AT&T should be required to make public the timeline of its IP trials, Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney Jodie Griffin and Edyael Casaperalta, an Internet rights fellow at the organization, told FCC Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Matthew DelNero Oct. 9, according to an ex parte filing posted in docket 12-353 (http://bit.ly/1ptVHaO) Friday. Making the timeline public is important to allow stakeholders to give “meaningful input on the proposals,” Public Knowledge argued. An objective third party should be used to collect and evaluate data from the trials, and the agency should heed any concerns the third party raises about the trial’s design before allowing it to continue, Public Knowledge said.

Toshiba’s Telecommunication Systems Division said its VIPedge cloud-based business telephone system is now eligible for the FCC’s E-rate program, meaning it will be available to schools and libraries “at a significant discount.” Thousands of schools nationwide already use Toshiba’s IPedge and Strata CIX business telephone systems, which “can be networked together for a Hybrid Cloud solution, enabling a comprehensive, integrated solution for schools, school districts and libraries,” said Brian Metherell, Toshiba general manager-Telecommunication Systems Division, in a Tuesday news release.

Comptel’s request for the FCC to act on long-term “lock down” special access contracts 1409230002 “would be both unlawful and a waste of resources” before the FCC finishes its special access data collection effort, AT&T said in a letter to the agency, posted as an ex parte filing in docket 05-25 Monday (http://bit.ly/1veijSq). “The competing carriers have a good reason for trying to jump the gun on the Commission’s data collection: the real-world data will undoubtedly show that these carriers have many marketplace alternatives,” AT&T said. Requiring a re-write of the contracts would be illegal, AT&T said, because “the type of terms and conditions attacked by complaining carriers are common both in the industry and in competitive industries throughout the country.”

AT&T said it will expand its U-verse with GigaPower gigabit Internet service into Chicago (http://soc.att.com/ZqTW7a) and four Georgia cities, including Atlanta (http://soc.att.com/ZqTW7a). The other Georgia cities named in Tuesday’s announcement are Decatur (http://soc.att.com/1trFR7x), Newnan (http://soc.att.com/1rtePFb) and Sandy Springs. The five municipalities were part of the list of 100 cities that AT&T identified in April as potential markets for the GigaPower expansion. AT&T said it will release specifics on deployment timing and pricing later.

The Phoenix Center said ithe FCC has consistently reverse or threatened to reverse “the most significant bi-partisan deregulatory achievements of the past two decades” in the past few years, in a study released Tuesday. Recent examples of reversal include the commission’s current consideration of municipal broadband preemption petitions from the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the city of Wilson, North Carolina, as well as special access and forbearance, the Phoenix Center said. That “lack of stability in the FCC's policies combined with a pro-regulatory bias at the agency creates an uncertainty that is especially insidious” to incent broadband investment, the Phoenix Center said (http://bit.ly/1z8m7Zh).

XO Communications sought FCC authorization to discontinue services that provide narrowband, dial-up Internet access, due to “a limited number of customers,” in a Section 63.71 application (http://bit.ly/1uRQ77J) posted in docket 14-168 Friday. Affected are consumer dial, corporate dial, wholesale dial, enterprise dial and managed modem services, the company said. The services are expected to be discontinued Nov. 24. They are offered in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and the state of Washington, the application said.

CenturyLink is having conversations with several CLECs about conducting an IP trial, a company spokeswoman told us. No other details were disclosed. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had mentioned during an Oct. 6 speech at the Comptel meeting in Grapevine, Texas, that trials, in addition to AT&T’s IP one, could be announced later this month (CD Oct 7 p4). The agency also had no further information.

The FCC will consider the Further NPRM to reform inmate calling services at its Oct. 17 meeting, a revised agenda (http://fcc.us/1C2IQ4W) released Friday said. The FNRPM on circulation had considered making interim interstate rate caps permanent and imposing new interstate caps (CD Sept. 25 p1).

The waiting period for Level 3/tw telecom (CD Sept 4 p5) was terminated early by the FTC and the Department of Justice’s assistant antitrust division attorney general, said a notice Thursday in the Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1s0tHyH). The companies did not comment. The waiting period was terminated as of Sept. 5, said the notice.

Pay-Tel Communications submitted an “Ethical Proposal for Reform of Inmate Calling Rates and Fees” to the FCC calling for lower interstate and intrastate calling rates for state and federal prisons than the proposal submitted by Global Tel*Link, Securus Technologies and Telmate, but higher rates for local, county and regional jail calls, according to a comparison of the proposals posted as an ex parte notice Wednesday in docket 12-375 (http://bit.ly/1nd1aXJ). Pay-Tel would cap prison calls at 8 cents per minute, compared with 20 cents per minute under the proposal from other ICS providers, the filing said. The two ICS proposals were submitted as a Further NPRM circulates at the FCC (CD Sept 26 p10). Rates would be capped at 26 cents per minute for jails with an average population of less than 350 inmates, and 22 cents/minute for larger jails, Pay-Tel said. The proposal from the other ICS providers had the same 20 cents/minute cap for jails as prisons. While the Global Tel*Link, Securus and Telmate’s proposed rate caps and ban on commission payments to facilities would take effect 90 days after adoption by the FCC, Pay-Tel would grandfather contract rates and commissions for a minimum of 18 months, the filing said. Among other differences, Pay-Tel called for lower caps on transaction, money transfer and validation fees, said the comparison. Prisons and jails have different costs, so “it doesn’t make sense to have a single cap that applies without regard to the type of facility,” said Brooks Pierce attorney Marcus Trathen, representing Pay-Tel. Grandfathering current contracts would allow facilities to “get beyond the current budget before they are impacted by the new rules,” Trathen said. Securus is evaluating the proposal, said Stephanie Joyce, an Arent Fox communications lawyer representing the company.