintain facilities constructed with support in remote areas that would not otherwise be maintained but for carriers being able to receive some support. It said in many areas, the cost of maintaining towers built with support exceeds the revenues being generated, necessitating some form of Mobility Fund Phase II support to keep them operating. It also urged the FCC to seek comment on immediately removing the right-of-first-refusal for price cap carriers.Open InternetStanford Law School Professor Discusses ISP Motivations For Blocking, Discrimination Stanford Law School Professor Barbara van Schewick met with General Counsel staff on April 15, 2014, to discuss potential motivations for ISP service providers to engage in blocking or discrimination, and factors that the Commission should use to evaluate discriminatory conduct. Professor van Schewick asserted IP providers may engage in blocking or discrimination to increase profits, exclude unwanted content, or manage their networks. She said the guiding principles the FCC should use when selecting alternative options for network neutrality, as well as for evaluating discriminatory conduct, are: innovator without permission, user choice, application agnosticism and low costs of application innovation.Universal ServiceUSAC Provides Estimate of Demand for Funding Year 2014 USAC sent a letter to Julie Veach, Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, on April 17, 2014, stating USAC’s estimate of demand for E-rate discounts for funding year 2014 is $4.825 billion. USAC said the estimate is based on total funds requested in 45,731 FCC Form 471 applications, and it provided information showing demand by service type and discount band. FCC Seeks Comment on Request for Access to E-rate Applicant Information The Wireline Competition Bureau released a Public Notice on April 18, 2014, seeking comment on the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ request for access to the information submitted by E-rate applicants in the FCC Form 471 Item 21, as well as the funding request number-level data created by the USAC Program Integrity Assurance. IMLS said it is requesting this data for policy research and data analysis, to identify national needs and trends in libraries and museums, and to measure the impact of federal programs on these entities, and that it will maintain the confidentiality of the data, restricting access to a minimal number of staff members. The Notice indicates if the FCC receives no opposition from affected parties within 10 days of this notice, the FCC will disclose the information requested to IMLS. Oppositions are due by April 28.Editor: Teresa Evert | Assistant Editor: Shawn O'Brien |
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