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.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Announcements

• The next FCC Open Meeting is Thursday, August 5, 2010. Two items are on the Tentative Agenda: a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding hearing aid compatibility; and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry suggesting that the Commission should permit wireless spectrum to be used for wireless backhaul. To view the Tentative Agenda, click here.
• Today and tomorrow, July 26 and 27, 2010, the FCC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold a public meeting on the “Impact on Regulation of Converged Communications and Health Care Devices” as part of the National Broadband Plan’s recommendation to use the power of broadband to improve health care. The meeting is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day in the FCC Commission Room, located at 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Developments

• On July 22, 2010, the FTC testified before the Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives Commerce Committee about FTC efforts to protect consumer privacy and about legislative proposals to improve privacy protections. In its testimony, the FTC described its actions to hold companies accountable for protecting consumer privacy, and particularly on its focus on data security, identity theft, children’s privacy, and on protecting consumers from intrusive spam, spyware, and telemarketing. The FTC also expressed the need for legislation that would give it limited authority to issue privacy rules, including requirements for privacy-related disclosures. The FTC’s press release on the hearing can be found here. The FTC’s testimony can be found here.

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Alan Fishel, or Stephanie Joyce (contact information below) for further information or for assistance in filing comments.

Developments in Intercarrier Compensation

• On July 21, 2010, AT&T Texas and Sprint Spectrum LP d/b/a Sprint PCS filed a request with the Texas Public Utility Commission (TX PUC) for an extension of time in which to negotiate a settlement regarding AT&T’s complaint involving compensation for certain wireless traffic. In its complaint, AT&T alleged that Sprint was violating the parties’ interconnection agreement (ICA) by routing interMTA wireless traffic over local trunks, a practice AT&T claims is prohibited under the ICA. AT&T also alleged that Sprint has been reporting an erroneous billing factor that fails to reflect an accurate ratio of local traffic compared to intraLATA interMTA traffic, which AT&T asserts has resulted in Sprint underpaying approximately $1.1 million in charges. The parties have requested permission to report back to the TX PUC on the status of their negotiations by August 23. Docket No. 37610.

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

Compliance Notes

• On July 21, 2010, the FCC released a Public Notice reminding Universal Service filers that FCC Form 499-Q is due August 2, 2010 for all filers that are not considered to be de minimis for Universal Service filing purposes. This filing encompasses historical revenues from the second quarter of 2010 and projected revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010. A copy of the current version of the form can be found here. If a filer intends to utilize a traffic study as a proxy for apportioning end-user revenues between intrastate, interstate and international revenue categories in the fourth quarter, the filer must submit the traffic study on August 2, 2010 as well. A copy of the Public Notice, which includes a brief overview of the guidelines for traffic studies, can be found here, (DA No. 10-1347, Docket No. 06-122).
• Carriers providing international services, including those providing service via resale, are required to make their annual Section 43.61 International Traffic Data and associated revenue filing by July 31, 2010. A copy of the Commission’s Manual for Filing Section 43.61 International Traffic Data can be found here. The FCC also has set up a webpage to assist carriers with this filing which is available here.
• On June 28, 2010, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) issued a reminder to service providers that receive Universal Service Fund (USF) support that all payments will be made by electronic funds transfer starting August 31, 2010. This requirement was mandated by the Wireline Competition Bureau in Public Notice DA 10-270, released on June 2, 2010. Providers must confirm that USAC has their electronic banking information on file or payments will be withheld. Providers may update or add electronic banking information with USAC by filing FCC Form 498, available here, via USAC’s electronic filing system. Providers that have questions may contact USAC’s Customer Operations as (888) 641-8722 or may e-mail customersupport@usac.org.

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

Stimulus This Week

• The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced a grant of $15 million to Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. (CSD) to expand broadband adoption by those with hearing disabilities. CSD’s Project Endeavor will provide training for up to 200,000 people who are deaf or hard of hearing in the use of real-time text-based communications, video, and other broadband technologies. The grant will be funded through NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). More details on this grant can be found here.

Please contact Ross Buntrock, Jon Canis, Alan Fishel or Jeffrey Rummel (contact information below) for further information regarding stimulus funding.

