November 2014

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

EDUCATION
   Taking the Next Step in E-rate Modernization - FCC press release
    Washington Reacts to FCC’s E-rate Proposal [links to web]
   Schools and Broadband Speeds: An Analysis of Gaps in Access to High-Speed Internet for African American, Latino, Low-Income, and Rural Students - new research
   Who Will We Leave Behind? - editorial

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2013 - Census Bureau research
   Why the South lags behind when it comes to home broadband use - analysis

NET NEUTRALITY
   How Obama’s network neutrality comments undid weeks of FCC work - analysis
   The three options for the future of net neutrality - Timothy Lee analysis [links to web]
   What Obama’s network neutrality plan could mean for your mobile phone - Nancy Scola analysis
   Behind Closed Doors, Ford, UPS, and Visa Push for Net Neutrality [links to web]
   Public Knowledge Refutes House and Senate Republicans’ Letter to FCC - analysis
   Sen Al Franken: Sen Cruz doesn't understand network neutrality [links to web]
   Sen Ted Cruz fires back at Sen Al Franken [links to web]
   Sen. Cruz’s omission on ‘net neutrality’ - op-ed [links to web]
   US CTO on network neutrality critics: ‘Are you supposed to argue with physics?’
   Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker voices support for net neutrality principles
   Obama punts on network neutrality - Michael Wolff op-ed [links to web]
   Independence, the president and the FCC - op-ed

PRIVACY/SECURITY
   White House: Pass NSA reform, avoid ‘brinksmanship and uncertainty’
   Americans’ Cellphones Targeted in Secret US Spy Program
   Sen Markey demands info on cellphone spying [links to web]
   TRUSTe Settles FTC Charges it Deceived Consumers Through Its Privacy Seal Program - press release
   AT&T Stops Using Undeletable Phone Tracking IDs
   Facebook Tries to Explain Its Privacy Settings but Advertising Still Rules

CONTENT
   Google has free speech right in search results, court confirms
   Amazon and Hachette Resolve Dispute

OWNERSHIP
   Kentucky vs. Comcast

TELECOM
   The Lifeline Program Just Had A Great Week
   FCC Modifies Plans for Rural Call Completion Reporting
   New York City Hangs Up Pay Phones, Announces ‘LinkNYC’ Digital Hubs [links to web]

POLICYMAKERS
   Commissioner O'Rielly: FCC Should Expect Tougher Oversight From GOP [links to web]
   FCC Commissioner O'Rielly to Name Robin Colwell as New Chief of Staff and Legal Advisor - press release [links to web]

