The National Content and Technology Cooperative said Monday that an unspecified number of people who attended the Independent Show conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, July 24-27 have tested positive for COVID-19. 

“It has come to our attention that some of our Independent Show attendees have tested positive for COVID upon returning home,” NCTC said in an email message to members. “We are alerting you so you can take the proper measures to self-test and should you test positive, to ensure you are taking the proper precautions and following CDC recommended guidelines.” 

The show was the first the organization, in partnership with ACA Connects, had held in person in two years. Highlights of the show included several panel discussions, the unveiling of the NCTC’s new name and the status of a pending MVNO wireless deal for member companies. 

Also: Borrelli Says New Name Emphasizes NCTC Strength 

COVID continues to be a factor hanging over travel and big gatherings. Out of caution, the Television Critics Association switched a planned return to an in-person summer press tour to make it virtual. Attendees of the recent Comic-Con convention in San Diego, too, shared on Twitter that they went home with COVID. 

“We take the safety of our members and staff seriously,” NCTC CEO Lou Borrelli said in a statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are alerting attendees that we have received reports from a small number of attendees that they have tested positive so that others may be proactive in the care of themselves and their families. We will not share any specifics due to privacy and other legal regulations and concerns.” 

Also: Former Congressman Gives Advice on How to Win Broadband Funding  

Prior to the event, NCTC had estimated that 150 to 170 NCTC and ACAC member companies would send more than 300 staffers to the show, and more than 120 exhibiting companies would send more than 300 staff members. ■  

ACA Connects said it has vetted FCC broadband data and the conclusion is that 1) fixed broadband competition is "thriving"; 2) any added regulation--like Title II-based net neutrality rules--is unwarranted and unhelpful, and 3) if the FCC does decide to regulate ISPs anyway, it should exempt the smaller providers ACAC represents.

That is according to a new ACAC white paper, the aptly titled "Broadband Competition Is Thriving Across America," which paints a rosy picture of competition both now and in the future, and of government subsidies that will further boost deployment and serve as governors on price and spurs to speed.

Based on the FCC broadband data, which is collected from ISPs, ACAC predicts that that "thriving" competition will become even more intense in the near future, and even where there may not be at least two providers, the government's investment of tens of billions of dollars in broadband buildout infrastructure funding means that those areas "already have or soon will have access to a subsidized provider of fixed broadband service whose prices and other terms of service are already subject to regulatory oversight," it said.

That is in addition to the tens of billions of dollars annually that ISPs continue to invest in their plant, the association said.

The paper says that more than 90% of households can get at least one provider offering high-speed broadband at 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) download speeds and 20 Mbps-plus upload and at least one other provider offering 25 Mbps/3-plus Mbps. It projects that by 2025, at least 74% of the country will have access to two providers with 100/20-plus speeds and probably more like 84% given plans for ramping up fiber to the home.

ACAC concedes there is a potential problem with the FCC data, specifically that the commission's data on households with access to broadband considers service to be available to any census block where at least one household can get service. In less dense areas, that could lead to overestimating the number of households with broadband.

Also: FCC Schedules Broadband Data Collection Webinar

But ACAC sees a competitive silver lining, arguing that "a provider offering service to some, but not all, households in a census block is often in a position where it could expand service to all the remaining households in the census block at relatively low cost. Thus, the provider poses a threat of relatively quick entry, and this will likely affect the prices charged by rivals, even to households that the additional competitor is not immediately capable of serving."

ACAC concludes that any justification there may have been for Title II-based regulation of cable access has "vanished."

Any chance that the FCC could re-institute net neutrality rules in the near term is also fading given the stalled nomination of third Democratic commissioner Gigi Sohn. 

“After decades of investment by multiple fixed broadband providers in every local market – amounting to well over $1 trillion during that time – the vast majority of American consumers now have a choice of broadband providers offering robust, reliable, fixed broadband service," said ACAC president Grant Spellmeyer. "And the reach and intensity of competition will only increase..." ■

The ACA Connects board has tapped veteran communications executive Grant Spellmeyer to succeed current president and CEO Matt Polka, who is exiting the association in July.

Spellmeyer most recently was VP of government affairs for US Cellular, bringing with him wireline and wireless legal issue experience at the local and national levels.

At US Cellular, he was responsible for directing federal and state legislative regulation for the 21-state carrier and was the company's primary contact with Congress and the FCC. He joined that company in 2006 from TDS Telecommunications (TDS) -- an ACAC member -- where he was director of legal affairs and carrier relations.

"Grant Spellmeyer’s indisputable qualifications and his understanding of smaller, independent companies made it clear to me he’s the President and CEO we need at this time," said ACAC Vice Chairman Mike Bowker. "Simply put, Mr. Spellmeyer has a reputation for getting things done – and we like that at ACAC," said ACAC Board Chair Patricia Jo Boyers. 

“Simply put,” Boyers added, “Mr. Spellmeyer has a reputation for getting things done – and we like that at ACAC.”

“I look forward to working with ACAC’s experienced staff, ACAC members, and federal and state policy makers to strengthen the position of independent companies in the communications marketplace,” Spellmeyer said in a statement. “One overarching goal is to ensure ACAC members continue to succeed in providing consumers with a variety of competitive services – regardless of company size or geography – today and in the future.”  

Spellmeyer's resume also includes telecom and corporate law at Axley Brynelson in Madison, Wisconsin. He got his bachelor's in economics and Master's in public policy and administration as well as his law degree from the University of Wisconsin. He was also a legislative staffer in the Wisconsin assembly, and was an intern to Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Jon Wilcox.

“I want to thank Chairman Boyers, Vice Chairman Bowker, and the selection committee for their time and dedication to choosing the right person to be our next ACAC leader,” Polka said of his successor. “Grant Spellmeyer has an impeccable record and the essential experience needed to successfully guide the ACAC team and our members into the next 25 years.”

Polka announced his departure earlier this month, passing on to his successor a legacy of looking for common ground to achieve important goals as well as a willingness to be tapped as a resource going forward. 

"We have always sought to find people in Washington who are willing to work together to solve the communications issues facing our citizens, nation and industry," Polka told Multichannel News following the announcement of his departure. "We haven’t always agreed, but we have never been disagreeable.  It hasn’t been the easiest path, but it has been the right path, and I am very proud that we stuck to it regardless of the political winds that always swirled around us."

ACAC represents about 600 smaller and midsized cable/broadband/telecom carriers.

“I would like to offer my congratulations to both ACA and Grant Spellmeyer on today’s announcement," said Michael Powell, president of NCTA-the Internet & Television Association. "Grant is taking the helm of ACA at a very important time for the industry as we all work on the important mission of connecting every American to broadband. We wish Grant all the best on his transition to ACA and look forward to working closely with him and his team on these important issues.” ■

ACA Connects President Matt Polka is stepping down in July, according to the association, which represents small and midsized cable/broadband operators.

In announcing the leadership change, Polka said that after 25 years at the helm of the organization, he thought it was time to "pass on the privilege of leadership for the healthy growth and future success of the organization,” Polka said. 

There‘s no word on a successor, but ACAC said it has almost wrapped up the search and expects to unveil the name during its mid-May board meeting.

Polka said he plans to spend more time writing, with his family, and serving his local church.

Also: Five Spot with Matt Polka

As for ACAC? “It’s onward and upward,” said Polka in announcing the move. “I will always be there for our members, the board, and the experienced ACAC team, whom I have been privileged, honored and blessed to serve for 25 years. But what is most important is the future success of our members and association, and that’s bigger than any one person. ... I know that new vision and energy will take ACA Connects to even greater accomplishments, built upon our solid foundation of doing things the right way and never backing down or giving up.”

Polka has headed the association since 1997 and before that, was VP and general counsel for Star Cable Associates and a communications attorney.

Under Polka, ACAC grew to be a lobbying force in D.C. for the interests of smaller cable and then broadband operators, including securing collective programming negotiation rights for its members. 

“The cable industry will miss Matt’s leadership, integrity and effective representation, and I’ll miss his friendship and collegiality that makes him such a great advocate for his members," said NCTA-the Internet & Television Association President Michael Powell. "Matt’s 25 years of leading ACA Connects is a remarkable tenure in which the industry faced significant policy battles and he tackled every issue with a calm demeanor and steady hand. Congratulations to Matt on his upcoming retirement and we wish him all the best in the coming months and the next chapter of his life.”

“NAB congratulates Matt Polka on his 25 years of service to ACA Connects, where he has been a steadfast champion for his members and served the organization with distinction," said National Association of Broadcasters President Curtis LeGeyt. "NAB and America’s broadcasters wish him all the best going forward.”■

Nexstar Media Group is pushing back at the FCC on ACA Connects‘ characterization of the broadcaster’s failure to reach a retransmission-consent agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative, which collectively negotiates for smaller operators, saying ACAC was misleading the commission.

The Federal Communications Commission had sought comment on how it had implemented the retrans buying groups and truth-in-billing provisions in the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019.

Also: Retrans Buying Group Provisions in TVPA Working, ACA Connects Says

ACAC, which represents smaller, independent cable operators, said that the buying group provision was generally working, with the exception of the failed Nexstar negotiation. It said that failure was in part because Nexstar ”at one point refused to negotiate unless NCTC agreed to forgo rights given buying groups under the FCC’s rules. To take just one example, Nexstar insisted that the negotiations be limited to NCTC members of a much smaller size than granted under the FCC rules.“

In comments filed this week, though, Nexstar said that was not the case, arguing that ACAC had provided “misleading facts” and pointing out that both the NCTC and Nexstar were party to nondisclosure agreements on proposed terms and pondering how ACAC, a nonparty, had gotten hold of the information, which in any event was not correct, it told the FCC.

Rather than insisting, Nexstar said it merely proposed that the deal cover operators with 50,000 subs or fewer, rather than the operators with 500,000 or fewer the TVPA allowed, in case some of the larger operators wanted to negotiate individually.

“Nexstar in no way intended to override the right of any statutorily eligible NCTC member to participate in the collective agreement,” the broadcaster told the FCC. “Rather, [the company] ‘bracketed in’ a lower subscribership benchmark [50,000] simply in recognition of the possibility that NCTC’s larger member MVPDs might prefer to continue to negotiate individual agreements directly with Nexstar.”

At any rate, said Nexstar, when NCTC said it wanted to stick with 500,000, Nexstar “promptly acquiesced” and subsequent proposals made that the cutoff.

“Nexstar and NCTC were unable to reach an agreement. However, the question of the size of participating members was resolved in NCTC’s favor on day two of the negotiations,” Nexstar said. ”Accordingly, contrary to ACA’s assertions, Nexstar never ‘insisted’ on limiting MVPD participation in its agreement with NCTC to fewer than the NCTC’s statutorily eligible members.”

ACAC declined comment. ■

Smaller cable operators are urging the Federal Communications Commission not to make subscribers now using the $50-per-month Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) subsidy under that sunsetting COVID-19-related program opt in to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) during the transition to ACP.

The FCC has been seeking input on how to make the transition to the infrastructure bill's low-income $14 billion ACP subsidy and ACA Connects said it should make it as seamless as possible, including automatically enrolling EBB users in ACP unless they opt out by the March 1, 2022, date for the launch of ACP.

Also: ISPs Seek ACP Safe Harbor

The FCC has suggested an opt-in regime could prevent the "bill shock" from going from the $50 maximum monthly benefit to the $30 subsidy, but ACA Connects said it agrees with the Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council that affirmative opt-in would likely lead to confusion and households unknowingly or unwillingly being dropped from the subsidy if they did not opt in by March 1.

As to the "bill shock" point, ACAC has pointed out in earlier comments that there is a hybrid opt-in/opt-out approach the FCC could take if it does decide to require opt-in. ACAC says the FCC should provide opt-out for former EBB households "that have demonstrated their willingness to pay for broadband service absent any discount or that would experience only a minimal increase or no increase to their monthly bill."

Also: ISPs Say Don't Mandate Subsidies on Grandfathered Plans

For households that did not respond by March 1, either knowingly or over "bill shock," ACAC said they should have a "grace period" of, say, three weeks, to re-enroll without having to apply through the National Verifier, which is how the FCC is going to track who is eligible for the benefit. ■

A new report from ACA Connects and consulting firm Cartesian says it could take up to $179 billion in government subsidies to build out universal, "future-proof" (at least 100/100 Mbps) broadband, more, even than the Biden Administration has proposed in all its broadband subsidies.

The money would be needed to fill the gaps in broadband infrastructure, availability and adoption, according to the report.

A somewhat less costly investment -- still $61 billion-$118 billion -- could achieve gigagit broadband to all locations with less than 100/20 Mbps service that are not part of the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I, with enough left over to boost adoption for about half of the 33 million Lifeline-eligible households over five years.

Among the other key takeaways from the report:

1. "[A]pproximately 12 million households – including 8.2 million in partially served Census blocks not previously accounted for in FCC data – do not have access to 25/3 Mbps broadband [the FCC's current high-speed minimum], while approximately 30 million households do not subscribe to fixed broadband when it is available.

2. "Gigabit service availability has increased by approximately 50% since 2018, while areas that lack at least 100/20 Mbps service have declined by just 3 percentage points in the same period.

3. "Income Remains the Largest Barrier to Adoption, Regardless of Geography. An estimated 30 million households (~25% of U.S. households) do not subscribe to fixed broadband at home for reasons other than network availability, and 36% of non-subscribing households earn less than $20,000 per year. A comparable percentage of homes in rural and non-rural areas (29% versus 28%) do not subscribe even when service is available."

ACAC President Matt Polka says that if the country is going to make a "once in a generation" investment, then it needs analysis like this report to help it get the most broadband bang for its buck.

“We look forward to sharing our findings with all government policymakers, industry sectors, consumer interests, and other stakeholders," said Polka. "It’s a public resource for all stakeholders to use to help ensure the available funding is put to the best use.”

