The California Public Utilities Commission may vote April 7 on adopting rules for a $2 billion last-mile federal funding account required by the state’s $6 billion broadband law (see 2110270063), said a proposed decision (PD) Wednesday. It would limit funds to areas without 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds, and allow recipients to propose projects lower than 100 Mbps symmetrical where it’s impractical. It would encourage limiting funding to wireline infrastructure and encourage funding fiber. Funds could be used for middle mile in places not reached by the coming state-owned middle-mile network, it said. Also, the PD would expand the fund’s list of eligible entities to include nonprofits and cooperatives and require grantees to participate in the federal affordable connectivity program “or otherwise provide access to a broad-based affordability program to low-income consumers.” The proposed rule “focuses on ‘need’ in determining whether an area is not served, instead of solely determining speed served status by relying of speed thresholds,” the CPUC said. The commission won’t say only fiber provides reliable internet, but it would adopt “a rebuttable presumption that legacy networks cannot provide reliable Internet service at speeds of 25Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload,” meaning areas with only DSL or cable technology based on DOCSIS 2.0 or earlier would be eligible for funding, it said. ISPs seeking to rebut would have to show all locations have at least 25/3 Mbps, said the PD: “Speed tests from terminals, cabinets and at other locations that are not end users are not sufficient.”
Next Century Cities and local officials told staff to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks that officials are "facing challenges" when enrolling residents living in city housing authorities in the affordable connectivity program, per a filing Wednesday in docket 21-450. Some eligible households have "abandoned the entire application process if one phase was unsuccessful," they said. Louisville, Seattle and Baltimore officials sought "more specific detail about providers' lower cost tiers of service" and "better zip-based data" on enrollment by provider and subscription type for targeted outreach.
The FCC wants comments by April 4 on a matching agreement between the Universal Service Administrative Co. and the Virginia Department of Social Services, which would take effect on that date, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register. It lets officials verify eligibility for applicants and subscribers to Lifeline and the affordable connectivity program. Comments to privacy@fcc.gov.
Regulatory reviews of Apollo's buying Lumen ILEC assets are moving forward in the states. Virginia State Corporation Commission staff plans to recommend approval soon, said Hearing Examiner Ann Berkebile at an evidentiary hearing livestreamed Thursday. The companies expect to finish getting state approvals in the first half of this year, they told the FCC this week.
The Kentucky Public Service Commission won’t adjust the state USF surcharge or support levels due to uncertainty about the federal affordable connectivity program’s effect, the PSC said in a Monday order in case 2016-00059. Eligible telecom carriers participating in ACP should send a letter to the PSC by March 15 describing what plans they will offer Kentucky Lifeline customers, the total cost of their ACP offering, and how ACP and federal and state Lifeline support will be applied to eligible plans, it said. The PSC will open a review of Kentucky USF solvency by Feb. 1, 2023.
A "special focus" on connecting Black households "is warranted if we are ever going to close the digital divide," said FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks during a virtual event Tuesday. "Far too many Black Americans are on the wrong side of the digital divide," Starks said, and "we can no longer defer the hard work on digital equity." The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included $2.75 billion for NTIA to establish digital equity and inclusion programs and language authorizing the FCC to spend some of its $14 billion affordable connectivity program (ACP) on outreach (see 2107280065).
Commenters on the Universal Service Fund generally agreed its funding system is unsustainable and in need of changes but disagreed on the solution, in comments posted Friday in docket 21-476 (see 2112220051) as the FCC prepares its report to Congress on the future of USF.
Provide funding for “digital ambassador programs” as part of the FCC’s pilot program to boost affordable connectivity program participation among federal public housing assistance program recipients, Starry told aides to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, per an ex parte filing Wednesday in docket 21-450. The ambassadors can “act as a conduit” among ISPs, housing authorities and residents, Starry said, noting “many consumers continue to rely on local outreach efforts to better understand” the program and how to enroll. Starry also backed expanding the pilot to include boosting ACP participation among Section 8 voucher holders.
NTIA’s new spectrum coordination agreement with the FCC shows the two agencies are committed to building up an “evidence-based” approach to evaluating the potential that future wireless industry use of spectrum bands will cause harmful interference to users of adjacent frequencies, said Administrator Alan Davidson during a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing. Many subcommittee members focused on whether the FCC-NTIA agreement announced Tuesday will effectively quell the interagency spectrum infighting that plagued the Trump administration and extended into the Biden administration’s first year in office (see 2202150001). Lawmakers also questioned Davidson’s vision for NTIA implementing programs to distribute $48 billion in broadband money included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will host a virtual event on connecting Black communities through the affordable connectivity program and NTIA’s broadband, equity, access, and deployment program Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. EST, said the commission Tuesday. Moderated by Fallon Wilson, Multicultural Media, Telecom, & Internet Council vice president-policy, speakers will be Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington. Panelists are Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D), New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin (D), Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), Augusta, Georgia, Mayor Hardie Davis (D), and Scott Woods, NTIA director-Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives.