Telecom Law Monitor : Washington D.C. Telecom Lawyer & Attorney : Kelley Drye & Warren Law Firm : New York, Chicago, Connecticut, New Jersey, Brussels

A broad coalition of telecommunications carriers is asking the FCC to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to determine the proper treatment of MPLS-based services for regulatory and Universal Service purposes.  The coalition, which includes Verizon, XO, Level 3, Qwest and four other carriers, are providers of services based on the Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology.  The carriers recently met with advisors to the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau and urged the FCC to clarify prospectively the proper treatment of services based on this technology.

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In response to the passage of anti-spoofing legislation late last year, the FCC recently adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to tighten rules relating to the "spoofing" of caller ID information.  The Commission is seeking comments in late April and early May, which would make it tough for the Commission to meet the legislation's six-month deadline for the adoption of implementing rules.

The NPRM contains a surprising proposal to bypass the ordinary enforcement processes the Commission uses.  See below for that and other highlights of the proposal.

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Despite many high-profile forfeiture proceedings, significant outreach by the FCC and even a new app to facilitate filing, the level of CPNI certifications filed this year was on a par with 2010. 

Last year, we reported about 3,000 CPNI certifications filed during the filing window.  This year, 2,858 submissions were made through 3/2/11.  While many filers certified on behalf of multiple USF filers, this total still is about a thousand carriers below the number of active USF filers as identified in USAC's most recent contribution factor report and is well below the 6,700 filers in USAC's database. 

It appears that the FCC has achieved about as much compliance as it is going to receive from the universe of required filers.  Now, the question is whether it will pursue more $25,000 fines from the remaining (mostly small) entities that failed to file a certification. 

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On March 1, the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau released its revised Form 499-A, the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet.  This Worksheet must be used by telecommunications providers and interconnected VoIP providers to report annual 2010 revenues for USF, TRS, NANPA, LNP and FCC Regulatory Fee assessments.  The Form 499-A is due by April 1, 2011.

The 2011 Form 499-A Instructions mark the Bureau's first major revision to the Instructions since the FCC began using the Form 499-A in 2000.  The Bureau has substantially reorganized the Instructions and consolidated some of the discussions.  As a result, a comparison of this year's Instructions to the 2010 Instructions is not an easy task.  We will continue to review the Form and expect to discover any changes over the next few weeks.  Filers should consult their regulatory counsel prior to filing their 2011 Form, just to be sure.   

For the benefit of our readers, we post here the FCC Public Notice, the revised Form 499-A and the revised Instructions.  These forms also are available on the Universal Service Links page of our Resource Center.  For easy "two-click" access to these and other regulatory resources, bookmark our site. 

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The FCC's February 9, 2011 Universal Service Fund (USF) and Intercarrier Compensation (ICC) Reform NPRM was published in this morning's Federal Register (FR).  This is the triggering event for establishing the actual comment due dates set forth in the item.  Here are  the deadlines:

Comments on Section XV (ICC "Immediate Reform", including VoIP classification, phantom traffic and traffic stimulation): 30 days from FR publication / April 1

Reply Comments on Section XV (ICC "Immediate Reform", including VoIP classification, phantom traffic and traffic stimulation): 45 days from FR publication / April 18

Comments on all Sections other than XV: 45 days from FR publication / April 18

Comments of State Members of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service: 59 days from FR publication / May 2

Reply Comments on all Sections other than XV: 80 days from FR publication / May 23

And the "ex parte" round is likely to rage all summer long....

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Due to the 1 year statute of limitations for proposed fines against common carriers, the release of a Notice of Apparent Liability for failing to file CPNI certifications has become an annual late-February event.  This year's order, released late on Friday, proposes fines against 10 entities for failing to file the CPNI certification due on March 1, 2010.  Despite what has been a roller coaster in CPNI fines and in CPNI settlements, the Order proposes a $25,000 fine for failing to file the certification (the same amount proposed last year).  Moreover, each of the 10 entities was accused of failing to respond to the Enforcement Bureau's Letter of Inquiry, resulting in an additional proposed fine of $4,000.

For those who have not yet filed their 2011 certifications, today is the last day.

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