Major parties urged the FCC to end two remaining rural call completion duties of providers covered by a 2013 order, after the agency ordered in April that their data reporting requirements be eliminated. CTIA, ITTA, NCTA, Sprint and USTelecom said the data recordkeeping and retention obligations should be scrapped, and Verizon said they should be reduced. NTCA opposed that. Parties offered various views on implementing the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act, in comments posted Monday and Tuesday in docket 13-39 on a Further NPRM attached to the April order, which made covered originating long-distance providers accountable for intermediate carrier performance (see 1804170025 and 1804180025).

The 12 items on Thursday's FCC meeting agenda are the most in almost 10 years, bringing Chairman Ajit Pai's average to more than seven monthly agenda items, far outpacing recent predecessors. Pai is pursuing free-market, deregulatory policies aggressively, said most we queried, though some believe Pai is trying to overload critics. Pai pitched the commissioners' meeting as a "summer blockbuster" on high-band 5G spectrum, cable leased-access reversal, satellite broadband, intercarrier compensation, rural broadband, telecom legacy discontinuance streamlining aimed at spurring wireline broadband, and other items (see 1805160051).

The 12 items on Thursday's FCC meeting agenda are the most in almost 10 years, bringing Chairman Ajit Pai's average to more than seven monthly agenda items, far outpacing recent predecessors. Pai is pursuing free-market, deregulatory policies aggressively, said most we queried, though some believe Pai is trying to overload critics. Pai pitched the commissioners' meeting as a "summer blockbuster" on high-band 5G spectrum, cable leased-access reversal, satellite broadband, intercarrier compensation, rural broadband, telecom legacy discontinuance streamlining aimed at spurring wireline broadband, and other items (see 1805160051).

All signs point to an easy Senate confirmation vote for FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks, but his lack of a clear public track record on many high-profile telecom policy issues likely portends tough questions from lawmakers in both parties in the weeks ahead, communications officials and lobbyists told us. President Donald Trump at our deadline Monday formally nominated Starks, an Enforcement Bureau assistant chief, to succeed outgoing Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for a term ending June 30, 2022. Chairman Ajit Pai and some other commissioners lauded Starks’ selection Friday, though only some directly received a White House announcement about the nomination then (see 1806010072).

All signs point to an easy Senate confirmation vote for FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks, but his lack of a clear public track record on many high-profile telecom policy issues likely portends tough questions from lawmakers in both parties in the weeks ahead, communications officials and lobbyists told us. President Donald Trump at our deadline Monday formally nominated Starks, an Enforcement Bureau assistant chief, to succeed outgoing Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for a term ending June 30, 2022. Chairman Ajit Pai and some other commissioners lauded Starks’ selection Friday, though only some directly received a White House announcement about the nomination then (see 1806010072).

Incompas defended its motion to dismiss a USTelecom forbearance petition for incumbent telco relief from wholesale network-sharing "unbundling" discounts and related duties. The CLEC/competitor group welcomed the ILEC group's decision not to oppose motions for extending comment deadlines (see 1805220056), and said such an extension is needed because USTelecom plans to file additional confidential data after a protective order is issued. But USTelecom "is wrong that it complied with the Forbearance Procedures Order, which clearly states that parties must 'include in the petition the facts, information, data, and arguments on which the petition intends to rely to make the prima facie case for forbearance. It simply did not provide the data," said an Incompas reply posted Wednesday in docket 18-141. "Insisting that parties actually comply with the complete-as-filed rule does not -- as USTelecom erroneously suggests -- create a conflict between confidentiality and forbearance. That is a false choice." U.S. TelePacific, which uses unbundled copper loops to provide Ethernet broadband service, backed Incompas' motions.

USTelecom won't oppose motions to extend FCC comment dates on its petition for incumbent telco forbearance relief from discounted wholesale network-sharing obligations and related requirements, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-141 on a discussion officials of the ILEC group, AT&T, CenturyLink and others had with Wireline Bureau Chief Kris Monteith and other staffers. Competitors, state regulators and consumer advocates asked the FCC to extend June 7 and June 22 deadlines for comments and replies by two to four months (see 1805210049). The U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy backed the previous requests for more time, and the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable asked for extensions to Sept. 5 and Oct. 5. USTelecom said its petition met FCC standards for being "complete as filed," contrary to arguments of Incompas and others seeking dismissal (see 1805110059). "We also assured staff of our readiness and willingness to submit additional confidential and proprietary data (subject to Protective Order), explanations of our data analyses, and other supporting evidence into the record, as the Commission deems necessary and appropriate," said the ILEC group. But Incompas and Windstream said USTelecom failed to include all necessary information. "Even with respect to any public data sources incorporated into USTelecom’s charts, commenters should not have to guess at the values of the actual data in the charts, nor should they have to guess," said a joint filing on a meeting with bureau staffers. "At minimum, the Commission should (1) direct USTelecom to file all the underlying data, including confidential data, (2) adopt a protective order, and (3) reset the comment dates to permit an adequate, 90-day comment period once the Petition is actually complete as filed and the ordinary process for clearing counsel and experts to access confidential materials has been completed."

More parties asked the FCC to extend comment deadlines or dismiss a USTelecom petition seeking incumbent telco forbearance relief from wholesale network-sharing and related requirements (see 1805040016). State regulatory commissions in California and Ohio, the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and Northwest Telecommunications Association (NTA) sought or supported comment date extensions in recent days. The Wholesale Voice Line Coalition backed Incompas requests to dismiss the petition or at least extend deadlines (see 1805110059).

Two telecom groups backed Incompas asking the FCC to delay the deadline for comments (see 1805090004) on USTelecom's wholesale forbearance petition (see 1805110059). The California Association of Competitive Telecommunications Companies seeks to have comments and oppositions due Aug. 6 and replies Sept. 5, while the Midwest Association of Competitive Communications backed the Incompas request, Caltel and MACC posted Monday in docket 18-141. The issues "are complex and require a detailed record that takes time to prepare," said MACC. Caltel said "that the Commission does not routinely grant extensions," but "they are warranted when, among other things, the additional time will serve the public interest." A USTelecom spokeswoman said "parties routinely ask for extensions." It’s time for the commission "to remove these obsolete regulations and put in place a modern framework that reflects today’s competitive broadband market,” she said. The FCC declined to comment Monday.

Incompas asked the FCC to dismiss USTelecom's wholesale forbearance petition, or at least provide more time for parties to file comments. “This 'competition cut off' petition should be stopped dead in its tracks," said Incompas CEO Chip Pickering in a release Friday. "It only benefits a handful of the biggest telecom companies, and hurts millions of small businesses that rely on affordable competitive broadband service." Incompas said it filed two motions on the USTelecom petition that seeks relief from "unbundled" network sharing discounts and other competition duties (see 1805040016). The first asked that the petition be dismissed because it isn't "complete-as-filed," since it relies on confidential data and purported interviews that weren't included, Incompas said. The second asks for an extension of the time for comments and replies, currently due June 7 and June 22 (see 1805090004). "The petition involves complex issues and, if granted, the impact would be widespread and detrimental to multiple parties and industries," Incompas said. "The Commission should gather necessary data to truly understand the market impact, provide access to data, and allow time for parties to provide economic analysis. The Commission also must engage in a thorough cost-benefit analysis." A USTelecom spokeswoman emailed: “These rules are harming competition and consumers, not helping. Today’s broadband market has evolved tremendously and is now extremely competitive. It’s time for all providers to pay their fair share if they choose to offer service. And it’s way past time for the Commission to modernize these regulations. Our petition lays out in a detailed and fact driven way why the Commission should do so.” The FCC didn't comment.