Convo Communications joined a group of "enterprise users" in opposing an ITTA petition that asked the FCC to ensure carrier telecom relay service fund costs can be passed on to consumers through specific line-item fees, while AT&T and Verizon continued to back it. "As a deaf owned and operated company which provides [TRS], Convo is of the view that ITTA’s request to identify TRS as a line item description in customer bills subverts the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) mandate of telecommunications as a universally available service and consequentially would segregate and stigmatize TRS as a 'special' need which adds cost to ratepayers, but is done to provide a 'social' service for the disabled," said the video relay service provider's filing posted Thursday in docket 03-123. Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and other groups took no position on the petition proposal but said they "hope that the Commission, carriers, and other stakeholders will join accessibility organizations in making clear to the public that TRS is not just a regulatory fee, but a service that is beneficial to the general public because it allows all individuals to communicate with each other."

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr cited the growing importance of telemedicine after visiting the University of Virginia health system in Charlottesville Monday. The trend "is a movement from healthcare delivered inside brick-and-mortar facilities to connected care everywhere,” he said Tuesday. “Inside hospitals and clinics, patients now have access to the most cutting-edge, broadband-enabled technologies. And the FCC has played a significant role in helping to support and promote broadband deployments to these facilities. When patients leave the doors of those facilities, their access to high-tech healthcare services often drops off. Connected care technologies are helping to fill that gap."

The FCC set National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program allocations Monday for the funding year that began Sunday, said a public notice Monday. The $10 million annual program, also called "iCanConnect," will provide $9.65 million from the telecom relay service fund to certified parties in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five territories. The Perkins School for the Blind received 22 awards. The FCC set aside $250,000 for the Perkins School to conduct national outreach and it set aside another $100,000 to develop a database for reporting purposes.

Verizon's Go90 streaming video service will discontinue effective July 30, said a notice on the app. In a statement, the company said the discontinuation follows creation of its digital content division, Oath. It said it "will focus on building its digital-first brands at scale in sports, finance, news and entertainment for today's mobile consumers and tomorrow's 5G applications.”

Foxconn’s $10 billion Wisconsin display fab (see 1711130023) is “a symbol of what is to come” -- the first of a “large number of investments in advanced manufacturing facilities being reshored from overseas locations,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for Thursday's The Journal Times of Racine County to coincide with groundbreaking for the plant. Foxconn CEO Terry Gou “has already said that he is considering another enormous facility in the United States,” said Ross. It's “important" to "rebuild the U.S. consumer electronics manufacturing sector,” he said. President Donald Trump spoke at the groundbreaking.

An FCC IP captioned telephone services order and ruling largely takes effect July 27, though a reduced interim compensation rate for providers takes effect July 1, said a rule in Wednesday's Federal Register. Modified information collection requirements for providers won't take effect until approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Commissioners adopted the text of the order and declaratory ruling combined with a Further NPRM June 7 (see Notebook at end of 1806070021).

The FCC Wireline Bureau extended the deadline for comments on the FCC proceeding on long-term funding for voice and broadband networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 1806120015), said an order Wednesday. Comments had been due July 5, replies July 18 but are now due July 26 and Aug. 8, respectively. Puerto Rico Telephone requested the three-week extension due to the complexity “when affected carriers are engaged in massive post-hurricane restoration efforts.” No one opposed the extension request, and the bureau said granting it is “appropriate” given the storm damage.

With the U.S., Canada and European countries producing “the same volumes of waste" and showing "little willingness, nor, at times, the infrastructure to deal with it at home rather than find new destinations,” the Basel Action Network urged South and Southeast Asian nations to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment to amend the Basel Convention agreed to by 194 countries to make it illegal to export such waste. Based on its GPS tracking, BAN said Tuesday, 40 percent of e-waste given recyclers is exported, mostly to Asia, with tracked devices arriving in Hong Kong, and increasingly Thailand and to Pakistan. In the region, Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka ratified the agreement, it said, noting the amendment is three ratifications short of becoming international law.

A third of U.S. broadband homes own at least one product that can be controlled via smartphone, with smart home adoption growing alongside distributed energy resources such as renewable generation, battery storage and electric vehicles, said Parks Associates Monday. Four in five U.S. households believe having an energy-efficient home is important, said analyst Tom Kerber, saying smart home solutions are lowering barriers for consumer participation in energy programs. Of the 18 percent of U.S. broadband households that own a home automation device, 13 percent own a smart thermostat.

The DOJ and FTC approved procedural changes to Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification rules and instructions for filling out the form that companies use to report deals, the commission said Monday. It said the changes simplify and clarify language and allow email use in certain circumstances such as in granting early termination.