The report's funding model is based on maximizing essential access, which means prioritizing funding in unserved and with the least mature infrastructure.

ACA Connects, which represents small and midsized cable and telecom providers, has made several executive changes in some key service areas, according to ACAC president Matt Polka.

John Higginbotham, who has been EVP of membership and finance has been named EVP and chief operating officer, responsible for all operations and staff, a move ACAC said will allow Polka to focus on the association's relationships with members, partners and Washington.

"He is a true leader with vast industry and management experience who will help ACAC meet the needs of today and our future," said Polka.

Also Read: ACAC Names SHEMA Replacement

Before joining ACAC in February 2020, Higginbotham was assistant general manager of Telecommunications at the Frankfort (Ky.) Plant Board in Kentucky, an ACAC member. During that time he was a director of the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC).

Caroline Persinger, who had been grass roots manager before leaving ACAC to move to Florida with her family, has returned in that post.

Also Read: ACAC Faithful Hope to Sway Legislators

Tomeika Slappy, who has been executive assistant, has been named assistant to the the president and CEO.

"Our entire ACAC team is focused this year on coming out of 2020 stronger than ever for our Members in the areas of advocacy, communications and education," said Polka, and I thank John, Caroline and Tomeika, and all of our terrific team for their Member service and leadership." 

ACA Connects is telling the FCC that the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 (TVPA) appears to have paid off in terms of program pricing for smaller operators banding together to do retrans deals with larger broadcast groups.

That is according to an ex parte filing summarizing a meeting between Ross Lieberman of ACA Connects (accompanied by ACAC outside counsel Michael Nilsson) and Tyler Bridegan of new Republican FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington’s office.

The topic was growing broadcast media consolidation and the resulting increases in retransmission consent fees.

But the good news, according to ACAC, was that in the wake of the TVPA, which requires large station groups to negotiate with buying groups, notably the National Cable Television Cooperative, in good faith, the first retrans negotiations under that regime resulted in lower fees than if the smaller MVPDS had negotiated individually rather than in a buying group.

NCTC's equal bargaining status took effect July 20.

ACAC pushed for years to get the government to recognize NCTA, so the TVPA mandate was a victory for the association. But ACAC signaled that while an improvement, the problem was not solved. "Make no mistake, the broadcasters still have an incredible amount of leverage and the terms and conditions of these deals were not great for the small cable operators opting into them," the summary said.

ACAC said more good news was that the FCC had proposed nearly $10 million in fines against Sinclair-associated stations for failing to negotiate in good faith, and $48 million in fines of Sinclair, also for, among other things, failing to negotiate in good faith.

Smaller cable operators banded together under the National Cable Television Cooperative to negotiate better deals for TV station carriage than they could on their own when going up against large TV station groups.  

NCTC collectively represents "hundreds" of smaller operators in programming negotiations, including broadcast stations, but before TVPA was not covered by the FCC's requirement that those negotiations be conducted in good faith, as they must be with individual MVPDs.

The FCC has approved the final cost catalog for C-Band transition expenses, saying ACA Connects (ACAC), which represents small and midsized cable/broadband providers,  had failed to make the case for overturning a Wireless Bureau decision establishing the final cost catalog.

"We find that the Final Cost Catalog Public Notice was consistent with the directives and policy goals of the 3.7 GHz [C-Band] Report and Order and implementing rules, was compliant with the procedural requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act and the Commission’s ex parte rules, and was based on ample evidence that supports its factual findings," the FCC said in a decision issued Thursday (Nov. 19).

Related: Court Won't Block FCC C-Band Payment Deadline

The FCC is paying cable operators and other earth station operators to move off the lower portion of the band so it can auction it for 5G starting next month, giving them the option of itemizing expenses or a lump sum.

In a move that ACAC had signaled would be challenged (which it did in the courts as well as at the FCC), the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau in July released the final cost catalog for C-Band relocation expenses and lump sum elections and it did not include compensating cable operators for integrated receiver/decoders (IRDS), as ACA Connects and other cable operators had pushed for.  

Including the IRD costs would make it easier for cable ops to move to fiber delivery, but the FCC said the lump sum was meant to approximate the cost of moving earth stations, not moving to a new distribution technology.

The FCC concluded that the costs of integrated IRDS should be attributed to space station operators, not earth station operators and that the lumps sum payment process was "procedurally sound."

ACAC had also argued that the FCC should not have finalized the lump sum payments before it finalized the plans for transitioning incumbent C-Band users, including cable and broadcasters, as part of the repack. But the FCC said the claim that was a rush to judgment were unsupported. It pointed out the payment plan came out after initial transition plans were filed and that, in any event, "Nothing in the 3.7 GHz Report and Order required the Bureau to wait to announce lump sum amounts until after Transition Plans were finalized; indeed nothing in the 3.7 GHz Report and Order even required the Bureau to seek comment on the lump sum payments before announcing its final determination."

When the pandemic sent everyone home, small broadband providers went to work, "leaning in" said Patricia Boyers, president of Boycom Vision, a small Missouri provider, to keep their people connected.

Boyers, who is also chairman of ACA Connects, talked about the challenges and triumphs of smaller cable broadband providers during an interview for C-SPAN's Communicators series. She was joined by ACA Connects president Matt Polka, who echoed her sentiments, calling what his members had done a "great untold story."

Boyers suggested Washington had not necessarily made the job easier, citing the many hoops her company has to jump through. Asked whether she found that Washington got in her way, she said: "Oh my gosh, how much time you got." She said that she has office space just for dealing with the IRS and all the public service commissions and the FCC. "Every time you turn around, somebody wants a piece of something. There's regulatory, there's EPA, there's the Department of National Resources. She did say she considered the current FCC "an ally," but past ones "not so much."

Polka, whose job it is to educate Washington about how regulation and legislation and policies impact smaller operators without the money and staff of the Comcast's and Charters of the world, framed it somewhat differently. He said that ACAC was working "hand in hand" with Washington on "sensible laws and regulations" that allowed them to invest and deploy. He said Boyers was making the point that there is a difference between serving densely populated areas and rural ones, many of them, like Boyers', "perpetually impoverished according to federal standards." He said those were remote places that were hard to serve, but cost the same or more to build as urban areas. He said ACAC was with Washington "in lockstep" on serving rural areas, but that policymakers have to understand the different challenges they face.

Boyers said that one thing she learned during the pandemic was how to keep her employees safe by keeping them in their own "bubbles," whether it was doing drops thought windows or putting modems on porches and walking subs through self-installs or getting a donation of PPE equipment from a laboratory so they could get fiber to the home when their CEO had to start working from home.

She also pointed out that she and her husband raised black angus beef cattle on the side to subsidize their small business in the early years, which wound up coming in handy. She said when ground beef became scarce, they slaughtered some of the cows to donate the ground beef to their employees. She said those were some of the ways they had "rolled their sleeves up."

