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USF Reconsideration Order Modifies ETC Filing Deadlines and Reporting Requirements

Bob Silverman — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:49:27 +0000

The FCC has issued a Third Order on Reconsideration (Order) that modifies and clarifies some of its Universal Service Fund (USF) rules and reporting requirements for eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs). The Order comes in response to several petitions for reconsideration and/or clarification, many of which were denied. Key rule changes include the following:

Revised Filing Deadlines. The filing deadline for ETC annual reports pursuant to new Section 54.313 of the FCC’s rules has been pushed back three months from April 1 to July 1. All ETCs (i.e., state-designated and federally-designated) are now subject to Section 54.313 annual reporting requirements. For state-designated ETCs required to file such reports in 2012 (depending on state commission reporting requirements), the deadline remains July 2, 2012.
Rate Data Reporting. The rate data reporting requirement for ILEC high-cost carriers pursuant to Section 54.313(h) of the FCC’s rules has been modified. Now, carriers filing this report will report their rates falling below the rate floor and respective line counts as of June 1 instead of January 1. For 2012, the deadline for these reports remains July 2, 2012. However, the FCC has also added a mid-year update due by January 2 reflecting rate changes as of December 1. Carriers that increase their rates will have the option of filing mid-year updates, whereas carriers that reduce their rates will be required to file mid-year updates. The new Section 54.313(h)(2) establishing mid-year updates is pending approval by the Office of Management and Budget and has not yet taken effect.
Mobility Fund Phase I (Auction 901) Annual Reports. Mobility Fund Phase I annual reports will be due each July 1 for five years following the authorization of such support to recipients instead of each April 1.
Alaska USF Support. The FCC revised Section 54.307(e) of its rules regarding the freezing and phase-down of USF support for remote areas in Alaska so that USF support under the delayed phase down mechanism would not be frozen in June 2014 (or the last full month prior to the implementation of Mobility Fund Phase II, whichever is later) rather than at the end of 2013.

For additional information, please contact Bob Silverman.

FCC Questions Details, Motives Behind Verizon’s Proposed Sale of 700 MHz Licenses

Daryl Zakov — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:31:29 +0000

The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has sent a letter to Verizon Wireless asking the country’s largest wireless carrier for information regarding its decision to conduct “an open sale process for all of its 700 MHz A and B spectrum licenses in order to rationalize its spectrum holdings.” Verizon is currently in the process of trying to purchase vast swaths of AWS spectrum from Cox and SpectrumCo, a consortium consisting of Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House Networks. Those deals were first announced in late 2011 and Verizon is currently awaiting FCC and DOJ approval on those transactions. On April 18, 2012, Verizon issued a press release announcing its intentions to sell all of its Lower Band 700 MHz licenses, but only if the spectrum deals with the cable companies were approved and the purchase price for its 700 MHz licenses was deemed sufficient. Among other things, the FCC wants Verizon to explain the relationship between the spectrum purchase and spectrum sale deals and any and all efforts Verizon has taken to deploy services on the Lower 700 MHz A and B blocks. Verizon’s responses to the FCC’s questions are requested by Tuesday, May 22, 2012.

For additional information, please contact Daryl Zakov.

AT&T, US Cellular To Buy 700 MHz Licenses From Cox

Daryl Zakov — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:30:14 +0000

AT&T Mobility Spectrum LLC, a subsidiary of AT&T Inc., has filed applications with the FCC seeking consent to purchase eight Lower 700 MHz B Block licenses from Cox TMI Wireless, LLC, a subsidiary of Cox Communications Inc. as well as four Lower 700 MHz B Block licenses from Peoples Telephone Cooperative, Inc. All of the A Block and B Block licenses are 12 megahertz each and cover Cellular Market Areas. The Cox licenses are located in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Virginia while the Peoples licenses are located in Arkansas and Texas. Cox is also selling four Lower 700 MHz A Block licenses to US Cellular in the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Financial terms for all three proposed transactions were not released by the parties and the FCC has placed the applications for all three deals on the same pleading cycle. Petitions to deny are due Tuesday, May 29, 2012, oppositions to petitions to deny are due Friday, June 8, 2012 and replies to oppositions are due Friday, June 15, 2012.

For additional information, please contact Daryl Zakov.

T-Mobile, Leap and Subsidiaries To Swap PCS and AWS Licenses

Daryl Zakov — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:29:01 +0000

T-Mobile USA, Inc., Cook Inlet/VS GSM VII, LLC, Cricket License Company, LLC (Leap), Savary Island License A, LLC and Savary Island License B, LLC have filed a series of applications with the FCC seeking consent to purchase or swap various PCS and AWS licenses across the country. The Savary companies and Cook Inlet are Designated Entity licensees with minority ownership stakes held by Leap and T-Mobile, respectively. Leap and Savary plan to acquire additional spectrum from T-Mobile and Cook Inlet in Phoenix, Houston, Galveston and Bryan-College Station (TX) while Leap and Savery intend on selling to T-Mobile and Cook Inlet licenses covering portions of Alabama, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Additionally, the companies plan to do “intra-market” license swaps to better align their currently PCS and AWS spectrum portfolios in Philadelphia, PA Wilmington, DE, Atlantic City, NJ, and various markets in New Mexico and Texas. Petitions to deny are due Tuesday, May 29, 2012, oppositions to petitions to deny are due Friday, June 8, 2012 and replies to oppositions are due Friday, June 15, 2012.

For additional information, please contact Daryl Zakov.

New FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai Announces Staff Selections

Tony Veach — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:04:33 +0000

Newly-appointed FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai has announced several key members of his staff. Matthew Berry has been named as Commissioner Pai’s Chief of Staff. Mr. Berry previously served as the FCC’s general counsel and deputy general counsel. Gene Fullano will serve as Commissioner Pai’s acting legal advisor. Mr. Fullano previously served as Associate Bureau Chief in the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. Commissioner Pai has appointed Lori Alexiou as his confidential assistant. Ms. Alexiou moves from the litigation division of the FCC’s Office of General Counsel, where she was as a litigation specialist. Additionally, Courtney Reinhard has been appointed as legal advisor and will work on wireless, international, and public safety issues. Ms. Reinhard was previously employed by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget.

For additional information, please contact Tony Veach.

WTB Provides Guidance on Environmental Notification Process for Antenna Structures

Tony Veach — Fri, 11 May 2012 23:18:46 +0000

The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) has released a Public Notice which provides guidance on the implementation of the environmental notification process for the registration of antenna structures. Specifically, the Public Notice provides technical details on changes to the process for filing FCC Form 854 and the new process for members of the public to file requests for environmental review. The new environmental notification procedures were adopted in a December 2011 Report and Order. The notification process involves two parts and applies to new tower registrations and to certain modifications of registered towers. Under the new rules, applicants will first submit a partially completed Form 854 and provide local notice of the proposed tower registration by publication in a local newspaper or other means, which initiates a window of opportunity for the public to file requests for further environmental review. If further review is unnecessary, the applicant moves to step two. In step two, the applicant amends its Form 854 to provide the FAA study number and issue date, provide the local notice date, and certify that the tower will have no significant environmental impact, making the form complete and ready for processing. The FCC will issue additional guidance materials relating to the environmental notification on or about May 14, 2012, on the FCC’s website. The WTB will also webcast a live demonstration of the changes to the filing system on May 21, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EDT.

For additional information, please contact Tony Veach.

New Reporting Requirements Take Effect for All ETCs with July 2, 2012 Deadline; Financial Reporting Requirement Remains Pending

Bob Silverman — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:45:48 +0000

New FCC rules establishing reporting requirements for all Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETCs) have taken effect. Reporting requirements set forth in sections 54.313(a)(2) through (a)(6) and (h) of the FCC’s rules must be filed by July 2, 2012. These reports cover a number of matters, including service outages, unfulfilled service requests, complaints, local rates as of January 1, as well as certifications regarding compliance with service quality standards and consumer protection rules and ability to function in an emergency. Previously, only federally-designated ETCs had been required to file such reports. Reports must be filed with the FCC referencing WC Docket No. 10-90 and also must be filed with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) and the relevant state commissions. One new requirement that awaits privately-held ETCs is the requirement to provide audited financial reports, which has not yet received Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval.

For additional information, please contact Bob Silverman.

Auction 901 Census Block Data Released in Additional Formats

Bob Silverman — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:45:09 +0000

The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications and Wireline Competition Bureaus (Bureaus) have released the availability of a spreadsheet of biddable geographic areas for Auction 901 and geographic information system (GIS) data for the census blocks eligible for the Mobility Fund Phase I auction (Auction 901). The data is available on the FCC’s Auction 901 website. The additional data formats include downloadable shapefile (.dbf, .shp, .shx, and .prj), web mapping service (WMS), and MapBox map tiles. The Bureaus note that this data release neither updates nor replaces the list of eligible blocks, but rather it provides the same data in additional formats to make it more accessible for analysis.

For additional information, please contact Bob Silverman.

FCC Continues Separations Freeze for Another Two Years

Tony Veach — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:56:33 +0000

The FCC has released a Report and Order which extends until June 30, 2014 the existing freeze of the FCC’s rules regarding jurisdictional separations (Part 36 category relationships and jurisdictional cost allocation factors). The jurisdictional separations procedures concern how incumbent local exchange carriers apportion regulated costs of network facilities and services to either the intrastate or interstate jurisdiction. Aspects of the jurisdictional separations rules were first frozen in 2001, with the FCC then extending the freeze for different periods of time. The latest freeze was scheduled to end on June 30, 2012. Extending the freeze will allow the Federal-State Joint Board on Separations to continue its work on reforming the jurisdictional separations process.

For additional information, please contact Tony Veach.

Enforcement Advisory Cautions Buyers of Prepaid Calling Cards

Tony Veach — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:42:46 +0000

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has issued an enforcement advisory urging consumers to carefully review calling card advertisements prior to purchase. According to the enforcement advisory, many prepaid calling card providers target vulnerable low-income and immigrant individuals, falsely claiming that calling cards costing just a few dollars will give the purchaser hundreds or thousands of minutes of international calls, but due to undisclosed fees and “fine print,” individuals get only a fraction of the advertised minutes. The FCC enforcement advisory coincides with the release of a study issued by Consumer Reports that found many calling cards are labeled with misleading advertisements and contain undisclosed fees. In fact, during the last nine months, the FCC has proposed $25 million in penalties against five prepaid calling card companies for deceptive advertising. The enforcement advisory contains a tip sheet on prepaid cards, which lists simple steps consumers can take to identify, prevent, and help fight deceptive marketing of prepaid cards. The Enforcement Bureau also urges anyone who uses a prepaid card that does not deliver as advertised or that includes hidden charges and fees to contact the FCC.

For additional information, please contact Tony Veach.