The 5G Spectrum Act, even if it doesn't become law, could benchmark how satellite communications incumbents get compensated for clearing part of the C band, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly told reporters Tuesday in a wide-ranging interview. S-2881 "does have weight," especially as there seemingly has been a general shift from Capitol Hill resistance to any incentives, said. If satcom incumbents receive a percentage of the $40 billion in auction proceeds, as the legislation says (see 2001090021), debate will likely center on between 30 and 50 percent, though compensation could be a hard number for incumbents, or a combination of percentage and hard number, he said.
A 2019 Alaska law deregulating telecom "reserves adequate authority” for the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s “core duties related to the authority granted by a certificate and the authority to designate and annually certify eligible telecommunications carriers,” and it retains RCA authority to oversee state USF, a rural telco coalition commented Friday in docket R-19-002. Regulators are mulling broad telecom rule changes due to the state law (see 1912190057). The RCA doesn't retain authority to adjudicate consumer complaints, though staff could convey "any complaints to utilities as a courtesy to consumers,” the RLECs said. The commission should reject staff proposals to adopt a new definition of basic residential local telephone service and more stringent outage reporting rules. Carriers report outages to the FCC, said Adak Telephone, Alaska Telephone, Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative, Ketchikan Public Utilities, Matanuska Telephone Association and others.
Two telcos didn't meet all deployment requirements for having gotten USF money from the federal government, they reported Thursday. That drew concern from some state officials.
State House Republicans floated a universal-service bill Tuesday to permit Indiana's Utility Regulatory Commission to require interconnected VoIP providers pay into state USF. Rep. J.D. Prescott and two others introduced HB-1304. It would authorize IURC to adjust the state USF surcharge percentage and make other rules to administer the fund. The bill adjusts broadband rules.
Rate-of-return carriers receiving Connect America Fund broadband loop USF support must report geolocated broadband information and send deployment certifications to the Universal Service Administrative Co. by March 1, 2021, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice for docket 10-90 and Tuesday's Daily Digest. The deadline applies to locations for which 25/3 Mbps or higher has been deployed since May 25, 2016.
Comments are due Feb. 13, replies March 16 on an FCC proposal to adopt new rules for the telecom relay service USF program and the national deaf-blind equipment distribution program, says Tuesday's Federal Register on docket 19-309. The rules are consistent with OMB guidelines on government debarment and suspension (see 1911260003).
As the first largely online U.S. census approaches, nonprofits, telecom providers and media companies are heightening efforts to safeguard its integrity and increase participation. Many groups historically vulnerable to undercounting, including rural residents, low-income and homeless populations, and ethnic minorities, overlap with those underserved by broadband, said interviewees this month.
The FCC plans to prioritize bids for high-speed, low-latency broadband networks in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, said a draft rulemaking for docket 19-126 released Thursday. RDOF is one of several items that circulated from Chairman Ajit Pai. So far, it's shaping up to be the most watched item, and legislators expressed some related concerns.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other lawmakers are restarting talks to advance legislation to provide funding to help U.S. communications providers remove from their networks Chinese equipment determined to threaten national security. December's bid to advance it quickly in the Senate had failed (see 1912190068). The House voted Wednesday to pass the Secure 5G and Beyond Act (HR-2881) and three other 5G-centric bills, as expected (see 2001030049).
Industry and others in Puerto Rico are evaluating the impact from earthquakes. "Our network is operating on back-up generators and batteries, and we are engaged with the power company as they work to restore service," an AT&T spokesperson emailed. "Our local teams are supporting public safety on FirstNet, as well as our customers, and are prepared to deploy additional recovery equipment if needed.” Liberty Puerto Rico tweeted Tuesday its stores remain closed until further notice for the safety of employees and customers. WorldNet Telecommunications is headquartered on the territory's north side and didn't experience the same damage as on the south side, said Marketing Director Rolando Texidor. He said company operations didn't receive structural damage, and it has power backup for equipment to address an island-wide blackout. Most of WorldNet's business customers have generators, Texidor said. WorldNet's team was accounted for. Texidor said many companies around the island were working with skeleton crews. The FCC is monitoring the situation, a spokesperson said. Telecom providers seek government aid through an FCC USF program to help rebuild and strengthen their networks following 2017 hurricanes (see 1808080011). Commissioners voted in September to move forward with the funding (see 1909260032).