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EDUCATION

TAKING THE NEXT STEP IN E-RATE MODERNIZATION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Jon Wilkins]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that he will be circulating a draft order to his fellow FCC Commissioners for consideration at the December FCC Meeting to take the next step in his comprehensive effort to modernize the E-rate program. The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis are releasing an “E-rate Data Update” staff report summarizing the information the FCC has received since the July E-rate Modernization Order and staff analysis of it. The Chairman also summarized these findings in a press call joined by Sen Ed Markey (D-MA), who was instrumental in the creation of E-rate. This press fact sheet provides a succinct description of the Internet connectivity gaps and the Chairman’s proposal to adjust the program’s spending cap to a level that will enable long-term E-rate connectivity targets to be met. The order the Chairman circulates will also propose a series of targeted rule changes designed to ensure that the nation’s students and life-long learners can get the 21st Century educations required to keep the nation globally competitive.
benton.org/headlines/taking-next-step-e-rate-modernization | Federal Communications Commission | FCC Staff | FCC Fact Sheet
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RESEARCH FROM ALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENT EDUCATION AND LEAD COMMISSION
[SOURCE: Alliance for Excellent Education, AUTHOR: Press release]
This report authored by Dr. John B. Horrigan, a leading authority on broadband adoption and use, shows that African American, Latino, low-income, and rural students are more likely to be in schools with slow Internet access (10 Mbps or less) than their peers and less likely to be in schools with high-speed broadband Internet (100 Mbps or more) needed for digital learning.
Students in heavily minority schools are half as likely to be in schools with high-speed internet as students in heavily white schools.
Low-income students are twice as likely as affluent students to have slow internet access at their schools.
Students in remote rural America are twice as likely as urban/suburban students to have slow internet access at their schools.
According to the analysis, 2.75 million low-income students either lack access to high-speed internet or are disproportionately represented among students with slow internet access. Also, students in remote rural areas are half as likely as students in large suburban areas to have access to high-speed internet.
benton.org/headlines/schools-and-broadband-speeds-analysis-gaps-access-high-speed-internet-african-american | Alliance for Excellent Education | read the report
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WHO WILL WE LEAVE BEHIND?
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Charles Benton]
[Commentary] One of the most important challenges of our generation is to ensure that every child in every classroom has a chance to succeed and win in the global economy. Poverty, discrimination, isolation and ignorance hold our country back. But investments in education, infrastructure and technology spur economic growth, creating more good jobs and wealth for all of us. It is in our national interest to ensure that every child — no matter who they are, no matter what they look like, no matter where they come from — has the opportunity to succeed. Many countries have made access to gigabit speed broadband in their schools a priority. But new research conducted for the LEAD Commission and the Alliance for Excellent Education by Dr. John B. Horrigan, the nation’s leading authority on broadband adoption and use, shows how much more the United States must do before American K-12 schools have sufficient bandwidth for today’s educational needs. The research finds that just 34% of K-12 students in public schools attend schools where Internet speeds are 100 Mbps or more. One in five (20%) students attends schools with Internet speeds of only 10 Mbps or less.
http://benton.org/blog/who-will-we-leave-behind
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

COMPUTER AND INTERNET USE
[SOURCE: Department of Commerce, AUTHOR: Thom File, Camille Ryan]
An estimated 78.1 percent of people in US households had a high-speed Internet connection last year, according to a new report released from the US Census Bureau. However, digital divides exist among the nation’s metropolitan areas and demographic groups. Although most Americans have access to computers and high-speed Internet, differences in high-speed Internet use were as large as 25 percentage points between certain age and race groups, while divides between specific income and educational attainment groups were as large as 45 percentage points. In addition, among the nation’s metro areas, Boulder (CO) had one of the highest rates of high-speed Internet use at 96.9, while Laredo (TX) had one of the lowest rates at 69.3 percent.
benton.org/headlines/computer-and-internet-use-united-states-2013 | Department of Commerce
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INCOME AND BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
States in the Deep South have among the lowest rates in the country of households connected to broadband. The reason is pretty obvious once you also look at median household income. Mississippi, the state with the lowest rate of broadband use, also has the lowest median household income in the country: just below $38,000. Other Southern states with low connectivity rates ranked near the bottom when it came to incomes, too. States with higher incomes in the Northeast and on the West Coast report higher median household incomes -- and higher levels of home broadband use. This suggests that the biggest barrier to someone having access to the online world is cost. More than half of Americans in households making less than $25,000 per year live in a home without an Internet subscription, compared to about 5 percent of those living in households making more than $150,000 per year.
benton.org/headlines/why-south-lags-behind-when-it-comes-home-broadband-use | Washington Post
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NET NEUTRALITY

