The number of items the FCC is considering at its monthly meetings has slowly declined in the two years since Jessica Rosenworcel was designated to lead the agency. The January meeting was over in about half an hour and had two items for votes. Similarly, Rosenworcel has teed up just two items for this month's meeting. A review of the record found the FCC tackled 59 items, large and small, at meetings the first year under Rosenworcel. That was down to 42 in year two. In more than half the meetings in year two, commissioners tackled three or fewer items at the meetings.
Dish Wireless is seeking eligible telecom carrier status in the federal default states so it can get the support available to affordable connectivity program customers it already has, it said in an amended petition posted Thursday in docket 09-107. Dish said it has already been designated a wireless ETC in Colorado and New York and is authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission to provide California LifeLine service. Dish plans to offer service through its Gen Mobile prepaid service. “Gen Mobile customers can choose from several affordable prepaid calling plans and handsets and have access to high-quality, responsive customer service affordable connectivity program,” the company said. Dish also stressed the progress on its 5G open radio access network, saying it “entered into multi-year agreements with over 30 partners,” including Mavenir, Amazon, Dell, Cisco, IBM, Nokia, Intel, Samsung and Qualcomm.
The FCC Wireline Bureau extended through April 30 its COVID-19 pandemic waiver of Lifeline recertification and reverification requirements for subscribers residing on tribal lands, said an order Monday in docket 11-42 (see 2301170051). The bureau also extended the waiver to tribal households participating in the affordable connectivity program, noting such subscribers "may have been required to respond to ACP recertification outreach during the waiver period."
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., sharply criticized the FCC’s handling of the affordable connectivity program, after the GAO reported its goals and measures "lack specificity and clearly defined targets, raising questions about how effective” the commission’s oversight of the program is. “The results of GAO’s findings reveal that the FCC’s ACP is subject to massive waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” Cruz and Thune said Wednesday: “We find it incredibly concerning that the FCC has failed to establish a process that regularly assesses fraud risks within the ACP. It is incumbent upon” Senate Commerce “to have an oversight hearing to address GAO’s report and hold the FCC accountable to American taxpayers.” Thune launched a review of all federal broadband funding programs in December in a bid to hold executive branch agencies accountable for their disbursal of money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other measures (see 2212060067)."We appreciate GAO’s recommendations and are committed to further improving our performance goals and monitoring for risks within the program," an FCC spokesperson emailed Wednesday in response to GAO's recommendations. “The success of" ACP, "which currently helps over 15.7 million eligible households afford high-quality broadband service, continues to be a top priority for the Commission," the spokesperson said.
The FCC will do more to help survivors of domestic violence get access to communications services during the agency's Feb. 16 meeting (see 2301250061). Commissioners will consider a draft NPRM on implementing the Safe Connections Act. The draft item would seek comment on the law's requirement that mobile providers separate a survivor's phone line from an abuser within two business days after receiving the request, said a fact sheet. The item would seek comment on whether there are "operational and technical limitations" that covered providers may face to complete such a request. It also proposes to require that consumer-facing call logs and text message records omit calls or texts made to hotlines listed in a central database created by the commission and updated monthly. If adopted, the item will seek comment on ways to streamline enrollment in Lifeline and the affordable connectivity program for survivors facing financial hardship. "We believe that these measures will aid survivors who lack meaningful support and communications options when establishing independence from an abuser," the draft item said. Comments would be due 30 days after Federal Register publication, 60 days for replies. The agency will also seek comment on ways to encourage tribal participation in E-rate, said a draft NPRM also set for the February agenda. The draft item asks for feedback on creating a separate or extended filing window for tribal libraries, simplifying E-rate cost allocation rules, and increasing the maximum discount rate level and funding floor for tribal schools and libraries. It also seeks comment on allowing tribal college libraries to be eligible for E-rate funds, defining “Tribal” in E-rate and adding a tribal representative to the Universal Service Administrative Corp. The draft also asks whether “similar reforms may be needed to encourage greater participation by non-Tribal applicants, particularly if they face barriers that impede equitable access” to E-rate. The draft NPRM would also direct the Office of Native Affairs and Policy and the Wireline Bureau to “conduct government-to-government consultation as appropriate with Tribal Nations” on the issues raised in the NPRM. Comments would be due 45 days after FR publication, replies 75 days after.
Citing “serious flaws” in the rates database for the FCC’s rural healthcare telecom program, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday the agency is fixing the issue "for good" (see 2301230045). Commissioners during their open meeting adopted an order on reconsideration and NPRM on streamlining and improving the program's funding mechanism. Commissioners also denied several petitions for reconsideration as moot. Also approved 4-0 was an NPRM about extending 911-like outage reporting requirements to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The FCC will consider an item to help domestic violence survivors get access to "safe and affordable connectivity" during the commissioners' Feb. 16 open meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote in a Wednesday note (see 2208190056). Rosenworcel will meet with My Sister's Place, a shelter in Washington, D.C., next week to "help to ensure these ongoing efforts are informed by the experiences of domestic violence survivors and the organizations that serve them," she said. Rosenworcel said commissioners will consider proposed rules under the Safe Connections Act, including rules to "help survivors separate service lines from accounts that include their abusers, protect the privacy of calls made by survivors to domestic abuse hotlines, and support survivors who suffer from financial hardship access our Lifeline and affordable connectivity programs" (see 2212070055). Also on the agenda is an item seeking comment on ways to improve a pilot program aimed at increasing tribal library enrollment in the E-rate program (see 2210200046). "Libraries are a vital source of internet access across Indian country," Rosenworcel said. Commissioners will also consider an adjudicatory matter from the Media Bureau.
GAO recommends several improvements to performance metrics, outreach efforts and fraud prevention efforts for the FCC's affordable connectivity program. GAO said Wednesday that ACP goals and measures "lack specificity and clearly defined targets, raising questions about how effective these goals and measures will be at helping FCC gauge the program's achievements and identify improvements." It said translations of ACP outreach materials varied in quality. GAO said the commission did a fraud risk assessment, but it hasn't developed an anti-fraud strategy to address identified risks or a process to do such risk assessments regularly. The GAO's nine recommendations include revising the language translation process through incorporating revision and quality assurance steps and the Office of the Managing Director developing and implementing a process for regular fraud risk assessments. The FCC didn't comment.
Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley (D) said Thursday he's running for state governor this year, setting him up for a potential challenge to incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. Presley has been active on telecom policy since joining the PSC in 2008, including raising concerns last year about potential provider abuse in the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (see 2201250028). As NARUC president November 2019 through November 2020, he was active in prodding Congress to allocate significant funding in COVID-19 aid bills for increasing broadband buildouts (see 2003260063). He asked Congress to speed disbursing funds from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction (see 2005280048). Presley also sharply criticized language in two 2020 bills in Congress that omitted a requirement that companies be designated eligible telecom carriers to qualify for proposed broadband funding (see 2009150070). Presley cited his work on the PSC Thursday, saying in a campaign launch video he “brought high speed internet service all the way out … to some of the most rural and forgotten places in our state.” House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., endorsed Presley.
An FCC order establishing a data collection for the affordable connectivity program takes effect Feb. 13, said a notice for Friday's Federal Register. Commissioners adopted the item in November (see 2211230074).