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.

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.

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.

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.’”

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.