FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler plans to ask his fellow Commissioners to vote on three items at the agency’s May 25 meeting: a report and order setting out the framework of a reverse auction to allocate support for providers willing to deploy service in certain high-cost price cap areas; a report and order and further notice of proposed rulemaking dealing with network outage reporting requirements; and a notice of proposed rulemaking to ease requirements for broadcasters’ and cable TV operators’ public inspection files.
The draft high-cost support item in Wireline Competition dockets 10-90, 14-58, and 14-259 will include “rules to implement a competitive bidding process for high-cost universal service support from Phase II of the Connect America Fund,” or CAF Phase II, according to the tentative agenda for the May 25 meeting released by the FCC this afternoon. As is typical of the FCC’s approach to auctions, the agency expects to issue a separate public notice seeking comment to address specific auction procedures at a later date, according to an agency official who spoke with TRDaily on background.
“Building on the Commission’s experience with its Rural Broadband Experiments program, I’m proposing new rules that would allocate over $2 billion over the next decade in Connect America Fund support for rural broadband through competitive bidding,” Chairman Wheeler said today in a blog posting describing his plans for the May meeting.
The FCC held a pilot auction to distribute funding for rural broadband experiments in 2014, which was intended to inform the planning for the CAF Phase II auction. Last year, larger carriers that operate under price cap regulation had to decide whether to accept FCC offers of support to provide broadband service in certain high-cost portions of their service territory at support levels determined by a cost model.
The CAF Phase II auction will seek to determine 10-year support levels, through competitive bidding, for which a broadband provider would commit to offer service in the areas which the price cap carriers refused model-based support, as well as for extremely high-cost areas in price cap territories for which the agency had not offered model-based support. However, the FCC official said that the Commission would likely use more recent data to determine whether a broadband provider has started serving the areas in question since the agency looked at them with respect to the model-based support.
“The Order I’m proposing to the Commission would set robust yet flexible standards for broadband deployment, recognizing the diverse challenges inherent in deploying broadband in rural America. It would also target support where it’s most needed on the local level, ensure accountability, and safeguard against waste, fraud, and abuse,” Chairman Wheeler continued in his blog post.
“Ultimately, we hope the power of competitive bidding will spark robust broadband deployment and service offerings across rural America in the most cost-efficient way possible,” he said.
The draft CAF auction report and order circulated to the FCC Commissioners will cover performance obligations for winning bidders, time frames for deploying service, the areas included in the auction, the application process for bidders, requirements for bidders to establish their financial eligibility such as by filing letters of credit, the deadline by which a winning bidder would have to receive eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) designation, the overall auction budget, and oversight and accountability measures, the FCC official said.
In the item concerning the FCC’s communications network outage reporting requirements, the Commission plans to consider a report and order and further notice of proposed rulemaking in PS dockets 15-80 and 11-82 and ET docket 04-35 updating its part 4 rules.
“For more than a decade, communications providers have kept the FCC apprised of major disruptions in their networks through our network outage reporting requirements,” Mr. Wheeler said in his blog posting. “The data have allowed staff to detect adverse outage trends, support providers’ service restoration efforts, and communicate with public safety officials during times of crisis. These reports also provide the FCC with a unique industry-wide view into communications outages that enables us to help make networks more reliable.
“This becomes even more important as critical infrastructure services rely increasingly on interconnected communications networks,” Mr. Wheeler added. “However, communications providers currently report 911 outages that occur on legacy networks, but not for next-generation 911 over IP networks. That’s why I am circulating an item that would refine our network outage reporting requirements and propose common-sense updates to keep pace with technological change.
“This proposal would initiate a dialogue and seek comment on ways to keep our reporting requirements current, whether for outages to emergency or non-emergency communications, so that we can continue to collectively safeguard the networks that American consumers and businesses rely upon,” the Chairman said.
Last year, the FCC adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking in the proceeding that proposed requiring providers to report any outages that “significantly” degrade or prevent the completion of 911 calls to public safety answering points (PSAPs), not just total outages (TRDaily, March 30, 2015). It also proposed allowing states to access outage information covering their states.
Some providers have interpreted the FCC’s rules to require reporting via the FCC’s network reporting outage system (NORS) only when there are complete disruptions of service, according to the NPRM.
The NPRM also solicited comments on the failure rate of wireless calls, including the impact of radio access network congestion. It also proposed “adopting a more standardized technology neutral method for calculating the number of users ‘potentially affected’ by a wireless network outage.”
The item also proposed reducing from five days to 48 hours the reporting threshold for simplex events, which the FCC noted occur “when circuits that are configured with built-in path protection … lose one of the paths.” It also proposed “clarifying the circumstances under which providers must report outages potentially affecting airport communications.” It sought views “on amending the definition of ‘special offices and facilities’ to exclude all airports other than those designated ‘primary commercial service’ airports in the NPIAS [National Plan of Integrated Airports Systems].”
The item also proposed considering requests from federal agencies other than the Department of Homeland Security to view NORS data. It currently shares such information with DHS. The item also sought comment on whether it should share such information with the federal National Coordinating Center for Communications.
In response to the NPRM, public safety officials said the FCC should move forward to expand its reporting requirements on outages impacting 911 services, while carriers said the agency should simplify requirements and refrain from requiring “over-reporting” of minor issues (TRDaily, July 17, 2015).
At their May 25 meeting, Commissioners also are tentatively scheduled to consider an NPRM “that seeks comment on proposals to eliminate the requirement that commercial broadcast stations retain copies of letters and emails from the public in their public inspection file and the requirement that cable operators reveal the location of the cable system’s principal headend,” the tentative agenda said.
“These recommendations are consistent with our agency-wide process reform initiative to review all Commission regulations and update or repeal outdated and unnecessary rules,” Mr. Wheeler said in his blog posting.
The May 25 meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. at the FCC’s Washington headquarters. —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com, and Lynn Stanton, lynn.stanton@wolterskluwer.com
Courtesy TRDaily