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Foundation for Rural Service Launches Rural Telepedia Wiki

The Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) is pleased to announce the launch of its “Rural Telepedia,” an online interactive resource for up to the minute information on telecom issues and concepts.

Based on terms and definitions from the FRS Glossary of Rural Telecommunications, Rural Telepedia is a “wiki,” driven by user-generated content.    Converting the glossary to wiki format offers users the opportunity to develop and build on existing content by adding and editing definitions. 

Rural Telepedia will deliver content right to users’ computers or smart phones—anywhere they access the Internet.  The easy to use interface means users may comment, question and expand on existing postings, ensuring the content remains relevant as issues and the industry evolve.  It enables all users to collaborate to create a comprehensive resource for key industry terms. 

To preserve the quality, usefulness and integrity of the wiki, Rural Telepedia will be moderated by FRS staff.   FRS is committed to educating the public about the value of telecommunications connectivity, and its link to the ongoing prosperity of rural communities.  Visit the Rural Telepedia wiki and join in the online community-building which will help create a better understanding of the rural telecom industry and the limitless opportunities NTCA members provide.

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 Industry News

AT&T Says It Wants To Give Up PSTN For Broadband

In the latest effort to support the elimination of intercarrier compensation, state regulation and carrier of last resort obligations and the use of universal service funding for broadband, AT&T has told the FCC that it should transition from the legacy plain old telephone service (POTS) network in favor of broadband and IP-based communications.

In comments in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan proceeding, AT&T said that to meet the congressional goal of extending broadband access to all Americans, it must discontinue its land-line business in favor of transitioning to broadband and IP-based communications. "That transition is under way already," AT&T said. "With each passing day, more and more communications services migrate to broadband and IP-based services, leaving the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and POTS as relics of a bygone era."

AT&T termed the 100 percent broadband goal "auspicious," and said it would be within reach if the resources of the FCC and its stakeholders were put toward developing and executing a strategy that included an "orderly transition away from, and retirement of, the PSTN." Should AT&T have to continue maintaining and investing in two networks, it wrote, Congress' goal "will not be met in a timely or efficient manner."

According to AT&T, due to technological advances, changes in consumer preference and market forces, the question is when, not if, POTS service and the PSTN over which it is provided will become obsolete. It added that less than 20 percent of Americans rely exclusively on POTS for voice service, 25 percent of households have abandoned POTS and 700,000 lines are being turned off each month. AT&T asks the Commission to set a firm deadline for the transition from the PSTN to broadband, taking into account the agency’s experience with managing the transition to digital broadcasting and the retirement of the analog cellular networks.  (Source:  BloostonLaw 010610)

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D.C. Circuit Affirms FCC’s Order That ISP-Bound Traffic Is Interstate, Interexchange

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has affirmed the FCC’s Nov. 5, 2008, order ruling ISP-bound traffic is interstate, interexchange traffic, and is covered by section 251(b)(5) of the Communications Act. The Court held that the FCC has authority under Section 201 to establish pricing rules for this traffic, and maintained the $0.0007 rate cap and the mirroring rule for ISP-bound traffic. In Core Communications v. FCC, the court consolidated petitions for review filed by Core, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC), and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).

The Order arises out of the Commission’s concern with the results of applying the reciprocal compensation sys-tem to ISP-bound traffic. It was not long before some competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) saw the opportunity to sign up Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as customers and collect, rather than pay, compensation because ISP modems do not generally call anyone. In some instances, this led to classic regulatory arbitrage that: (1) created incentives for inefficient entry of CLECs intent on serving ISPs exclusively and not offering viable local telephone competition; and (2) produced large one-way flows of cash that made it possible for CLECs to pay their ISP customers to use their services. (Source BloostonLaw 011310)

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How Magical are "MagicJack's" Free Cell Phone Calls Inside the Home?

According to Yahoo.com, YMax, the company behind the magicJack, has made a new version of its Internet phone device that al-lows free calls from cell phones in the home, that may draw fire from cellular carriers. Yahoo says the new magicJack uses, without permission, radio frequencies for which cellular carriers have paid billions of dollars for exclusive licenses. Yahoo reports that YMax Corp., which is based in Palm Beach, Fla., said this week at the International Consumers Electronics Show that it plans to start selling the device in about four months for $40, the same price as the original magicJack. As before, it will provide free calls to the U.S. and Canada for one year.

