Congressional Democrats are returning from a month-plus recess more willing to vent frustrations over President Joe Biden’s delay in announcing nominees to two Democratic FCC seats. They cite growing concerns the sometimes-lengthy Senate confirmation process could result in the current 2-2 split commission switching to a 2-1 GOP majority in January. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s term expired in June 2020, meaning she would have to leave Jan. 3 absent Senate reconfirmation.
Competitive Carriers Association member executives said they're interested in emergency broadband and other subsidies being made available by the federal government to build out their networks, warning that new market entrants may not have viable plans. Nsight is working with about 500 governments in its service territories on broadband grants, CEO Mark Naze said during a panel Tuesday. Rural broadband “is not a cookie cutter, it’s not a one size fits all,” said Eric Woody, Union Wireless chief technical and operations officer: “It’s not even a one size fits most. … Wireless is key to getting the last mile and sometimes that middle mile done.” There “are a lot of new parties coming to the table to participate in this industry,” said Maureen Moore, GCI chief customer experience officer. “There’s a tremendous focus on building and maybe not enough on operating,” she said: “What happens once you fund something and it’s built, then how do you maintain it going forward?” Woody agreed, saying his company is in the Rocky Mountains where “things break and you have to fix them.” For too many years, the focus was “we need to reduce funding … and now look at our infrastructure,” Woody said. Too much focus at the federal level is on fiber, said Cellular One CEO Jonathan Foxman: “The amount that looks like it’s heading to wireless to us seems really insufficient.” Naze agrees with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr that big tech should have to pay into USF (see 2109150055). “It was very encouraging to see" Carr "say last week that he supported that as a solution to the problem,” Naze said. The executives said they're deploying spectrum as they move to 5G but have concerns about FCC auctions. Nsight is adding spectrum to about 25% of its cellsites this year, Naze said: “For us to continue … we need to have more affordable spectrum.” The large license sizes sold by the FCC don’t work “west of the Mississippi” because “they’re too big,” Woody said: “They don’t [match] the existing licenses that we have today. It’s screwed up.” The execs said their companies weathered this pandemic. At the peak, his company had more than $800,000 past due on its books, from 2,700 customers, Foxman said. “I was a little freaked out -- are we going to collect any of that?” The company had to write off only about $10,000, he said. Union offered Wi-Fi outside schools and in less affluent areas, so kids could go to school remotely, Woody said. Union never closed stores and continued to do in-premise installations, he said. The discussion was streamed from CCA’s annual show in Phoenix.
The FCC has the authority to include broadband services revenue in the USF contribution base but would need to establish a comment period before making any changes, industry groups said in recent interviews. A new report suggests adding broadband providers could drop the contribution factor to as low as 4% and avoid facing direct congressional appropriations (see 2109130053).
Some states are responding to a possible federal phaseout in Lifeline support for voice-only services, but many have no plans to replace lost support, state commission officials said. The FCC plans to phase out $5.25 in voice support Dec. 1 except in census blocks with only one Lifeline voice provider. Some industry and community groups applauded states stepping in but said it’s up to the FCC to ensure no one is disconnected from voice service. “In the absence of federal support, state Lifeline subsidy programs fill a critical gap for those in need,” said Next Century Cities (NCC) Policy Counsel-State and Local Initiatives Corian Zacher.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, the biggest question mark as the agency considers a draft order and Further NPRM on the 4.9 GHz band, indicated Wednesday he may support a proposal to take another look at the band, teed up for a Sept. 30 commissioner vote. Carr was the lone dissenter (see 2105270071) when the FCC stayed rules OK’d last year giving states control.
USForward asks the FCC to address the rising USF factor by spreading costs among consumers, assessing the fee based on broadband access service revenue. Monday's report said that's a better option than basing fees on numbers or connections. On a call with reporters, officials from NTCA, Incompas, Public Knowledge and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition disagreed whether action may have to await a permanent chair and full commission.
The Q4 USF contribution factor is 29.1%, said an FCC Office of Managing Director public notice Friday. This was expected (see 2109010077).
NTCA, Incompas, Public Knowledge and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition will release a "USForward" report Monday that "highlights the need for USF contribution reform, analyzes options for doing so, and provides recommendations on how best to reform this essential support mechanism," said a news release Friday. Consultant Carol Mattey, who wrote the report, will join the groups for a news briefing at 11 a.m. EDT.
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comment by Oct. 4, replies by Oct. 19, in docket 05-337 on National Exchange Carrier Association-proposed changes to the average schedule USF high cost loop support formula, said a public notice posted in Friday's Daily Digest. The new formula would take effect on Jan. 1.
Alaska telecom associations submitted state USF update proposals with a connections-based contribution method to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in docket R-21-001. The Matanuska Telecom Association submitted its proposal for a flat-rate surcharge Wednesday after previewing it at an RCA meeting last month (see 2108110059). The revenue-based fee went as high as 19% in 2018 before the RCA capped it at 10%, MTA said. The RCA would require the new method and let the Alaska USF administrator set the monthly per line fee, the group proposed: No distribution changes are necessary. The Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition filed a plan for a new “Remote Alaska Fund” with a connections-based method that at first would support voice and later broadband. The RCA should set the AUSF at $30 million yearly, split evenly between small and large carriers, it said. GCI neither supports nor opposes any reform plan, and “is ambivalent about a connections-based funding mechanism,” the carrier commented. “Such a charge is certainly not a magic bullet that will solve the funding issue; the source of funding would continue to remain with ratepayers.” It could mean $2 per line monthly for every Alaska phone customer, and the RCA should consider how that “charge itself harms the goal of universal service,” GCI said. Alaska Communications suggested splitting the proceeding into two phases, the first to decide whether to continue the fund and any contribution changes, the second to tackle distribution changes.