Fiber's carrying capacity and ability to support symmetrical speeds is particularly significant for AI applications, where symmetrical speeds are a must, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter blogged Friday. "A robust digital infrastructure is essential" for generative AI's success, he said. Spalter noted a Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative report about the environmental friendliness of fiber compared with copper. He said "outdated regulations are hindering the progress of broadband innovation, tethering providers to outdated, legacy technology at the expense of investment in modern, digital networks." Government policies -- often crafted before fiber optics was available -- "must keep up."

CEO April Feng and others from Ameelio spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staff about the nonprofit’s incarcerated persons communications services offering. Ameelio “provides video and voice IPCS at no charge to incarcerated persons or their families, but rather charges a subscription fee to prisons, jails, and other facilities to provide the services in those institutions,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-62. Ameelio discussed "its successes in Iowa’s Department of Corrections and various prison, jail, and juvenile facilities across the country.” An Iowa study found “a substantial decrease in prison misconduct overall, and more significant decrease in violent prison misconduct as a result of the introduction of Ameelio’s services, which allow incarcerated people to contact their family and loved ones more frequently than [through] a pay-per-minute provider,” the filing said.

Hamilton Relay told the FCC in a required annual report that it remains in compliance with FCC rules. Earlier this year, the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau extended until Dec. 31 Hamilton Relay's conditional certification to provide fully automatic IP-captioned telephone service pending further review (see 2404120035). Posted Friday in docket 10-51, the report noted the company is still waiting for an FCC decision. Some data in the report was redacted.

Hawaiki Submarine Cable wants to add a Tonga branch to its submarine cable system connecting Sydney, Australia; Mangawhai Heads, New Zealand; American Samoa; Oahu, Hawaii; and Pacific City, Oregon, it told the FCC in a letter posted Thursday.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau has reached a $287,820 settlement with Frontier Communications over the company's submission of inaccurate information during the Broadband Data Collection challenge process, said an order and consent decree in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. The carrier didn’t amend a submission to the FCC that accurately reflected a response to Frontier's broadband data submissions from the Wisconsin Public Service commission, said the consent decree. Along with the forfeiture, the decree requires Frontier to create a compliance training program and file regular reports with the FCC for two years.

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on Tuesday sought comment on changes to the telecommunications relay services that accessibility advocacy groups proposed in an August white paper. Comments are due Jan. 17, replies Feb. 18, in docket 03-123. The paper cites the “compelling need for Federal and state policymakers to proactively adapt TRS obligations and programs to reflect the evolution of the country’s analog telecommunications networks to IP-based networks.” TDIAccess, the National Association for State Relay Administration, Gallaudet University and Telecommunications Access of Maryland submitted the paper. According to the paper, “the transition to IP-based networks has caused substantial changes to the use of and demand for analog TRS, rendering some analog TRS obsolete for many uses, while such services continue to be the solutions of choice for parts of the affected community,” the bureau said: The groups assert that “alternative services need to be made available because ‘the transition from traditional analog communication systems to more advanced digital and IP-based networks is accelerating.’”

Lumen launched a low-cost fiber broadband plan, Simply Fiber. The plan offers up to 200 Mbps speeds for $30 a month, Lumen said Tuesday, with eligibility based on participation in various government assistance programs. The company said the offering is available in its Quantum Fiber markets in 11 states.

Investment in and spending on subsea fiber optic cable systems is expected to be robust at least through 2029, Analysys Mason said Friday. The submarine cable market -- including new system investment current maintenance -- is expected to grow from $8 billion in 2023 to $9.8 billion in 2029. It said trans-Pacific and trans-Asia-Pacific routes will account for the bulk of deployed cable between 2024 and 2029.

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support recipients must notify the FCC Wireline Bureau if they can’t meet the program’s third-year service milestone, said a reminder public notice posted Monday. The milestone requires “building out to at least 40% of each support recipient’s RDOF locations,” the PN said. The bureau must be notified by the carrier’s third-year service milestone deadline, which is Jan. 15 for carriers authorized in 2021 and Jan. 15, 2026, for those authorized in 2022, the PN said. “An RDOF support recipient that does not meet its third-year service milestone shall be subject to quarterly reporting and have its support withheld if warranted in accordance with the Commission’s rules,” the PN said. The bureau announced a host of RDOF defaults last week (see 2411270049).

Public Knowledge supported an AT&T request to discontinue, effective Sept. 15, residential local service in nine wire centers in Oklahoma “where there is virtually no demand for the service.” The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment on the application, due Thursday in docket 24-220. PK was the first to file. The group’s “sole addendum is to request that AT&T make regular reports in this docket as to the progress of the transition,” said a filing Monday. “This will assist the Commission and the public to monitor the progress of the transition, and provide other incumbent local exchange carriers with a guide to conducting their own transitions.” AT&T said last month it grandfathered the service in 60 wire centers in 13 states, with FCC approval. The local service is “outdated and prohibitively expensive for AT&T to maintain,” AT&T said: Discontinuing it “will benefit the public and serve as an important step toward meeting both AT&T’s and the Commission’s goals of advancing the IP revolution.”