Welcome to the latest edition of Arent Fox’s This Week in Telecom, our weekly newsletter designed to keep you apprised of recent developments in telecommunications policy, legislation, and litigation. Follow our Telecom Group on Twitter! Click here.

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FCC Announcements l The Mobile Market l FTC and Privacy Regulation l New Markets: Smart Grid and E-Health l Intercarrier Compensation l Compliance Notes l Broadband News l In the Courts l Legislative Outlook l Events

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Announcements

• The Open Internet Advisory Committee will meet on January 17, 2013, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Pacific in Paul Brest Hall-East, Stanford University. The meeting is open to the public and available via live webcast. The Public Notice of the meeting is available here.
• The next two FCC Open Meetings will be held January 31, 2013, at 10:30 am Eastern, and February 20, 2013, at 10:30 am Eastern.

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Jon Canis, Alan Fishel, Michael Hazzard, Jeffrey Rummel, or Stephanie Joyce (contact information below) for further information.

The Mobile Market

• Petitions to deny the application of Softbank Corp. to acquire 70% of SprintNextel are due January 4, 2013, oppositions to the petitions to deny are due January 22, 2013, and replies are due February 1, 2013. Those filing petitions to deny become parties to the proceeding and may participate fully in the proceeding, including seeking access to any confidential information filed under a protective order, seeking reconsideration of decisions, and filing appeals of a final decision to the courts. Filings should be made in IB Docket No. 12-343. The Public Notice is available here.
• At its December 12 Open Meeting, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish a new Citizens Broadband Service in the 3550-3650 MHz band currently used for military and satellite operations. The NPRM seeks comment on whether to include the neighboring 3650-3700 MHz band which is already used for commercial broadband services. The Commission believes that the proposed rules will promote the use of “small cells” and “spectrum sharing” in order to enable more efficient use of radio spectrum. “Small cells” are low-powered wireless base stations that can increase data capacity within a targeted area and fill in coverage gaps created by buildings, tower siting difficulties, or challenging terrain. “Spectrum sharing” refers to the use of automated techniques to facilitate the coexistence of disparate unaffiliated systems that would conventionally require separate bands to avoid interference. Such coexistence may happen, for example, by authorizing targeted use of new commercial systems in specific geographical areas where interference into incumbent systems is not a problem. Comments on the NPRM are due February 20, 2013, and Reply Comments are due March 22, 2013, in GN Docket 12-354. The full NPRM is available here.

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Michael Hazzard, or G. David Carter (contact information below) for further information.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Privacy Regulation

• On December 10, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission issued a new staff report titled “Mobile Apps for Kids: Disclosures Still Not Making the Grade.” The staff report is a follow-up to an earlier survey of mobile apps for children that examined the privacy disclosures and practices of apps offered for children in the Google Play and Apple App stores. The current report details the results of the FTC’s second survey of kids’ mobile apps and finds that developers have made little to no progress in providing adequate privacy disclosures and safeguards since the time of the first survey in 2011. The staff report also states that, based upon the information obtained through the surveys, the FTC is considering initiating non-public investigations into the practices of some mobile app developers for potential violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). More information regarding the staff report is here.
• As part of its effort to thwart robocalls, the FTC has announced that it is launching the “FTC Robocall Challenge” – a contest that will award a $50,000 cash prize for the best technical solution for blocking illegal robocalls. The FTC believes the challenge will allow it to “tap into the genius and technical expertise among the public” in order to develop a successful solution to the illegal robocall problem. The award will go to the person, team, or small company (with fewer than 10 employees) that develops the best robocall-blocking technology. Entries will be judged by the following criteria: (1) it must work; (2) be easy to use; and (3) be easy to implement and operate. The FTC Robocall Challenge is free and open to the public. Entries will be accepted until January 17, 2013. More information regarding the FTC Robocall Challenge is available here.

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Alan Fishel, Stephanie Joyce, or Stephen Thompson (contact information below) for further information.

