The federal government, not just the FCC, has been hit with a wave of fake comments in rulemaking proceedings, and the government needs to go after bad actors and find a way to make sure feedback is real, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said Monday at the State of the Net conference. Critics of the overturn of the 2015 net neutrality rules alleged many comments were fake (see 1712130051), but Rosenworcel said the problem goes much deeper. “There is a concerted effort to exploit our openness,” she said. “It deserves a concerted response.”
A coalition of companies interested in unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band filed an FCC report explaining how the companies believe the band can be opened without harmful interference to incumbents. Industry officials said the report responds to concerns raised by the FCC, particularly Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, who asked for details on an interference mitigation strategy. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly indicated his support and urged action.
Idaho USF probably isn't sustainable and may require a legislative fix, Public Utilities Commission staff said at a teleconferenced Wednesday workshop. The PUC is assessing state USF viability, as several other states also are expected to revamp state funds this year. State changes are appropriate, but federal action is needed, Joint Board on Universal Service State Chair Chris Nelson told us.
Nevada Public Utilities Commission staff recommended a rulemaking on proposed changes to Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) severe outage reporting rules. CenturyLink, AT&T, Frontier Communications and the Nevada Telecommunications Association last month asked the PUC to align state rules with FCC rules taking effect Feb. 1 that will use OC3 minutes instead of DS3 minutes for reporting thresholds. A DS3 copper circuit has 45 Mbps data speeds while an OC3 fiber circuit is 155 Mbps. The wireline carriers asked for waiver if the PUC can’t align the rules by Feb. 1. PSC staff doesn’t object to a rulemaking. The state commission should address the FCC order “to avoid inconsistencies in the NAC,” Nevada PUC staff commented Wednesday in docket 17-12006. It should grant the waiver because “it would be burdensome, inefficient, and potentially costly, for providers to comply with two sets of regulatory guidelines related to reporting outages,” staff said. Cox supported aligning Nevada and FCC rules, saying the state commission should be consistent with another NAC rule requiring wireline carriers to report outages that affect 300,000 user minutes in cities with population of at least 20,000. The FCC threshold is 900,000 minutes, the cable company said.
Local governments opposed to the FCC rescinding Title II protection are weighing legal and other options to protect neutrality and local authority, local representatives said. Some see municipal broadband as an answer, though few can buy such service today. Local government “has long supported enforceable net neutrality protections,” said Best Best attorney Gerard Lederer. State-level Democrats also seek to counter the FCC action through a planned multistate lawsuit by attorneys general, some governors mulling ways to use their state’s buying power to require net neutrality, and a flurry of state legislation predicted for 2018 (see 1712150042, 1712140044 and 1712210034).
A Maine legislator and CLECs raised concerns proposed pole-attachment rule changes by the Public Utility Commission don't include competitive requirements suggested by the 2017 state law that ordered the changes. At a PUC hearing livestreamed Wednesday, the law’s House sponsor, Rep. Seth Berry (D), said the Sept. 27 rulemaking notice in docket 2017-00247 doesn’t strongly regulate pole attachments and leaves out “Oxford rules” that CLECs support but FairPoint Communications opposes. “We remain dubious about what appears at this point to be a step backward,” Berry said.
Legal challenges to an FCC draft "internet freedom" order face a daunting task, said supporters of Chairman Ajit Pai's proposals, and one analyst agreed, but some net neutrality advocates are more hopeful of a challenge's prospects. Pai last week circulated a draft to undo Title II broadband classification and net neutrality regulation under the Communications Act, and is planning a Dec. 14 vote; fellow Republican commissioners are supportive, minority Democrats opposed (see 1711220026 and 1711210020).
An FCC draft ruling and orders would undo 2015 net neutrality regulation and Title II broadband classification under the Communications Act, as Chairman Ajit Pai and staffers outlined Tuesday (see 1711210020). The 210-page draft declaratory ruling, report and order, and order released Wednesday would "reverse heavy-handed utility-style" broadband regulation "and return to the light-touch framework" that promoted a "free and open internet" before Title II classification, it said.
FCC Democratic commissioners urged net neutrality advocates to rise up in defense of open internet regulation that appears to be in the crosshairs of Chairman Ajit Pai and fellow Republicans. "Time to call foul. Time to raise a ruckus. Time to save #NetNeutrality," tweeted Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Friday, linking to a Slate article in which she called for FCC hearings across the country to allow Americans to comment on Pai's plans.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai appears poised to propose scrapping net neutrality regulation and broadband classification as a Communications Act Title II telecom service -- as long expected (see 1708310016) -- parties on both sides of the debate told us Friday. Pai is expected to circulate a draft order by Thanksgiving for a Dec. 14 vote that would return broadband to a less-regulated Title I information service classification. Some suggested the draft would also eschew Telecom Act Section 706 rulemaking authority, eliminate core open internet rules and pre-empt state broadband regulation.