NASHVILLE -- States should get involved in the special access debate over the competitiveness of business data services, a Level 3 official said in a session Tuesday at the 2016 NARUC Summer Committee meetings. The California state commissioner moderating the panel said her state cares about the historically federal issue and is following the FCC proceeding. Taking their expected positions on the panel, industry officials for ILECs and cable said the BDS market is competitive, while CLECs and Sprint backed regulation to spur competition.

Reply comments in the FCC business data service rulemaking are now due Aug. 9. The Wireline Bureau issued an order Thursday extending a July 26 deadline by 14 days. NCTA, USTelecom and ITTA had filed a motion seeking a 21-day BDS reply extension (see 1607190047). "Petitioners cite a number of factors in support of their request, including the voluminous record and a desire for more time to review and consider" a BDS framework proposed by Incompas and Verizon, the bureau order said. "A brief extension will allow parties to provide us with more thorough reply comments that will facilitate the compilation of a complete record in this proceeding, without causing undue delay to the Commission’s consideration of these issues." An NCTA spokesman emailed us: "We appreciate the Bureau's decision to grant this brief extension which will enable parties to participate more fully in this important proceeding." A USTelecom spokeswoman emailed: "We’re pleased the commission recognized the need to allow more time in this complex proceeding. This will give all parties a chance to better analyze the large volume of data, some only recently added to the record." ITTA, Incompas and Verizon had no comment on the extension. Most of the parties also didn't comment on whether there had been discussions to explore the possibility of a broader industry consensus plan -- something NCTA, USTelecom and ITTA had expressed interest in pursuing -- though one representative said he wasn't aware of any such talks.

Reply comments in the FCC business data service rulemaking are now due Aug. 9. The Wireline Bureau issued an order Thursday extending a July 26 deadline by 14 days. NCTA, USTelecom and ITTA had filed a motion seeking a 21-day BDS reply extension (see 1607190047). "Petitioners cite a number of factors in support of their request, including the voluminous record and a desire for more time to review and consider" a BDS framework proposed by Incompas and Verizon, the bureau order said. "A brief extension will allow parties to provide us with more thorough reply comments that will facilitate the compilation of a complete record in this proceeding, without causing undue delay to the Commission’s consideration of these issues." An NCTA spokesman emailed us: "We appreciate the Bureau's decision to grant this brief extension which will enable parties to participate more fully in this important proceeding." A USTelecom spokeswoman emailed: "We’re pleased the commission recognized the need to allow more time in this complex proceeding. This will give all parties a chance to better analyze the large volume of data, some only recently added to the record." ITTA, Incompas and Verizon had no comment on the extension. Most of the parties also didn't comment on whether there had been discussions to explore the possibility of a broader industry consensus plan -- something NCTA, USTelecom and ITTA had expressed interest in pursuing -- though one representative said he wasn't aware of any such talks.

Lobbying spending among some wireless heavyweights is up. CTIA lobbying rose in Q2, to $1.96 million, vs. $1.76 million in last year’s Q2. T-Mobile spent more than $2.1 million in Q2, vs. $1.6 million a year ago. T-Mobile typically has spent aggressively on lobbying, and this is the first quarter in many years that it’s broken the $2 million mark in quarterly lobbying spending. An exception is Q2 2008, when T-Mobile recorded $3.29 million.

Lobbying spending among some wireless heavyweights is up. CTIA lobbying rose in Q2, to $1.96 million, vs. $1.76 million in last year’s Q2. T-Mobile spent more than $2.1 million in Q2, vs. $1.6 million a year ago. T-Mobile typically has spent aggressively on lobbying, and this is the first quarter in many years that it’s broken the $2 million mark in quarterly lobbying spending. An exception is Q2 2008, when T-Mobile recorded $3.29 million.

Cable and telco trade groups asked the FCC for more time to reply in a rulemaking on revising the agency's special access framework for business data services (BDS). In a motion Tuesday in docket 16-143, NCTA, USTelecom and ITTA said the July 26 deadline should be delayed 21 days to give parties more time to address voluminous initial comments and various complexities, including evolving industry data and related BDS market analysis.

Cable and telco trade groups asked the FCC for more time to reply in a rulemaking on revising the agency's special access framework for business data services (BDS). In a motion Tuesday in docket 16-143, NCTA, USTelecom and ITTA said the July 26 deadline should be delayed 21 days to give parties more time to address voluminous initial comments and various complexities, including evolving industry data and related BDS market analysis.

FCC staff rejected some AT&T business data service tariffs and will probe others, but found Verizon's BDS tariff changes are lawful and can take effect, said an agency spokesman Friday. The AT&T tariffs the Wireline Bureau rejected involve "all or nothing" and related "circuit portability" contract conditions for BDS customers seeking discounts, while the tariffs to be investigated involve shortfall penalties for not meeting volume commitments and early termination fees (ETFs) for not satisfying term commitments. CLECs and Sprint objected to the Bell tariff changes -- which responded to a previous FCC order -- as a "rate hike sneak attack" (see 1607110066). Some commission watchers thought the agency was likely to suspend and investigate the tariff filings of both companies (see 1607140003).

FCC staff rejected some AT&T business data service tariffs and will probe others, but found Verizon's BDS tariff changes are lawful and can take effect, said an agency spokesman Friday. The AT&T tariffs the Wireline Bureau rejected involve "all or nothing" and related "circuit portability" contract conditions for BDS customers seeking discounts, while the tariffs to be investigated involve shortfall penalties for not meeting volume commitments and early termination fees (ETFs) for not satisfying term commitments. CLECs and Sprint objected to the Bell tariff changes -- which responded to a previous FCC order -- as a "rate hike sneak attack" (see 1607110066). Some commission watchers thought the agency was likely to suspend and investigate the tariff filings of both companies (see 1607140003).

The FCC seems likely to block and probe AT&T and Verizon tariff proposals for business data services, commission watchers told us. The Bells proposed the BDS tariffs in response to an FCC order that found certain telco contract discount conditions unlawful because they unduly restricted choices by telecom rivals. But CLECs and Sprint filed petitions objecting to a "rate hike sneak attack" that continued to "manipulate the market using anti-competitive lock-up sales conditions," and they asked the FCC to reject the tariffs or suspend and investigate them (see 1607110066). The agency must decide by Friday whether to allow the tariffs to take effect Saturday.