Rural carriers don’t necessarily think a proposed $0.0007 uniform terminating access rate is gaining traction at the FCC, Dan Mitchell, legal vice president for the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, said in an interview. That’s so even though the rural carrier trade association has asked Congress to quash that proposal (CD Oct 2 p7), he told us. Watching Bells “actively engage” the FCC in support of the “triple-oh-seven” plan pushed rural carriers to act, he said. NTCA wants to make sure the agency has the “complete story,” Mitchell said. Wednesday, NTCA CEO Michael Brunner urged Congress to intervene, saying the FCC was “seriously considering” a proposal by Verizon, AT&T and others to set a $0.0007 uniform terminating access rate for all traffic. NTCA has condemned that plan as legally unsound and hurtful to rural carriers.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
Adoption of Verizon’s plan to revamp intercarrier compensation would “almost certainly” trigger litigation at the state and federal level, CompTel and NCTA said. In a late Monday letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the competitive local exchange carrier and cable associations said Verizon’s Sept. 12 plan (CD Sept 15 p2) could decimate competitors’ interconnection rights. “Facilities-based competitors are beginning to have an impact in this marketplace,” but only as a result of the current interconnection regime, CompTel and NCTA said. Adopting Verizon’s proposal “would erode substantially the statutory and contractual rights and obligation[s] upon which facilities-based competition depends.” But though CompTel and NCTA rejected Verizon’s interconnection ideas, they supported unifying terminating access rates for all traffic. They didn’t opine on Verizon’s proposal to set a uniform $0.0007 rate. “At this time, we're not taking a position on specific rate levels,” a CompTel spokeswoman said. The competitors’ support for unifying rates “is good news and demonstrates the broad public interest appeal of that approach,” a Verizon spokesman said. “Verizon plans to reach out to the parties to find workable solutions to the interconnection issues raised.” CompTel and NCTA said the Verizon plan would give incumbent local exchange carriers “control over key decisions affecting CLEC networks,” and permit incumbent local exchange carriers to avoid “obligations under existing agreements” and “state arbitration of future disputes.” The plan is too vague, they said. Verizon proposes default compensation and interconnection rules, but doesn’t explain how the rules would be implemented between two interconnecting carriers, nor how carriers may obtain different arrangements, the groups said. Verizon’s proposal to require terminating carriers to “establish at least one [point of interconnection] per LATA” clashes with the 1996 Telecom Act, CompTel and NCTA said. The Act required ILECs to interconnect with requesting carriers at “any technically feasible point,” they said. The Verizon rule would permit ILECs to dictate where competitors should interconnect, and their choice of network technology, CompTel and NCTA said. For example, if an ILEC designated only circuit-switched facilities as interconnection points, competitors would be forced to convert IP traffic to a circuit-switched format, they said. Also, because the Verizon rule doesn’t distinguish between CLECs and ILECs, CLECs too would have to designate interconnection points, the competitors said. That’s wrong, because Congress only imposed interconnection requirements on incumbents, they said.
Wireline and wireless providers should pay FCC regulatory fees under one umbrella, said the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance. In comments on an FCC rulemaking, ITTA and others urged it to recalibrate fees so they better reflect technology convergence and agency organizational changes.
Attendance is waning at wireline trade shows. Numbers at Supercomm and CompTel are in decline, while VON -- the big VoIP show -- is dead. The large trade show format may have become unsustainable, said several industry officials involved with show spending. Conference organizers say they're upbeat.
Qwest will follow the same approach as AT&T and Verizon in giving the FCC usable accounting data upon agency request once an order granting the Bell forbearance on cost- assignment rules takes effect, Qwest said. The carrier filed its compliance plan Wednesday. AT&T and Verizon, granted the same relief, also submitted plans (CD Sept 24 p7). The Wireline Bureau hasn’t acted on them. Sprint Nextel, a critic of the AT&T and Verizon plans, went after the new one, too. “The Qwest submission is more of the same and … should be rejected outright,” a spokesman for the wireless carrier said Thursday. “Under this plan, Qwest would have the sole discretion to update the cost accounting ratios,” opening the door for data manipulation, he said. “Given … the history of anti-competitive behavior from Qwest as well as AT&T and Verizon, it stretches the imagination to conceive of any scenario where approving this plan would be good for competition and benefit consumers.”
