Policy: FCC extends comment period on Open Internet NPRM

The Federal Communications Commission this week extended the Open Internet comment filing period from July 15 to July 18, citing the impact a high number of public comments being filed was having on its systems’ ability to handle the load.
“Because of high volume with the commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System, some parties are experiencing difficulties accessing ECFS,” the FCC noted.
The FCC in late April initially circulated a draft Open Internet Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to its commissioners regarding its future stance on net neutrality enforcement, with the proposal opened up to public comment on May 15. The notice proposes that all Internet service providers “must transparently disclose to their subscribers and users all relevant information as to the policies that govern their network; that no legal content may be blocked; and that ISPs may not act in a commercially unreasonable manner to harm the Internet, including favoring the traffic from an affiliated entity.”
–AT&T came out late last week against a proposal by T-Mobile US to take another look at previously approved data roaming rules that it claimed were not meeting the FCC’s guidance of being “commercially reasonable.”
In a statement on its policy blog – and backed by a filing with the FCC – AT&T claimed that T-Mobile US was asking the FCC to “eviscerate” its previous ruling and upset the “careful balance” the FCC had established in “ensuring that mobile wireless providers can obtain data roaming arrangements on reasonable terms while preserving incentives to invest in broadband networks.”
“There is no justification for granting T-Mobile’s petition – in fact, according to T-Mobile’s own economist, wholesale roaming rates have trended ‘downward strongly’ in recent years, and the average wholesale roaming rates paid by T-Mobile have fallen nearly 70% since 2011 and continue to decline,” explained Joan Marsh, VP of federal regulatory affairs for AT&T.
The FCC initially adopted mandatory data roaming rules in 2011, declaring wireless operators must work to reach “commercially reasonable” terms for data roaming agreements. The ruling was seen as a victory for smaller operators that claimed they were being prevented from offering nationwide services to their customers.
Verizon Wireless and AT&T both came out against the rulemaking, claiming the FCC did not have the authority to compel operators to offer such services. An appeals court in late 2012, cast aside that opposition, noting that since operators could tailor and negotiate data roaming agreements and were not forced to offer service indiscriminately and on general terms, the data roaming rule did not relegate them to common carrier status.
–T-Mobile US named Andy Levin its SVP of government affairs effective July 21. Levin previously served as EVP and general counsel for Clear Channel Communications, as well as with the House Energy and Commerce Committee as a senior communications lawyer.
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