Monica Hogan

Seven telecom groups asked for changes to FCC letter of credit requirements in its draft Rural Digital Opportunity Fund order, they wrote Thursday in docket 19-126. USTelecom, NCTA, NTCA, Incompas, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, WTA and the Wireless ISP Association said LOC burdens unite them. They asked for revisions so obligations correspond more closely to risks. "Encouraging robust participation and prudentially managing risks to the fund are both important goals, but should not, and need not, be mutually exclusive," the groups said. The agency declined to comment. USTelecom separately asked the FCC to revise the RDOF item, due for a commissioners' vote Jan. 30 (see 2001150005). Otherwise, current letter of credit requirements "will prevent USTelecom members (and in our view the entire pool of potential bidders) from participating meaningfully in the RDOF auction," USTelecom said in filings posted Thursday in docket 19-126. Under the current draft, letter of credit requirements "scale dramatically and unsustainably," USTelecom said. "Critically, the compounding nature of the requirements would force participants -- ranging from small independent providers to large, publicly-traded companies -- to access more credit than they are capable of accessing." Industry had asked for changes (see 1912190073). USTelecom said the modifications made "are grossly insufficient to match the business reality that potential bidders face." USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter and CEOs including Consolidated Communications' Bob Udell and Windstream' Tony Thomas had meetings Monday with officials including Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, plus Wireline Chief Kris Monteith and other bureau officials. The Wireless ISP Association said the "modest change does not go far enough" and would preclude participation for many small ISPs. WISPA said letters of credit are treated as debt that harm RDOF recipients' ability to borrow.

Two telcos didn't meet all deployment requirements for having gotten USF money from the federal government, they reported Thursday. That drew concern from some state officials.

ITTA will shut Jan. 31. President Genny Morelli told us Wednesday funding issues that arose late last year led to the board's decision to shutter the broadband and telecom trade group. After larger members CenturyLink and Consolidated told the association they wouldn't renew membership for 2020, it created a situation financially untenable for the organization, Morelli said. The companies confirmed to us the accuracy of Morelli’s remarks. "ITTA's successes in the policy arena are particularly noteworthy when measured against the size and resources of other industry stakeholders," Morelli said in a statement. "Financial constraints in the wireline service provider sector have presented insurmountable challenges and made it untenable for ITTA to continue to operate." The group opened in 1993.

Broadband interests back a draft order on the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund up for a vote at the Jan. 30 FCC meeting (see 2001080049). They told us to expect commissioners to approve the rulemaking this month. Industry continues visiting the agency's eighth floor to ask for changes.

FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. staff are addressing concerns on the Lifeline national verifier rollout in Puerto Rico and will monitor the soft launch, Chairman Ajit Pai wrote Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, R-Puerto Rico. The Jan. 3 letter was posted Friday. The legislator and others in Puerto Rico, including the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board, had concerns about the conversion process. Pai said the FCC worked with USAC "to ensure that the National Verifier has the appropriate matching criteria for automated eligibility verification in Puerto Rico, in light of unique naming and address conventions in the territory." He was responding to an Oct. 31 letter from Gonzales-Colon. She had said it may take longer to make the system operational in Puerto Rico because some federal databases used to support eligibility requirements aren't accessible there. Pai said the "FCC staff has made substantial progress" on issues raised, including improving automated verification. The NV launched an application programming interface Dec. 1 (see 1912100065). The Puerto Rico agency responsible for the Programa de Asistencia Nutricional recently reached agreement with USAC to do technical work to connect the programs to verify eligibility, Pai said. The NV soft launched in Puerto Rico Oct. 11 (see 1909260052). Gonzalez-Colon's office didn't comment Monday amid earthquake relief efforts. Puerto Rico cellsite outages due to recent earthquakes fell below 2 percent Monday (see 2001130031).

As the first largely online U.S. census approaches, nonprofits, telecom providers and media companies are heightening efforts to safeguard its integrity and increase participation. Many groups historically vulnerable to undercounting, including rural residents, low-income and homeless populations, and ethnic minorities, overlap with those underserved by broadband, said interviewees this month.

The FCC plans to prioritize bids for high-speed, low-latency broadband networks in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, said a draft rulemaking for docket 19-126 released Thursday. RDOF is one of several items that circulated from Chairman Ajit Pai. So far, it's shaping up to be the most watched item, and legislators expressed some related concerns.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai placed action on the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund atop his agenda for the new year in announcing the Jan. 30 meeting, he blogged Wednesday. Commissioners will vote on auction rules for bidders on the first phase of a $20.4 billion RDOF program (see 1912190073). Also on the agenda are updated standards for hearing-aid compatibility on smartphones, an item on a program to allow video relay service-qualified sign language interpreters to work from home, and a media modernization item about MVPDs emailing required notices to TV stations rather than using certified mail. Missing from Jan. 30's meeting, the agency indicated, will be a vote on the C band.

Industry and others in Puerto Rico are evaluating the impact from earthquakes. "Our network is operating on back-up generators and batteries, and we are engaged with the power company as they work to restore service," an AT&T spokesperson emailed. "Our local teams are supporting public safety on FirstNet, as well as our customers, and are prepared to deploy additional recovery equipment if needed.” Liberty Puerto Rico tweeted Tuesday its stores remain closed until further notice for the safety of employees and customers. WorldNet Telecommunications is headquartered on the territory's north side and didn't experience the same damage as on the south side, said Marketing Director Rolando Texidor. He said company operations didn't receive structural damage, and it has power backup for equipment to address an island-wide blackout. Most of WorldNet's business customers have generators, Texidor said. WorldNet's team was accounted for. Texidor said many companies around the island were working with skeleton crews. The FCC is monitoring the situation, a spokesperson said. Telecom providers seek government aid through an FCC USF program to help rebuild and strengthen their networks following 2017 hurricanes (see 1808080011). Commissioners voted in September to move forward with the funding (see 1909260032).

Stakeholders favor the FCC Office of Native Affairs and Policy encouraging broadband deployment. Smith Bagley Inc. sought to enhance ONAP's role to encourage engagement between eligible telecom carriers and tribal governments, among comments posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. SBI said some tribal governments "have limited economic resources and lack the internal expertise in telecommunications necessary to conduct an assessment and provide feedback in a Tribal engagement process." MuralNet said ONAP must have a budget large enough "to hire sufficient staff to perform Tribal consultation activities, organize workshops, and attend meetings with Tribal leaders in their communities across Indian Country and at conferences." MuralNet supported a recommendation the tribal engagement requirement include Alaska native villages and Alaska tribal health organizations. ETCs need flexibility to meet the agency's tribal engagement obligations, said the Alaska Telecom Association. Clarify what constitutes good documentation and record-keeping on tribal engagement, urged the Montana Telecommunications Association. It wants to avoid appeals or penalties when "a provider believes it has complied with the guidance only to find out after the fact that the provider's documentation does not meet the [Universal Service Administrative Co.'s] interpretation of the guidelines." The Oceti Sakowin Tribal Utility Authority said lack of tribal government comments last month (see 1912060008) shows engagement isn't uniformly effective. OSTUA wants changes including that all carriers serving tribal lands, not just ETCs, engage with tribes. The FCC said Commissioner Brendan Carr plans to visit with Mescalero Apache Telecom and Mescalero Apache Reservation leaders in New Mexico this week.