New Markets: Smart Grid and E-Health

• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced federal funding to enable entities to participate in a program aimed at the harmonization and advancement of the interoperability and security of smart grid systems. The funded entities will work with NIST in its standards coordination activities. The funding will be approximately $750,000 for the first partial year of 2013 and can continue in two subsequent fiscal years at up to $1,000,000 per year, subject to availability of funds, for a total of up to $2,750,000. All applications must be received no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time on January 3, 2013, and awards are expected to be made in the January to March 2013 time frame. More information is available here.
• The IEEE Power & Energy Society has announced its fourth Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT) to be held February 24-27, 2013, in Washington, DC. The ISGT Conference will provide a forum for participants to discuss state-of-the-art innovations in smart grid technologies. According to the announcement, it will feature “plenary sessions, panels, technical papers, and tutorials by international experts on smart grid applications.” Researchers and practitioners from around the world are also invited to submit papers for review and possible presentation at the ISGT Conference. More information about the ISGT Conference is available here.
• Following through on a few of the recommendations made by the mHealth Task Force in September, the FCC has posted the official announcement for a Director of Health Care Initiatives. According to the FCC’s website, the Director will “lead the agency’s efforts in facilitating and promoting communications technologies and services that improve the quality of health care for all citizens and help reduce health care costs; facilitating the availability of medical devices that use spectrum; and ensuring hospitals and other health care facilities have required connectivity.” The full position description is available here.
  
  In addition, the FCC has launched a new website, fcc.gov/health, to serve as a central repository for all the FCC’s health care-related work.

Please contact Stephanie Joyce, Jeffrey Rummel, G. David Carter, or Stephen Thompson (contact information below) for further information.

Developments in Intercarrier Compensation

• On December 12, 2012, Core Communications, Inc. filed a second request with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PAPUC) to extend the briefing deadlines in the proceeding it initiated against Windstream Pennsylvania, Inc., f/k/a Alltel Pennsylvania. Core filed a petition with the PAPUC in March 2006 to arbitrate its dispute with Windstream regarding compensation owed to Core for wireless traffic that Windstream sent to Core through a Verizon tandem switch. The dispute also includes issues of indirect interconnection volume limitations, third-party tandem services, the jurisdiction of “Virtual NXX” traffic, and reciprocal compensation. On October 4, 2012, the PAPUC ordered the parties to file opening briefs and affidavits by November 5, 2012 and reply briefs by November 26, 2012, but on Core’s request, the PAPUC moved the deadlines to December 14, 2012 and January 18, 2013. In its second request for extension, Core stated that it has been in negotiations with Windstream to resolve the parties’ dispute, but needs more time to attempt to reach a settlement. Docket No. A-310922F7004.

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Jon Canis, Michael Hazzard, Stephanie Joyce, or Adam Bowser (contact information below) for further information regarding intercarrier compensation matters.

Compliance Notes

• Comments on proposed changes to the FCC Form 499-A and Form 499-Q, along with accompanying instructions, for use in 2013 are due January 11, 2013. (DA 12-2010, WC Docket 06-122.) A list of the proposed changes can be found here.
  
  A redline of the proposed changes to FCC Form 499-A can be found here, with the redline of its instructions found here.
  
  A redline of the proposed changes to FCC Form 499-Q can be found here.
  
  The proposed changes to the Form 499-Q instructions can be found here.
• The FCC announced that outage reporting requirements will be applied to interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers effective December 16, 2012, pursuant to its VoIP Outage Order adopted February 15, 2012 (FCC 12-22). In the VoIP Outage Order, the FCC stated that all interconnected VoIP providers must electronically notify the FCC within 4 hours of discovering any outage of 30 minutes or more that potentially affects any 911 facility. In addition, the VoIP provider must notify the official designated as the contact person for that 911 facility and provide any information that may be helpful to mitigate the effects of the outage. If the VoIP provider experiences an outage of 30 minutes or more that does not impact a 911 facility, but rather either (a) potentially affects at least 900,000 user minutes of interconnected VoIP service and results in complete loss of service, or (b) potentially affects any special offices and facilities, the VoIP provider must notify the FCC electronically within 24 hours.
  
  In either instance, VoIP providers that experience an outage must follow up on the notification by submitting a Final Communications Outage Report within 30 days.
  
  More information can be found in the FCC’s Public Notice announcing the effective date of the rules, available here.
  
  The VoIP Outage Order can be found here.
• The Wireline Competition Bureau has released a Public Notice providing guidance to schools that receive E-Rate funding on how to implement the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act (the Act) (47 U.S.C. Sections 254(h)(5), 254(h)(6) and 254(l)). Under the Act, schools that receive E-Rate Funding are required to certify that their Internet safety policies include educating students about appropriate online behavior, such as cyberbullying awareness and proper use of social networking websites. A copy of the Public Notice can be found here. (DA-12-1836)
• Due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has extended the filing deadlines for FCC Form 486, the Receipt of Service Confirmation Form for the Schools and Libraries fund, for Funding Year 2011 recurring services invoice submissions until January 28, 2013. This is the same deadline for non-recurring services, which means all invoices for Funding Year 2011 now are due at the same time.
  
