The FCC plans to place a confidential version of a report by RolkaLoube Associates on the telecom relay service in the record, available subject to protective order provisions, said a public notice in docket 03-123 in Tuesday's Daily Digest. RolkaLoube earlier found the fund needs $1.62 billion in net cash for FY 2019, which starts July 1 (see 1805080021). The report provides recommendations for TRS provider compensation rates, the funding requirement and the carrier contribution factor from this July 1 through June 30, 2019, the FCC said. “The Commission intends on examining the confidential portions of the 2018 TRS Rate Report to assist it in its open rulemaking to address the appropriate compensation methodology for Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service,” the PN said: The confidential part “includes Fund Year 2018-19 estimates for minutes, revenue, revenue requirements, profit, expenses, and the operating margin for each IP CTS provider. The Commission has recognized that such detailed data generally should be treated as confidential and exempt from public disclosure.”

Ninety percent of respondents to a Metova survey said they own a connected home device such as an appliance, TV, Amazon Echo or Google Home, said the company Monday. Nearly 70 percent said they had an Amazon Alexa- or Google Assistant-controlled device; 74 percent said they think connected home devices are the way of the future; 30 percent of those who don't own a connected home device plan to buy one within a year; and 58 percent of those who own a connected device are concerned about privacy. The survey was administered to more than 1,000 U.S. consumers covering a range of demographics and geographies, said the strategic services company.

The FCC Technological Advisory Council meets June 12. The meeting starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room at FCC headquarters. “The TAC is helping the Commission to continue the momentum spurred by the National Broadband Plan to maximize the use of broadband to advance national interests and create jobs,” said a Monday public notice.

Xcite Satellite and New Star Communications are combining in a deal that will create the second-largest AT&T reseller, they said Friday.

An FCC public notice Thursday said affected parties have until May 21 to oppose FCC disclosure to DOJ, as Justice reviews T-Mobile buying Sprint, wireless numbering resource utilization and forecast reports from December onward and wireless local number portability data from October. "In general, the Commission may share information it has collected with another government agency" even when that information was given to the regulator in confidence, the PN noted. Justice may cast a skeptical eye on T-Mobile and Sprint (see 1804300055).

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's Gulf Coast "digital opportunity" road trip through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida is recapped here, spokeswoman Tina Pelkey tweeted. In 10 stops, starting in New Orleans and ending in St. Petersburg, Pai met with government officials, industry representatives and residents as he visited numerous communications facilities and deployment projects along the way.

Rolka Loube Associates projected the FCC telecom relay service fund needs $1.62 billion in net cash for FY 2019 starting July 1 (up 23 percent from $1.32 billion in FY 2018), and an industry contribution factor of 3 percent (up from 2.3 percent), said filings by the TRS fund administrator posted Monday in docket 10-51. It projected total demand of almost $1.8 billion from the six relay services and additional requirements: $5.4 million for interstate traditional TRS, $7.8 million for interstate captioned telephone service, $713,429 for interstate speech-to-speech (including outreach), $495 million for video relay service, $7.9 million for IP relay service, $998.7 million for IP captioned telephone service and $279.9 million in "non-provider" requirements. The latter include an FCC-mandated two-month budgetary reserve of $252.6 million for FY 2019, $10 million for a deaf-blind equipment distribution program, $8.65 million for TRS research, and smaller administrative and other expenses. The projected net cash need was lowered by offsets from the projected $172.2 million surplus as of June 30 (from a current reserve) and $1.2 million in estimated interest on invested funds. Rolka Loube said the best available estimate is that the relevant annual interstate and international telecom end user (minus reseller) revenue base will be $53.5 billion (down from $58 billion); that, combined with the $1.62 billion cash need, produces the 3 percent projected contribution factor, which most providers pass on to consumers on phone bills.

The North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System demonstrated telehealth capabilities during a visit by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to the Lecanto, Florida, community-based outpatient clinic, the system said Monday. Pai said one reason digital divide issues are a top priority is that "communities on the wrong side of the divide, particularly rural communities, will not be able to be as healthy and strong as they should be," and Lecanto "shows us what is possible." He tweeted last week after the visit that telehealth "is saving lives and improving the health of veterans" in the region. The Veterans Health System is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Pai has been on a sweep of Gulf Coast states (see 1804270068).

Representatives of Alaska’s General Communication Inc. asked the FCC to expedite the flow of funding coming through the USF Rural Healthcare Program. “We urged rapid completion of the Funding Year 2017 commitments process, as we are already ten months through that year,” GCI said in a filing in docket 02-60. “The delay in completing the commitments and disbursement process is threatening to disrupt GCI’s ability to undertake key network improvements to improve wireless and wireline broadband in Alaska during the coming construction season.” GCI said representatives met with staff from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau and the Office of Native Affairs and Policy.

The local number portability administrator transition remains on track to meet a May 25 deadline for "final acceptance" of iconectiv's Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC), with previous risks largely addressed, said a North American Portability Management report for April in docket 09-109. "Program risks previously reported here have been either mitigated or resolved. There are currently no summary-level program risks being tracked," said NAPM, the industry consortium the FCC charged with overseeing the LNPA transition. It said the first regional NPAC migration from incumbent Neustar to iconectiv "was successfully completed" April 8 (see 1804060030 and 1804130030). "The iconectiv NPAC is now processing porting transactions for NPAC users in the Southeast region," the report said. "Mechanized and low-tech interface users are accessing the NPAC. Mass Update / Mass Port jobs are being successfully processed, and the interface with the pooling administrator is operational. As part of the April 8th migration, interactive voice response service also transitioned nationwide. No critical or high severity defects for the iconectiv NPAC are currently outstanding." NAPM noted it reached a rollback agreement on April 6 with Neustar giving industry providers "a way to revert back to Neustar’s NPAC" if necessary. The Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regional migrations are set for Sunday, and the Southwest, Western, and West Coast migrations are set for May 20. Neustar didn't comment.