Former Obama adviser Phil Weiser pledged to take on the Republican FCC and support local broadband if elected Colorado attorney general in November. Weiser supports state legislation to provide open-internet protections for Coloradans and would join other Democratic state AGs’ net neutrality lawsuit against the FCC, he said in an interview. Also, Weiser supports eliminating Colorado’s ban on municipal broadband to increase internet access across the mountainous state. “I’m the partner for every county commission and local community.” Weiser, in his first bid for office, was deputy assistant attorney general and senior adviser for technology and innovation for President Barack Obama.
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said rural telco subsidies could be increased somewhat while better fiscal discipline is brought to the overall USF mechanism. The "real issue" for USF is the budget, he said, and while the high-cost program has been relatively "stagnant," other programs have grown over the years. "We can't constantly double" funding for E-rate, Lifeline and rural healthcare, he said at an NTCA policy conference Monday, noting he was pushing for a hard Lifeline budget. O'Rielly, who was interviewed by NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield, wants a "happy medium" for high-cost funding: rural telcos may not get everything they want but "hopefully" regulatory changes could "get you most the way there" and remove "barriers to your offerings."
On the eve of the FCC vote on an NPRM on the security of U.S. communications networks, CTIA warned in a report Monday that the U.S. has fallen behind China in the race to 5G. Commissioners also will vote Tuesday on a public notice on the first auctions of millimeter-wave spectrum for 5G. The auction notice appears likely to get a 5-0 vote, industry and agency officials said Monday.
Telecom revenue dropped further in 2016, with toll service revenue reported at $36.3 billion (down from $39.7 billion in 2015) and mobile service revenue $65.6 billion (down from $75.3 billion), said the 2017 FCC Universal Service Monitoring Report Friday in docket 96-45. Total telecom revenue declined from $214.5 billion to $198.3 billion. Providers are assessed USF contributions based on their interstate and international telecom end-user revenue. The industry's total reported revenue only dropped slightly, from $515.6 billion to $509.7 billion, as non-telecom revenue reported on FCC Form 499-A increased from $301.1 billion to $311.4 billion. The report also contains some 2017 data through September.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., promoted his Tribal Connect Act (S-2205) during an American Library Association event Thursday, seeking support from the group and others for the bill. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., separately filed her Community Connect Grant Program Act, which like S-2205 is aimed at broadband projects in rural and tribal communities. S-2205 would “steer much-needed federal investments" to close the digital divide "in rural and tribal communities," Heinrich said. The bill would establish a pilot program that would allow designations of tribal communities without libraries as an “anchor institution” eligible for USF E-rate funding. It also would provide training to help tribes implement E-rate and direct the FCC to work with tribes to develop E-rate eligibility requirements for their libraries. Smith's bill would codify the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service's Community Connect Grant Program into law and increase internet speed service under the program. Heinrich tied S-2205 into Hill lawmakers' broader push to develop broadband-related bills aimed for inclusion in a broader infrastructure bill responding to President Donald Trump's February proposal, which urges streamlining the permitting process and includes $200 billion in funding (see 1802110001 and 1802120001). E-rate “spurs the development of broadband networks in underserved communities,” Heinrich said. But the program's current requirements and application process don't “reflect the unique infrastructure challenges and needs in Indian Country,” which has made it difficult for tribes to qualify. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn didn't endorse S-2205 during the event but pushed for efforts to increase tribal eligibility and participation in E-rate as a way of closing the digital divide, noting that “broadband investment is critical infrastructure investment which is increasingly determining which city, county, town or tribal nation thrives or not.” ALA “wholeheartedly supports” S-2205, said President Jim Neal.
States should be able to shift to connections-based USF contribution to stabilize funds, said the state chair of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service Thursday after CTIA filed its second lawsuit against states making that change. CTIA sued the Utah Public Service Commission Tuesday for its Jan. 1 shift to connections-based contribution, arguing the 36-cent fee violates federal Lifeline requirements and illegally discriminates against prepaid wireless services. CTIA urged the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City to decide federal law pre-empts the Utah rule and to stop the state commission from enforcing it.
