Clyburn Backs Action on Wholesale Access
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn backed moving ahead with policies against incumbents imposing terms and conditions that pose obstacles to competitive carriers' ability to access the last mile to customers, as the agency sorts through special access data it's collected. Speaking at Comptel’s Policy and Innovation Policy Summit Tuesday, Clyburn said that receiving the special access data was significant for an agency that has wanted it for “many years.” The commission shouldn't “sit idly and wait” until the data analysis is completed later this year to act, she said. An NPRM tentatively concluded that terms and conditions that deter wholesale business competition shouldn't be allowed (see 1411210037).
“As the incumbent carriers begin to transition their own facilities, it is critical that competitors can obtain equivalent last mile access to customers,” Comptel CEO Chip Pickering said in a statement. Approving the tentative conclusion “would ensure an affordable, seamless IP transition for consumers at these and other competitors' locations,” Eric Einhorn, Windstream senior vice president-government affairs, said in a statement. It’s “urgent” the commission act, he said. “Contracts for service extending 3-5 years into the future are being written now, and all parties will benefit from assurance that these agreements are founded on a stable regulatory regime.” Competition "is a wave that lifts all boats, and Commissioner Clyburn plans to whip up a storm of competition,” a Broadband Coalition spokesman said in statement. “By tearing down barriers to competition at the last mile ... both consumers and business customers will have more broadband choices.”
At the summit neither Clyburn, her aide Rebekah Goodheart, Chairman Tom Wheeler’s aide Daniel Alvarez nor Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel aide Travis Litman discussed net neutrality, on which the agency is scheduled to vote Thursday. Goodheart said promoting competition by pre-empting Tennessee's and North Carolina’s municipal broadband laws was a high priority to increase competition.
Alvarez was noncommittal about the pending selection of a new local number portability administrator (LNPA), saying the agency “appreciates the need to get it done as soon as possible, but we want to be sure it’s done right.” Neustar’s current LNPA contract ends July 1, and Telcordia, recommended by an agency committee to become the next LNPA, has been pressing for a decision (see 1502180031). Asked about potential requirements for battery backup power -- an item in the same IP transition rulemaking as the wholesale access issue -- Alvarez said an Australian requirement for large backup devices drew a backlash, but as more customers switch from legacy landlines to IP-based phones, “It’s important that we figure out what to do [about backup power]. As the storm rages, people need to be able to call 911.”
Clyburn also backed increasing Lifeline funding to be paired with overhauls to the program (see 1411120026), saying “Lifeline should not be retro.”
On a separate panel, Will Carty, Twitter public policy director, said the company backs the net neutrality proposal reclassifying broadband. Twitter backed the proposal in a blog post Monday. Level 3 Vice President-Federal Affairs Joe Cavender also backed the agency’s proposal to prevent blocking and other practices on a case-by-case basis. Allowing ISPs to create “toll roads” at interconnection points would “be a direct attack on the virtuous circle of innovation and investment,” he said. The Electronic Frontier Foundation on its blog Tuesday urged the agency not to adopt an Internet conduct rule in the order (see 1502190048). It “suggests that the FCC believes it has broad authority to pursue any number of practices -- hardly the narrow, light-touch approach we need to protect the open Internet,” the group said. The rule also will be “extremely expensive in practice, because anyone wanting to bring a complaint will be hard-pressed to predict whether they will succeed. ... As a practical matter, it is likely that only companies that can afford years of litigation to answer these questions will be able to rely on the rule at all.”
A number of speakers at the conference, including American Cable Association President Matthew Polka, criticized the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, saying it would raise prices for programming for competitors while lowering them for the merged company. That’s critical to her members, who see video as a key to broadband deployment and adoption, said Jill Canfield, NCTA vice president-legal and industry. The merger would give Comcast/TWC “truly unprecedented buying power for programming,” ITTA President Genny Morelli said.