The FCC Wireline Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics Friday announced the 2025 reasonable comparability benchmarks for fixed voice service for eligible telecommunications carriers. The numbers are based on the FCC’s most recent urban rate survey. The 2025 urban average monthly rate for voice is $30.67, the notice said. “The reasonable comparability benchmark for voice services, two standard deviations above the urban average, is $55.55.” That’s up from $55.13 for 2024 (see 2312260049). ETCs “must certify … no later than July 1, 2025, that the pricing of its basic residential voice services is no more than $55.55,” the notice said. The FCC also released the benchmark table for broadband. It runs from a U.S. monthly low of $89.51, $147.65 in Alaska, for 4 Mbps service, to a high of $145.80, $209.03 in Alaska, for 2 Gbps service. “Recipients of high-cost and/or Connect America Fund support that are subject to broadband performance obligations are required to offer broadband service at rates that are at or below the relevant reasonable comparability benchmark.”

Google's Starfish Infrastructure is seeking FCC approval for construction and operation of a private, noncommon carrier subset fiber optic cable system connecting Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands to French Polynesia and Chile. In an application posted Wednesday, Starfish said Guam is increasingly a "gateway for international connectivity" and that the system will be one of the first connecting it directly to French Polynesia, and the first to connect Guam and the Pacific region directly to the South American continent. Starfish said the submarine cable system is known in the U.S. as Halaihai, a type of beach vine.

The FCC Wireline Bureau on Wednesday adopted the National Exchange Carrier Association's recommendations on proposed changes to the USF cost per loop (CPL) formula. The bureau sought comment in September, and none was received (see 2409190029), it said. “We find that NECA’s results and CPL calculations appear to be accurate and complete, and the proposed [high-cost loop support] formula should reasonably approximate the CPL of the sample average schedule companies, and thereby allocate funds appropriately to average schedule companies.”

The Communications Workers of America was among the commenters urging the FCC to take a hard look at Verizon’s proposed buy of Frontier, a $20 billion all-cash deal announced in September (see 2409050010). More than half that figure will pay off Frontier’s debt. The transaction would affect wireline communications “for tens of millions of voice and broadband customers in states served by Frontier and Verizon,” CWA said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-445. The union said Verizon’s goal of upgrading and expanding Frontier’s fiber network is encouraging. But the companies “provide no specific details on their turnaround plans for Frontier, such as the amount of funds Verizon intends to allocate for additional fiber upgrades, the geographic areas that will benefit from such funds, specifics on how Verizon plans to maintain and improve quality of service for customers that will not get fiber upgrades, whether Verizon wants to continue Frontier’s excessive use of low-wage and inadequately trained contractors for construction projects, and whether this acquisition could result in reduced capital investments by Verizon in its current footprint,” CWA said. The Coalition for IP Network Transition said the FCC should approve the deal only on the condition that the two companies phase out their legacy time division multiplex and feature group D (FGD) networks and agree to “interconnect with all other carriers” on an IP basis. The two companies have been silent on that issue, the coalition said. “The Applicants plan to bring only some of their customers a 21st Century IP-based network, while leaving other carriers with out-of-date TDM and FDG technology and facilities, and excessive access charge bills,” the coalition argued: “That, by any fair definition, does not serve the public interest.” Intrado Life & Safety urged attention to public safety issues. Since providers like Verizon and Frontier refuse to interconnect their wireline traffic to the next-generation 911 network in session initiated protocol “and insist on TDM interconnection at their service edge, the 911 network is captive to TDM with no viable alternatives for the next three to five years,” Intrado said. “Because Verizon and Frontier are two of the main contributors to the current 911 TDM dilemma, the Transaction will accelerate and deepen the ongoing harm and threat to public safety and 911 reliability during the transition to NG911.” Intrado called on the agency to “examine the potential public safety impacts of the Transaction and consider appropriate conditions regarding 911 TDM circuit availability and pricing to mitigate such impacts.”

Securus wants the FCC to grant a one-year waiver of a requirement that inmate calling providers bill for video on a per-minute basis, according to a partially redacted petition posted Monday in docket 23-62. The requirement -- part of the FCC’s implementation of the Martha Wright-Reed Act -- took effect Nov. 19, and Securus is seeking a waiver until Nov. 19, 2025. Securus offers inmate calls over three platforms, none of which can accommodate per-minute billing, the petition said. Without a waiver, Securus could face breach of contract claims if it stops providing video calls, or it would have to offer video IPCS “for free and at a substantial loss,” Securus said. In addition, Securus has sought a court-ordered stay of provisions of the FCC order and filed in support of recon petitions (see 2411260044) against the order. “The loss of video calling services -- a real possibility absent a waiver -- would harm incarcerated persons and their family and friends,” Securus said. In contrast, allowing Securus the additional time it needs to comply with the rule “would not cause harm,” the petition said. There are indications that some prisons have already ceased offering video calling due to the order. For example, a notice on the Colorado Department of Corrections website said video visits on Securus devices are suspended indefinitely due to the FCC rule change. “During this suspension, Securus will be working on developing a new platform to comply with the updated regulations surrounding video visitation,” said the notice. “We understand this may be frustrating for residents, their friends, and loved ones, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners opposed a NumberBarn application for authorization to obtain numbering resources. NARUC’s Telecom Committee last month raised concerns and urged that the FCC take a deeper look at organizations like NumberBarn that receive numbers from phone companies and sell them to customers (see 2411120066). “The Commission should defer any action on NumberBarn’s application until it can complete an audit of NumberBarn’s practices and address the other compliance concerns raised by the comments filed in this proceeding,” NARUC said in reply comments posted Monday in docket 19-99. It cited comments that state regulators from California, Maine, New Hampshire, Washington, West Virginia and the District of Columbia filed last month. There hasn’t been a numbering audit of a telecom carrier or VoIP provider “in at least 15 years and NumberBarn’s business practices provide an obvious target for investigation,” NARUC said. NumberBarn defended its business model. The company “is not ‘hoarding’ or ‘warehousing’ numbers; it provides a search engine for numbers available from wholesale carriers,” it said in the filing. “These numbers are unassigned numbers made available by carriers to their thousands of wholesale customers (of which NumberBarn is one), on a first come, first served basis, and NumberBarn does not have exclusive access to these numbers.” NumberBarn said state PUC concerns that it could “cause or exacerbate number exhaust [are] ... speculative and unsupported by any factual data.” Public interest and consumer groups also raised concerns in reply comments. “The multiple comments filed by state governmental entities responsible for regulating utilities and protecting consumers in their jurisdiction describe numerous problems with NumberBarn’s practices and its application,” the groups said: “All of these state commissions are unanimous in their request that NumberBarn’s application be rejected because it is not in the public interest.” The National Consumer Law Center, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Consumer Action, the National Consumers League and Public Knowledge signed the filing.

CEO April Feng and others from Ameelio spoke with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on the nonprofit’s incarcerated persons communications services offering. Ameelio previously met with Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staff (see 2412060048). “In addition to providing secure software, Ameelio often provides end-user devices, such as corrections-grade tablets, to institutions that do not already have devices,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 23-62: “If necessary, facilities purchase devices from Ameelio rather than pay leasing fees for proprietary devices from Ameelio’s competitors.”

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."

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.

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.