Asked about the strain of the pandemic, and the use of Zoom, on her business, Boyers did not talk about it in terms of capacity, but as a personal tool for leveling the playing field in Washington. "Zoom is a great equalizer. It has allowed us to get into the offices of legislators. "If you are looking at this screen [the C-SPAN interview was a virtual one] my face is the same size as your face and Matt's face. Now if you go on the Hill in person, that old boy from Charter in front of me [one of the largest MVPDS vs. Boyer's 4,258 subs], he fills up the doorway a lot bigger than I do."

Polka stepped in to answer the underlying question about capacity. He said that as the pandemic was starting there was the underlying question of whether networks could handle the capacity of all that stay-at-home communicating and the initial "incredible surge" in demand.

He said the answer was that because of the ability of his members to invest in and deploy plant over the past four years to use new and alternative technologies, they were preparing to meet the pandemic before they even knew there would be one. He said that it turned out because of that there was capacity to spare. "Our members were ready to meet that need and continue to do so."

Polka said he thought Zoom would become part of the new normal as people prepared to move slowly back to offices, or perhaps not return.

Asked what the impact of the pandemic had been on cord-cutting, Polka said that streaming is more popular than ever and cord cutting was certainly an issue, driven by a lot of factors, including the higher cost of retransmission consent which drives cable prices higher and more customers to streaming options. But he said the good news was that a company even like Patty's can give consumers those new over-the-top services as well as traditional cable or a mix of both.

Asked if cable is still a 21st century technology, Boyers said yes "in my neck of the woods." She said that while people have talked about the pandemic putting everyone in the same boat, that was not really the case. "We were all in the same storm, but in a bunch of different little boats." She said her "boat" is different from the technology side than folks on the East and West coasts and even the metropolitan areas of the Midwest."

She said she still has subs who are elderly and impoverished and don't even have the money to pay for over-the-top services. So, yes, she said, the linear cable TV product is still viable for her subs. She said cord-cutting had slowed as the uncertainty of incomes increased.

Boyers said affordability is another challenge in the digital divide.

The Communicators interview will air Saturday, Nov. 21, at 6:30 p.m. ET on C-SPAN, and on Monday, Nov. 23, on C-SPAN2 at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET.

ACA Connects said the FCC needs to continue to conclude that advanced telecommunications is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, and that COVID-19 has revealed that is the best conclusion to draw.

ACAC was making that point in comments in the FCC's notice of inquiry, seeking input on its next Sec. 706 annual report to Congress on broadband deployment.

The FCC has been concluding under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that ongoing deployment year-over-year progress by ISPs meets the standard of reasonable and timely, following Democratic FCC's conclusion that because it was not yet available to all Americans, progress toward that goal did not meet the standard.

ACAC agreed. "ACA Connects members and other broadband providers have continued to expand and upgrade their broadband networks throughout the previous year," it told the FCC, with the pandemic putting a spotlight on that.

"The onset of COVID-19 put these networks to the test—and they delivered. "As Americans turned to broadband to meet their daily needs and to stay connected in the midst of this pandemic, broadband networks were able to bear the increased traffic loads and shifting patterns of daily usage," ACAC said. "This success story is the result of broadband providers’ sustained investments in their networks – driven to a significant extent by a light-touch regulatory regime."

A conclusion that deployment is not reasonable and timely authorizes the FCC to regulate, including rate regulations, to make it so. 

ACAC conceded there is still deployment work to be done, which it said the FCC can help with by, among other things, insuring that utility pole replacement costs are allocated fairly and defining lack of deployment narrowly to avoid overbuilding private capital.

Responding to the FCC’s request for additional input in its “Collecting Broadband Deployment Data” proceeding, ACA Connects filed comments this week recommending that the Commission relax some of its proposed filing requirements for small cable systems.

The Commission established a new broadband deployment data collection process last year that requires providers to submit geospatial maps of their fixed broadband coverage areas and improve the existing Form 477 data collection. Last month, “to maintain that momentum,” the agency opened a “Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” seeking to get “more granular, precise maps” that will find out more details about broadband access and availability.

“Accurate and precise broadband maps are of enormous importance” for FCC and other federal policymaking, the Commission said in opening the process.  

Related: FCC Broadband Data Map Rules Go Into Effect Sept. 17

In its response, ACAC acknowledged that the “collection of accurate and more granular broadband deployment data, as required by the Broadband DATA Act” is important but that the process should not “unnecessarily burden smaller providers.”

“Both the FCC and Congress have taken steps toward achieving” the goal of upgrading the broadband mapping process, said ACA Connects president and CEO Matthew M. Polka, adding that “ACA members are more than willing to do their part in this collection, especially because they serve and want to serve more rural areas of the country.”

But he cautioned that, “smaller broadband providers have limited resources and should not have to comply with requirements that are overly burdensome, especially in responding to challenges to their submissions.”

The ACAC response includes a seven-point list of recommendations to make it easier for smaller cable firms (its primary membership) to comply with FCC reporting requirements, including “technical assistance and other relief to help smaller providers meet” their obligations. ACAC also seeks elimination of a mandate to submit an engineering certification for every Digital Opportunity Data Collection (DODC) report – which ACAC calls  a “burdensome” obligation.

Echoing the comments of others, ACAC contends that, the Commission should “value accuracy over speed” particularly in early stages of the review process.

ACAC wants the FCC to assist smaller providers in reporting Geographic Information System (GIS) data and “reduce their burdens by giving them more time to file their initial shapefile (polygon) reports.”  This process would also allow small operators to report broadband data in the format of their choosing. The ACAC plan asks the FCC to permit small operators 60 days to respond to challenges involving a single location and 180 days for bulk challenges involving multiple locations.

The ACAC filing wants the FCC to waive the requirement for an engineer’s certification in certain situations: specifically for broadband providers using DOCSIS or FTTx network technologies. ACAC claims that “these technologies are subject to established standards that ensure consistent transmission performance throughout the network.”

Most emphatically, ACAC asks the FCC to “adopt an enforcement regime that focuses on facilitating compliance rather than punishing providers for flawed broadband data submitted in good faith.”

The Federal Communications Commission and ACA Connects - America’s Communications Association have taken predictably contrary stances in their filings Tuesday (Sept. 8) about the FCC’s proposed Sept. 14 deadline for C-Band earth station operators (which includes cable companies) to opt for a lump sum payment to abandon spectrum that will be reallocated quickly for a 5G spectrum auction.

In filings to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which ACAC asked last month to stay the FCC’s Sept. 14 deadline, both sides explained the dire implications of next week’s target date - either meeting it or delaying it.

There is no initial indication of when the Appeals Court will respond. 

The FCC, in its opposition to ACAC’s Writ of Mandamus appeal (asking the Federal court to stop the clock), contended that “speed is essential.”

The Commission said that stakeholders ”have repeatedly emphasized the need to make C-Band spectrum available for [terrestrial wireless] use as quickly as possible,” and emphasized that “delaying the transition of this spectrum longer than necessary will have significant negative effects …[on] the American consumer and American leadership in 5G.”  The FCC contends that the C-Band’s 3.7 GHz and 4.2 GHz spectrum “is essential for 5G buildout due to its desirable coverage, capacity, and propagation characteristics.”

