Incompas urged the FCC to curb business data service "market power abuse" at the commissioners' Nov. 17 meeting, the preliminary agenda for which is due Thursday. "Setting a vote on BDS would advance a proceeding that has dragged on for over a decade," said CEO Chip Pickering in a blog post Tuesday. "We currently live in the EpiPen world of broadband, where companies like AT&T and CenturyLink use their market power to overcharge customers. ... Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal to adopt a remedy to address market abuse on legacy BDS services is an important first step toward more competition that we support." The FCC "should establish a mechanism or clear guidelines for Ethernet BDS pricing that fosters competition, not monopoly rates," Pickering wrote. He said the FCC should ensure wholesale rates always are less than retail rates, and further address "lock-up agreements." Representatives of Public Knowledge, Common Cause, New America's Open Technology Institute and the Computer & Communications Industry Association pressed the agency to "promote competition and address unjust and unreasonable prices that enterprise, wholesale, and mobile wireless backhaul customers pay for TDM and packet-based BDS services." The commission should phase in proposed TDM rate adjustments in two years, rather than three years, and rates should be cut by 17 to 20 percent instead of a proposed 11 percent, said a PK filing in docket 16-143 on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, which also urged the commission "to address the high cost of Ethernet services." Charter Communications said the FCC "cannot lawfully regulate the large universe of BDS provided on a private-carriage basis." In a filing on meetings with aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Mignon Clyburn, Charter opposed any Ethernet regulation, even of incumbent ILECs at lower speeds, which it said "could have a devastating impact on BDS investment for cable and other competitive providers." Alaska Communications asked the FCC to defer any consideration of BDS regulatory changes in Alaska, given the "state's unusual market dynamics," said a filing on meetings with every commissioner except Wheeler, aides (including to Wheeler) and other FCC officials. Sprint, Frontier Communications, Level 3, AT&T and others made further BDS filings in the docket in recent days.

Charter Communications and T-Mobile were among those spending much more on lobbying in Q3 than a year earlier. Charter's lobbying expense was $1.99 million, vs. $980,000. Charter successfully acquired Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks in the interim. T-Mobile spent $2.17 million, up from $1.4 million.

Charter Communications and T-Mobile were among those spending much more on lobbying in Q3 than a year earlier. Charter's lobbying expense was $1.99 million, vs. $980,000. Charter successfully acquired Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks in the interim. T-Mobile spent $2.17 million, up from $1.4 million.

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.

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.