The FCC is reviewing ways to reduce the accounting requirements on carriers while also allowing the agency to get the information it needs to fulfill its regulatory duties, said a proposed rulemaking notice (http://bit.ly/1sVkPwJ) adopted Monday and posted Wednesday in docket 14-130. The NPRM “has been a long time coming,” Commissioner Ajit Pai said in a statement. “These arcane rules were put in place almost three decades ago, when all incumbent carriers were subject to rate-of-return ratemaking and specialized cost data were central to the Commission’s work,” Commissioner Mike O'Rielly’s said in a statement.

The FCC should consider reforming high-cost rules for areas served by rural, rate-of-return-regulated local exchange carriers, Michael Romano, NTCA senior vice president-policy, told aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler and to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel during separate meetings Monday, said an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1qqWrwT) posted Wednesday in docket 10-90. NTCA is interested in a “well-constructed transition away from legacy support mechanisms to a simple and straightforward new mechanism focused on supporting broadband-capable networks in high-cost areas served by smaller carriers,” the filing said.

Cincinnati Bell said it would begin offering 1 Gbps residential broadband to its customers Sept. 8. The telco said Monday it began offering 1 Gbps broadband service to small-business customers earlier this summer. Cincinnati Bell’s expansion of gigabit service to residential customers is part of its “Light Up Cincinnati” program, which it said is meant to provide fast and more reliable services to residential and business customers (http://bit.ly/1w5EFaZ). Earlier Monday, Alaska Communications said it had begun offering residential broadband services in Anchorage at speeds of 30 Mbps and 50 Mbps. Customers on the 50 Mbps service plan will have upload speeds of 10 Mbps, the telco said Monday. Alaska Communications began offering residential broadband services at 15 Mbps in May (http://bit.ly/1rT3pg9).

The FCC Wireline Bureau denied a joint request from CenturyLink, GTL, ICSolutions, NCIC and Telmate seeking an extension of the Aug. 18 deadline for complying with the commission’s mandatory data collection requirement for all Inmate Calling Service providers. The bureau had already extended the deadline from its original July 17 due date, so any additional extension would be an “undue delay,” the bureau said. The bureau found there was “no good cause” for a further extension, saying CenturyLink and the other ICS providers had repeated arguments in its new extension petition that the bureau had considered when it originally extended the deadline (http://bit.ly/1sZSFiD).

The FCC Wireline Bureau asked Adak Eagle Enterprises (AEE) and subsidiary Windy City Cellular to submit additional information as the agency examines their petition seeking reconsideration of an order denying a waiver of agency caps on USF payments. The bureau denied the waiver sought by the Alaska companies a year ago (CD Aug 16 p5). The two later characterized themselves as “tiny companies that worked tirelessly against the odds” to offer phone service in the Alaskan wilderness “when no one else would” (http://bit.ly/1hcWStf). The bureau asked for “detailed information regarding, among other matters, corporate staffing, lease agreements, corporate operations expenses, and contracts for AEE’s wireline operations,” in a Tuesday letter (http://bit.ly/1ov9IZM).

The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment Tuesday on a petition from eight rural LECs seeking a limited waiver of the commission’s rule requiring that 2011 Rate-of-Return Carrier Base Period Revenue consist of Fiscal Year 2011 revenue from Transitional Intrastate Access Service received by March 31, 2012. The eight LECs -- Alenco Communications, Five Area Telephone Cooperative, Nortex Communications, North Texas Telephone Company, Peoples Telephone Cooperative, Totelcom Communications, West Plains Telecommunications and XIT Rural Telephone Cooperative -- want the rule waived so they can include outstanding bills to Halo Wireless for services rendered during FY 2011 that can’t be collected because of Halo’s bankruptcy. Interested parties can comment until Sept. 11 on the petition, filed under dockets 01-92, 07-135 and 10-90. Reply comments are due Sept. 26 (http://bit.ly/1ovgq1C).

The FCC Wireline Bureau reversed a Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) decision rejecting Peak Communications’ revised November 2013 FCC Form 499-Q because it was filed outside the 45-day deadline. USAC had instead calculated Peak’s universal service contribution obligation based on inaccurate revenue Peak had reported on its original November 2013 form, resulting in a monthly contribution assessment that was “greatly exceeding” what the telco would have contributed had USAC accepted the revised form, the Wireline Bureau said Tuesday. The bureau granted Peak’s appeal of the USAC decision and directed USAC to accept the revised form and reverse any related fees, interest and penalties (http://bit.ly/1p77Epz).

The FCC Wireline Bureau instructed the Universal Service Administrative Co. to take another look at its decision to deny Spokane School District 81’s request for E-rate funding for funding year 2010 on the grounds that the district had violated FCC competitive bidding requirements. USAC said the district had incorrectly relied on the “price of eligible and ineligible items as the primary factor in its vendor selection process,” said a bureau notice released Wednesday (http://bit.ly/Vklmtu). The FCC upheld that decision. Spokane sought reconsideration as it provided evidence that it had “segregated E-rate eligible and ineligible costs” in the selection process. Based on a review of the new evidence the district offered that it did use “price of eligible services as the primary factor” in choosing a vendor, the bureau said in granting reconsideration, “we conclude that Spokane’s vendor selection did not violate the Commission’s competitive bidding requirements.”

The FCC Wireline Bureau denied a request Monday from CLEC Aventure Communication Technology to review a Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) decision that Aventure incorrectly reported lines associated with calls to conference operators on its network as being eligible for high-cost support. USAC found Aventure needed to reimburse the high-cost support it received between 2007 and 2011 for several free service conference carrier (FCSC) lines. Aventure argued in its appeal that USAC had acted outside the scope of its authority and that USAC couldn’t recover support because its action occurred after the one-year statute of limitations. The FCC said in its decision Monday that USAC’s ruling was correct, saying Aventure’s FCSC lines were ineligible to receive high-cost support because they weren’t used for telecom services. Aventure can receive high-cost support only for services it provides “for a fee,” meaning FCSCs aren’t eligible, the FCC said. The commission also said Aventure’s claim that USAC’s action occurred past the statute of limitations was “unfounded.” The statute of limitations applies only to forfeitures or penalties, not to the support recovery USAC is seeking in this case, the FCC said (http://bit.ly/1mDi8IW).

The FCC Wireline Bureau dismissed a petition Monday from the American Cable Association (ACA) and NCTA requesting reconsideration of the bureau’s Connect America Fund Phase II challenge process guidance public notice, saying the petition was untimely (http://bit.ly/1vz8jFa). ACA and NCTA had been opposed to the bureau’s decision to require that parties present evidence of current or former customers in a census block in order to challenge the determination that the block is unserved (CD Aug 5 p5). ACA and NCTA filed the petition July 22, one day after the 30-day window for filing a petition had elapsed, the bureau said. Had the groups filed the petition on time, the arguments they presented still don’t warrant reconsideration, the bureau said.