Lumen has exited the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and won’t be continuing efforts to meet RDOF milestones, the company said in a filing Monday responding to a May inquiry from the Universal Service Administrative Co. Earlier this month, Lumen relinquished its last remaining RDOF awards in Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon and Washington. The company had relinquished awards in nine census block groups in August 2024. In its June letter turning over its final RDOF awards, Lumen said it understands it could be subject to penalties for noncompliance and reserved the right to seek a waiver or other relief.

The FCC Wireline and Wireless bureaus and the Office of International Affairs have signed off on the transfer of control of Windstream and Uniti Group as part of the two companies' merger, said a public notice Wednesday (docket 24-165). The merger was announced in 2024 and is expected to close in the back half of this year. The FCC said it concluded that the deal wouldn't reduce competition or hurt USF programs.

American Electric Power representatives met with FCC Wireline Bureau staff to question the timelines that NCTA proposed in an April letter on pole attachments (see 2505080028). NCTA’s plan would “lead to more disputes at the Commission -- not to quicker broadband roll-out,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-84.

The BEAD policy changes announced earlier this month (see 2506060052), such as putting satellite and unlicensed fixed wireless (uFW) on equal standing with fiber projects, leave prior BEAD applicants "in a defensive position," Keller & Heckman communications lawyer Casey Lide wrote Tuesday. Fiber providers that already submitted BEAD applications now have to compete against low earth orbit satellite and uFW solely on cost, "with unequal technologies being treated the same." More funding for uFW means a uFW provider can protect its existing service territory from BEAD funding by showing that the current service meets certain technical requirements, he said. Meanwhile, there's no apparent process for third-party comment or intervention, and it's not clear whether state broadband offices would have enough time to hear contrary evidence, Lide said. The BEAD policy notice is also "conspicuously silent" about locations that can be served by LEO now and whether they should be removed from BEAD eligibility. Lide said that if maps of BEAD-eligible locations aren't updated before funding decisions are made, BEAD money "will end up supporting significant overbuilding of existing networks," given how much deployment occurred while the BEAD process dragged on. Past BEAD applicants that want to resubmit might need "to aggressively adjust" the BEAD proposal budget, he said.

CenturyLink asked the FCC for another 60-day extension on its application for the emergency impairment of service in limited parts of the Florence, Colorado, wire center, which was damaged by flooding in 2018. “There is no timeline for rebuilding the road that was washed out by the flooding,” said a filing posted Monday (docket 19-69). The U.S. Forest Service “continues to believe it is still years away even from evaluating the possibility of rebuilding that service road, given how unsettled the terrain remains from the flooding,” the carrier said. “Temporary cable continues not to be a feasible solution to provide service due to the rugged, mountainous terrain and instability in the area.”

The FCC Wireline Bureau Friday approved a temporary waiver of TKC TeleCom's deadlines to comply with the commission’s video incarcerated prison calling services rules. “We find that TKC has demonstrated that its waiver request presents special circumstances that warrant a deviation from the Commission’s rate cap compliance deadlines and per-minute pricing rule for video IPCS,” the bureau said. “As TKC explains, despite its best efforts to complete the necessary engineering and software upgrade work on its billing platform, its platform is not presently capable of applying the correct fees and taxes for video IPCS needed to comply with the Commission’s rules.” The new compliance deadline is April 1, 2026. The bureau noted it had previously approved a similar waiver for Securus. TKC sought the waiver last month.

The Office of International Affairs intends to terminate the international Section 214 authorization of First Technology Development because it changed its contact information and dissolved its enterprise without informing the FCC or DOJ, according to a notice of intent in Friday’s Daily Digest. The company could face enforcement action, the notice said. First Technology’s letter of agreement required it to establish points of contact for the DOJ and FCC and inform them of changes to that contact info, said the notice. However, the company hasn’t responded to multiple contact attempts from the FCC and DOJ going back to 2021, including efforts by phone, email and certified mail, the notice said. Letters and emails were returned as undeliverable, the notice said. “In light of First Technology’s failure to respond to the DOJ’s and FCC’s communications, it appears that First Technology has discontinued service without providing prior notification as required by the Commission’s rules,” the notice said. The notice gives First Technology 30 days to respond.

Consumers’ Research and other conservative interests are once again asking the FCC to zero out the USF contribution factor, this time for Q3 2025. The group filed the day after the FCC Office of Managing Director proposed a contribution factor of 36% for Q3 (see 2506110058). The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in coming days on an appeal of a 5th Circuit en banc decision last summer, which found that the USF contribution factor is a "misbegotten tax.” Justices heard oral argument in that case in March (see 2503260061).

NCTA urged the FCC to convene an industry working group to coordinate a process for completing the IP transition. “Since 2004, the Commission consistently has recognized the importance of transitioning voice networks to IP technology,” said a filing posted this week (docket 21-479). “While significant progress has been made over the last two decades, the IP transition has stalled, with no clear target date for all networks in the United States to fully operate in an IP environment.”

The FCC Wireline Bureau announced revised deadlines Thursday for comment on a Talton petition seeking a waiver of the commission’s rules capping the rates for audio and video for incarcerated people provided to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Initial comments are now due July 2, replies July 12, and must refer to dockets 23-62 and 12-375. The bureau last month suspended “indefinitely” comment deadlines following objections that Talton hadn’t provided the data that other parties need to formulate comments (see 2505070057). The bureau said only that the deadline was suspended so that the agency could consider the complaints.