Monica Hogan

Industry and regulators should collect more data on broadband network quality and affordability to help address digital redlining, said speakers on a Public Knowledge webinar Thursday. Inequitable broadband deployment and infrastructure in impoverished neighborhoods contribute to the digital divide, said Daiquiri Ryan, National Hispanic Media Coalition strategic legal adviser. She said "lots of vulnerable communities are still reliant on older copper lines," which often aren't well maintained. Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council CEO Maurita Coley said better research and data are needed so policymakers can surgically target broadband where the need is greatest. "There's no federal money for digital inclusion efforts," said Angela Siefer, National Digital Inclusion Alliance executive director. She said big cities like Chicago have been able to secure funding from donors, "but what about smaller communities?" Lukas Pietrzak, Next Century Cities policy associate, said some cities with already degraded networks have had as much as 40% of broadband traffic fall below stated performance standards during the pandemic, citing New Orleans.

Federal policymakers must help spur rural connectivity to support precision agriculture and ensure food security, John Deere Director-Advanced Technology, Intelligent Solutions Group Daniel Leibfried told a virtual meeting of the FCC precision agriculture task force Wednesday. Leibfried, who chairs the task force's connectivity demand working group, said if it were profitable to deliver connectivity to rural agricultural lands, ISPs would have done so.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau should revise its proposed process for carrier interactions with the network outage reporting system and the 911 reliability certification system, said comments posted through Tuesday in docket 15-80. USTelecom asked to reconfigure the sequence of questions posed about whether carriers notified public safety answering points. AT&T said the proposals require carriers to send too much new information within 120 minutes. In the early minutes after discovery, "service providers are focused on restoring service and notifying PSAPs," AT&T said. NCTA wants the bureau to consider how providers would have to automate any newly required data fields, asking to "allow providers to continue using automation to the extent possible." CenturyLink said the public notice's proposal to identify alternatives shouldn't be adopted because "NORS already collects information about whether diversity could have mitigated an event." The National Association of State 911 Administrators said telling state and local governments which 911 call centers are affected by an outage "would greatly assist in determining the impact on emergency operations." ATIS said its Network Reliability Steering Committee is concerned that outage data shared with state agencies may be used for other purposes.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai urged NARUC and state regulators to help lower inmate calling services rates for calls within states, in a letter Monday (see 2007200050). The federal commission is to vote Aug. 6 on whether to cap interstate and international ICS rates (see 2007160072). "Given the alarming evidence of egregiously high intrastate inmate calling rates and the FCC’s lack of jurisdiction here, I am calling on states to exercise their authority and, at long last, address this pressing problem," Pai wrote. He seeks "action on intrastate inmate calling services rates to enable more affordable communications for the incarcerated and their families. Prompt and meaningful state action on intrastate rates will provide much-needed relief to inmates and their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond." Pai noted NARUC opposed FCC action on intrastate rates. “Action to curb the sky-high rates that the families of the incarcerated pay for phone calls to their loved ones is long, long overdue,” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel emailed. Other FCC commissioners didn't comment. An FCC spokesperson declined further comment. NARUC, which is holding a conference this week (see 2007200054), didn't comment. The Florida Public Service Commission doesn't have authority to set telecom industry rates, a spokesperson emailed. The Oregon PUC doesn't have any dockets scheduled on ICS rates, its spokesperson emailed. Other states' commissioners didn't comment. CenturyLink and an attorney representing Pay Tel Communications declined to comment, and other lawyers for ICS providers didn't comment. Consumer advocates suggested last week legislation might be necessary on high intrastate ICS rates (see 2007150066). Some tweeted Monday that Pai didn't do enough in the past to safeguard the agency's authority over intrastate ICS rates (see 1701310061).

An item circulated Wednesday would reject a petition from Network Communications International for forbearance from USF contribution obligations on interstate and international inmate calling services (see 1908140055), an FCC official told us. It's new on Friday's circulation list. The agency confirmed the broad contours of the item without commenting on the details.

