[Infowarrior] - Telecom Reporting Rule May Be Eased

[Richard Forno]

Telecom Reporting Rule May Be Eased
FCC Action Could Affect Competition

By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 5, 2008; D01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403327_pf.html

Phone giants AT&T, Verizon Communications and Qwest today are expected  
to win approval to report less information to the Federal  
Communications Commission on such matters as consumer complaints and  
infrastructure investments.

A decision by the FCC to curtail the information may, however, open  
the gates for a broader review of data collected by the commission and  
could be expanded to include cable, satellite and wireless phone  
providers that are not currently required to submit similar reports.

The reports offer rich details into the number of consumer complaints,  
waiting times for repairs and money put into technological upgrades by  
the largest phone service providers.

As consumers rely more on technology -- spending $150 to $200 a month  
per household on Internet, phone and television services -- consumer  
groups say the reports are often the only source for detailed data  
that show how the providers are responding to service complaints and  
whether companies are investing enough in upgrading their networks.

"These companies are the carriers of last resort because they have the  
backbone networks, and if you get rid of the standards, then standards  
almost inevitably get lower," said David Bergmann, head of  
telecommunications for the National Association of State Utility  
Consumer Advocates.

Specifically, the FCC is expected to approve a petition by AT&T as  
part of an order that would include a proposal to revamp the current  
rule on the annual reports, according to sources at the commission who  
spoke on condition of anonymity because the vote is pending. AT&T's  
petition, filed June 2007, was followed by similar requests from  
Verizon and Qwest.

The FCC was expected to reject a request in the AT&T petition that  
seeks to free the company from providing information on the number of  
business phone line subscribers it has, data that can be useful for  
determining other rules on competition, officials at the agency said.  
The company would have to collect and file its annual report until the  
end of 2009 -- a timetable that would allow the agency to review new  
rulemaking.

"We need to update this for a level playing field with the marketplace  
of today," said FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin, who said he would back  
the order today. "On quality of service, for example, if that data is  
relevant for one carrier, then it should be relevant for all platforms."

The rule was created in 1990, when telephone companies had a monopoly  
over specific regions and most homes did not subscribe to wireless  
phone service and digital cable. Since then, the competitive landscape  
in telecommunications has become more complex, with cable operators  
offering phone service and phone companies offering digital television  
and Internet over fiber-optic networks.

Consumer groups and smaller competitors yesterday criticized the  
pending order, saying the data sent to the FCC holds the biggest phone  
operators accountable for quality and service problems while also  
giving smaller providers key information about the larger companies'  
network investments. By granting the petition and uncertainty about a  
review of data requirements, they said the larger phone companies may  
benefit over smaller carriers.

The phone companies argue that the reports offer redundant or  
unnecessary data. For example, AT&T said its data on consumer  
complaints come from information provided by the FCC.

The company also said the current rule is unfair if new competitors in  
other industries aren't subject to the same requirements.

"Our petition seeks to update the FCC's data-collection methods," AT&T  
spokesman Michael Balmoris said. "Under our petition, only necessary  
data will continue to be retained, but the inefficient and incomplete  
reporting of them will not."

Last year AT&T said it received 2.2 residential complaints per 100  
phone lines per month; Verizon received 2.1 complaints per 100 lines  
per month; and Qwest received 1.3 complaints. AT&T reported that 12  
percent of its subscribers who filed trouble reports, filed more than  
once. For Verizon, it was 17 percent.