Broadband News

• FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski issued several remarks last week on topics related to the National Broadband Plan. On July 19, 2010, he spoke about the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and emphasized that the National Broadband Plan includes several recommendations to increase accessibility to Americans with disabilities. That speech may be found here. On July 20, 2010, the Chairman spoke at an event hosted by the Minority Media and Telecom Council, emphasizing that broadband means “broad opportunity” and that the FCC plans to “revitalize” its Office of Communications Business Opportunities in order to support small businesses. That speech may be found here. Finally, Chairman Genachowski spoke on July 21, 2010 at the National Museum of the American Indian as part of the National Rural Education Technology Summit. There, he spoke about opportunities broadband presented for rural education, including connecting school libraries, distance learning, and e-readers replacing outdated textbooks. That speech may be found here.
• On July 20, 2010, the FCC released its sixth “section 706” report, so named after the section of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which contains a congressional directive to inquire whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” The report concluded that “between 14 and 24 million Americans still lack access to broadband, and the immediate prospects for deployment to them are bleak.” The report further found that “that broadband deployment to all Americans is not reasonable and timely.” This was a departure from prior reports that had concluded that broadband deployment “overall” was reasonable and timely. Section 706 requires that the Commission take action if broadband deployment is not reasonable and timely, and the Commission plans to do so through the National Broadband Plan. The report is available here. Commissioners Meredith Attwell Baker and Robert M. McDowell both dissented from the report and emphasized the “remarkable” investment in infrastructure, and Commissioner McDowell stated a concern that the report would be used to justify more regulation.

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

Telecom Privacy News

• Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is leading efforts by 39 states to investigate Google’s collection of WiFi data via its StreetView software. On July 21, 2010, Blumenthal issued a letter to Google requesting information about whether the software was designed to collect such information or was, as the company has stated, “a mistake.” The letter also asks for the names of Google employees who wrote the StreetView code and whether they knew that the software could collect WiFi information. For further information click here.

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

In the Courts

• On July 20, 2010, Chief Judge Karen Schreier of the US District Court for the District of South Dakota, over the objections of the plaintiff (Splitrock Properties) and defendant (Qwest Communications), referred the three principal issues in that access-related litigation to the FCC. It is the sixth such lawsuit she has referred to the FCC in recent months, all of which relate to whether interexchange carriers can avoid paying terminating access charges to local exchange carriers (LECs) calls placed to conference call providers. In her opinion, Judge Schreier observed that the “primary jurisdiction doctrine should be applied when the reasons for the doctrine are present even if the parties have not raised the issue. This is because ‘the doctrine exists for the proper distribution of power between judicial and administrative bodies and not for the convenience of the parties.’” The court has referred the case to the FCC for a determination of whether the LEC’s access tariff applies to the calls at issue and, if not, what should be the compensation rate. Splitrock Props., Inc. v. Qwest Commc'ns Corp., D.S.D. Civ. 08-4172-KES.

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

Legislative Outlook

• On July 27, 2010, the US Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled “Consumer Online Privacy” at 2:30 pm Eastern in 253 Russell Senate Office Building.
• Also on July 27, 2010, the Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee of the US House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled “Federal Rulemaking and the Regulatory Process” at 11:00 am Eastern in 2237 Rayburn House Office Building.
• On July 28, 2010, the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee of the US House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled “Online Privacy, Social Networking, and Crime Victimization” at 2:00 pm Eastern in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building.

Upcoming Events

• Telecom Group Partners Jon Canis and Ross Buntrock will be presenting at the COMPTEL Plus 2010 Fall Convention + Expo being held September 12-15, 2010, in Dallas. For more information or to register, click here.

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

Ross A. Buntrock
buntrock.ross@arentfox.com
202.775.5734

Jonathan E. Canis
canis.jonathan@arentfox.com
202.775.5738

Alan G. Fishel
fishel.alan@arentfox.com
202.857.6450

Michael B. Hazzard
hazzard.michael@arentfox.com
202.857.6029

Stephanie A. Joyce
joyce.stephanie@arentfox.com
202.857.6081

Jeffrey E. Rummel
rummel.jeffrey@arentfox.com
202.715.8479