The FCC “must tackle long overdue” USF contribution reform before thinking about expanding the E-rate budget to meet the goal of spending $1 billion annually for E-rate Wi-Fi connections in schools and libraries, ITTA said in comments filed Monday in docket 13-184. “Universal service contribution rates have jumped 60 percent under the current Administration,” it said, and the commission “can no longer ignore the pressure its decisions put on the” USF. Doing so would jeopardize other agency goals, including broadband development, and would increase costs “that are ultimately borne by consumers,” ITTA said. The FCC’s $2.30-per-square-foot E-rate funding formula for libraries “would result in the inequitable distribution” of funds, said a study commissioned by the Urban Libraries Council submitted in the same docket. The study found that unlike for rural, town and most suburban libraries, square footage is not an accurate indicator of library users or Wi-Fi costs, ULC said (http://bit.ly/1qZ6GM4).

Special access market data (CD Aug 19 p2) are due at the FCC Dec. 15, the agency said in an order on reconsideration Monday (http://fcc.us/1BJ8KfX). The agency amended its 2012 data collection order to reflect changes ordered by the Office of Management and Budget. The data will let the agency “analyze competition in the market for a service that is key to broadband and competitive voice services: special access,” said Chairman Tom Wheeler in a statement (http://fcc.us/1uR1RVN). The effort was hailed by the NoChokePoints Coalition, made up of special access users, which has been pushing for the data collection. “We believe the data submitted in response to this order will show that this marketplace is indeed broken and in need of reform,” the coalition said in a statement.

Comments are due Nov. 14, replies Dec. 15, in docket 14-130 on a proposed FCC rule to review the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA) to consider ways to minimize burdens on carriers while ensuring the agency retains access to information it needs to fulfill regulatory duties, said a notice (http://1.usa.gov/1BG7ie7) in Monday’s Federal Register.

CenturyLink was asked by FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Julie Veach for more information, including about its marketing efforts, in response to the company’s petition seeking forbearance from dominant carrier regulation and the Computer Inquiry tariffing requirement, said a letter (http://bit.ly/YLHDD6) sent to the company and posted Friday in docket 14-9. CenturyLink’s request deals with packet-switched and optical transmission services that are subject to the regulations. The company has until Oct. 14 to respond.

Comments are due Sept. 30, replies Oct. 10, in docket 05-196 on Sprint’s petition for a limited waiver of the FCC rule regarding access to the Internet-based telecom relay service (TRS) numbering directory, said a notice (http://1.usa.gov/1y6Jzp6) in Monday’s Federal Register. It said Sprint seeks access, as the provider of federal relay services, to load phone numbers for its federal video relay service, including “front door” toll-free phone numbers and 10-digit numbers, into the TRS directory.

AFL-CIO backs the proposed AT&T buy of DirecTV. The deal serves the public interest and it serves the interests of the workers who will be affected by the deal, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a filing Friday in docket 14-90. The deal presents few antitrust concerns, and the combination will result in a stronger competitor to the dominant cable industry, “providing consumers with more options, putting pressure on prices and improving service in the video market,” the filing said. It will “improve the economics for high-speed broadband expansion, which is critical to economic growth and job creation in rural and urban communities across our nation,” it said. It also will bring benefits to employees, and AT&T respects the rights of its employees “to make their own choice about union representation,” it said.

The “steady increase” in the FCC USF contribution factor is “clearly disturbing and unsustainable,” said Commissioner Mike O'Rielly in a blog post Thursday (http://fcc.us/1rZpfDr). He reiterated his call for an overall budget cap on the universal service.

Policymakers “should be wary of those calling for significant changes to the regulatory environment and the imposition of telephone-style regulation on broadband service providers,” USTelecom President Walter McCormick wrote in a blog post (http://bit.ly/Zije8b) Thursday. Broadband providers invested $75 billion in 2013, up by almost 10 percent over the prior year, McCormick wrote. “When so much is going so well ... policymakers should be careful to avoid the harm that could result from injecting unnecessary uncertainty and negative pressures into the broadband investment equation,” he wrote.

The pro-Title II net neutrality protest on Wednesday spurred 286,192 calls and 2.1 million emails to Congress, protest organizers said Thursday. Another 722,364 comments were sent to the FCC, a release said. The FCC did not comment about the number of comments filed. The Internet Slowdown protest, in which icons with links to a site allowed people to send advocacy calls or emails, were placed on more than 1,000 websites and shared more than 1.1 million times on Facebook, the release said. Demand Progress, Engine Advocacy, Fight for the Future and the Free Press Action Fund organized the protest. “The FCC and Congress can no longer dismiss the overwhelming consensus of public support for real Net Neutrality protections,” Fight for the Future Campaign Director Evan Greer said in the release. More than two-thirds of Americans said Communications Act Title II laws written to regulate the phone industry are inadequate to address issues in the Internet age, in a poll by CALinnovates, a group that advocates a Section 706 approach to net neutrality. One in four said government policies can keep up with the pace of technological innovation on the Internet and the development of devices like smartphones, the group said in a news release Thursday. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed opposed paid prioritization, in which businesses can pay for “fast lanes,” the group said. Policymakers should listen “to Americans about the dangers of applying outdated laws to modern technology,” said CALInnovates Executive Director Mike Montgomery. “The FCC should be wary of applying so-called Title II regulations to broadband providers and potentially start-ups themselves. … The goal should be clear: policies that promote and protect a free and open Internet while at the same time ensuring that start-ups don’t face burdensome regulations that would put them at a disadvantage against established technology leaders.” The group’s members include executives at technology and startup firms, political leaders and entrepreneurs, the release said. Its partners include AT&T, according to the group’s website. The survey of more than 1,000 people was done Sept. 3 and 4, the release said. “Reclassification does not offer a clear way forward because it is legally tenuous, unduly burdensome and riddled with ambiguities that will take years to resolve,” the group said in reply comments it filed Thursday in FCC docket 14-28.

Dish Network and Frontier Communications launched a competition to stimulate growth and revitalization in small cities and towns across 27 states. “America’s Best Communities” will award seed money to help communities develop growth and revitalization plans, the companies said Wednesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1otaOk3). The top three communities will receive several million, it said. Municipalities with populations of 9,500 to 80,000 people, and located within Frontier’s service areas, are eligible to apply, and must do so by Jan. 12, it said.