The device is, in essence, a very small cellular transceiver for the home. Yahoo’s description: The size of a deck of cards, it plugs into a PC, which needs a broadband Internet connection. The device then detects when a compatible cell phone comes within 8 feet, and places a call to it. The user enters a short code on the phone. The phone is then linked to the magicJack, and as long as it's within range (YMax said it will cover a 3,000-square-foot home) magicJack routes the call itself, over the Internet, rather than going through the carrier's cellular tower. No minutes are subtracted from the user's account with the carrier. Any extra fees for international calls are subtracted from the user's account with magicJack, not the carrier. According to YMax, the device will connect to any phone that uses the GSM standard, which in the U.S. includes phones from AT&T and T-Mobile USA. Most phones from Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. won't connect to the device. YMax says the device is legal because wireless spectrum licenses don't extend into the home.

Yahoo noted that U.S. carriers have been selling and experimenting with devices that act similarly to the wireless magicJack. They're called "femtocells." Like the magicJack, they use the carrier's licensed spectrum to connect to a phone, then route the calls over a home broadband connection. They improve coverage inside the home and offload capacity from the carrier's towers. But femtocells are complex products, because they're designed to mesh with the carrier's external net-work. They cost the carriers more than $200, though some sell them cheaper, recouping the cost through added service fees. YMax's magicJack is a much smaller, simpler design.

Will the FCC have a problem with the possible unauthorized use of cellular/PCS channels? That issue must be resolved. Notably, the FCC has rejected efforts by users to claim dominion over cell frequencies in other contexts, such as at-tempts by theaters, restaurants, etc. to block cellular calls in their premises. The FCC has made it clear that cell phone jamming is illegal, even under such limited circumstances. (Source BloostonLaw 011310)

FCC News

FCC Proposes Tougher TCPA Restrictions For "Robocalls"

The FCC has proposed revisions to its rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to further empower residential telephone subscribers to avoid un-wanted telephone solicitations. The proposals would require sellers and telemarketers to obtain written con-sent from recipients before making prerecorded telemarketing calls, commonly referred to as "robocalls," even when the caller has an established business relationship with the consumer. Additionally, the FCC proposes to make it easier to opt out of receiving robocalls.

These new restrictions would harmonize the FCC’s rules with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) recent amendments to its Telemarketing Sales Rule. Because the majority of entities that use prerecorded telemarketing calls are subject to both agencies’ telemarketing regulations, most regulated entities must comply with the FTC’s current, more restrictive standards. However, entities outside the FTC’s jurisdiction, such as telephone companies, airlines, banks, and insurance companies, are currently subject to less restrictive standards.

Key revisions proposed by the FCC include:

• Requiring sellers and telemarketers to obtain telephone subscribers’ express written consent (including electronic methods of consent) to receive prerecorded telemarketing calls, even when there exists an established business relationship between the caller and the consumer;

• Requiring that prerecorded telemarketing calls include an automated, interactive mechanism by which a consumer may "opt out" of receiving future prerecorded messages from a seller or telemarketer; and,

• Exempting certain federally regulated healthcare-related calls from the general prohibition on pre-recorded telemarketing calls to residential telephone lines. (These calls are currently not specifically exempted from the prerecorded message rules.)

The Commission asks for comments on whether these proposed revisions would benefit consumers and industry by creating greater symmetry between the FCC and FTC regulations and by extending the FTC’s standards to regulated entities that are not currently subject to FTC rules.

The Commission noted that the proposed rule changes would not affect categories of prerecorded message calls that are not currently covered by its TCPA rules. Those categories include calls by or on behalf of tax-exempt non-profit organizations; calls for political purposes, such as those made by politicians or political campaigns; calls for other noncommercial purposes; and commercial calls that do not contain unsolicited advertisements, for example, calls that deliver purely "informational" messages notifying recipients of a flight cancellation. Furthermore, because the TCPA’s restrictions on prerecorded messages do not apply to calls initiated for emergency purposes, the proposed rule revisions would not affect messages sent to consumers to alert them to emergency situations.

