Incompas urged the FCC to provide more certainty to prospective pole attachers and adopt "specific timeframes" for make-ready for larger pole orders. Providers also should be allowed to engage in self-help "when warranted," the group said in a meeting with Wireline Bureau staff per an ex parte filing Wednesday in docket 17-84. Providers "continue to experience barriers when seeking to attach to utility poles," Incompas said, noting that timelines for orders exceeding 3,000 poles would be a "significant improvement over the current standard." The group noted that allowing providers to qualify their own contractors for self-help work would remove the "bottleneck at the estimate phase."
The Utilities Technology Council asked the FCC not to adopt timelines for larger pole orders in its pending proceeding on pole replacement and attachment applications. Doing so "will not promote broadband deployment as a practical matter and will likely delay deployment," UTC said in an ex parte filing Monday in docket 17-84. It recommended to Wireline Bureau staff (see 2408120038) that the FCC give utilities the "flexibility" to process larger orders "in a manner that makes efficient use of the limited resources that are available." Utilities can't "solve the shortage of qualified workers alone," the group said, and "different utilities may require different contractor qualifications." The group backed requiring attachers to give pole owners at least 60 days advance notice of any major deployments to ensure "more efficient processing of larger orders."
The FCC Wireline Bureau Friday published its annual list of the hundreds of counties with conditional forbearance from the obligation to offer Lifeline-supported voice service. The forbearance applies only to the Lifeline voice obligation of eligible telecommunications carriers receiving high-cost and Lifeline support and not to Lifeline-only ETCs, the notice said. A 2016 Lifeline order established conditional forbearance from Lifeline voice obligations where specific competitive conditions are met (see 1807230027). For a county to be eligible, at least 51% of Lifeline subscribers must have broadband internet access.
Representatives of the Coalition of Concerned Utilities met with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about the group’s stance on pole attachment rules. “We emphasized that pole owners, existing communications attachers, and new communications attachers all must act responsibly and collaboratively to promote the deployment of broadband service to unserved and underserved areas,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-84 said: “We discussed efforts by utility pole owners to accommodate the volume of new attachment requests, and the considerable workforce constraints to be overcome.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment on claims from Arvig Enterprises and Rural Communications Holding that their enhanced alternative connect America cost model support offers were “incorrectly calculated” because Midcontinent Communications “was incorrectly classified as an unsubsidized competitor offering voice service.” Comments are due Sept. 13 in docket 10-90, a notice in Thursday’s Daily Digest said.
The FCC should establish "clear timelines" for large pole orders as part of its final order streamlining the pole attachment process, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition told the Wireline Bureau in a meeting (see 2403140068). The group said in an ex parte filing Monday in docket 17-84 that there should be "clearly defined and equitable standards for pole replacement costs." SHLB also sought clarification on costs associated with pole replacements, suggesting that pole owners be responsible for "at least 50 percent of the cost of pole replacements, given that they will own and benefit financially from the new pole." The group also opposed Edison Electric Institute's petition concerning the definition of a "grandfathered" pole (see 2402260073).
The FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics made available the final incarcerated people's communications services database for 2024. Released Monday, the database was used to develop rate caps and other changes adopted in the commission's recent IPCS order implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, a public notice said (see 2407180039). The database includes two datasets IPCS providers submitted in response to the 2023 mandatory data collection. The first dataset includes cost and revenue information used to determine the upper and lower bounds of the zones of reasonableness. The other dataset includes geocoding information on facility locations.
The FCC adopted a revised five-year compensation plan for IP-captioned telephone service supported by the telecom relay service (see 2406180063). In an order Wednesday in docket 03-123, the commission established separate compensation formulas for IP CTS supported by communications assistants (CA) and automatic speech recognition-only. The compensation rate for CA-assisted service will be $1.35 per minute effective immediately through June 30. ASR-only service will transition to a cost-based rate, "allowing providers time to adapt their operations," the order said. The rate for this service will be $1.17 per minute and decrease by about 10% to $1.05 in 2025-26 and to 95 cents in 2026-27. Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington concurred in part with the order. The FCC "should be operating consistent with" the trend of technological innovation, Carr said in a statement. "While my specific suggestions did not make it into the final decision today, I appreciate that my colleagues have included changes that can help incentivize continued, long-term investment in ASR technologies."
The FCC Wireline Bureau denied requests from Community Hospital Corp. and Interfacing Co. of Texas to waive the FY 2022 invoice filing deadline for all Healthcare Connect Fund program participants. In an order Monday in docket 02-60, the bureau noted it has granted individual waivers and will continue doing so "where good cause exists." It's "inappropriate to grant a widespread waiver when an individualized approach to addressing requests for waivers is available and more suitable for the circumstances," the order said.
The FCC wants comments by Aug. 28, replies by Sept. 12, in docket 03-123 on Bond Communications' application for certification to provide video relay service funded by the Telecom Relay Service Fund, a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice said Monday.