Senate Public Works Committee ranking member Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., refiled the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-275) Wednesday to change FCC vetting rules for participants in USF high-cost programs. S-275, first filed last year (see 2205030031), would require the FCC to launch a rulemaking to "establish a vetting process” for USF high-cost applicant ISPs, including requiring them to provide “sufficient detail and documentation for the Commission to ascertain that the applicant possesses the technical capability, and has a reasonable plan, to deploy the proposed network.” The FCC would be required to evaluate new applications based on “reasonable and well-established technical standards,” including those the commission adopted for its Form 477 Data Program “for purposes of entities that must report broadband availability coverage.” The legislation “expands on my broadband efforts, and is a product of many discussions I’ve had with small rural service providers and local leaders in my state,” Capito said. “These discussions made it abundantly clear the FCC needs congressional direction to ensure taxpayer money is being used properly to fund broadband deployment in rural areas.” In 2023 “we should be able to bring high-speed internet to every community in our country, regardless of their zip code,” Klobuchar said: “This bipartisan legislation will help Americans connect to work, school, health care and business opportunities by ensuring the companies that apply for federal funding to build out broadband infrastructure can get the job done.” Capito’s office cited support from NTCA and USTelecom.
The NARUC board passed telecom resolutions Wednesday on the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and extending FCC spectrum auction authority. The RDOF resolution recommends a referral to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, but that body’s state members told us at NARUC’s meeting this week the joint board hasn’t met in several years. The FCC’s continuing lack of five commissioners could be a big reason, they said.
The Alaska USF sunset will be delayed three years through June 30, 2026, said a Regulatory Commission of Alaska final order released Tuesday. Last year, the RCA rejected state USF changes proposed by industry (see 2212070046 and 2210260076).
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission could vote March 21 at 1:30 p.m. CDT on a state USF rulemaking opened Tuesday. Commissioners voted 3-0 at a livestreamed meeting to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (docket RM2023-000006) to consider amending Oklahoma Chapter 59 rules on Oklahoma USF and Lifeline programs. The notice schedules technical conferences 1:30 p.m. CST Feb. 21 and 1:30 p.m. CDT March 13. Comments will be due Feb. 24; replies March 13. Commissioners also voted 3-0 to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking with the same dates for a rulemaking to amend Oklahoma’s Chapter 55 telecom rules (docket RM2023-000005). Commissioners raised concerns about Oklahoma USF stability while voting 2-1 in November to increase the connections-based surcharge to $1.85 from $1.14 monthly (see 2211290052).
Arizona Corporation Commission staff recommended delay considering repeal or changes to Arizona USF (AUSF). Commissioners could consider staff’s recommendation at its Feb. 22-23 meeting. Comments are due Feb. 17 in docket T-00000A-20-0336. "Amendment, modification, or repeal of the AUSF High Cost Rules may be appropriate at some time in the future,” staff said. But since Frontier, the sole recipient of the support, must file a rate case by Aug. 30 and "there may be several potential outcomes" to that filing, staff thinks it's premature to consider changing or killing AUSF. If commissioners decide at the end of the rate case that Frontier should stop getting support, they should direct staff to start the AUSF rulemaking, said the recommendation. Also, staff noted Solix remains under contract to distribute E-rate broadband special construction projects, which are expected to be completed by June 2024. Any commission action on USF would need to take into account that program’s status, it said.
Satellite-provided emergency SOS messaging is just the starting point for satellite operators looking to provide direct-to-handset service, but it won't be the business plan for anyone, said Iridium Director-Legal and Regulatory Coral Faradjian Tuesday in a Smallsat Symposium panel. She said the real revenue, and business plans, seamless transitions between terrestrial mobile and satellite-enabled services.
The USF contribution factor will likely decrease to 29.1% during Q2 2022 from 32.6% during Q1 2023, emailed analyst Billy Jack Gregg Saturday. Gregg noted the Universal Service Administrative Co. hasn't released its report and appendices on projected demand.
T-Mobile will take California regulators to federal court over a decision to switch state USF contribution to a connections-based mechanism. In a complaint Wednesday against the California Public Utilities Commission (case 3:23-cv-00483), T-Mobile and subsidiaries urged the U.S. District Court of Northern California to preliminarily enjoin a $1.11 monthly per-line fee from taking effect April 1. The CPUC in October required carriers to count access lines to determine contributions to California public purpose programs including state USF (see 2210200073). The per-line fee will replace a revenue-based assessment. A handful of other states previously switched to a flat fee, including Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah.
Broadband industry officials Wednesday stressed the need for Congress to take an active role in broadband deployment and adoption efforts, before NTIA's broadband, equity, access, and deployment program and other recent federal investments. Some during a Broadband Breakfast webinar emphasized the role of fiber as states consider their plans and proper vetting of the FCC's new broadband maps.
Legislators in two western states weighed extensions Tuesday to state telecom subsidies. Small rural telcos testified at livestreamed hearings that high-cost support provided by the Colorado and Washington state programs remains vital. Meanwhile, an Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) state USF rulemaking could be imminent.