The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on Friday approved the applications of Applied Development and Sorenson for access to the telecommunications relay services numbering directory as qualified direct video entities. The agency allows TRS direct video providers to seek access to the directory “to enable more effective direct video communication using American Sign Language between consumers with hearing or speech disabilities and customer support call centers,” said the notice about Sorenson. Qualified providers must demonstrate “a legitimate need for such access and an awareness of its regulatory obligations,” it added: “These obligations include compliance with the rules and regulations governing [video relay services] providers’ access to and use of the Directory, the instructions of the TRS Numbering administrator, and the applicable standards pertaining to privacy, security, reliability, and interoperability.” The Applied Development notice has the same language.

Solen Ventures and IP-captioned telephone service (IP CTS) provider NexTalk want the FCC to grant conditional certification, allowing NexTalk to remain eligible for compensation from the interstate telecommunications relay service fund (TRS) fund following Solen's purchase of the company, said an application posted Tuesday in docket 03-123. That deal closed Dec. 13. Under acquisition terms, NexTalk will be dissolved and a new entity, NexTalk Software, will control its assets. The conditional certification would allow NexTalk Software “to remain eligible to receive compensation from the TRS Fund for providing its IP CTS under new ownership for an additional two years” while the FCC assesses its eligibility for full certification. FCC rules don’t allow certifications to provide internet-based TRS to be transferred to entities that don’t already hold it, and require such certifications as a condition for payment from the TRS fund. “Despite having received conditional authority in January 2024, NexTalk has yet to actually seek TRS funding, and will not do so unless and until the Commission approves this conditional application,” the filing said. “There have been no changes in NexTalk’s operations and the ways in which it will comply with TRS obligations. The only change is the new ownership and name change.”

Consolidated Communications notified the FCC on Monday that the transfer of indirect ownership and control of its local subsidiaries to Condor Holdings is complete. Consolidated also delisted on NASDAQ and is now privately held. Affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners and British Columbia Investment Management acquired its assets, Consolidated noted. The deal faced scrutiny from state regulators, including those in Maine (see 2407110027) and New Hampshire (see 2406210040).

Meta's Edge Cable Holdings hopes to start commercial operation of its planned Orca subsea cable system linking Taiwan and California in Q1 2027, it told the FCC in an application posted Thursday. It said the fiber-optic submarine cable network would connect Toucheng, Taiwan, and Hermosa Beach and Manchester, California. Edge said it would use Orca capacity for Meta affiliates' services or to provide bulk capacity to wholesale and enterprise customers. Edge said Orca will provide facilities-based competition with the existing Faster, New Cross-Pacific, Pacific Light Cable and Trans-Pacific Express systems and the planned Taiwan-Philippines-U.S. cable system under construction. Edge said it hoped for an FCC cable landing license by the end of 2025, which would allow construction activities to keep on schedule.

Incompas and its members “generally support” Verizon’s proposed acquisition of Frontier, but with conditions, the group said in a reply comment posted Thursday in docket 24-445. Verizon and Frontier this week urged approval without conditions (see 2412240028). Incompas members are concerned about ensuring that business data services (BDS) the applicants offered “are provided to competitors at just, reasonable and not unreasonably discriminatory rates, terms, and conditions,” the filing said. Incompas also supports a request by the Coalition for IP Network Transition, which said the FCC should approve the deal only if the companies agree that they will “interconnect with all other carriers” on an IP basis (see 2412100021). Incompas is “unwilling to concede to the Applicants’ assertions that the transaction will not result in competitive harms, particularly with respect to the impact pricing decisions associated with business data services and more traditional time division multiplexing services, such as DS1s and DS3s, will have on competitive providers,” the filing said: “According to our members, Frontier currently charges significantly more for its high-capacity BDS connections, including DS1, DS3, and 10-mile circuits.” A competitive LEC, Teliax stressed the importance of an IP connection requirement. “Pre-merger, the Applicants have extended IP interconnection to some but not all interconnecting carriers,” Teliax said: “Should the FCC approve the proposed combination, the FCC should expect that the combined company will continue to use its newfound scale to delay the full transition to IP interconnection, thereby extending intercarrier compensation revenues tied to TDM networks.”

