The draft submarine cable order on the FCC's Aug. 7 agenda (see 2507170048) needs to clear up potentially confusing language about the scope of the security risk management plan certification requirements, CTIA said in a filing posted Wednesday (docket 24-523). It called for the draft order's requirements to apply only to submarine cable systems, not all an operator's systems.
The FCC has logged more than 3,000 comments complaining about a Wireline Bureau decision to delay some deadlines for incarcerated people’s communications service until April 1, 2027 (see 2506300068). “The FCC's sudden reversal" on regulations that passed unanimously last year is "plainly shameful,” said a filing by Caitlin Bambery posted Wednesday in docket 23-62. “It delays more than four decades of necessary relief for those who need it most, families with incarcerated loved ones.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment Monday on Corn Belt Telephone’s application to buy Templeton Telephone’s assets and customers. Comments are due Aug. 11, replies Aug. 18 in docket 25-163, the notice said. Templeton Telephone provides local, long-distance and other services in the Templeton local exchange in Iowa and has been designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier, the bureau said.
Representatives of Communication Service for the Deaf met last week with aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on the potential benefits of direct video calling (DVC). “DVC allows individuals who use American Sign Language to communicate directly in real-time with businesses and government agency customer service agents who are also fluent in ASL and have been trained by their respective enterprises to provide call center assistance,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 03-123. “DVC can provide the most effective, accurate and cost efficient way to provide telephone access to customer call centers, crisis and health assistance hotlines, and 911 public safety answering points for over 1.5 million ASL users.”
Lumen's and Commnet Four Corners' former Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) census block groups in numerous states are open to other funding programs, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Tuesday. Lumen and Commnet both defaulted on their RDOF obligations and could face penalties, it said. The states with open census block groups are Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon and Washington.
The FCC is launching an effort to encourage operators of multiline telephone systems (MLTS) to bring their systems into compliance with agency rules for calls to 911, Zenji Nakazawa, acting chief of the Public Safety Bureau, said in a Monday blog post. In 2019, the FCC adopted rules to ensure that MLTS users can call 911 and obtain assistance from first responders (see 1908050045).
Major trade associations met with staff from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s office and the Office of General Counsel on a January declaratory ruling and NPRM addressing the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks (see 2501160041). The item was released during the final days of the last administration over the protest of then-commissioner Carr. CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom raised concerns during the meetings.
The FCC released on Friday the pole attachment item approved by commissioners 3-0 on Thursday (see 2507240048). The final item includes written statements by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty.
Executives from Transaction Network Services spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on call analytics technologies, call labeling and branded calling systems used to combat robocalls. “TNS described how its analytics work, the types of inputs that power it, and its accuracy,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-59. The executives explained “that the TNS algorithm which drives blocking and labeling is highly sophisticated, self-correcting, and relies on nearly two dozen features (some static and some dynamic) to determine scores and labels.” The algorithm is also “constantly being evaluated against the ‘ground truth’ and updated or adjusted on a regular basis,” the filing said.
The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector has no objections to Google's proposed Taihai submarine cable system as long as it meets various national security commitments, NTIA told the FCC Wednesday. Taihai is a 7,000-km line to run between the Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan and the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The committee is also called Team Telecom.