[NNagain] Nnagain Digest, Vol 2, Issue 34

Wed Nov 15 10:36:21 EST 2023

Just a very brief comment: The cited post is flat outright
wrong on common carrier meaning.  In English jurisprudence,
this concept was indeed developed in the Middle Ages, but
it did not involve grants of monopoly rights, nor any
obligation to serve.  But it initially applied to a much
wider variety of economic activities than transport and
communication.  So the terms "common labourer" and "common
whore" had legal meaning, and (to simplify quite a lot)
carried only a prohibition on discrimination, and to some
extent requirements charges had to be "just and reasonable."
(So no "surge pricing," a la Uber.)  No obligation to serve
in general.

On top of common carriage (which by the 18th and 19th centuries
applied to a narrower range of activities) you later got utility
regulation, which often meant monopoly rights but also price
regulation, and then you had franchising (as when a town
would give a utility the rights to dig up streets, etc.,
but would impose obligations such as providing service to
everyone in that town who requested it).

There are weighty tomes published on this, this is just a
very brief attempt to correct a gross misrepresentation.

Andrew

On Wed, 15 Nov 2023, nnagain-request at lists.bufferbloat.net wrote:

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>   1. Fwd: [New post] Is Carrier of Last Resort Dead? (Dave Taht)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2023 07:37:34 -0500
> From: Dave Taht <dave.taht at gmail.com>
> To: Network Neutrality is back! Let´s make the technical aspects
> 	heard this time! <nnagain at lists.bufferbloat.net>
> Subject: [NNagain] Fwd: [New post] Is Carrier of Last Resort Dead?
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAA93jw4aW0yLz3g_91Npe8zmQSnghHjb_rbucS1ZFDtR8277EA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> I subscribe to this fella's blog although primarily to attempt to disagree
> constructively in the chat section. This piece, tho... well, what do y'all
> think?
>
> https://potsandpansbyccg.com/
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: POTs and PANs <donotreply at wordpress.com>
> Date: Wed, Nov 15, 2023 at 7:32 AM
> Subject: [New post] Is Carrier of Last Resort Dead?
> To: <dave.taht at gmail.com>
>
>
> [image: Site logo image] Doug Dawson, CCG Consulting posted: "The concept
> of common carrier stretches back to the 14th century in English law, where
> businesses were granted the exclusive right to be in business as long as
> they were willing to serve everybody. The term common carrier came into use
> to describe the obl" POTs and PANs <https://potsandpansbyccg.com> Is
> Carrier of Last Resort Dead?
> <https://public-api.wordpress.com/bar/?stat=groovemails-events&bin=wpcom_email_click&redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fpotsandpansbyccg.com%2F2023%2F11%2F15%2Fis-carrier-of-last-resort-dead%2F&sr=0&signature=58d2418b0494efcc441f902567d3bf43&blog_id=49312101&user=97642389&_e=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>
> Doug Dawson, CCG Consulting
>
> Nov 15
>
> <http://potsandpansbyccg.com?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=0628683c2b1c56ff407d2d86c6fa42907a2b152201b2428c6e77338f463aaa96&blog_id=49312101&post_id=17188&user_id=97642389&subs_id=27638629&signature=ad17a855ab6064320767fa74e15dbd9f&email_name=new-post&user_email=dave.taht@gmail.com&url=https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2014/12/02/supreme-court-to-rule-on-internet-threats-2/scales-of-justice-12987500-300x300/#main>The
> concept of common carrier stretches back to the 14th century in English
> law, where businesses were granted the exclusive right to be in business as
> long as they were willing to serve everybody. The term common carrier came
> into use to describe the obligation of businesses like coaches, ferries,
> etc. that were required to serve anybody who asked to be transported. The
> concept was carried over to businesses that were given a franchise to serve
> a local area, and businesses like blacksmiths and innkeepers were required
> to serve anybody who wanted service. This concept still applies to
> businesses today, like railroads, which are not allowed to selectively
> refuse to carry freight.
>
> Carrier of last resort (COLR) is a version of common carriage that has been
> applied to businesses that operate large networks like telephone companies,
> electric companies, water companies, and gas companies. Federal or State
> rules have always required such businesses to serve anybody inside of the
