Monica Hogan

Industry supports FCC goals to protect USF from waste, fraud and abuse but wants clearer standards and sufficient due process procedures in proposed suspension and debarment rules, said comments posted through Friday in docket 19-309. "The proposed rules reach a far broader range of conduct than contemplated by the OMB guidelines, potentially punishing many good actors for the sake of expediting penalties against a few bad ones," said CTIA and USTelecom. "Consider alternative measures before initiating suspension or debarment procedures," said America's Communications Association, Incompas and NTCA. Encourage self-governance and consider mitigating factors, they said. Bureaus "should be given delegated authority to grant exceptions" when it serves the public interest, said the Wireless ISP Association. USF participants should be allowed to continue receiving services from a suspended provider for the duration of a contract that existed before the FCC acts, said the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and State E-rate Coordinators' Alliance. Don't apply new rules retroactively, said NCTA. "Grounds for suspension or debarment should only include egregious offenses," said Cellular South. E-Rate Central said the NPRM doesn't discuss "the necessity of coordinating any planned enforcement action, if only on an advisory basis, with appropriate state agencies."

Telecom carriers and equipment vendors are addressing confusion over who must comply with Kari's Law rules that were to take effect Monday (see 1802160032). The law requires multi-line telephone systems to give direct access to 911 without the need to dial a prefix. The MLTS must notify a representative, such as the front desk or security, once 911 is dialed. "This is a reminder to building managers and others responsible for multi-line telephone systems that they must adhere to the new requirements," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Friday. "There's some confusion for enterprise customers," said Tricia McConnell, Bandwidth 911 product marketing manager. "They're responsible for compliance, but they don't know what compliance means." MLTS managers such as hotels and corporate campuses must ensure someone on site or monitoring operations there knows when a 911 call has been placed, to greet first responders and direct them to where the call originated. In a large complex, building security might also provide preliminary assistance to the caller before first responders arrive, McConnell said. Outbound emergency calls can't be screened by building security before they're sent to 911 operators, however, McConnell said. In the past, some hotels might have screened such calls to protect employees or for fear of misdials, she said, but as of the compliance date, "that's no longer acceptable." As the compliance date approached, carriers "focused on helping their customers provision these MLTS with the direct-dialing and notification capabilities required," emailed Incompas Policy Adviser Chris Shipley. "They are also working with their enterprise and business customers to clearly identify who is responsible for the system's day-to-day management and operation, particularly with larger companies that are interested in exercising greater control." Requirements also apply to government agencies and nonprofits using MLTS, and to cloud-based and VoIP and traditional circuit-based systems, Hogan Lovells blogged Feb. 10: MLTS operating before the compliance deadline don't need to meet the new rules unless they're modified after the compliance date. Most business customers aren't looking to meet only minimum standards, McConnell said. Recent talks about Kari's Law are driving meaningful conversations on how organizations respond in an emergency, she said. Some larger companies may consider coming into compliance sooner than required under the law because "no company wants to be outed on social media for restricting access to 911," McConnell said. There are other E-911 laws in roughly half the states, McConnell said: Bandwidth is pushing for a federal law.

The North American Numbering Council approved recommendations from its Numbering Administration Oversight Working Group on mechanisms to set the development cost and user pricing of its reassigned numbers database (RND), at a meeting Thursday. NAOWG found fundamental differences between the database and a federal do not call registry that make the latter an insufficient model for set-up costs and fee structures for the new database, said WG co-chair Robert McCausland, Intrado vice president-regulatory and government affairs. He said NAOWG won't estimate development costs associated with the RND until it completes a vendor bidding process. The WG recommended distinct contribution factors to cover RND startup costs and annual operating costs, to be determined once costs are known. If excess funds are collected from RND users, they should be refunded on an annual basis, McCausland said. One fee model could be based on a tiered, flat-rate payment structure, giving users the option of selecting the next tier up if they reach their usage limit, he added. NAOWG wanted to leave some flexibility in the approach to the winning vendor with oversight from NANC, he said. The FCC is taking comments through Feb. 24 on a technical document on the database (see 2001240056). NANC also announced meetings for the rest of 2020: May 5, July 15, July 28, Sept. 24 and Dec. 3.

The FCC Wireless Bureau is meeting with industry on what to ask in an NPRM for its rural 5G fund, according to interviews this week and recent filings. The agency announced the $9 billion USF program in December to replace its Mobility Fund Phase II (see 1912040027).

Communities unserved by broadband often overlap with those at risk of losing their jobs to displacement by new technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence, panelists told FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks at an event he hosted. Earlier Tuesday, AT&T showcased how U.S. industries will adopt 5G and IoT technologies to increase productivity.

ISPs that win bids in the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program won't be prevented from seeking additional support from state broadband programs, but the RDOF Phase I auctions won't be open to census block groups that received state subsidies for 25/3 Mbps. That's according to new language in the final order posted Friday for docket 19-126. Commissioners voted along party lines Jan. 30 (see 2001300001).

Opponents of an FCC proposal to forbear from imposing unbundling obligations on ILECs said it would harm competition and limit consumer choice. CLECs use ILECs' dark fiber and other unbundled network elements (UNEs) to gain customers before funding fiber deployments, stakeholders commented, posting through Thursday in docket 19-308 (see 1911220052). ILECs backed the NPRM, saying there's enough competition to justify forbearance. California regulators had concerns, as did telcos in areas rebuilding from disasters.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposes holding Phase I auctions for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund on Oct. 22. Pai circulated a public notice among commissioners Thursday proposing procedures for the Phase I auctions, which would allot up to $16 billion of the $20.4 billion USF rural broadband program, he blogged, outlining his agenda for the Feb. 28 meeting. The RDOF auction procedural PN is one of eight items for what Pai is calling "spectrum month." Drafts are expected to be released Friday. Pai's proposal Thursday to pay up to $9.7 billion to C-band incumbents to free the spectrum for a Dec. 8 auction (see 2002060057) will lead the February meeting.

Concerns continue over new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund language in the order that was approved along party lines at Thursday's FCC meeting and could restrict support in areas that get state USF-like funding (see 2001300001). Stakeholders Tuesday were awaiting the order's release. "We are working to get it out as soon as possible," an FCC spokesperson emailed.

States with their own broadband subsidy programs or partnered with federal programs could face reduced funding opportunities through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, after language was added to an order Wednesday, Democratic commissioners told reporters Thursday. Commissioners voted along party lines to approve the order for the $20.4 billion program. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks approved in part and dissented in part.