NCTA asked the FCC for an expedited declaratory ruling clarifying pole owners must bear "proportionate and equitable" replacement costs, posted Friday in docket 17-84. NCTA asked for expedited pole access dispute resolution in unserved areas. Lack of an equitable utility pole replacement cost process holds broadband providers back when demands from COVID-19 compel them to move forward, NCTA blogged Friday. The American Public Power Association "stance remains that one-size-fits-all, model pole attachment regulations are unwork­able for public power utilities," a spokesperson emailed. The group opposes "any effort to weaken or gut the exemption for public power utilities from federal pole attach­ment regulations." Cable operators face regulatory challenges that could increase costs and delay rural broadband deployment, Charter blogged Tuesday. Cable wants the FCC to eliminate eligible telecom carrier requirements (see 2006300010). "If we are successful in the auction, the result could be an expedited, multi-billion-dollar build-out" of its broadband network to millions of people, Charter said. The cabler could add an estimated $9.3 billion to the value of its footprint if it places winning Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I bids for some 2.2 million locations at the edge of its network, New Street's Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors Friday. "They would likely rather double down on the pace of footprint expansion than cede it to a competitor." Analysis of eligible census blocks "suggests the expansion opportunity may be even bigger" for other cable companies, the analyst added. The FCC plans to award up to $16 billion from Phase I (see 2001300001).

Update public safety service prioritization rules to adapt to changing technology and usage, while proceeding with caution on an NPRM up for a vote at Thursday's FCC meeting, TechFreedom General Counsel Jim Dunstan said in an interview last week. "We need a national dialogue for the points of the network not designed to carry emergency communications," he said. Dunstan wants the FCC to beware of unintended consequences, such as cost considerations for smaller carriers, and whether noncarrier networks such as fiber backhauls will be swept up in new regulations. “This week’s vote is an important step toward ensuring that our national security and emergency preparedness communications are keeping pace with an evolving communications landscape,” an NTIA spokesperson emailed Wednesday. NTIA petitioned for changes to the wireless service priority and telecom service priority rules (see 1907170042). Industry has been quiet since the meeting item was released last month (see 2006250062). CTIA, NCTA and the Fiber Broadband Association declined comment. USTelecom, Incompas, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile didn't comment. "We would anticipate discussing this with members once the NPRM is released for comment to determine what positions we will take, if any, on the proposals," NTCA emailed us Wednesday.

Broaden the USF contribution base by including one-way VoIP services among contributors, the phone industry asked the FCC in comments posted through Tuesday in docket 06-122. "Given the rising contribution factor and the shrinking base of assessable services, the Commission should consider comprehensive USF reform that sets USF contributions on a sustainable path," USTelecom said. "While it is unlikely to make a noticeable difference to the contribution factor at this time, one way to begin addressing this issue in an incremental way is to broaden the base by including one-way VoIP services." Zoom wanted the FCC to ensure new obligations "are consistent with its long-standing commitment to fostering a regulatory environment that will invite investment in information services, including those that incorporate voice." Inaction on more comprehensive changes to USF contribution methodology threatens "the stability of USF funding and its mission to provide universal service nationwide," said the Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee. Incompas urged comprehensive changes to contribution methodology, seeing the one-way VoIP matter as a distraction.

The FCC should consider changing the way it auctions toll-free numbers, said a North American Numbering Council Toll-Free Assignment Modernization working group at NANC's virtual meeting Tuesday. NANC members voted OK on the report now, after December's auction of toll-free 833 numbers (see 1912200065). Under the single-round Vickrey model used, participants bidding the highest amount won the auction but paid the second-highest amount bid. Fewer than 2% of numbers up for auction received more than a single bid, said WG co-chair and economist Susan Gately: Winning bidders without a competitive bid paid nothing. "That suggests there is something wrong with the utility of the process," she said. She recommended discarding the model in future toll-free number auctions. Gately suggested there should be a minimum bid, perhaps of $1,000, so revenue covers the cost of auctions and ongoing administration. Single bidders might be pulled from the auction and assigned the toll-free number without the ability to resell it, she said. Only 833-333-3333 received at least 10 bids. NANC members said it's premature to address our questions on how and when a new toll-free numbering administrator might be considered, after iConectiv filed a petition (see 2006300003).

Phone industry trade groups want the FCC to expand call blocking safe harbor protections to allow network level blocking of robocalls deemed illegal or unwanted. Calling originators with ongoing customer relationships urge commissioners to take a more cautious approach when they vote on an order at Thursday’s meeting (see 2006250062), according to interviews and filings in docket 17-59. The rulemaking stems from the Traced Act.