At its agenda meeting Oct. 14, the FCC will act on a petition by ...

At its agenda meeting Oct. 14, the FCC will act on a petition by BellSouth and Surewest seeking relief from unbundling requirements for fiber to the curb (FTTC). ALTS sent a last-minute letter to the FCC on Thurs. urging it “back up” its commitment to facilities-based competition by maintaining loop unbundling rules: “In recent weeks, the Commission has expanded the relief granted to the Bell companies for embedded fiber loops to multi-unit dwellings. Now, ALTS understands the Commission is preparing to grant additional Bell requests to expand fiber to the home relief to include [FTTC] loops that are nowhere near the home.” ALTS said approving the BellSouth petition “would add layers of confusion to loop unbundling and access rules, could derail the facilities- based competitive telecommunications industry and would allow the incumbent LECs to wield monopoly control over captive consumers, denying the benefits of competition.” BellSouth has told the FCC that more than 90% of buildings served by its FTTC architecture is to residential premises. The town of Davie, Fla., recently told the FCC that deregulation of FTTC would enable BellSouth to deploy FTTC technology to more single family homes, apartments and businesses in the town. BellSouth provides high-speed Internet access and video over these facilities, Davie officials said, in competition with a cable company. This gives the residents “a competitive alternative to cable TV, increased service quality and better prices.” Also on the FCC agenda: (1) A reconsideration order involving payphone compensation rules. (2) A notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) related to a petition by Mid-Rivers Telephone Cooperative asking that it be classified as an ILEC in Terry, Mont. The NPRM would involve interpretation by Sec. 251(h)(2) of the Telecom Act. (3) From the Office of Engineering & Technology, a report and order involving the relocation of federal govt. users from the 1710-1755 MHz band in order to make the band available for advanced wireless services. (4) A notice of inquiry concerning “the possible effects of foreign mobile termination rates on U.S. customers and competition in the U.S. telecommunications services market.” (5) A report and order on changes to its Part 15 rules to promote deployment of broadband over power lines (BPL). The order is expected to combine the information garnered from the responses to the FCC’s BPL NPRM and the NTIA recommendations.