The Vermont Community Broadband Board announced it will soon have $8 million available for additional broadband buildout throughout the state. The new funding comes from interest earned on initial American Rescue Plan Act funding, VCBB said Tuesday. The agency will "work carefully and extensively with partners to leverage these funds," said VCBB Board Chair Patty Richards.

Mercury Wireless Indiana notified the FCC it's unable to meet rural digital opportunity fund commitments to build out its service in 13 census tracts in Indiana. “This was a very difficult decision for Mercury to make, as we continually strive to deploy high-speed broadband throughout rural America,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 19-126. “Mercury took the time to put forth thoughtful analysis as we endeavored to find a way to make these broadband deployments feasible,” the provider said: “However, deployment costs have increased dramatically since Mercury made its bids in the RDOF reverse auction.”

RiverStreet Communications petitioned the FCC for a waiver on census block groups (CBGs) it won and surrendered through the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program Monday (see 2410250006). New Kent County, Virginia, awarded Cox Communications $16 million to "build out a broadband network totaling 566.7 fiber miles that will allow Cox to provide high-speed broadband services to every household and business in New Kent County," RiverStreet said in a petition filed in docket 19-126. RiverStreet said both companies agreed that RiverStreet would relinquish certain CBGs that duplicate the locations Cox plans to build out. "Because deduplication serves the public interest and so that RiverStreet will not be subject to the penalties set forth in the FCC’s rules for failure to meet certain buildout milestones, RiverStreet seeks a waiver of those rules," the company said.

Consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls have declined more than 50% since 2021, the FTC said in its national Do Not Call Registry data book released Friday. "Illegal calls remain a scourge, but the FTC's strategy to pursue upstream players and equip the agency to confront emerging threats is showing clear signs of success," said Sam Levine, director-Bureau of Consumer Protection. The FTC said it received about 1.1 million complaints about robocalls in FYB 2024, down 1.2 million from the previous year. Complaints about calls related to debt-reduction, though, increased more than 85% from last year.

NTIA approved more than $68 million in digital equity capacity grant program funding for five states and Puerto Rico, the agency said Thursday (see 2408300003). Delaware received $4.8 million, Louisiana $12.7 million, Missouri $14.2 million, Oklahoma $11.2 million, Tennessee $15.8 million and Puerto Rico $9.8 million.

NTIA awarded more than $72 million to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Tuesday through the tribal broadband connectivity program. Funds will support middle mile fiber optic line deployment and wireless telecom tower management across Hawaiian lands and construction of community digital innovation centers. "This award will ensure that Native Hawaiians have the internet connections they need to take advantage of digital opportunities for work, education, health care, and other essential services," said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The FCC is seeking comment by Jan. 13 on the requirements of rules implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This is an extension of requirements approved as part of a 2006 order implementing the TCPA and the Junk Fax Prevention Act. The FCC projects a total annual burden of 3.67 million hours and cost of more than $1 million, according to a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. “Comments are requested concerning: whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the Commission’s burden estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and ways to further reduce the information collection burden on small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees,” the notice said.

The National Consumer Law Center and a diverse group, including associations representing banks and credit unions, are asking the FCC to move forward on a draft order on robotexts and robocalls that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel pulled from the agenda for the September open meeting (see 2409240068). The groups reported on meetings with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez. “The Organizations joined together on these meetings because they are united in their commitment to combating criminals who attempt to defraud consumers by impersonating legitimate businesses through illegally spoofed calls and text messages,” said a filing Friday in docket 17-59. “The Organizations affirmed their support for the draft Report and Order.” Groups at the meeting included the American Bankers Association, ACA International, America’s Credit Unions, the Bank Policy Institute and the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Texts that impersonate legitimate businesses harm consumers and undermine those businesses’ ability to communicate with their customers,” they said.

NTIA awarded nearly $23.3 million to Ohio and about $5.6 million to Alaska to implement their digital equity plans, the agency said Thursday. The funding comes from the $1.44 billion state digital equity capacity grant program. Alaska will use its funding to establish statewide digital literacy initiatives and create a device program. Ohio's plans call for creating a digital inclusion grant program, developing a "statewide device ecosystem to increase access to affordable technology," and providing digital skills training to incarcerated people.

Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, along with the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the FCC's order establishing per-minute rate caps for intrastate audio and video communication services for incarcerated people. The order "violates the constitution, is in excess of statutory authority, and is otherwise contrary to law and unsupported by substantial evidence," the states said in a petition for review posted Wednesday (docket 24-60571). The challenge comes after the 1st Circuit was selected to hear multiple pending petitions for review (see 2411010061), including one from 14 other states (see 2411010061).