Related: FCC Sets December Auction for C-Band Spectrum

ACAC countered that the FCC’s demand that earth station operators make “irrevocable elections about their technological future” is unreasonable.  It cited possibilities for relocation or fiber adoption and argued that the upcoming deadline has destroyed the promised equality that was an intent of the lump sum payment process.

The Association also argues that the relocation lump sum “pales in comparison to other uncertainties” of the 5G auction, where bidders may spend $43 to $77 billion dollars for licenses, according to ACAC.  “At most, lump-sum elections would affect barely 1% of total payments,” it said, adding that results of a competitive auction are ”inherently unpredictable” and may “vary by tens of billions of dollars.”  

“Speculation that a stay could jeopardize the C-Band transition is unfounded,” ACA said, pointing out that the “earliest transition date is not until December 2021.”

Harsh Regulatory Skirmish

Setting the tone for its stance, the FCC in its introductory comments charged that the “ACA’s (sic) desire for more money to subsidize member MVPDs’ transition to fiber fails to justify its request for this extraordinary relief.”

“The FCC has consistently made clear that the lump sum was not intended to provide this sort of windfall to MVPDs,” the filing continues, further charging that “disrupting the C-Band relocation would severely harm the interests of the many other participants—and the public—in a smooth and speedy transition.” The agency further argues that pushing back the lump sum payment deadline will affect the repacking process, which would “impede the efforts of potential bidders to prepare for the upcoming C-Band auction.”

The FCC also singles out the potential “harm to programmers and broadcasters that depend on satellites to deliver their programming to television viewers.” It cites concerns that shortening the timetable would delay “the determination of critical information for satellite operators’ planning”  which could “increase the potential for mistakes” during the transition, including the “failure of program delivery.”

For its part, ACAC said that the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau was wrong in its fundamental decision about the payment plan.

ACAC said the FCC has not explained the inconsistency in claiming that “physically installing earth station IRDs [integrated receiver/decoders] is ‘necessary’” but that the cost of “obtaining those same IRDs is not.” Excluding the cost from the lump sum payment “is utterly illogical.”

The Association also charged the Wireless bureau with violating standard decision-making procedures, and not disclosing its calculation process.  It claimed that “threshold” estimates vary widely - sometimes affecting 5% of earth stations, other times 30% - with no explanation for the “glaring inconsistencies.” ACAC pointed out that its own methodology for cost estimates was transparent.

“The Bureau’s deficient lump-sum determination defeats efficient decision-making,” ACAC said, adding that the harm of a premature process “cannot be dismissed as purely monetary.”

“An MVPD that elects a lump sum now and applies the money toward relocation cannot later go back in time and reallocate already spent funds toward fiber – even if the MVPD would have applied a properly-determined lump sum toward fiber” initially, ACAC said.

Finally, ACAC dismissed “alarmist” cries that a stay would interfere with the C-Band transition. Delaying the deadline would only affect “the subset of earth stations that would opt out of relocation if offered a properly-determined lump sum. … And if a stay enables more earth station operators to opt out of relocations, that would lessen satellite operators’ burden.”

A federal appeals court has given the FCC until Friday (Sept. 4) at 10 a.m. to respond to a request by ACA Connects that the court stay the FCC's deadline for electing lump sum payments for moving off C-band spectrum.

Then ACAC has until Tuesday (Sept. 8) to respond.

ACAC last week filed a writ of mandamus, which is a request for emergency action from the court. 

ACAC wants the court to stay the FCC's Sept. 14 deadline for earth station operators, which includes cable operators, to elect a lump sum payment for moving to the upper portion of C-Band spectrum to make way for an auction of the lower portion for 5G. The original deadline was Aug. 31, but the FCC extended it. ACAC asked the FCC to stay the deadline and reconsider the underlying decision, and also asked for a decision on the stay by Aug. 26, which did not happen. 

Related: FCC Extends C-Band Lump Sum Payment Deadline

The three-judge panel that will be ruling on the writ request comprises judges Cornelia Pillard, Neomi Rao, and Robert Wilkins. 

Electing a lump some means "irrevocably waiving other compensation," ACAC has said, so it wants the FCC to get the payments right, something it said is not the case currently. "The deficiencies in formulating the lump-sum amount could indefinitely defer fiber-optic deployment that would allow upgrades and expansion of broadband access in areas served by ACA Connects’ members," it said. 

ACAC wants the lump sum payment deadline stayed while it asks the FCC to reconsider the underlying decision on what to include in the C-band relocation cost catalog for that lump sum.

The FCC has denied ACA Connects' (ACAC) request that it stay its deadline, now Sept. 14, for earth station operators to elect a lump sum payment for their move out of the lower C-Band to make way for a 5G auction.

The cable operators represented by ACAC were already looking to a federal appeals court to step in and stay the deadline.

The FCC's Wireless Communications Bureau concluded that ACAC had not shown a likelihood of winning a review of the FCC's lump sum payment final cost catalog on the merits, or that ACAC members would suffer irreparable harm absent a stay, or that the stay would not harm others, or that the public interest would be served by the waiver. "ACA falls far short of the required showing for each of those required elements," said the bureau.

Related: ACAC Asks Court to Force FCC Stay

In a move last month that ACAC had signaled could land the FCC in court, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released the final cost catalog for C-band relocation expenses and lump sum elections and it did not include compensating cable operators for integrated receiver/decoders (IRDS), as ACA Connects and other cable operators had pushed for.   

Related: Cable Ops Say FCC Is Lowballing C-Band Payments 

Including the IRD costs would make it easier for cable ops to move to fiber delivery, but the FCC said the lump sum was meant to approximate the cost of moving earth stations, not moving to a new distribution technology. 

The C-Band is used to distribute network programming to broadcasters and cable operators and remote signals to studios. 

IRDs receive and decode satellite signals from programmers and are needed if cable ops move earth stations, but not if they transition to fiber delivery.   

The FCC is clearing the lower 300 MHz of the 500 MHz C-Band satellite spectrum for auction to wireless carriers for terrestrial broadband. The incumbent users, including cable operators, are being compensated for their move out of that spectrum.   

Cable operators wanted the lump sum to include payment for relocating all of their earth stations but be free to use it to transition some or all of their earth stations to fiber delivery instead. ACAC urged the commission "to give earth station operators flexibility to pursue alternative technology upgrade strategies if doing so would be more efficient." 

“ACA Connects is disappointed, but not surprised, by the Bureau’s untimely denial of ACA Connects’ Request for Stay," said ACA Connects. Untimely because ACAC had asked the FCC for a decision last week given the fast-approaching deadline--the FCC did extend it from Aug. 31--and failing to get that sought a court stay.

