The FCC should consider requiring "large edge companies" to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, Joan Marsh, AT&T executive vice president-federal regulatory relations, blogged Friday. "If we want the USF to have a strong broadband future, it's time to ask these entities to contribute to the support of our collective universal broadband goals, Marsh wrote, saying the FCC shouldn't stop at including only broadband internet access service providers. Marsh said the FCC's recent announcement that the USF Q3 contribution factor will be 33% is a "dramatic increase" from the previous quarter and the factor will continue to grow as revenue declines (see 2206100058).
The Supreme Court appeared to raise questions about the future of the Chevron doctrine Wednesday, under which agencies like the FCC and FTC are afforded deference by the courts in their decisions as expert agencies. The unanimous court ruled in American Hospital Assn. v. Becerra that the Department of Health and Human Service’s decision to reduce yearly Medicare payments to hospitals as part of the 340B program was unlawful. The government raised Chevron deference, but the decision by Justice Brett Kavanaugh never addresses the doctrine. The case had been decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
House Communications Subcommittee leaders said Wednesday they’re eyeing combining the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) and revised versions of the Simplifying Management, Reallocation and Transfer of Spectrum Act (HR-5486) and Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) before a full Commerce Committee vote. The subpanel unanimously advanced HR-5486, HR-7624, HR-7783 and four other telecom bills Wednesday, as expected (see 2206140077).
Alaska’s attorney general supported connections-based contribution and assessing broadband services for Alaska USF. Assessing fees by connection is more sustainable, the AG’s Regulatory Affairs and Public Advocacy (RAPA) division said in comments received Monday by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). “It is fair and reasonable to require broadband Internet connections to support the network that allows carriers to provide that specific service,” RAPA said in the RCA's USF review in docket R-21-001 (see 2205160022). Associations that filed competing AUSF revamp plans supported connections-based contribution. Matanuska Telecom Association (MTA) called its plan a “simple and immediate solution,” while “time is simply running out for the Commission to vet and implement the complicated, still conceptual proposals” from staff and the Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition. ARCC said the MTA proposal “makes only minor changes to the status quo and thus ignores the greatest need" in Alaska, "the off-road network remote villages.” ARCC agreed the RCA should adopt a connections-based method and supported assessing broadband. Federal infrastructure dollars are meant to supplement but not replace state funding, ARCC said. Alaska Communications supported a voice connections-based method. GCI isn’t sure what to do about AUSF, it said. “While GCI is very much open to continuation of an appropriate AUSF, GCI does not believe that a record has yet been developed to support any specific proposal. With federal funding on the way, “now is not a prudent time for the Commission to expand or repurpose the AUSF for broadband,” said CTIA: Changing to connections-based contribution “would worsen, not improve, the impact of the economic burden on hardworking Alaskans by making the assessment more regressive, hitting low-income and low-volume users hardest, and shifting the overall burden away from business customers and towards residential users."
The House Communications Subcommittee will mark up the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783), a significantly modified version of the Simplifying Management, Reallocation and Transfer of Spectrum Act (HR-5486) and five other telecom bills Wednesday, as expected (see 2206100001), the Commerce Committee said Monday. The markup includes a revised version of the Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) that proposes to use proceeds from the 3.1-3.45 GHz auction it authorizes to pay for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and additional money for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to repay U.S. carriers for removing from their networks equipment made by companies deemed a national security risk.
The Q3 USF contribution factor will be 33%, said an FCC Office of Managing Director public notice Friday, as expected (see 2206010052).
Verizon asked the FCC to "defer consideration of any new high cost support" until funding from the new federal broadband programs have been "fully awarded," in a meeting with Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staff. The FCC can then identify unserved areas to "assess whether new high cost support is needed," Verizon said, per an ex parte posted Monday in docket 21-476. It also asked the FCC to seek additional funding for the affordable connectivity program and emphasize the Lifeline program's "distinct and important role" in its report to Congress on the future of the Universal Service Fund. Verizon backed expanding USF's contribution base "absent direct appropriations" by including "the most significant enterprises operating within the broader internet economy" (see 2203180062).
Minnesota’s attorney general supported revisiting LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation. So did some local governments and consumer and municipal broadband advocates, in comments due Wednesday in docket M-21-133 at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. LTD urged the PUC to reject the request by Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) and Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA) to revoke the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winner’s ETC status (see 2205170058).
The Universal Service Administrative Co. projected USF Q3 revenue will be $8.3 billion (see 2203020058).That's about $466 million less than Q2 and "the lowest quarterly revenue in the history of the USF," emailed analyst Billy Jack Gregg Wednesday, noting the quarterly contribution factor will be 33.0%.
NAB and tech groups are preparing for a battle over the FCC’s upcoming collection of regulatory fees, said attorneys and advocates in interviews. Since regulatory fees must be collected by the fall, attorneys expect the agency to soon issue public notices on the 2022 fee collection. The NPRM on the 2021 fee collection was released in May 2021. NAB has had annual disagreements with the agency’s fee assessments for the past several years (see 2008210053), but broadcast attorneys and tech advocates said they expect the group to press the issue this year. NAB Chief Legal Officer Rick Kaplan at the 2022 NAB Show in April said the item is now “at the top of the list.”