Texas urged a state court to again dismiss carrier claims that the Public Utility Commission didn’t adequately fund Texas USF (TUSF). Judge Karin Crump of Travis County District Court in Austin heard livestreamed, virtual oral argument Tuesday on a challenge by AMA TechTel. Crump dismissed a similar challenge by two state telecom associations June 7 (see 2106210048). The Texas Appeals Court for the 3rd Judicial District in Austin will hear the associations’ appeal of that decision Dec. 15, said Texas Assistant Attorney General Carl Myers. “This case is about AMA and AMA only,” and the court should decline relief because “it would take the pot of money ... from the case pending before the 3rd Court of Appeals” and due to lack of jurisdiction, he said. The legislature, not the court, should fix TUSF, he said. The other case’s plaintiffs are ILECs, but AMA is suing from its perspective as a CLEC, said its attorney Kevin Terrazas of Cleveland Terrazas. AMA isn’t asking the court to order the PUC to increase TUSF surcharges, but to follow a law requiring the commission to maintain an adequately funded TUSF. The PUC set the amount AMA should receive, but it isn’t paying that amount, he said: The law gives the PUC discretion on how to fund TUSF but not whether to fund it. Crump believes she made the right decision in the first case but wants to understand the distinctions between cases, the judge said. The hearing continued after our deadline.
As states prepare for a significant role spending broadband funds from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, telecom industry representatives cautioned NARUC Tuesday against applying traditional telephone rules. “States will have a bigger role than they’ve ever had before” since the infrastructure package includes $42.5 billion for broadband deployment that NTIA will distribute to states, said Verizon Director-Public Policy Paul Vasington on a livestreamed, partially virtual NARUC conference panel. State commissioners asked companies to do more to help them resolve customer complaints.
Expand the USF contribution base to include "broadband internet access revenues," Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition board Chair and former FCC Commissioner Rachelle Chong asked FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and staff, said a filing posted Friday in docket 13-184. SHLB backed the use of E-rate funding for cybersecurity expenses and said it's "assembling a new group to promote anchor institution broadband connectivity." The group noted it filed a motion to intervene to back the FCC in Consumers' Research's USF challenge (see 2111010070).
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska will keep general regulatory powers over intrastate telecom providers from Alaska laws AS 42.05.141(a) and AS 42.05.151 despite a deregulatory 2019 law, said an RCA order posted Thursday in docket R-19-002. “The legislature has prescribed for us a very limited but important role in overseeing Alaska telecommunications. Our intent is to fulfill that limited prescribed role completely with care not to exceed it,” the RCA said. "After much thought and deliberation, we conclude, though not unanimously, that to effectively exercise the role given us we need the general powers and rulemaking authority contained in AS 42.05.141(a) and AS 42.05.151. We cannot conclude that the legislature intended to strip us of the tools we need to effectively fulfill the role it gave us.” Legislators meant with the 2019 law to revise the RCA's non-inmate telecom jurisdiction to remove rules on ratemaking and tariffing, give more flexibility to facilities-based carriers to make network and managerial decisions, and “proscribe efforts to distinguish between competitive and non-competitive areas ...and designate and assign duties to carriers of last resort,” the commission said. They intended to preserve RCA authority on access charge ratemaking, eligible telecom carrier designation, Alaska USF, interconnections and joint use oversight, telecom relay service and reviewing new services, transfers and discontinuances, it said. The RCA maintains general rulemaking authority and can still compel reports and data and investigate and respond to complaints, it said. Chairman Robert Pickett and Commissioners Janis Wilson, Antony Scott and Keith Kurber voted for the order Oct. 13. Commissioner Dan Sullivan didn’t vote.
The FCC Wireline Bureau paused phasedown of Lifeline voice-only support until Dec. 1, 2022, said an order Friday (see 2111050051). Staff waived the increase of minimum service standards for mobile broadband until then, as expected (see 2111030038). The bureau didn't address the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates’ petition for reconsideration and instead acted on its own motion.
The USF contribution factor will decrease from 29.1% during Q4 to 24.3% during Q1, emailed analyst Billy Jack Gregg Thursday: It's "one of the largest drops in the quarterly assessment factor."
The Universal Service Administrative Co. projects it will spend $55.57 million during the first quarter of 2022, including $30.37 million to support individual USF programs and $25.2 million in administrative costs, it said in a report posted Tuesday in docket 06-122. It budgeted $15.3 million for high cost programs, $15.18 million for Lifeline, $5.94 million for rural healthcare, $18.98 million for E-rate, and $170,000 for the Connected Care pilot. The budgets include direct and administrative costs.
With a full complement of FCC commissioners possible soon, Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service state members told us they’re looking forward to reconvening with the federal side. At NARUC’s Sunday through Nov. 10 hybrid meeting, state regulators plan to discuss possible changes to the USF contribution mechanism and consider a resolution to support energy utilities expanding broadband. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is to speak on a Wednesday NARUC panel on USF contribution with consultant Carol Mattey and AT&T and NCTA officials (agenda).
The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, National Digital Inclusion Alliance and MediaJustice asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday to grant their motion to intervene in support of the FCC in Consumers' Research's challenge of the USF Q4 contribution factor (see 2110050056). The groups said in docket 21-3886 their interests "will be adversely affected if the petitioners prevail." The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition also asked to intervene in support of the FCC. If successful, the petition "would do great harm to the interests and goals of SHLB and its members," the group said.
The California Public Utilities Commission seeks comment by Nov. 30 on a staff recommendation to switch to connections-based state USF contribution, Administrative Law Judge Hazlyn Fortune ruled Friday in docket R.21-03-002. Fortune's schedule includes replies due Dec. 15, a hearing Feb. 7-11 and a proposed decision in April. "Staff recommends that a flat, single-end user surcharge be adopted,” which would be more equitable and stable than the existing revenue-based approach, the report said. This would combine a multitude of public purpose program (PPP) charges into one per-access line surcharge that would be applied equally to all customer classes and service types, it said. Staff estimated the surcharge would be $1.11 monthly for all customers, based on a forecast $738 million budget for the state's PPPs in FY 2022-23. It proposed declaring an access line "means a 'telephone line' as defined in Public Utilities Code section 233 and is associated with one assigned California phone number, and shall include, but is not limited to, a 'wireline communications service line,' a 'wireless communications service line,” and a 'Voice over Internet Protocol service line.'" Staff doesn't object to giving carriers six months to implement the mechanism, it said. Big wireless carriers raised concerns in April about a connections method (see 2104060029).