House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., expressed some doubt about reaching a deal on legislation to allocate proceeds of a coming FCC auction of spectrum of the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band (see 2002070044), amid ongoing talks with committee Democrats. Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., finalized plans for a hearing on his concerns with the FCC’s plan for the C-band auction.

The consortium selected to manage industry efforts to trace illegal robocalls to comply with the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act "should enable the participation of a diverse range of voice service providers in the tracebacks that it conducts and allow the participation of any and all providers that are identified in the call path of a traceback," USTelecom told the FCC. Comments were posted through Tuesday in docket 20-22. The agency opened a rulemaking this month (see 2002060038). NCTA wants the consortium to create an executive committee represented by different industry sectors "given an equal voice in the management." The cable group wants budget transparency if fees are collected. It asked whether a traceback group must be independent from a single association. Incompas wants the FCC to spell out how it will evaluate a registrant's claim of neutrality, and it wants to know what criteria the agency will use to select a single consortium for the private-led traceback efforts. Incompas suggested the North American Numbering Council advise the FCC here. The FCC also got comments this week on technical requirements for a reassigned numbers database (see 2002250062).

The consortium selected to manage industry efforts to trace illegal robocalls to comply with the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act "should enable the participation of a diverse range of voice service providers in the tracebacks that it conducts and allow the participation of any and all providers that are identified in the call path of a traceback," USTelecom told the FCC. Comments were posted through Tuesday in docket 20-22. The agency opened a rulemaking this month (see 2002060038). NCTA wants the consortium to create an executive committee represented by different industry sectors "given an equal voice in the management." The cable group wants budget transparency if fees are collected. It asked whether a traceback group must be independent from a single association. Incompas wants the FCC to spell out how it will evaluate a registrant's claim of neutrality, and it wants to know what criteria the agency will use to select a single consortium for the private-led traceback efforts. Incompas suggested the North American Numbering Council advise the FCC here. The FCC also got comments this week on technical requirements for a reassigned numbers database (see 2002250062).

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released a compilation of comments Wednesday supporting his proposal for converting 280 MHz of C band spectrum to 5G through an auction later this year. Whether the order will include aggregation limits is emerging as a key issue on the eighth floor at the FCC. FCC Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks both appear to favor some limits, while Commissioner Mike O’Rielly is a hard no, industry and FCC officials told us.

USTelecom asked the FCC to reject an Incompas petition to exclude from a proposed Digital Opportunity Data Collection rulemaking the definition of "facilities-based" broadband any providers that supply service through the purchase or lease of capacity of last-mile facilities from others, in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-195.

USTelecom asked the FCC to reject an Incompas petition to exclude from a proposed Digital Opportunity Data Collection rulemaking the definition of "facilities-based" broadband any providers that supply service through the purchase or lease of capacity of last-mile facilities from others, in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-195.

Intelsat is getting shareholder pressure to hold out for sweeter terms with the FCC's C-band clearing plan, but it's considered unlikely to go that route. The FCC and Intelsat didn't comment. Competitive issues also continue to be raised in filings at the agency.

Industry supports FCC goals to protect USF from waste, fraud and abuse but wants clearer standards and sufficient due process procedures in proposed suspension and debarment rules, said comments posted through Friday in docket 19-309. "The proposed rules reach a far broader range of conduct than contemplated by the OMB guidelines, potentially punishing many good actors for the sake of expediting penalties against a few bad ones," said CTIA and USTelecom. "Consider alternative measures before initiating suspension or debarment procedures," said America's Communications Association, Incompas and NTCA. Encourage self-governance and consider mitigating factors, they said. Bureaus "should be given delegated authority to grant exceptions" when it serves the public interest, said the Wireless ISP Association. USF participants should be allowed to continue receiving services from a suspended provider for the duration of a contract that existed before the FCC acts, said the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and State E-rate Coordinators' Alliance. Don't apply new rules retroactively, said NCTA. "Grounds for suspension or debarment should only include egregious offenses," said Cellular South. E-Rate Central said the NPRM doesn't discuss "the necessity of coordinating any planned enforcement action, if only on an advisory basis, with appropriate state agencies."

