While a lot is happening at the FCC, I haven't written much about it. My focus has been elsewhere - and most readers couldn't care less about regulatory. That said the USF Reform is still going on, including E-Rate program changes, Rural Broadband experiments, and CAF funding fights (between WISPs and ILECs). The AWS-3 spectrum auction had 4 big winners: VZW, ATT, DISH and the FCC coffers to the tune of $40 billion.
The other dockets at the F Agency are still embattled, including VoIP inter-carrier compensation, special access circuits, Open Internet / Net Neutrality, and the mergers (Comcast-TWC and ATT-DTV).
I haven't jumped on the Title II bandwagon, because the devil is in the details (and that proposal is like 300+ unreleased pages!)
I will say this about Title II: despite voice being regulated we still have call completion issues in rural America; we still have dropped calls (VoIP and cell); and we still have too many amateurs delivering voice services (causing some of these problems). The TDM-to-IP transition is in mid-stream but without any real oversight or structure in place. VoIP inter-connection is still a problem. It would be nice to have HD and Fax work any where due to all VoIP lines being as connected as TDM lines are.
Calling Title II regulation Obamacare for the Internet is just plain spin for TV time by a bunch of old white men who can't turn on their computers themselves and still think of the Internet as a bunch of tubes. (I am very tired of politicians - all of them.)
FCC Chair Wheeler's "strategy of reclassifying the service providers stems from a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington last year that voided FCC open-Internet rules. Judges said the agency improperly treated Verizon Communications Inc. as if it were a utility -- something the FCC couldn't do because of its 2002 ruling." [source]
None of this would have come to pass if Comcast and Verizon hadn't played games with Netflix. These same 2 idiots ISPs are the only 2 to sue the FCC over Open Internet rules. They should have been happy with the way it was, but greed.
In addition, I think the FCC gave cable enough prizes this year: by changing the definition of broadband to 25 Mbps x 3 Mbps they essential called ADSL dial-up. With the sale of more Verizon wireline assets to Frontier, cable will win some more. Isn't that enough for the Duopoly member with an almost monopoly on residential broadband in America and an increasing hold on small business Internet and voice services?? The Comcast deal for TWC with Charter should NOT go through. There is no benefit or upside to the consumers for this to happen. None. And that is the sole mandate of any F agency: protect the sheople consumers. The FCC lacks follow up AND enforcement of merger conditions. So why approve a merger that will need a lot of conditions -- for a company clearly against Open Internet????
The Big 3 - AT&T, VZ and Comcast - are all set to file lawsuits after this order passes. I like how "Michael Powell, who as Republican FCC chairman led the agency to its 2002 decision," weighs in as president of the NCTA for his decision in 2002. How did he get to be FCC Chair again? Oh, right, he worked for Rumsfeld and his daddy. That's qualified.
It seems FCC Commish Clayburn is looking for the spotlight and to add drama by asking for lighter conditions now. Ah, politics. It makes for crappy regulation. But maybe it is more about the next job offer, as Clayburn seems to be doing the delay that the GOP commissioners were seeking. Why does it always go along party lines at this F Agency?
This is a decent read: Title II Proposal Brings Certainty - and Questions.
In 2002 till 2006, the FCC - usually twisted by the courts - made a number of rulings that set the current Duopoly up for riches. I think the exchange for that was supposed to be broadband for all in the US. To at least keep pace with Moldova. Instead, they pocketed the rate increases, played games with OTT content providers and VoIP providers daily, made deals with each other not to compete and lobbied up the ass in place of actually making good on their promises. They not only deserve Title II; they all deserve eminent domain of their networks.
Governments take over houses because a new plan concept will bring more taxes. Why is this any different?
This is also why the big merger should be denied -- they break their promises.
"With broadband defined as a Title I "information service" as it is today, the FCC lacks the legal language and authority to punish carriers for things like super-cookies" from VZW, write VB. In what world do we pay companies to spy on us? Oh, right, sorry.
It would be nice if the FTC has some cajoles, but they don't, so it is up to the FCC do rein things in.
I hear this from the old angry white men on TV: How much do you love America that you consistently play with the one resource that makes America competitive? The Internet is what is spinning our economy. It is what provides many people jobs. And yet the top ISPs won't provide a dumb pipe equivalent to Moldova to Americans?