UNDOING HYBRID APPROACH
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
President Barack Obama’s call for "the strongest possible rules" for network neutrality undermined weeks of work by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to develop an alternative policy, which he has said in private meetings could preserve a free and open Web while also addressing concerns by the Internet providers. Because of the unprecedented nature of the FCC's compromise proposal and its controversial nature -- critics fear it would not prevent Internet providers from slowing down content they don't like -- the agency held a flurry of meetings with a wide range of groups, including major tech companies, lobbyists, consumer advocates and the telecom industry to see if it could bring a broad coalition together around its plan, according to a half-dozen people familiar with the discussions. In the days before the president's statement, the agency's efforts appeared to be working. Some tech companies, including at least one major firm, and several tech interest groups showed signs of warming to the outreach. Chairman Wheeler scheduled a series of critical meetings on Nov 10 at the FCC to discuss differences. Talk emerged of working out language in a letter that would clarify the sentiments of all involved and help build consensus for Wheeler's plan. But all of that was thrown off-track as soon as President Obama called for "bright-line rules" backed up by the FCC's most aggressive powers. Now a number of companies who were close to signing onto the "hybrid" plan proposed by Wheeler are in a holding pattern. Demand for a less-compromising stance has increased. And pressure is building on Chairman Wheeler and the FCC to decide what it should do.
benton.org/headlines/how-obamas-network-neutrality-comments-undid-weeks-fcc-work | Washington Post
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NET NEUTRALITY AND MOBILE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Nancy Scola]
Get ready to hear a lot about the future of Music Freedom. T-Mobile's free music streaming service could soon find itself in the middle of a high-stakes battle over whether Internet service providers should be able to give Web companies preferential treatment on their networks. Music Freedom is a so-called zero-rated app that offers data-free access to services like Rhapsody, Pandora and iTunes radio. (With zero-rated apps, either the network operator or the content provider picks up the cost of the data that users consume.) Zero-rated apps are particularly popular in parts of the world where it is very expensive to download data to watch a movie or browse the Web. But whether or not those apps would be allowed in the United States under a far-reaching network neutrality plan proposed by President Barack Obama isn't yet clear. He called on the Federal Communications Commission to adopt strict rules that would forbid Internet service providers from charging content companies (like Netflix) to get priority access to consumers. Most of the debate around the rules has centered on broadband service to homes, but President Obama advocated for applying them to mobile Internet providers, as well.
benton.org/headlines/what-obamas-network-neutrality-plan-could-mean-your-mobile-phone | Washington Post
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PK LOOKS AT NET NEUTRALITY LETTER
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Chris Lewis]
House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD), and the other signatories to the letter praise the values of net neutrality and an Open Internet, but insist that the Federal Communications Commission has no authority to create enforceable rules to protect these values. The President proposes the way forward to use existing authority -- reclassifying broadband as a Title II service. Rather than engage on the merits, Chairman Upton and Ranking Member Thune respond with a litany of talking points provided by industry lobbyists, choosing to side with a handful of special interests rather than the millions of small businesses, entrepreneurs and ordinary Americans who want to keep the internet a level playing field for all. In 2010, Republicans in Congress rejected the effort by Democrats to solve the problem and refused to even consider legislation drafted by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and supported by companies such as AT&T and Verizon. In 2011, Republicans voted to repeal the FCC’s Open Internet rules despite broad popular and industry support for the rules. A recent survey released by the Internet Freedom Business Alliance shows that -- outside of Washington and away from the influence of special interest lobbying -- Republicans and Democrats alike support strong Open Internet rules. We hope that Republicans in Congress will show they can govern and engage constructively on this issue instead of resorting to partisan politics. We encourage both Chairman Upton and Ranking Member Thune to share how they intend to promote net neutrality without passing legislation or enabling the FCC to create rules that prevent ISPs from violating it.”
benton.org/headlines/public-knowledge-refutes-house-and-senate-republicans-letter-fcc | Public Knowledge
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ARGUE WITH PHYSICS?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Nancy Scola]
A Q&A with Megan Smith, the country's newly-appointed chief technology officer, and Alex Macgillivray, deputy US CTO. It wasn't long ago that they were Silicon Valley stars known for pushing boundaries. Now they're working side-by-side in an Eisenhower Executive Office Building bullpen next to the White House tasked with equipping President Obama and his team with a deep understanding of how technology works. Smith says, “It's an incredibly important thing to make sure we preserve net neutrality. Candidate Obama before he was president spent the time to understand that because of its huge impact on our economy, and to understand from these innovators what was important. He became early on a huge supporter of net neutrality, and he understood it. Now, I think, he can see, the [Federal Communications Commission] is an independent agency, but they're about to weigh in, and there's been a huge groundswell of input from the public. As it got close, I think the president felt that it was pretty important as they were about to deliberate to weigh in.” Macgillivray adds, “The coverage of it has been a little bit weird, in that every time President Obama has said the same thing. His position has been that it is very important, the whole way through. But every time, there's surprise, which is a little weird.”
benton.org/headlines/us-cto-network-neutrality-critics-are-you-supposed-argue-physics | Washington Post
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SEC PRITZKER SUPPORTS NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Nancy Scola]
Before a room full of start-up entrepreneurs in Washington (DC), Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker was asked about her department's role in the ongoing debate over network neutrality, or the idea that all online content should be treated the same by Internet service providers. In response, Secretary Pritzker focused on her support for the ambitions of that proposal rather than on the controversial mechanics of President Obama's approach. "I think that what was really important were the principles that the president put out," said the secretary. "As you know, the president has supported net neutrality since he was a candidate in 2008. And really what we're focused on, and what has been our role, we have had a seat at the table in terms of making sure that these principles were well-articulated, which is really no blocking, no throttling, no paid prioritization, and increased transparency throughout the connectivity that goes into the effectiveness of the Internet."
benton.org/headlines/commerce-secretary-penny-pritzker-voices-support-net-neutrality-principles | Washington Post
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FCC, CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Scott Wallsten]
[Commentary] Independent regulatory agencies are strange creatures. They are part of the government, yet not immediately accountable to elected officials. But one reason Congress and other legislatures around the world create independent agencies is to insulate their decision-making processes from short-term political pressures. On the one hand, independence is especially important when confronting issues that have become politicized and tempers run hot -- precisely the times it is difficult for politicians to sit on the sidelines. On the other hand, especially when making controversial decisions, we don't necessarily want agencies to be completely removed from society's preferences, expressed through our elected officials, or to be unaccountable for decisions. That's why Congress has oversight authority over the Federal Communications Commission and affected parties can challenge FCC decisions in court. If the president and Congress feel the agency no longer adequately reflects their preferences, they should change its status to make it more politically accountable. In the meantime, the President should respect the commission's independence and be happy that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler agreed to put his comments into the public record, even though the comment period has expired.
[Wallsten is vice president for research and senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute]
benton.org/headlines/independence-president-and-fcc | Hill, The
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PRIVACY/SECURITY