Comments in this CG Docket No. 02-278 proceeding will be due 30 days after publication of the item in the Federal Register, and replies will be due 30 days thereafter. The item was adopted at the FCC’s January 20 open meeting.   (Source:  BloostonLaw 012710)

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FCC  Approves NECA's Average Schedule High Cost Loop Formula, USAC's LSS Formula

The FCC has approved the National Exchange Car-rier Association’s (NECA’s) proposed modifications to the current high-cost loop support universal service formula for average schedule companies, to be effective from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010. The Commission also approved the Universal Service Admin-istrative Company’s (USAC’s) proposed local switching support formula, to be effective from January 1 through December 31, 2010. Consistent with high-cost loop sup-port formulas approved in prior years, for 2010 NECA proposes calculating high-cost loop support payments for average schedule companies based on a formula that relates cost per loop (CPL) data of sample companies to their loops per exchange values (CPL formula). The proposed CPL formula for 2010 has been developed us-ing the same methodology as used and approved in prior years. The current approved high-cost loop support for-mula is expected to provide $21.6 million in payments for 2009 to 374 study areas. NECA’s proposed formula for 2010 would provide an estimated $27.3 million payable to 367 study areas for 2010, an increase of 26.4 percent over 2009 payments. The local switching support formu-la is used to determine the amount of support for switch-ing costs that will be provided to average schedule com-panies from the Commission’s universal service high-cost support mechanism. The current interstate local switching support formula was approved on December 10, 2008. In its September 28, 2009 filing, USAC pro-poses a formula for 2010 which, would decrease total annual payments for local switching support to average schedule companies from approximately $64.1 million in 2009 to approximately $51.4 million in 2010, a decrease of approximately 19.8 percent. (Source:  BloostonLaw 010610)

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Annual CPNI Certifications Due March 1

The FCC's Enforcement Bureau issued Jan. 15 a Public Notice that annual customer proprietary network information (CPNI) certifications are due March 1.  Telecommunications carriers and interconnected voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) providers must file annual reports certifying their compliance with the FCC's rules protecting CPNI.

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FCC Asks Congress to Extend National Broadband Plan Deadline

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski wrote to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to request an extension of the deadline until March 17 for the National Broadband Plan.  Genachowski noted that the extended deadline would allow for the Commission "to obtain input from key stakeholders and more fully brief Commissioners and the House and Senate on aspects of the Plan as it comes together," and that it would not affect the plan's budget or "other ongoing FCC activities."  Related, the FCC issued yesterday a Public Notice detailing its Idealscale application, which works in conjunction with its Blogband initiative to create an online public record in the creation of the National Broadband Plan.

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FCC Approves High-Cost Loop, Local Switching USF Support Formulas for Average Schedule Companies

The FCC approved Dec. 30, 2009, modifications submitted last August by the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) to both the High-Cost loop support and local switching support Universal Service Fund (USF) formulas for average schedule companies.  The modified formulas took effect Jan. 1 and remain so through Dec. 31.  Please refer to the Order for specific details.

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Joint Board Releases Latest USF Monitoring Report

On Dec. 31, 2009, the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service published its most recent USF monitoring report.  The report reflects data filed with the FCC by the telephone industry for the year 2008, as well as projections for 2009.  To access the full report, please visit the FCC Website.  For highlights, please refer to the related news release.

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Federal Legislation

Broadband Stimulus

NTIA and USDA Announce Round 2 of the Broadband Stimulus Funding

In two separate Notices of Funds Availability (NOFA) last Friday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced the availability of $4.8 billion in the second round of broadband stimulus funding.

Applications for the second round of funding will be accepted beginning February 16th until March 15th, with awards announced by September 30th.  The two separate NOFAs will allow applicants to apply directly to either program.  Applicants should note that the process that required applicants for infrastructure programs to apply to both RUS and NTIA has been eliminated.

NTIA will allocate $2.6 billion through its BTOP program including $2.35 billion for infrastructure projects, $150 million for public computer center projects and at least $100 million for sustainable broadband adoption projects.  NTIA will focus on the concept of “comprehensive communities,” targeting middle mile broadband projects that involve community anchor institutions including libraries, universities, and hospitals.

RUS will make $2.2 billion available, with an emphasis on last mile infrastructure projects. RUS projects will be 75% grant funded and 25% loan funded. The RUS approach will now include satellite services, but these funds will only be made available after all of the other funding is awarded. Additionally the agency’s BIP program will focus on last-mile projects that the agency feels are most effective.

The agencies have announced several workshops to outline the application rules and changes for the second round of funding, and to give applicants the chance to ask questions about the process.  Workshops will be held in Portland, Ore.; Reno, Nev.; Denver, Colo.; San Antonio, Tex.; Eureka, Mo.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Detroit, Mich.; Blacksburg, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; and Atlanta, Ga.

Access the RUS/NTIA announcement online.

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