Verizon and Frontier urged the FCC to move forward on their $20 billion all-cash deal announced in September (see 2409050010). Verizon is buying the smaller provider. “No parties have opposed the Transaction, identified any public interest harms, or otherwise contested whether it will bring myriad benefits to consumers across the country,” the companies said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-445. They called on the FCC to reject proposed conditions that the Communications Workers of America, Intrado Life & Safety and the Coalition for IP Network Transition requested (see 2412100021). The proposed conditions are “unfounded and contrary to law,” the filing said. None are “'transaction-specific’ but instead merely consist of the ‘wish lists’ of parties who seek industry-wide reforms that are more appropriately pursued in separate rulemaking proceedings.” The requests “fly in the face” of precedent for both the FCC and U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The companies’ October public interest statement (see 2410160049) “explained how the Transaction will increase the reliability of Frontier’s network, improve the customer experience, and bring enhanced benefits to local communities within the Frontier footprint,” they added: “No commenter disputes these benefits.” The filing sought quick FCC action, citing the FCC’s 2017 approval of CenturyLink's buy of Level 3. The filing cited the comments of Commissioner Brendan Carr, tapped as the next FCC chair. “I am … glad that the standard of review and public interest framework in today’s decision make it clear that this Commission will be adhering to the Communications Act and longstanding FCC precedent as it reviews proposed transactions.” In addition, Carr said transaction approvals shouldn’t “extract extraneous concessions from parties.”

Broadband VI (BBVI) has received a limited waiver of the FCC's Connect USVI Fund deployment milestone rules for U.S. Virgin Islands service areas. BBVI now has until March 31 to meet the 40% deployment milestone, said a notice in Monday's Daily Digest. The FCC Wireline Bureau in its order said BBVI couldn't meet the Dec. 31 milestone deadline due to unforeseen circumstances obtaining permits for deployment. The bureau also said it was seeking comment on BBVI's waiver request, with comments due Jan. 13, replies Jan. 21, in docket 18-143.

Comments are due Jan. 3, replies Jan. 10 on an application from Fiberlight of Virginia and Central Virginia Services (CVSI) to transfer RDOF support and obligations for Census Block Group No. 511139301001 from Fiberlight to CVSI, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Friday. CVSI maintains that it's “well-positioned to complete the required buildout for the provision of RDOF-supported broadband and voice services in advance of the deadlines established in the Commission’s RDOF rules” because the transferring census block is close to its broadband service area, the PN said. In a separate PN, the bureau is seeking comment on a related CVSI petition expanding its Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) designated service area in Virginia to include the transferring census block. “Accordingly, the expansion of CVSI’s ETC designated service area to include the Assigned CBG will be conditioned upon approval of its 214 Transfer Application,” the PN said. Comments on the ETC expansion are due Jan. 20, replies Feb. 4.

The FCC Wireline Bureau approved a limited waiver for Virginia’s RiverStreet Communications of the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund milestone and noncompliance rules, relieving it of RDOF obligations to serve all eligible census blocks within the census block groups (CBGs) covered by RiverStreet’s winning bids, said an order in Friday’s Daily Digest. The order relieves RiverStreet of the obligation to serve all census blocks in New Kent County, Virginia. The relief will “prevent duplication” with buildout commitments made by Cox Communications to serve all the locations within those CBGs, the order said. The waiver “will further our interagency coordination efforts by avoiding duplication of public funding and maximizing the use of public funds to support high-speed broadband service to as many unserved consumers as possible,” it added.

Comments are due Jan. 3, replies Jan. 10 on the proposed sale by California-based Varcomm Holdings of Halsey, Oregon, local exchange carrier Roome Telecommunications to Oregon’s Alyrica Networks, said a public notice Friday. Alyrica serves 10,541 residential and business subscribers in the Philomath, Oregon, area. After the transfer, Roome would continue to exist under the same name and provide rural LEC service in the same area, the PN said. The proposed deal will be “seamless and virtually transparent to consumers of Roome” and won’t involve changes to the rates, terms and conditions of Roome’s services, Alyrica told the bureau.