Collaboration among stakeholders was described as a key to the FCC emergency broadband benefit. Speakers at NARUC in Denver, some of whom wanted something like EBB to continue indefinitely, said the program takes lots of work with community stakeholders and individual recipients. “It’s going to take a lot of collaboration, coordination" and “really doing the hard work,” said panel moderator and Connecticut regulator Michael Caron. “We are now trying to decide what is next” as people need broadband access, added the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority commissioner. “This looks like the new normal.” He doesn’t “think this is a temporary environment that we’re in.” Of EBB, “we think it needs to be permanent,” said Comcast Senior Vice President-External and Government Affairs Bret Perkins: “But it’s a significant step. And it’s going to be followed up by the Emergency Connectivity Fund” for educational institutions. There’s no “algorithm to solve” getting broadband to those lacking it, he said. “It’s hard work.” Speakers agreed EBB’s rollout is going OK. The Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership and other organizations getting the word out “are the glue that we need here,” said Perkins. Organizations such as HTTP helped consumers, figuring out what broadband plan to use, what ISP to buy service from, and other issues, said Executive Director Alejandro Roark. The “primary vehicle” to enroll is online, but many who could benefit lack such internet connections, he said. They could use a paper-based process, he noted: “For some, it’s easier to sit down and fill out the application” and submit it by postal mail. “It seems like we’ve been working with the program for ages,” said Tracfone Associate Vice President David Avila of the funding that got congressional OK in December. Such programs “are successful” only “through collaboration,” and having community advocates involved creates “credibility for the program,” he said: It helps to have “the providers in the community as well.” Toward the start of the panel, which had all participants in-person although the conference is a hybrid meeting (see 2107190074), Comcast’s Perkins said, “It’s great to be in 3D with actual people here.” He noted his trip was his first time on a plane during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jonathan Make
Jonathan Make, Executive Editor, is a journalist for publications including Communications Daily. He joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2005, after covering the industry at Bloomberg. He moved to Washington in 2003 to research the Federal Communications Commission as part of a master’s degree in media and public affairs at George Washington University. He’s immediate past president of the Society of Professional Journalists local chapter. You can follow Make on Instagram, Medium and Twitter: @makejdm.
DENVER -- The first major in-person gathering of state telecom regulators from across the U.S. was much like NARUC's pre-pandemic gatherings. State commissioners, staffers, lobbyists, industry lawyers and executives, plus a few reporters, gathered in person at what one hotel employee described as the largest facility in Denver, with some 1,200 rooms and nearly 100% occupancy. Almost no attendees wore masks, and social distancing was inconsistently followed.
Broadband challenges include consumer expectations matching reality, NARUC heard Monday in Denver. Opening a panel and riffing on Tom Cruise in Top Gun saying “I feel the need for speed,” moderator Chris Nelson said broadband perceptions “can go in a lot of different directions.” The speeds people think they get, what they need, what they get at various times during the day, and other factors all vary, said Nelson. “When we go to buy broadband, we don’t really know what we’re getting; we know what we’re being told we’re being sold,” added Nelson, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission chairman. Broadband has challenges, said Ookla Executive Vice President-Smart Cities Bryan Darr. FCC form 477 data “can be quite out of date,” he said. Generally, “there have not been good, consistent data sources” used by governments, said Darr, whose company provides the Speedtest app for measuring broadband characteristics. Nelson, in an interview afterward, agreed with Ookla’s Darr that the issue of broadband speeds will diminish as overall ISP speeds increase. “As these speeds ramp up, this will be less of an issue,” Nelson told us. He said he doesn’t have a stance on whether the FCC should lift its 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream threshold for what's considered broadband. The priority should be that those who can’t get 25/3 Mbps should be able to buy such service, Nelson said: That’s “who we [should] focus on first.”