"The Bureau reviewed its own decision and unsurprisingly concluded that it did nothing improper – all while evading rather than answering ACA Connects’ arguments," said ACAC. “That is why ACA Connects has sought relief from the D.C. Circuit – a neutral and disinterested venue for reviewing the Bureau’s errors, which include a lump sum determination that departed from the FCC’s C-Band Order and regulations, was the product of secret meetings with unidentified stakeholders, and rests on undisclosed data and an impossible-to-reproduce methodology.”

The ACA Connects is asking a federal court to step in and stay the FCC's Sept. 14 deadline for earth station operators, which includes cable operators, to elect a lump sum payment for moving to the upper portion of C-Band spectrum to make way for an auction of the lower portion for 5G.

The original deadline was Aug. 31, but the FCC extended it. ACAC asked the FCC to stay the deadline and reconsider the underlying decision, and also asked for a decision on the stay by Aug. 26, which did not happen. 

"To date, we have not released any such ruling," said an FCC spokesperson.

Electing a lump some means "irrevocably waiving other compensation," said ACAC, so it wants the FCC to get the payments right, something it said is not the case currently. "The deficiencies in formulating the lump-sum amount could indefinitely defer fiber-optic deployment that would allow upgrades and expansion of broadband access in areas served by ACA Connects’ members," it said. 

ACAC filed a writ of mandamus with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asking it to stay the Sept. 14 deadline given that the FCC has yet to provide an answer on whether it will do so. That means that the FCC's decision is not final, which requires the writ of mandamus filing, which is to block an agency move even if the agency has not rendered and appealable final decision.

ACAC said the FCC decision on the lump sum payments were "the product of secret meetings with a handful of unidentified stakeholders" and "rests on undisclosed data and an impossible-to-reproduce methodology."

Related: FCC Extends C-Band Lump Sum Payment Deadline

The FCC is paying cable operators and other earth station operators to move off the lower portion of the band so it can auction it for 5G, giving them the option of itemizing expenses or a lump sum.

ACA Connects has issues with what the FCC is and isn't paying for, and asked it to stay the Aug. 31 deadline. It wanted a decision by Aug. 20. It also wants the FCC to review the decision to approve the cost catalog for the move, a catalog it said is lacking.

In the FCC stay petition. ACAC said that the cost catalog decision "is inconsistent with the Commission’s C-Band Order, rests on arbitrary and capricious reasoning, and was developed in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act’s public-notice and disclosure requirements."

In a move last month that ACAC had signaled could land the FCC in court, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released the final cost catalog for C-band relocation expenses and lump sum elections and it did not include compensating cable operators for integrated receiver/decoders (IRDS), as ACA Connects and other cable operators had pushed for.  

Including the IRD costs would make it easier for cable ops to move to fiber delivery, but the FCC said the lump sum was meant to approximate the cost of moving earth stations, not moving to a new distribution technology.  

“If MVPDs are forced to make an immediate, irrevocable decision whether to accept the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau’s deficient lump-sum amount, they will have a strong incentive to forgo the lump-sum option and choose earth station relocation -- even if upgrading to fiber would be less costly overall. The added public benefits from fiber upgrades would be lost. And once lost, those benefits cannot easily be salvaged,” said ACAC president Matt Polka.

ACA Connects has asked the FCC to give it a decision by Aug. 26 on its request that the FCC stay its deadline for electing the lump-sum payment for moving to new C-band spectrum.

The FCC is paying cable operators and other earth station operators to move off the lower portion of the band so it can auction it for 5G.

ACA Connects has issues with what the FCC is and isn't paying for, and asked it to stay the Aug. 31 deadline. It wanted a decision by Aug. 20. It also wants the FCC to review the decision to approve the cost catalog for the move, a catalog it said is lacking.

It plans to ask a federal appeals court to step in if the FCC decision is not to its liking.

Related: Programmers Ask FCC to Deny ACAC Stay of Lump Sum Payments Decision

But now that the FCC has extended the deadline by two weeks to Sept. 14, ACA Connects is asking for the decision by the 26th.

"In view of the Bureau’s extension of the deadline to Sept. 14, and in the interest of conserving the resources of the Commission and the court of appeals, ACA Connects hereby amends its Stay Request and respectfully asks the Commission to resolve that request by Aug. 26, 2020," it told the FCC in a request to amend its original stay request. "Absent a decision by Aug. 26, ACA Connects will seek a stay of the Sept. 14 deadline from the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit."

In the FCC stay petition. ACAC said that the cost catalog decision "is inconsistent with the Commission’s C-Band Order, rests on arbitrary and capricious reasoning, and was developed in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act’s public-notice and disclosure requirements."

In a move last month that ACAC had signaled could land the FCC in court, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released the final cost catalog for C-band relocation expenses and lump sum elections and it did not include compensating cable operators for integrated receiver/decoders (IRDS), as ACA Connects and other cable operators had pushed for.  

Content companies and broadcasters have told the FCC to reject ACA Connects' request to stay the deadline for earth station operators to elect lump sums in their move out of lower C-Band spectrum so the FCC can auction it for 5G. 

ACA Connects last week asked the FCC to stay its Aug. 31 deadline for picking the C-Band reimbursement lump sum payment and is asking the commission to reconsider its decision to exclude IRDs (see below). 

In a move last month that ACAC had signaled could land the FCC in court, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released the final cost catalog for C-Band relocation expenses and lump sum elections and it did not include compensating cable operators for integrated receiver/decoders (IRDS), as ACA Connects and other cable operators had pushed for.    

In a petition for stay and for review filed Aug. 13, ACA said that the FCC's decision "is inconsistent with the Commission’s C-Band Order, rests on arbitrary and capricious reasoning, and was developed in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act’s public-notice and disclosure requirements." 

“Staying the election deadline now will give the FCC an opportunity to review and correct the Bureau’s determination and will also reduce the risk of future significant disruption that would occur if the Bureau’s lump-sum determination were later set aside on judicial review,” said ACAC president Matt Polka. 

But in a filing with the FCC, Discovery, FOX Corp., Disney, and ViacomCBS (collectively "the content companies") joined with the National Association of Broadcasters to oppose the stay request.  

"In appropriately concluding that the cost of integrated receiver/decoder ('IRD') equipment is a space station expense that cannot lawfully be included in the lump sum payments, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau ('Bureau') made a well-reasoned decision based on a comprehensive record in this proceeding," they told the FCC. 

And more to their particular interest, the content companies said the stay "would needlessly delay the determination of information critical for satellite operators to make an orderly transition, thus putting the Nation’s video delivery system—and the public that relies upon it—at risk."

The FCC is seeking comment on ACA Connects petition to stay the FCC's lump sum election and review its cost catalog for C-Band repack reimbursement.  

The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau put the stay petition out for comment Friday (Aug. 14), with any opposition to the petition due Aug. 19. ACA Connects filed the petition Aug. 13. 

That quick turnaround--five days--is because the deadline for the lump sum election is Aug. 31. ACAC, had asked the FCC to act with dispatch on its request to stay the Aug. 31 deadline until Sept. 14 to give it time to seek a court stay if the FCC does not grant the stay. 