Foes of cost-assignment forbearance for Bells slammed a Verizon compliance plan submitted last week. Verizon offered the plan to show how it will give the FCC usable accounting data at the agency’s request once an order granting Verizon forbearance on cost-assignment rules takes effect. Verizon said its approach “generally” follows one AT&T submitted two months ago (CD Sept 5 p7). AT&T’s plan hasn’t gotten Wireline Bureau approval. “Verizon’s compliance plan is, like AT&T’s plan, better described as a non-plan,” said James Blaszac, attorney for the AdHoc Telecommunications Users Committee. “If the [Wireline Bureau] were to accept these compliance plans, it would act contrary to its delegated authority because it would put the commission in a position in which [it] would be unable to satisfy the statutory obligations that it recognizes as still important. Approval of these plans would be irresponsible deregulation, and would harm customers.” A Sprint Nextel spokesman said Verizon copied AT&T’s proposal. “Just like AT&T, Verizon has simply told the commission, ‘Trust us,'” he said. “This approach is not sound public policy and we believe this plan, like AT&T’s, should be pronounced dead on arrival.” Verizon said it will maintain Uniform System of Accounts books, except for two sections on non-regulated activities and affiliate transactions. Verizon promised to maintain its most recent cost-assignment results. If the FCC needs more data, Verizon “will perform such a study to the extent it is not unreasonably burdensome.” Verizon will keep data and documentation about its accounting methods and cost- allocation procedures, such as its most recently filed Cost Allocation Manual, it said. And Verizon plans to record and price affiliate transactions in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and keep data and documentation on its present accounting methods and procedures for affiliate deals, it said. Once the bureau approves Verizon’s plan, the carrier plans immediate implementation of the proposed changes, it said. “Verizon expects a very short transition period,” it said.
Results of Canada’s recent AWS auction look to stir up competition, SeaBoard Group analysts said. Final payments on high bids in the sale, which brought C$4.25 billion, were due Sept. 2. The auction was dominated by Canadian incumbents Rogers, Telus and Bell Canada, which spent 61 percent of all money raised. But the sale also seems likely to stir new rivalries, SeaBoard said. New entrant Globalive, which got a 10 MHz national license, likely will pursue a prepaid model like that of MetroPCS in the U.S., the analyst firm said. Globalive suggests it will be operational in key markets in Q2 2009, they said. Globalive lacks coverage in southern Quebec, which shouldn’t be a problem given that the company has mandated roaming privileges on incumbent networks, they said. Globalive might consider partnerships to build a national brand, they said. Potential partners include Cogeco, Jaguar Wireless, SSI Micro and MTS Allstream. MTS is an “ideal partner” due to its large base of enterprise customers and a national fiber network with dense urban deployment, SeaBoard said. Cable companies also are angling to enter the wireless game, SeaBoard said. In particular, Videotron, with nearly a million cable phone customers, stands to benefit, analysts said. “Each cable telephone household represents a potential of three added Videotron wireless customers -- exciting times at Videotron,” they said. And the company’s ties to Canada’s largest French- language TV network, Quebec’s largest music distributor and the Sun Media newspapers create “significant” potential for synergies, they said. SeaBoard was intrigued by the extent of bidding for the G block, given that this spectrum range is unique to Canada, Denmark and the U.S. No equipment ecosystem exists for the spectrum, which doesn’t work with new AWS handsets deployed for T-Mobile and MetroPCS U.S. networks, analysts said. SeaBoard believes the spectrum could best be used for cellular backhaul, it said.
FCC commissioners probably will vote on an order related to a Freedom of Information Act request ahead of this week’s agenda meeting, a commission official told us. Commissioners probably will vote 5-0 to reject Fusion Telecommunications’ challenge to an order granting an FoIA request by Wall Street Journal reporter Mary O'Grady, the official said. O'Grady, researching Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide’s finances, asked the FCC for international traffic-tariff material on Fusion. When the FCC found it didn’t have the information, it asked Fusion to file it. Fusion complied but asked the agency to keep the material confidential. The FCC gave O'Grady the information, saying it should be public.
Keep interconnected VoIP eligible for Universal Service Fund E-Rate schools and libraries support, a cross section of industry and E-Rate applicants said in Thursday comments on a rulemaking. But commenters differed on funding year 2009 eligibility for filtering software, dark fiber and other new services.
Recent talk of overhauling intercarrier compensation and USF has sparked fevered telecom industry debate. On a Thursday FCBA panel, officials and lawyers representing AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Windstream, OPASTCO and competitive local exchange carriers reviewed recent proposals by Verizon and others advocating a uniform $0.0007 terminating access rate for all traffic. USF contribution was among few items on which they appeared to agree.