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.

We wish you a happy and safe 4th of July holiday!

Jump to a Topic:
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 FCC has released the Tentative Agenda for its next Open Meeting on July 19, 2012, at 10:30 am Eastern. The Commission will hear three presentations, one regarding next-generation mapping, one providing a progress report on white spaces, and one summarizing the Measuring Broadband Report for July 2012. To view the Tentative Agenda, click here.

• The FCC will hold a forum to discuss plans for wireless bands on July 16, 2012, at 9:30 am Eastern. “The forum will include discussions on the impact of developments in filter technology on band planning, LTE trends and their implications for future band plans, and network operator perspectives on band plan design.” The meeting notice is available here.

• The first meeting of the Open Internet Advisory Committee (OIAC) will be held July 20, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern at FCC headquarters. The OIAC will “consider administrative and procedural matters relating to its functions and may also consider open Internet-related issues.” The OIAC will also review oral and written comments. More information is available here.

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

The Mobile Market

• Higher education associations, public interest groups, and high-tech companies announced a new consortium last week that aims to use white spaces spectrum to deploy “super WiFi” broadband services to rural colleges and universities and their surrounding communities. The collaboration is called the Advanced Internet Regions initiative, or AIR.U. The FCC has certified the first white spaces devices, and AIR.U leaders expect such devices to become widely available in 2013, with prices decreasing as they are mass-produced. They also expect to do a half-dozen pilot projects in the first quarter of 2013. AIR.U includes higher education organizations such as the United Negro College Fund and Gig.U, as well as Microsoft, Google, and New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute. More information about AIR.U is available here.

• The FCC has set the comment cycle in the proceeding concerning the privacy and security of information stored on mobile devices. It seeks comment on the privacy and security practices of mobile wireless service providers and the application of existing privacy and security requirements to customer information stored on mobile communications devices. Comments are due July 13, 2012; Reply Comments are due July 30, 2012. CC Docket No. 96-115. The text of the Public Notice 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

• As part of its obligation to implement the White House’s Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will hold the first of a series of meetings with privacy stakeholders on July 12, 2012. The goal of the meetings is to develop a code of conduct to provide transparency in how companies handle personal data. The objectives of the July 12 meeting are 1) to promote discussion among stakeholders concerning mobile app transparency by employing a structured, open process, and 2) to provide a venue for stakeholders to agree on the schedule and format of future meetings. More information 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

• Last week, Congress passed S. 3187, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. The Act, which passed in the Senate on a 92-4 vote, will require the development of strategies to promote the deployment of health information technology, including mobile applications. The FDA, in consultation with the FCC and the national coordinator for health information technology, is required to complete a report within 18 months “that contains a proposed strategy and recommendations on an appropriate, risk-based regulatory framework pertaining to health information technology, including mobile medical applications, that promotes innovation, protects patient safety, and avoids regulatory duplication.” S. 3187 also allows the formation of a working group of outside stakeholders to provide input for the report. To read the statute, click here.

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

Developments in Intercarrier Compensation

• On June 26, 2012, Texas Public Utility Commission (TPUC) staff filed a final recommendation urging the TPUC to grant the petition of GTE Southwest, Inc. d/b/a Verizon Southwest for deregulation in 57 markets pursuant to PURA § 65.052(b). That statute requires the TPUC to deregulate a market with a population of at least 100,000, or a market with fewer than 100,000 residents, if there are at least two unaffiliated competitors, in addition to the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC), providing voice communications in all or part of the market, without regard to the technology employed. Based on Verizon’s affidavits and its own research, TPUC staff concluded that AT&T provides wireless service in each of the 57 markets, Sprint provides wireless service in 54 of the markets, and smaller carriers compete with Verizon in the remaining three. Staff accordingly recommended that each of the 57 markets be deregulated. Docket No. 40398.

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

• Common carriers, including resellers and facilities-based carriers, that provided international telecommunications services in 2011 are required to file their international traffic data reports by July 31, 2012, pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 43.61(a). The FCC reminds carriers that the reporting requirements have changed from those in previous years. Specifically, common carriers no longer are required to report traffic from off-shore points separately, and no longer are required to report traffic between off-shore U.S. points and the United States. Amendment of Part 43 of the Commission’s Rules (FCC 11-76, 26 FCC Rcd. 7274), click here and here to view.
  
  As a result of these rule changes, common carriers must report only traffic between foreign points and the United States. Please note that these changes are not reflected in the current Filing Manual for this report, but the FCC has issued a Public Notice, available here, and an attachment, available here, to assist carriers with this filing.

• The Universal Service contribution factor for the third quarter of 2012 is 15.7%. A copy of the Public Notice announcing the rate can be found here. (DA-12-917)

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

Broadband News

• On June 27, 2012, the FCC Enforcement Bureau announced that it has resolved its investigation of Comcast regarding compliance with the Comcast/NBCU merger conditions. The investigation ends with a consent decree whereby Comcast will voluntarily pay $800,000 to the U.S. Treasury and continue to offer stand-alone, or “naked”, broadband for an additional year longer than originally required. Under the consent decree, Comcast will continue to offer a broadband-only service for $49.95 a month until February 2015. More details are available here.

• On June 26, 2012, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project released a report on cell phone Internet usage, finding that 17% of respondents do most of their online browsing on their cell phone, rather than a computer or other device, and that 55% of respondents use their cell phone to go online to some degree. This is a marked increase from 2009, when 31% of cell owners responded that they used their phone to go online. These findings summarize a national telephone survey of 2,254 adults age 18 and over conducted March 15-April 3, 2012, including 903 interviews conducted on the respondent’s cell phone. More information, including the Report, is available here.

• Short form applications for the FCC mobility auction must be filed by July 11, 2012. The auction will take place on September 27, 2012 and will distribute as much as $300 million from the USF. A news release on the auction is available here. The procedures for the auction are available here.

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

In the Courts

• On June 29, 2012, the Supreme Court declined to review the Third Circuit’s reinstatement of the $550,000 fine imposed by the FCC on CBS for the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” during the 2004 Superbowl Halftime show. To view the order, click here. FCC v. CBS Corp., No. 11-1240.

• On June 25, 2012, the FCC filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit to hold the consolidated appeals from the Intercarrier Compensation/Universal Service Reform Order (FCC 11-161) in abeyance until the FCC addresses numerous petitions for reconsideration. According to the FCC, “a number of the pending petitions raise issues that are central to the claims that petitioners intend to present to this Court, and there is a substantial overlap between the issues raised in this litigation and those currently before the agency.” The general counsel of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, however, stated that the FCC’s motion, “while not unexpected,” provides no justification to hold the entire appeal in abeyance. Direct Commc’ns Cedar Valley, LLC v. FCC, No. 11-9581 (10th Cir.).

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

Legislative Outlook

• On June 27, 2012, several Republican Senators led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., re-introduced S. 3342, the Strengthening and Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information, and Technology Act (SECURE IT). Of the bill, Sen. McCain stated that “It is past time for Congress to address the global cyber threat facing our nation.” To read a press release summarizing S. 3342, click here.

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

Upcoming Events

• The FCBA is hosting an evening at a Washington Nationals game on July 17, 2012. To find out more, 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.