The bureau said oppositions to the ACAC request for review of the cost catalog is due by Aug. 28 and responses by Sept. 8. 

In a petition for stay and for review filed Aug. 13, ACA said that the FCC's decision "is inconsistent with the Commission’s C-Band Order, rests on arbitrary and capricious reasoning, and was developed in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act’s public-notice and disclosure requirements."

“Staying the election deadline now will give the FCC an opportunity to review and correct the Bureau’s determination and will also reduce the risk of future significant disruption that would occur if the Bureau’s lump-sum determination were later set aside on judicial review,” said ACAC president Matt Polka.

In a move last month that ACAC had signaled could land the FCC in court, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released the final cost catalog for C-band relocation expenses and lump sum elections and it did not include compensating cable operators for integrated receiver/decoders (IRDS), as ACA Connects and other cable operators had pushed for.    

Related: Cable Ops Say FCC Is Lowballing C-Band Payments 

Including the IRD costs would make it easier for cable ops to move to fiber delivery, but the FCC said the lump sum was meant to approximate the cost of moving earth stations, not moving to a new distribution technology.   

The C-Band is used to distribute network programming to broadcasters and cable operators and remote signals to studios.  

IRDs receive and decode satellite signals from programmers and are needed if cable ops move earth stations, but not if they transition to fiber delivery.    

The FCC is clearing the lower 300 MHz of the 500 MHz C-Band satellite spectrum for auction to wireless carriers for terrestrial broadband. The incumbent users, including cable operators, are being compensated for their move out of that spectrum.    

Cable operators wanted the lump some to include payment for relocating all of their earth stations but be free to use it to transition some or all of their earth stations to fiber delivery instead. ACAC urged the commission "to give earth station operators flexibility to pursue alternative technology upgrade strategies if doing so would be more efficient."   

Related: FCC Provides Guidance for C-Band Payment Clearinghouse 

Broadcasters teamed up with TV content companies--broadcast and cable programmers--to ask the FCC not to allow MVPDs to include IRDs in the lump sum.   

They argue, and the FCC agreed, that the expenses are properly assigned to programmers and satellite operators, not MVPDs.   

Cable operators said it is appropriate to include IRD costs in lump sum payments "to the extent an average earth station operator reasonably would expect to pay such expenses itself if it elected to submit actual costs for reimbursement."  

The content companies suggest that would balkanize the process impeding a smooth transition out of the lower C-Band.

In an organizational shift that reflects the growing shift from traditional to over-the-top video, ACA Connects said it will now allow broadband-only companies as members. 

Its members have voted to change the bylaws to allow for that larger tent. Previously, all members had to be defined as a cable operator under FCC definitions. 

The change "makes it possible for broadband-only companies to participate as members in ACA Connects and support its important advocacy on behalf of smaller, independent Internet service providers," the association said. 

The new provision in the bylaws will allow both new broadband-only members, and for members who move from traditional video to broadband-only to maintain their membership. 

In addition to approving the bylaws change, the ACAC board has re-elected Patricia Jo Boyers, president of BOYCOM Vision and current ACAC Chairman, to another two-term. Mike Bowker, COO of Cable One, was re-elected vice chairman. Both are two-year terms. 

Board members elected to three-year terms were: Shawn Beqaj, VP, regulatory and interconnection at Armstrong Group of Companies (Pa.); John Barrett, director, government relations, Great Plains Communications (Neb.); Diana Block, EVP, Block Communications (Ohio); John Cinelli, president, MetroNet (Ind.); Kathy Ford, SVP, legal affairs, WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone (Colo.); and Tom Larsen, SVP, government and public relations, Mediacom (N.Y.). 

ACAC president Matt Polka gave a shout out to the board and its leadership during the pandemic. “Daily business lives have been upended, whether it’s adopting work-from-home policies, installing emergency gear to increase network capacity or establishing new safety procedures," he said. "Our members did it all with great skill and deserve the recognition for such a selfless response to COVID-19. We will report to policy leaders on these efforts." 

ACA Connects is telling the FCC it could find itself in court if it excludes IRD (integrated receiver/decoder equipment) costs from the lump sum payment it is offering incumbent earth station operators to pay for moving off of their C-Band spectrum. 

Related: FCC to Vote on C-Band Auction Procedures 

That is according to a meeting between ACAC and FCC officials last week, who argue that the FCC's C-Band order is clear about IRD costs and do veer from that could render the order illegal. 

IRDs receive and decode satellite signals from programmers and are needed if cable ops move earth stations, but not if they transition to fiber delivery. 

Related: FCC Rejects Second Petition to Stay C-Band Order

The FCC is clearing the lower 300 MHz of the 500 MHz C-Band satellite spectrum for auction to wireless carriers for terrestrial broadband. The incumbent users, including cable operators, are being compensated for their move out of that spectrum. 

Cable operators want the lump some to include payment for relocating all of their earth stations but be free to use it to transition some or all of their earth stations to fiber delivery instead. ACAC urged the commission "to give earth station operators flexibility to pursue alternative technology upgrade strategies if doing so would be more efficient."  

Related: ACAC Gives FCC Lumps Over C-Band Lump Sum Payments

Broadcasters teamed up with TV content companies--broadcast and cable programmers--to ask the FCC not to allow MVPDs to include IRDs in the lump sum they can opt for in their move out of C-Band spectrum, arguing that IRD costs would artificially inflate the payments to cable operators. 

But cable operators say that under the plain language of the C-Band order "whether the lump sum recipient actually needs IRDs is irrelevant; the lump sum, which is 'in lieu' of C-band relocation cost reimbursement, is to be based on the money that would have been spent to upgrade all of an operator’s earth stations." 

In their meeting with the top FCC lawyers, ACAC president Matt Polka and others from ACAC warned that to exclude IRD costs "could invite legal challenges that could delay the transition." 

The C-Band auction is scheduled to begin in September. Satellite operators have already agreed to exit early in exchange for billions of dollars from the FCC. FCC chairman Ajit Pai has promoted the launch of the auction this year and its beachfront midband spectrum as important to winning the race to 5G.  

The FCC is taking some lumps over the size of lump sum payments it is proposing to offer cable operators and other earth station owners for transitioning out of the lower portion of the C-Band satellite spectrum.  

The FCC is auctioning that lower portion for terrestrial wireless broadband. 

In a meeting with FCC chairman Ajit Pai last week, ACA Connects (ACAC) chair Patricia Jo Boyers and association president Matt Polka signaled the FCC was seriously off on the payments and said the FCC should go back to the drawing board, or the accounting ledger as it were. 

The FCC is allowing satellite operators to transition earth stations for their clients, like cable operators, at no cost, or letting those clients handle the transition of their own earth stations and get a lump sum. 

Boyers basically told Pai that she has no interest in "having satellite operators, who have no expertise in running a cable business, make any technical, financial, or operational decisions with respect to her earth stations’ transitions," so essentially her only option is the lump sum.  