> franchise area who requests service.
>
> In exchange for being granted a franchise area, COLR for telephone
> companies has always come with specific obligations. A COLR is expected to
> serve everybody in the franchise area, even if that means extending
> facilities. A COLR needs regulatory approval to withdraw from serving
> customers. A COLR is expected to operate the business with care, skill, and
> honesty and to charge fair and reasonable prices.
>
> The concept of carrier of last resort for telephone companies started to
> weaken with the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This Act
> allowed for local telephone competition, and some legislators or regulators
> granted relief for telephone companies from some of the carrier of last
> resort obligations. For example, some states have eliminated COLR
> obligations as part of deregulation. Some regulators have eliminated most
> COLR obligations for specific telephone companies for the same reason. But
> even in most cases where the COLR obligations have been weakened,
> regulators still usually require a telco to ask for permission to withdraw
> from a market.
>
> While some COLR obligations were weakened, others were expanded. For
> example, some states have required CLECs (competitive telephone companies)
> to accept COLR obligations in exchange for participating in subsidy
> programs. Cities have often only agreed to give a franchise agreement to
> CLEC or ISP that agrees to serve everybody. In many cases, this obligation
> is no longer explicitly called COLR, but uses terms like “duty to serve” or
> “obligation to serve” but refers to obligations similar to COLR.
>
> The COLR issue has come to the forefront for broadband because of broadband
> grants and subsidies. Some state and local broadband grants have included
> an obligation to serve everybody in a grant area. The largest subsidy
> program to require 100% coverage is the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund
> (RDOF). ISPs that accept this funding are expected to offer service to 100%
> of homes and businesses in the covered Census blocks by the end of the
> six-year deployment period. It’s not entirely clear if the upcoming BEAD
> grants will require 100% coverage, and that final determination will likely
> be included in each State’s final grant rules.
>
> Is the agreement to serve customers that is obligated through a grant or
> subsidy program the same as a carrier of last resort obligation? I expect
> not. For example, will an RDOF winner be expected in the future to extend
> the network to newly constructed homes?
>
> There are clearly going to be households in RDOF areas that are not offered
> service. For example, many of the RDOF winners use fixed wireless
> technology, and there are always homes in any area that can’t be reached
> with the technology for some reason. In hilly and heavily wooded areas,
> this might be a large percentage of households.
>
> Does a home that is not covered by RDOF have a reasonable remedy to get
> service? In the past, a customer could complain to State regulators if a
> telco was refusing to serve them. It’s hard to imagine an individual
> homeowner opening an expensive and complicated FCC proceeding to complain
> about being missed by RFOF.
>
> Technology is also creating havoc in rural areas for traditional telephone
> company obligations. When I was recently upgrading my cellphone in an AT&T
> store, I overheard the AT&T representative tell a customer that they would
> soon be losing their telephone copper and would be moved to FWA cellular
> wireless.  My county is extremely hilly and wooded, and there is a major
> lack of rural cell towers. There is a good chance that this customer is not
> within reach of the offered cellular broadband. It sounds like the end of
> carrier of last resort obligations if a telco can cut the copper wires and
> move customers to a cellular service that doesn’t work at their home.
>
> In circling back to the question asked at the beginning of this blog, are
> there many places left where a regulator will step in and demand that an
> ISP built infrastructure to reach an unserved household? I think the
> chances of that happening are getting increasingly remote.
> Comment
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> Automattic, Inc. - 60 29th St. #343, San Francisco, CA 94110
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>
> -- 
> :( My old R&D campus is up for sale: https://tinyurl.com/yurtlab
> Dave Täht CSO, LibreQos
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