FCC relaxes reporting standards

The Federal Communications Commission relaxed — but did not totally eliminate — regulatory reporting requirements for top landline telephone companies, while launching a new rulemaking to determine whether wireless carriers and other telecom operators should be subject to similar obligations.
“We take another step to remove unnecessary regulatory burdens and ensure a regulatory level playing field,” said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. “We eliminate outdated reporting requirements that applied to a small class of carriers, retaining only those requirements that still serve a useful regulatory purpose.”
But, added Martin, if the agency determines specific information is needed in “today’s competitive marketplace, then we should collect that information from all industry players rather than a handful of carriers.”
AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., parent companies of the nation’s two largest cellphone carriers, and other wireline operators benefit from the FCC ruling. Sprint Nextel Corp., the No. 3 wireless provider, had urged federal regulators not to grant the relief requested by AT&T, Verizon and others.
The ruling could prompt heightened scrutiny from the Democratic-led Congress, particularly leaders of the House and Senate Commerce Committees that are sponsoring legislation to reform how the FCC processes forbearance petitions. Meantime, the House Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations is continuing its probe of agency management practices.