  In addition, USAC announced that the FCC Form 486 for Funding Year 2012 will also be due on January 28, 2013.
  
  More information regarding these filings can be found here.
• Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETCs) that provide Lifeline service are required to recertify the eligibility of their base customers as of June 1, 2012 by December 31, 2012. Each ETC is then required to report the results to the FCC, the Universal Service Administrative Company, and the applicable state regulatory commission or Tribal government. The recertification process can take place in one of two ways: either through review of databases to confirm eligibility, if there are databases available; or by obtaining a signed certification from the subscriber confirming eligibility to receive Lifeline service. Each ETC must report its results on FCC Form 555 by January 31, 2013. FCC Form 555 has not yet been released. More information can be found in the Public Notice found here. (DA 12-1626).
• The Universal Service contribution factor for the first quarter of 2013 is 16.1%. A copy of the Public Notice announcing the rate can be found here. (DA 12-2014)

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Jon Canis, Michael Hazzard, or Katherine Barker Marshall (contact information below) for further information regarding compliance matters.

Broadband News

• Comments in the Incentive Auctions proceeding are due January 25, 2013, and Reply Comments are due March 12, 2013. To read the order setting these deadlines, click here. To read the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comments, click here. GN Docket No. 12-268.
• Reply Comments in the FCC Spectrum Holdings proceeding are due January 7, 2013. To read the NPRM, click here.

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Alan Fishel, Michael Hazzard, or Jeffrey Rummel (contact information below) for further information.

In the Courts

• On December 10, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed with a lower court’s ruling that Mississippi’s Caller ID Anti-Spoofing Act is preempted by federal law. Spoofing is misrepresenting the calling party’s identification. Mississippi’s 2010 law made it illegal to “enter … false information into a telephone caller identification system with the intent to deceive, defraud or mislead” the called party. Later that year, Congress passed the Truth In Caller ID Act (TCIA). Both laws made what the court characterized as “harmful spoofing” illegal. But the state law also made “non-harmful spoofing” unlawful. Non-harmful spoofing is meant to deceive but not for the purpose of defrauding, harming, or wrongfully obtaining something of value. The court of appeals agreed that the state law was more restrictive than the federal law, and thus preempted. The court observed that “Congress could have broadened TCIA’s proscriptive reach by inserting the term ‘misleading’, or words to that effect. But it did not … .” It concluded that “there is an inherent federal objective in TCIA to protect non-harmful spoofing.” Teltech Systems, Inc. v. Bryant, No. 12-60027, 2012 WL 6097949 (5th Cir. Dec. 10, 2012).

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Jon Canis, Michael Hazzard, Stephanie Joyce, or Joseph Bowser (contact information below) for further information.

Legislative Outlook

• On December 13, 2012, several Republican members of the House Commerce Committee, led by its Chair, Fred Upton, R-Mich, issued a statement praising the resolve of the U.S. delegation to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT). After a late-night vote succeeded in expanding the reach of the International Telecommunications Union over the Internet, Ambassador Terry Kramer gave a public statement that the U.S. will not sign the resulting treaty. The members’ statement reads, in part, “Ambassador Kramer and the U.S. delegation should be commended for their principled stance on behalf of Internet users around the globe. ... We thank Ambassador Kramer, Ambassador Verveer, and the rest of the U.S. delegation for having the courage to stand for the principles of the Congress, the administration, the American people, and people around the world who have benefitted from the discourse and commerce the Internet fosters.” To read the full statement, click here.

Please contact Stephanie Joyce (contact information below) for further information.

Upcoming Events

• The next Broadband Breakfast Club will be held January 15, 2013, from 8:00 to 10:00 am Eastern at Clyde’s Restaurant, 707 7th Street, NW (Chinatown/Gallery Place Metro). The title is “The President-Elect’s and Congress’ New Broadband Agenda”. To learn more or to register, click here.

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Jonathan Canis, or Stephanie Joyce (contact information below) for further information.

For further information, please contact any of our attorneys in the Arent Fox Telecommunications Group.