FCC staff are examining Rural Digital Opportunity Fund waiver requests (see 2106040058), an agency staffer told NARUC Monday in Denver. Some eligible telecom carrier applications “are still being worked on” and “we will be processing through those waiver requests,” said Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force Chief of Staff Audra Hale-Maddox. Staff also are "diligently reviewing those long-form applications” for RDOF, she said virtually on a panel with in-person and remote participants. Some ISPs sought additional time beyond the June 7 FCC ETC deadline, and states have also supported such requests, panelists noted. They said there likely will be some safe harbor for those companies to get their ETC extension requests granted and/or not face adverse action. Joseph Witmer, counsel to Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille, later asked about possible challenges to RDOF funding awards: “What happens if a lawsuit spins out of this.” He wondered if it could slow things. Hale-Maddox declined to comment on possible legal or policymaking issues. Long-form applications “are a, shall we say, controversial issue,” said Witmer, noting he spoke only for himself. “Interested stakeholders” want to examine details of broadband deployment plans and want to ensure bidders can provide speeds and latency as promised, he said. “I know ETC is burdensome, I know it takes time” and “some bidders don’t want it at all,” the PUC staffer said: “We are talking here about scarce public capital” however, and ETC status is a vehicle for oversight. Some 15 companies have sought ETC-deadline delays, Witmer estimated in an interview. He thinks the FCC might treat those requests as it did in a previous auction, Connect America Fund Phase II, with safe harbor when there are good-faith compliance efforts. Although there aren’t RDOF deadlines here, Hale-Maddox said staffers “anticipate that will be moving forward with completing those reviews” and that CAF II and RDOF time frames may be similar. “There’s a lot of concern at the state level” about “untested technologies” potentially getting RDOF money, said Tilson Vice President-Utilities Elin Swanson Katz. States understand why the FCC must be technology-neutral in its funding decisions, she added. States hope dollars will go to fiber-based tech whether wireless, wireline or otherwise, and utilities want to play a role, said Katz.
There are many broadband and tech provisions in President Joe Biden's executive order on promoting competition, with suggestions for the FCC and FTC, per a White House fact sheet. Among them are net neutrality, broadband billing, and a right for consumers to get their tech devices repaired by third parties.
AT&T and Discovery confirmed Monday morning the latter is combining with the former's WarnerMedia. "In connection with the spin-off or split-off of WarnerMedia, AT&T will receive $43 billion," they said. Information on the blockbuster deal can be found here.
The FTC unanimously supported a long-awaited report finding little evidence for some sectors' opposition to letting consumers fix their own devices. “Although manufacturers have offered numerous explanations for their repair restrictions, the majority are not supported by the record,” said the report OK'd 4-0 and issued Thursday afternoon.
FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel plans a May 20 vote on cutting some inmate calling service rates. She also plans for commissioners to vote then on a proposal on mandating actions to help prevent some robocalls, which smaller providers would need to take sooner than anticipated.
Continuing 911 problems in the nation's capital were raised at a District of Columbia Council hearing Thursday. Witnesses complained of long hold times, plus problems sending first responders to the correct location when the emergency is at a place such as a freeway or park, instead of a street address. Many problems cited by government officials, an expert, a union representative and advocates during the city council's Judiciary and Public Safety Committee hearing have been reported in our ongoing series on the Office of Unified Communications, which sends out rescuers. (For our latest reports, see here and here.) Stakeholders expressed hope that inaccuracies sending the correct response to the right place are being addressed. They cited better communication between OUC and agencies like Washington's Fire and EMS Department, as well as more transparency by OUC when 911 mistakes occur. Committee Chairman Charles Allen (D) noted that Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly and witnesses including 911 expert Dave Statter expressed hope. Describing himself as "one of DC 911’s biggest critics," Statter had some "optimism" with the end of OUC denials and double-talk on mistakes. "It’s refreshing to finally hear an admission that there are problems," he said. Interim Director Cleo Subido is "moving the ball forward," Statter said: "Her challenges" are "many," and "there have been some recent serious mistakes." Subido and others agreed that waits occur. D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council Chair Rachel Maisler, who says she was testifying for herself, recounted being on hold two times when she contacted 911, including for a gunshot victim. "Minutes were ticking away" as she waited on hold at OUC, whose operators' performance the District resident praised -- once the office had capacity to answer her call. Washington Area Bicyclist Association Outreach Manager Ursula Sandstrom recounted problems sending assistance to places like trails. "OUC needs to ensure that dispatchers are set up for success" with the necessary technology and tools, she testified, so "that residents are confident that if they call, they receive prompt and accurate help." Union official Debbie Hart-Knox cited her concerns of "negative depictions of those members I serve" from reports about dispatching errors, which she doesn't "refute." Members are "questioning ourselves while performing in a stressful job," Hart-Knox added. She blamed managers for a "negative work environment" and said "we can only do what we have been taught and instructed to do." DC 911 is "absolutely committed to being forthright and transparent about any identified performance gaps," said Subido, "taking the steps necessary to learn and improve when mistakes are made." For further comments, see here.
After the Feb. 17 monthly commissioners' meeting, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel held her first news conference in over a year, the first by any FCC Democrat since February 2020. It was via conference call, unavailable to the public and cut off after half an hour, before multiple reporters were able to ask questions. That continues a trend, begun under former Chairman Ajit Pai, of sharply reduced and fewer public press briefings at the FCC during the pandemic and reflects a decadeslong and gradual reduction in availability of commission officials to reporters.