NSA REFORM
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
In a statement of administration policy, the Obama Administration called the USA Freedom Act “a reasonable compromise that enhances privacy and civil liberties and increases transparency.” “Without passage of this bill, critical authorities that are appropriately reformed in this legislation could expire next summer,” the White House added. “The administration urges Congress to take action on this legislation now, since delay may subject these important national security authorities to brinksmanship and uncertainty.” The bill from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) would end the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk collection of phone records in the U.S. and require the agency to obtain a court order before searching private companies’ databases, among other changes. Without reform, the authority to search for those records will end entirely in June, which intelligence officials say would be disastrous for country’s national security.
benton.org/headlines/white-house-pass-nsa-reform-avoid-brinksmanship-and-uncertainty | Hill, The | New York Times editorial | Wall Street Journal editorial | Washington Post editorial
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SPY PROGRAM
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Delvin Barrett]
The Justice Department is scooping up data from thousands of mobile phones through devices deployed on airplanes that mimic cellphone towers, a high-tech hunt for criminal suspects that is snagging a large number of innocent Americans, according to people familiar with the operations. The US Marshals Service program, which became fully functional around 2007, operates Cessna aircraft from at least five metropolitan-area airports, with a flying range covering most of the US population, according to people familiar with the program. Planes are equipped with devices -- some known as “dirtboxes” to law-enforcement officials because of the initials of the Boeing unit that produces them -- which mimic cell towers of large telecommunications firms and trick cellphones into reporting their unique registration information. The technology in the two-foot-square device enables investigators to scoop data from tens of thousands of cellphones in a single flight, collecting their identifying information and general location, these people said. People with knowledge of the program wouldn’t discuss the frequency or duration of such flights, but said they take place on a regular basis.
benton.org/headlines/americans-cellphones-targeted-secret-us-spy-program | Wall Street Journal
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TRUSTE SETTLEMENT
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
TRUSTe, a major provider of privacy certifications for online businesses, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers about its recertification program for company’s privacy practices, as well as perpetuated its misrepresentation as a non-profit entity. TRUSTe provides seals to businesses that meet specific requirements for consumer privacy programs that it administers. TRUSTe seals assure consumers that businesses’ privacy practices are in compliance with specific privacy standards like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework. The FTC’s complaint alleges that from 2006 until January 2013, TRUSTe failed to conduct annual recertifications of companies holding TRUSTe privacy seals in over 1,000 incidences, despite providing information on its website that companies holding TRUSTe Certified Privacy Seals receive recertification every year. In addition, the FTC’s complaint alleges that since TRUSTe became a for-profit corporation in 2008, the company has failed to require companies using TRUSTe seals to update references to the organization’s non-profit status. Before converting from a non-profit to a for-profit, TRUSTe provided clients model language describing TRUSTe as a non-profit for use in their privacy policies. The proposed order will help ensure that TRUSTe maintains a high standard of consumer protection going forward. Under the terms of its settlement with the FTC, TRUSTe will be prohibited from making misrepresentations about its certification process or timeline, as well as being barred from misrepresenting its corporate status or whether an entity participates in its program. In addition, TRUSTe must not provide other companies or entities the means to make misrepresentations about these facts, such as through incorrect or inaccurate model language.
benton.org/headlines/truste-settles-ftc-charges-it-deceived-consumers-through-its-privacy-seal-program | Federal Trade Commission | FTC blog
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PHONE TRACKING IDs
[SOURCE: Pro Publica, AUTHOR: Julia Angwin]
AT&T says it has stopped its controversial practice of adding a hidden, undeletable tracking number to its mobile customers' Internet activity. "It has been phased off our network," said Emily J. Edmonds, an AT&T spokeswoman. The move comes after AT&T and Verizon received a slew of critical news coverage for inserting tracking numbers into their subscribers' Internet activity, even after users opted out. Edmonds said AT&T may still launch a program to sell data collected by its tracking number, but that if and when it does, "customers will be able to opt out of the ad program and not have the numeric code inserted on their device."
benton.org/headlines/att-stops-using-undeletable-phone-tracking-ids | Pro Publica
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FACEBOOK PRIVACY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Vindu Goel]
Facebook is explaining how the service works in simpler, clearer language, including a new animated dashboard that attempts to answer common questions like how to delete a post or who can see the comments you make on someone else’s post. But as with previous moves by the company on privacy, there is an unstated business goal: to sell more advertising based on the vast quantities of personal data that the social network has on its 1.35 billion users, both from their activities on Facebook and increasingly, their wanderings on the web and inside other mobile applications. In pursuit of that goal, every bit of personal information is a valuable data point that the company is eager to exploit, and Facebook plans to ask users in a much broader swath of the world to share details of their interests in order to better target the ads that are shown to them. Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy and a frequent critic of Facebook’s privacy practices, said that the announcements follow the company’s traditional pattern. “They suffer from repeated ‘we will do better privacy while we actually collect more of your data’ syndrome,” he wrote in an email. “Facebook users need to be given actual control over its data-driven marketing system.”
benton.org/headlines/facebook-tries-explain-its-privacy-settings-advertising-still-rules | New York Times | WSJ
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CONTENT

