Commissioners appear unlikely to vote on a business data service order at their Oct. 27 monthly meeting, FCC and industry officials told us Wednesday. That could change, because "we're not past the point of no return," said one FCC official, but that person and others don't expect Chairman Tom Wheeler to place a draft BDS order on the meeting agenda due out Thursday. A telco official said it appeared "90 percent" likely the draft wouldn't be on the agenda. Another telecom official said Wheeler is still committed to acting on BDS by the end of the year and plans to vote on the item at the Nov. 17 meeting, the preliminary agenda for which is due Oct. 27.

The FCC likely will vote 3-2 along party lines to adopt business data service regulation, agency watchers told us. Some said Democratic Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel may seek modifications to the draft order circulated by Chairman Tom Wheeler, which could be placed on the agenda Thursday for an Oct. 27 meeting (see 1610070052). Commissioner offices didn't comment Friday. Meanwhile, Incompas and others lobbied the FCC and made filings in docket 16-143.

The FCC likely will vote 3-2 along party lines to adopt business data service regulation, agency watchers told us. Some said Democratic Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel may seek modifications to the draft order circulated by Chairman Tom Wheeler, which could be placed on the agenda Thursday for an Oct. 27 meeting (see 1610070052). Commissioner offices didn't comment Friday. Meanwhile, Incompas and others lobbied the FCC and made filings in docket 16-143.

Free Press criticized an FCC draft order on business data service regulation circulated last week by Chairman Tom Wheeler. The liberal watchdog group said the record shows incumbent BDS providers are exercising market power and charging inflated rates for both packet-based Ethernet services and legacy TDM-based services. "Unfortunately, the preliminary summary of Chairman Wheeler’s proposed final rules (released last Friday) suggests that the Commission might fail in its mission to regulate such non-competitive packet-based BDS services -- opting instead for continued monitoring alone, while kicking the can down the road once more in this decade-plus proceeding," said a Free Press filing posted Wednesday on a recent meeting with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. It attached a recent letter from various consumer/public-interest groups urging comprehensive BDS reform. The Wheeler draft would target increased regulation of legacy DS1 and DS3 (with speeds below 45 Mbps), where market power evidence was strongest, but apply lighter-touch regulation of traditional services with speeds above 45 Mbps and all packetized services, where competition is emerging, said a "fact sheet" summary and senior agency officials (see 1610070027). Other parties made filings in docket 16-143 posted Tuesday, but they generally didn't address the summary. Incompas CEO Chip Pickering pushed for "meaningful reforms" that reduce "excessive rates" for both legacy BDS services and packet-based Ethernet services, said a filing on an Oct. 5 meeting with Wheeler, his aide Stephanie Weiner, General Counsel Howard Symons and Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero. Citing a Tuesday meeting with an aide to Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, an NCTA filing argued against any Ethernet rate regulation, urged a sunset date for rate regulation of TDM-based service to encourage transitions to IP-based service, and said common carrier regulation of cable BDS wasn't justified because those companies provided service on a private carriage basis. Competitive fiber providers made a filing opposing "benchmark regulation" (which the FCC didn't propose), and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) made a filing voicing general wariness about BDS regulation.

Free Press criticized an FCC draft order on business data service regulation circulated last week by Chairman Tom Wheeler. The liberal watchdog group said the record shows incumbent BDS providers are exercising market power and charging inflated rates for both packet-based Ethernet services and legacy TDM-based services. "Unfortunately, the preliminary summary of Chairman Wheeler’s proposed final rules (released last Friday) suggests that the Commission might fail in its mission to regulate such non-competitive packet-based BDS services -- opting instead for continued monitoring alone, while kicking the can down the road once more in this decade-plus proceeding," said a Free Press filing posted Wednesday on a recent meeting with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. It attached a recent letter from various consumer/public-interest groups urging comprehensive BDS reform. The Wheeler draft would target increased regulation of legacy DS1 and DS3 (with speeds below 45 Mbps), where market power evidence was strongest, but apply lighter-touch regulation of traditional services with speeds above 45 Mbps and all packetized services, where competition is emerging, said a "fact sheet" summary and senior agency officials (see 1610070027). Other parties made filings in docket 16-143 posted Tuesday, but they generally didn't address the summary. Incompas CEO Chip Pickering pushed for "meaningful reforms" that reduce "excessive rates" for both legacy BDS services and packet-based Ethernet services, said a filing on an Oct. 5 meeting with Wheeler, his aide Stephanie Weiner, General Counsel Howard Symons and Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero. Citing a Tuesday meeting with an aide to Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, an NCTA filing argued against any Ethernet rate regulation, urged a sunset date for rate regulation of TDM-based service to encourage transitions to IP-based service, and said common carrier regulation of cable BDS wasn't justified because those companies provided service on a private carriage basis. Competitive fiber providers made a filing opposing "benchmark regulation" (which the FCC didn't propose), and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) made a filing voicing general wariness about BDS regulation.

Analysts said incumbent telcos and cable companies would fare better than expected under the FCC draft order on business data service (BDS) circulated by Chairman Tom Wheeler and summarized in Friday's "fact sheet" (see 1610070052 and 1610070027). "This was never going to be a net positive outcome for the incumbent telcos. But some of their lobbying clearly connected because the scope of price regulation in the fact sheet was narrower than expected. And for cable investors worried about covert network unbundling, Friday was a very good day," Cowen and Co. analyst Paul Gallant told us Tuesday. Others offered similar views in notes to investors.

Analysts said incumbent telcos and cable companies would fare better than expected under the FCC draft order on business data service (BDS) circulated by Chairman Tom Wheeler and summarized in Friday's "fact sheet" (see 1610070052 and 1610070027). "This was never going to be a net positive outcome for the incumbent telcos. But some of their lobbying clearly connected because the scope of price regulation in the fact sheet was narrower than expected. And for cable investors worried about covert network unbundling, Friday was a very good day," Cowen and Co. analyst Paul Gallant told us Tuesday. Others offered similar views in notes to investors.

An FCC draft order would create bifurcated regulation of business data services, with telco legacy DS1 and DS3 offerings (up to 45 Mbps) subject to price-cap regulations -- including rate cuts -- while higher-speed and packet-based services such as Ethernet would face only general common-carrier requirements and complaint-driven enforcement, senior commission officials said Friday. There would be no geographically based competitive market tests, said one official on a call to answer reporter questions about Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposed BDS framework, which was summarized in a fact sheet (see 1610070027).

An FCC draft order would create bifurcated regulation of business data services, with telco legacy DS1 and DS3 offerings (up to 45 Mbps) subject to price-cap regulations -- including rate cuts -- while higher-speed and packet-based services such as Ethernet would face only general common-carrier requirements and complaint-driven enforcement, senior commission officials said Friday. There would be no geographically based competitive market tests, said one official on a call to answer reporter questions about Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposed BDS framework, which was summarized in a fact sheet (see 1610070027).

Mary Albert, 65, died unexpectedly this week at home in Washington, said officials at the Electronic Transactions Association, where she was director-regulatory affairs. Before joining ETA last year, Albert worked for a decade as assistant general counsel at Incompas. She also worked at law firms, was a staff attorney at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and was in-house telecom counsel, ETA said Wednesday. Albert is survived by a brother; other information on survivors and arrangements wasn't available.