Telecom carriers and equipment vendors are addressing confusion over who must comply with Kari's Law rules that were to take effect Monday (see 1802160032). The law requires multi-line telephone systems to give direct access to 911 without the need to dial a prefix. The MLTS must notify a representative, such as the front desk or security, once 911 is dialed. "This is a reminder to building managers and others responsible for multi-line telephone systems that they must adhere to the new requirements," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Friday. "There's some confusion for enterprise customers," said Tricia McConnell, Bandwidth 911 product marketing manager. "They're responsible for compliance, but they don't know what compliance means." MLTS managers such as hotels and corporate campuses must ensure someone on site or monitoring operations there knows when a 911 call has been placed, to greet first responders and direct them to where the call originated. In a large complex, building security might also provide preliminary assistance to the caller before first responders arrive, McConnell said. Outbound emergency calls can't be screened by building security before they're sent to 911 operators, however, McConnell said. In the past, some hotels might have screened such calls to protect employees or for fear of misdials, she said, but as of the compliance date, "that's no longer acceptable." As the compliance date approached, carriers "focused on helping their customers provision these MLTS with the direct-dialing and notification capabilities required," emailed Incompas Policy Adviser Chris Shipley. "They are also working with their enterprise and business customers to clearly identify who is responsible for the system's day-to-day management and operation, particularly with larger companies that are interested in exercising greater control." Requirements also apply to government agencies and nonprofits using MLTS, and to cloud-based and VoIP and traditional circuit-based systems, Hogan Lovells blogged Feb. 10: MLTS operating before the compliance deadline don't need to meet the new rules unless they're modified after the compliance date. Most business customers aren't looking to meet only minimum standards, McConnell said. Recent talks about Kari's Law are driving meaningful conversations on how organizations respond in an emergency, she said. Some larger companies may consider coming into compliance sooner than required under the law because "no company wants to be outed on social media for restricting access to 911," McConnell said. There are other E-911 laws in roughly half the states, McConnell said: Bandwidth is pushing for a federal law.

Extending truth-in-billing (TIB) rules to cover interconnected VoIP and requiring voice providers separate government-mandated charges from other charges on bills is needless and potentially confusing to consumers, telecom interests said in docket 98-170 comments posted through Thursday. Not everyone agreed. Replies on the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs public notice are due March 13. USTelecom argued against a "'one size fits all' requirement on how voice service providers display ... line-item fees" since the market is ensuring providers bill "in a transparent and customer-friendly way." It said TIB rules being extended to iVoIP would be justified only if there were evidence of consumer concerns with bills. Verizon said rules let providers provide clear and useful information even in different ways. Incompas said the market hasn't changed over the past 16 years to now warrant such iVoIP TIB rules, as did Voice on the Net Coalition (see here). Cable interests argued for a broader approach. NCTA said few providers offer only voice, and the agency should focus on setting up "high-level principles for all voice services" that line up with the principles applicable to other services it oversees. If the agency does voice-specific iVoIP billing rules, applying existing rules would be "a poor fit," it said. It suggested changes, such as only requiring identification of line-item fees to make clear what the total price of a package of services is, instead of requiring a specific form of separation of fees. First doing a comprehensive review of the voice services market would help ensure any steps result in fewer consumer complaints while avoiding imposition of new costs on providers, America’s Communications Association said. It said members generally don't bill separately for local and long-distance service iVoIP, so breaking out such charges on customer bills as wireline common carriers do would serve no purpose. Backing the line-item billing suggested rule, NTCA said it would allow consumers to equally compare different providers. It backed TIB rules applied to iVoIP providers as "a natural extension of [FCC] rules." Kansas Corporation Commission said the TIB expansion would ensure all consumers have the same basic bill information. It said wireless and iVoIP service features are similar so it's reasonable to apply TIB rules to both.