GOOGLE SEARCH RESULTS AND FREE SPEECH
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Jeff John Roberts]
A San Francisco court ruled that Google has the right to arrange its search results as it pleases, which confirms the company’s long-held position, while underscoring the stark difference in how US and European authorities seek to regulate the search giant. The new ruling, which is the first since 2007 to address Google’s rights under the First Amendment, came after a website called CoastNews argued that Google had unfairly pushed it far down in its search results -- even though, CoastNews claimed, its site appeared at the top of results created by Bing and Yahoo. CoastNews suggested the poor rankings were because Google wanted to eliminate CoastNews as a potential competitor.
benton.org/headlines/google-has-free-speech-right-search-results-court-confirms | GigaOm
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AMAZON AND HACHETTE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Streitfeld]
Hachette won an important victory in its battle with Amazon: the ability to set its own prices for e-books, which it sees as critical to its survival. But even as the publisher and retailer announced a negotiated peace after sparring since January, hardly anyone seemed in the mood for celebratory fireworks. The conflict, which played out in increasingly contentious forums as the year progressed, left wounds too deep for that. Amazon has been cast as a bully in publications across the ideological spectrum, and a large group of authors is calling for it to be investigated on antitrust grounds. Its sales were hit by the dispute, analysts said. Hachette, too, revealed its vulnerability. Amazon’s supporters publicly questioned the need for Hachette, the fourth largest publisher, to exist in an era when authors can publish themselves digitally, an accusation Hachette was reluctant to respond to.
benton.org/headlines/amazon-and-hachette-resolve-dispute | New York Times | Wall Street Journal
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OWNERSHIP