That said, she told Pai according to a summary of the meeting, the FCC's calculations could wind up giving earth station owners like her only 7 cents on the dollar of the expected relocation costs--ACA Connects came up with its own estimates--which would defeat the purpose of the sum, which is to allow MVPDs a "real choice" in transitioning. 

Some of those MVPDs plan to transition to fiber instead, but still argue they should get the lump sum. 

Polka did not pull punches with the Wireless Bureau's lump sum cost estimates, calling them untenable and ascribed it potentially to the bureau's "inexperience with the technical, financial, and operational issues surrounding the distribution of video content from MVPD receive-only antennas to the homes of MVPD customers," which is generally the province of the Media Bureau. 

ACA Connects had asked the FCC to delay MVPD's deadline for comment on the lump sums until after satellite companies had actually turned in their transition plans, but the FCC declined. Polka said that decision may have contributed to the disparity between the FCC estimates and what ACAC said are the actual costs. 

He also said ACAC would have been glad to assist in those estimates had it nod been for the speed and lack of transparency with which the bureau proceeded to calculate them. 

ACAC recommends the "rework" the sums and seek additional comment. 

Cable operators continue to try and get the FCC to cut to the chase and even up the regulatory fees satellite operators and cable operators pay the FCC, but at the least say the FCC should continue to raise the DBS fee. 

Related: ACA Says It's Past Time for DBS to Pay Fair Share 

The FCC used to charge satellite operators per license rather than per sub, but decided a half-deade ago to start charging DBS per sub and put them on a glide path to parity with cable, raising their fees annually.  

But cable operators, who never liked the glide path strategy, have been urging the FCC to just start charging MVPDs the same fee rather than "perpetuate the long-inexplicable disparity between cable/IPTV and DBS regulatory fees." 

In reply comments to the FCC on its latest annual fee assessments, ACA Connects and NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, the cable ops pushed back on comments by DBS providers that the added 12 cents per sub fee the FCC is proposing in its latest glide-path increase should not be levied. 

They said DBS arguments are predictable, meritless, and should be repudiated, then added that rather than not raise the fee on DBS, the FCC should complete the phase-in. 

The FCC charges its fee based on how many full time employees it takes to regulate a particular service. Satellite operators argue that is fewer than cable, so their fee should be smaller. The cable ops call that a "Straw man," and attempt to knock it down with the observation that the FCC has said the DBS fee "is based on the significant number of Media Bureau FTEs that work on MVPD issues that include DBS.” 

As to the FCC not yet phasing the fee up to meet cable, they say the FCC "still proposes that DBS providers pay a much lower fee than other MVPDs to support the Media Bureau’s work, with no justification other than the observation that the Commission has adopted a phase-in approach for DBS fees each year since FY 2015." 

ACA Connects said the FCC was definitely right in proposing a one-year extension to smaller operators of its deadline for adopting the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication regime. 

STIR/SHAKEN is the illegal robocall-combating tool ISPs are required to adopt under the TRACED Act. 

Related: FCC Adopts Mandatory STIR/SHAKEN Regime 

In reply comments filed at the FCC, ACA Connects, which represents those smaller operators, said that extending the June 30,2021 deadline until June 2022, as the FCC has proposed, makes sense because smaller operators are depending on third-party vendors for implementation "solutions" that are still being developed. 

Responding to AT&T's opposition to the extension in its comments, ACA Connects pointed out that AT&T itself has conceded implementation can be tough, saying "these are not easy tasks to achieve." ACAC said that "no doubt this observation would apply with even greater force when it comes to small providers operating with limited resources or in-house technical expertise." 

And while some have suggested the FCC could adopt a case-by-case review of extensions, rather than the blanket extension it has proposed, ACAC pushed back.  

"This approach would inundate the Commission with extension requests from a multitude of small providers, many of them presenting evidence of the same or similar implementation burdens," it said. "The costs of hiring outside lawyers and consultants to prepare and submit these requests would consume funds that would be better spent working towards implementation of STIR/SHAKEN." 

Related: House Approves Comprehensive Robocall Bill

ACAC said "small providers as a class face 'undue hardship' sufficient to justify an extension of at least one year." 

The "at least" was a reference to some commenters seeking an even longer extension. ACAC said it was OK with that, too, though it said the FCC should provide plenty of notice if it planned to extend the extension. 

Some commenters said that the exemption could allow smaller IP-based voice providers to continue to originate large volumes of illegal robocalls.  

ACAC countered that while it appreciates the concern, that is already taken care of by the TRACED Act's requirement that during any compliance delay, an operator must adopt a robocall mitigation program. It also urged the FCC to continue to pursue robocall scammers vigorously. "[E]ven if most unlawful robocalls are originated by small providers, it does not follow that most small providers originate large volumes of unlawful robocalls," ACAC said.

ACAC got an assist from NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, which said it supports the extension because they face challenges that make it "difficult, if not impossible," to comply.

NCTA, whose members include all the largest providers, said those had an advantage smaller operators did not (and could be the 800 pound canaries in the mine shaft, as it were). "While the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN requires all voice providers to incur a variety of costs, most large providers already have commenced planning for the necessary investments and should be in a position to sign and receive calls by the deadline," it said. "Smaller providers, on the other hand, generally are not as far along in the planning process, and their decisions will be informed by the initial experience of larger providers." 

Cable operators are split over the FCC's vertical integration record-keeping requirements as the FCC considers changes to its program access and carriage rules.  

Back in March, the FCC voted unanimously to seek comment on some proposed changes to those rules.  

In its comments on the changes, NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, suggested the FCC should eliminate the requirement that large cable operators compile and upload attributable interest information that can be used by a potential program access complainant. It said that ACA Connect's position that the requirement was necessary, was speculative and unwarranted, as well as "self-serving and factually unsupported," and "should be rejected," a characterization ACAC disputed in reply comments. 

ACAC said the fact that complainants have used other sources does not make the current record-keeping requirement--that they compile and post the info online--less helpful or essential in some cases. For example, it said, while it is not hard to figure out that Comcast owns NBC Sports Washington, it would be hard to retro engineer the info about Charter's vertical integration contained in its online file, and impossible with a private company like Cox. 

ACAC also said there is no evidence that the requirement is particularly onerous, and added there are ways to make it even less difficult. 

"The record-keeping requirement, in other words, provides useful information at minimal cost and even such minimal cost can be reduced," it told the commission. 

ACA Connects said its Focus on the Future policy conference scheduled for March 17-19 in Washington is still on track, but the association continues to monitor the Coronavirus (COVID-19) issue closely. 

In a March 3 letter to attendees, ACAC president Matt Polla said their health and safety is his number one concern. 

He said that after consultation with the board's executive committee the conference will proceed as scheduled. He said ACAC was working with the Grand Hyatt hotel, which was providing "a clean environment with the best on hand in prevention and immediate care." 

He also pointed out that there were currently no travel restrictions for travel in the U.S. 

But Polka also said ACAC was monitoring the situation and would inform them of any updates or changes in plans. For companies that might be changing their travel plans, he asked that they inform ACAC before March 6 (Friday).