An indictment by a federal grand jury in Dallas charged two people, Donna Woods of DeSoto, Texas, and Donatus Anyanwu of Dallas, with conspiracy and other offenses in a scheme to defraud the FCC's E-rate program, said Erin Nealy Cox, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, in a release Thursday. Woods is CEO of Nova Charter School, and Anyanwu is owner of ADI Engineering. The indictment alleges "Woods used her position at Nova to select ADI as Nova’s E-Rate service provider, a bid worth approximately $478,000. In return for ADl’s selection as Nova’s E-Rate service provider, Woods received a kickback of at least $5,000 from Anyanwu," the release said.

The FCC pleading cycle was extended on applications for state certification of the provision of telecom relay service, covering the five-year period starting July 26. Comments are now due Feb. 23, replies March 12, said a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register.

The FCC extended Lifeline NPRM and notice of inquiry comment deadlines by four weeks, partially granting a request of the National Hispanic Media Coalition for an eight-week extension (see 1801190023). Initial and reply comments on a Further NPRM and NOI previously due Wednesday and Feb. 23 are now due Feb. 21 and March 23, said a Wireline Bureau order Tuesday in docket 17-287.

Puerto Rico Telephone Co. asked the FCC to provide $200 million in emergency USF support to help restore telecom services disrupted by hurricanes Irma and Maria. "Although the FCC has taken considerable actions to accommodate universal service in rural areas of the country, no similar attention has been paid to insular areas," said a petition posted Friday in docket 10-90. "PRTC requests that the Commission create a $200 million emergency Universal Service Fund designated to facilitate restoration of service in insular areas by eligible telecommunications carriers ('ETCs') in Puerto Rico."

The FCC invited input on an Alaska Telephone Association petition for adjustments to Lifeline minimum service duties in the state due to its remote geography and other characteristics. Comments are due Feb. 12 and replies Feb. 26 on the petition, which "requests that the Commission clarify and waive certain Commission rules relating to the Lifeline minimum service standards for mobile broadband service and fixed broadband service in remote areas in Alaska," said a Wireline Bureau public notice Thursday in docket 11-42. On wireless, ATA asked the FCC to waive the 3G duty for remote Alaska eligible telecom carriers that don't yet offer at least that service level, and to waive the 3G requirement for all remote Alaska ETCs if the agency denies the service area clarification (see 1712060038).

FCC staff offered guidance on the Lifeline USF reimbursement process for eligible telecom carriers (ETCs), consistent with the direction the commission gave to the Universal Service Administrative Co. to devise a transition plan for phasing out Form 497. Starting "with the January 2018 data month, payment of Lifeline support for all ETCs in all states and territories (except for NLAD opt-out states) will be based on subscriber data contained in the National Lifeline Accountability Database," said a Wireline Bureau public notice in Thursday's Daily Digest. "Under the revised reimbursement process, payments will be made based on the number of subscribers enrolled with an ETC in the NLAD on the snapshot date for that month or, in NLAD opt-out states, based on data received either from the state or directly from the ETC. Further, beginning with data month January 2018, all ETCs must file their reimbursement request with USAC for subscribers being claimed for that month using USAC’s online E-File system." The PN provided further details on those filings and said the new process aligns with FCC plans to have a national entity verify consumer low-income eligibility for the program.

The FCC should remove wireless and wireline infrastructure barriers together in one order, Charter said. The company met Thursday with aides to all five commissioners and other FCC staff, said a Monday ex-parte letter in docket 17-79. The FCC should “enact its reforms holistically, in one combined proceeding, to avoid inadvertently exacerbating competitive disparities among different classes of providers in a way that adversely impacts the deployment of high speed broadband,” Charter said. Also, the FCC should consider how local right-of-way and franchise fees “impose significant burdens on a cable provider’s investment and ability to buildout its network,” Charter said. Meanwhile, San Jose urged appointment of more municipal members on the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee and market-based fees for right-of-way use. “Promote collaboration, not pre-emption,” the city said in Monday comments in docket 17-83. “Preemption should be a matter of last resort if the BDAC and Commission are committed to seeing equitable and safe deployment.” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is a BDAC member.

HP recalled 50,000 lithium-ion batteries for notebook computers and mobile workstations Thursday due to overheating, said the Consumer Product Safety Commission. HP received eight reports of battery packs overheating, melting or charring, including three reports of property damage totaling $4,500 and one report of a first-degree hand burn, said CPSC. HP said consumers should check its website for a list of products affected by the recall and for instructions on how to enable a battery safety mode. The batteries aren't replaceable by customers; HP will provide free battery replacement by an authorized technician, said CPSC. The batteries were shipped with or sold as accessories for HP ProBooks, HPx360 310 G2, HP Envy m6, HP Pavilion x360, HP 11, HP ZBook mobile workstations, and as replacement batteries for the HP ZBook Studio G4 mobile workstation, from December 2015 through December 2017.

Presentations to the Disability Advisory Committee are exempt from ex parte rules, said an FCC public notice. That’s potentially significant because DAC deals with issues that are important to various proceedings, the FCC said in Wednesday's Daily Digest. “The Commission will not rely in these proceedings on any information submitted to the DAC, or to any of its subcommittees, working groups, or sponsored roundtables, or on information conveyed by DAC members (including members of any subcommittees or working groups) to FCC staff or Commissioners, unless that information is first placed in the record of the relevant proceeding.”

A Utah woman allegedly involved in a bilking scheme is banned from telemarketing, processing payments and selling grant and business opportunities under a settlement order, the FTC said Tuesday. A commission complaint alleged that Jamie White "enabled telemarketing operations to sell a phony grants program and a worthless moneymaking opportunity purportedly involving customized websites linked to Amazon.com," said a release. "She supplied consumers with instructions on applying for grants that did not exist, and generic websites that could not generate enough web traffic to provide any of the promised income." The FTC also said she allegedly "provided the telemarketers with fraudulent merchant accounts to process consumer credit card payments." The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona entered the order Dec. 21, the FTC said. White couldn't be reached for comment.