KENTUCKY VS COMCAST
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shalini Ramachandran]
The Somerset (KY) City Council voted to block the pending $45 billion merger of cable giants Comcast and Time Warner Cable -- Just in Somerset, that is. The council voted to deny requests for Time Warner Cable’s systems to be turned over to Comcast, and later to Charter Communications, a third party involved in the transaction. At least two other Kentucky areas, including Campbell County and the city of Danville, have taken steps toward similar ends. The decisions of a few towns are unlikely to have much bearing on the Comcast deal, since the merger agreement says it needs approval from localities representing only 85% of Time Warner Cable’s 11 million subscribers. The deal’s fate will be decided by Washington regulators. But these communities’ passionate opposition, fueled by frustration with customer-service headaches, points to some of the challenges Comcast and Charter will inherit if they succeed in taking over Time Warner Cable systems.
benton.org/headlines/kentucky-vs-comcast | Wall Street Journal
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TELECOM

LIFELINE PROGRAM
[SOURCE: National Hispanic Media Coalition, AUTHOR: Michael Scurato]
The Lifeline Program just had a great week. And that could be great news for a lot of people and for the future of this country. With true leaders like Federal Communications Commission members Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel leading the way, I am very excited to see what the future holds. Commissioner Clyburn, a long-time Lifeline champion, laid out concrete principles that she believes will help guide the transition of Lifeline into the broadband age. Then Commissioner Rosenworcel advocated for modernizing the Lifeline Program. In addressing the “Homework Gap” – or the extreme difficulty and disadvantage that students who lack broadband at home confront when trying to complete homework assignments – she said, “he good news is we can do something about it. We can study innovative broadband adoption programs across the country. I think we can learn more from them. At the same time, we need to take a fresh look at the FCC’s Lifeline program. Because I think we can modernize the Lifeline program and close the Homework Gap.”
Simply put: The time is right. For years, administrative shortcomings have jeopardized the Lifeline Program; leaving it open to abuse and attacks. However, in recent years, the FCC has gone to great lengths to protect and improve the program – and it has been very successful in doing so. Recent reforms have drastically cut the amount of waste, fraud, and abuse, and the FCC has firmly established itself as the “cop on the beat,” signaling to providers that it will take any issues, including issues pertaining to breaches of consumer privacy, very, very seriously. Now that the ship has been righted, it is time to move the program into the 21st century and bring it into the broadband age. But also, we have reached a tipping point when it comes to broadband adoption in this country. Make no mistake, as things stand right now, we are leaving people behind.
benton.org/headlines/lifeline-program-just-had-great-week | National Hispanic Media Coalition
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RURAL CALL COMPLETITION
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
The Federal Communications Commission’s plan to collect data about rural call completion, adopted a year ago, is now one step closer to implementation. The FCC on November 4 adopted an order on reconsideration that makes one key change to its data collection plan. Long-distance carriers will not have to report data about intraLATA toll calls that are carried entirely over their own network or intraLATA toll calls that are handed off directly to the terminating local exchange carrier or to the tandem switch that the terminating LEC’s end office subtends. The change was made in response to a petition from USTelecom and ITTA. “We find that modifying our original determination will significantly lower providers’ compliance costs and burdens without impairing the commission’s ability to obtain reliable and extensive information about rural call completion problems,” the FCC wrote. The next step is for the Office of Management and Budget to review the data collection plan.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-modifies-plans-rural-call-completion-reporting | telecompetitor
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