The FCC’s Broadband Data Task Force announced that the seventh broadband data collection (BDC) filing window for submitting broadband availability and other data will open Tuesday. The June 2025 update of the broadband serviceable location fabric is also being made available to existing fabric licensees, the task force said Monday. “The Fabric serves as the foundation for the collection of fixed broadband availability data in the BDC,” it said. “The updated Fabric is being made available to Fabric licensees and must be used by filers of fixed broadband availability for their availability data as of June 30.”

Urban rate surveys are due Aug. 15, said the FCC Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireline Bureau in a public notice Friday (docket 10-90). Providers required to complete the online survey, which identifies rates for fixed voice and broadband residential services in urban areas, will be contacted on or around July 7, it said.

AT&T's proposed $177 million settlement stemming from 2019 and 2024 data breaches shows that multifactor authentication isn't optional, cybersecurity expert Joe Vadakkan wrote last week. In the 2024 incident, hackers penetrated AT&T's Snowflake cloud system using credentials that didn't have MFA and made off with customers' call and text metadata, he said. "Weak credential protections" made the hack possible, he added. "Supply chain vigilance is critical," as the Snowflake breach came via "internal compromises." The settlement received preliminary approval in U.S. District Court earlier this month.

Comments are due July 11 in docket 25-202 on CenturyLink Communications’ application to discontinue legacy voice services in communities in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wisconsin, said a public notice in Thursday’s Daily Digest. The application will be granted automatically July 27, unless the FCC notifies CenturyLink otherwise.

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau has granted certification for several companies to provide video relay service (VRS) and IP captioned telephone service (IP CTS) supported by the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund, said three public notices Wednesday. Sorenson Communications, which is majority-owned by Ariel GP Holdco, was granted certification to provide VRS and is eligible for TRS compensation through June 24, 2030. CaptionCall, also owned by Ariel GP, was certified to provide IP CTS with TRS compensation for the same five-year period. NexTalk Software, owned by Solen Ventures, was granted a conditional certification to provide IP CTS. NexTalk will be eligible for TRS fund compensation when the FCC takes action on its application for full certification, the notice said. “We find it to be in the public interest to grant such conditional certification pending a full determination of NexTalk Software’s qualifications.”

Securus wants the FCC to grant another waiver of a requirement that inmate calling providers bill for video on a per-minute basis, according to a partially redacted ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-62. The FCC granted Securus a waiver in December extending the deadline for the requirement to Sept. 1. “Securus, despite extraordinary effort, will not be able to fully deploy the new video calling platform by that deadline and will thus be seeking an extension of the current waiver through April 1, 2026,” said the filing. The FCC recently granted a similar waiver for TKC Telecom. Securus’ planned video-calling platform to allow the new billing structure requires additional development work, and the company must train staff and correctional employees and educate consumers about the new product, the filing said. Without an extension, “Securus will once again be in a position of either having to offer the service for free and incurring the resulting loss, or shutting down service, depriving consumers of this important communication platform.”

The planned discontinuation of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline's LGBTQ subnetwork "represents a significant and dangerous step backward in our collective commitment to prioritizing mental health for all young people," nonprofit Active Minds said Monday. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said last week that the subnetwork -- known as "Press 3 option" -- will end July 17. It was established in FY 2022 as a pilot program, SAMHSA said, and as of this month, all the money that Congress allocated for it has been spent. After the Press 3 option shutters, "everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors," SAMHSA added. Meanwhile, Active Minds urged Congress to restore funding. "Every young person deserves access to mental health care that is safe, responsive, and tailored to their lived experience."

Eighty-eight percent of 911 call centers reported seeing some kind of outage, up from 75% last year, according to survey results released Monday by the National Emergency Number Association and Carbyne. They said 9% of respondents reported that telephony denial of service or other cyberattacks caused outages. Fewer call centers (58%, down from 73%) "struggle" to hire, the survey said, while burnout was reported as the top staffing challenge. Also, according to the survey, 86% of emergency communications centers are at least somewhat comfortable with AI assistance in taking calls, with a particular demand for AI-aided language translation.

The existence of more precise location data and the value in accurately assessing compliance warrant the FCC granting GCI's request for modification or waiver of the Alaska population-distribution model (see 2504140020), GCI representatives told agency staffers. In a docket 16-271 filing posted Monday to recap a meeting with the Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics, GCI said it expects it will meet its population-based commitments to upgrade service to nearly 140,000 Alaskans, and it seeks accurate measurement of compliance with Alaska Plan commitments. GCI also said it discussed Alaska Plan compliance regarding the relocation of population from the village of Newtok in western Alaska a few miles upriver to Mertarvik.

Strand Consult last week poked holes in a recent study by the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which warned that a 5% USF fee on cloud service revenues, passed through to customers, would cause a hit to the U.S. GDP of up to $148.18 billion (see 2506030049). The study was written by Raul Katz, director of business strategy research at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information at Columbia Business School. Katz modeled a 5% contribution rate, which would deliver $25 billion, “almost three times the current USF,” Strand said. “No policy maker had made such a proposal. The rate appears to be amplified on purpose to paint a picture of a doomsday scenario.”