The Rural Utilities Service should coordinate with the FCC on disbursing $600 million for broadband deployment under the recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act, blogged FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly Wednesday. The Department of Agriculture agency is to administer the pilot program of grants and loans. "The new program could be instrumental to filling coverage gaps in rural America not yet addressed by private companies and the FCC’s USF programs -- but only if it is implemented in a thoughtful and coordinated manner," he wrote. He lauded statutory language intended to target the funding to areas without 10/1 Mbps service and prevent overbuilding. "It is imperative that RUS coordinate with the FCC to ensure the implementation of regulations prevent any overbuilding of USF funding recipients," he said. "By working in a complementary fashion, these programs can help providers extend and sustain broadband into the most rural parts of the nation. For instance, the FCC has lacked the funding and resources to complete its Remote Areas Fund (RAF) proceeding, which was intended to bring service to the hardest to reach portions of the United States. If the RUS pilot program can reach into these RAF or RAF-like areas, then the country will be much closer to achieving the objectives of universal service." He said it's also important for the FCC to understand how the RUS money is being spent and for both agencies to work with the NTIA "on data on current and future broadband funding commitments so that the broadband map developed pursuant to this legislation provides the most accurate information possible regarding any remaining unserved areas."
Dissents from the two FCC Democrats appear unlikely when commissioners vote Tuesday on an NPRM proposing to bar use of money in any USF program to buy equipment or services from companies that “pose a national security threat” to U.S. communications networks or the communications supply chain. Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel appear unlikely to dissent, despite concerns raised by small carriers, industry and agency officials said.
Nokia said the FCC shouldn’t be swayed by early criticisms of a draft NPRM that would prevent using money in any USF program to buy equipment or services from companies that “pose a national security threat” to U.S. communications networks or the communications supply chain. The NPRM is set for a vote at the April 17 commissioners’ meeting (see 1804090045). “There are parties that are promoting a narrative that the Commission is seeking to cast a wide net, to indiscriminately bar vendors that have a presence in, or manufacture in, certain geographies, such as China,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-89. “Essentially all” big technology and communications companies source some components in China, the Finnish equipment maker said. “Those who are against the Commission’s proposed action to secure our Nation’s infrastructure are using the fact that many companies share common countries of origin in their supply chains as a basis to suggest the draft order would therefore have sweeping effect and greatly limit equipment supplier options for carriers seeking USF support.” But the draft seems clear that’s not the case, Nokia said. “The Commission’s approach has less to do with country of origin as a basis of risk assessment and more to do with supplier trustworthiness.” The company said as rules are finalized, the agency should “make clear that identifying a company as a prohibited provider is an extraordinary act that the Commission expects would be used sparingly, and based on a review that takes into account the totality of the circumstances.” It said Monday that China Mobile had picked it to supply equipment for a regional optical transport network the Chinese carrier is building as part of its push toward 5G.
CTIA warned Alaska commissioners not to adopt connections-based contribution for state USF. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) is weighing whether to repeal or revamp its state fund (see 1804040039). CTIA earlier challenged Nebraska and Utah commission decisions to adopt connections, including a pending lawsuit against the Nebraska Public Service Commission where the association’s brief is due May 18 (see 1801310054). A connections-based approach is “difficult to implement in a manner that doesn't violate federal law,” said CTIA Counsel-External and State Affairs Matt DeTura Monday during a teleconferenced RCA workshop. It may also increase financial burden on low-income consumers and business customers, he said. CTIA supports funding state USF with general tax revenue, he said. Officials for Alaska Communications and the Alaska Attorney General Regulatory Affairs and Public Advocacy office supported connections-based contribution. AT&T General Attorney Cindy Manheim said Alaska USF is unsustainable but urged more time to discuss the right way forward. She suggested the RCA talk to the legislature before proceeding with a connections-based approach. The Alaska Telephone Association’s plan (see 1802270034) offers short-term stability while providing time to work out longer-term changes including what to do about contribution, said ATA Executive Director Christine O’Connor. Commissioner Robert Pickett said connections-based contribution may be unrealistic. And a 10-year sunset of the fund proposed by ATA may be too long, Pickett said. The AUSF size could be “rather de minimus” a decade from now at its current 10 percent annual rate of decline, he said.