Steve Berry, who is leaving the Competitive Carriers Association at the end of the year (see 2209130072) after 13 years as president, told reporters a top priority for the rest of the year is getting Congress to fully fund the rip and replace program needed to remove Chinese gear from small carrier networks (see 2209090053). The program faces a $3.08 billion shortfall. “We need to get that done, we need to secure our networks,” he said: “It was a decision made by Congress. Now we’ve got to make sure that they actually pay for it.”
Additional money to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program and a short-term extension of the FCC’s expiring spectrum auction authority both remain under consideration as additions to a planned continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations past Sept. 30, but talks remain highly fluid, lawmakers and lobbyists told us last week. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and other committee leaders left open the possibility of a short-term auction authority renewal as a stopgap, telling us they hadn’t reached a deal during the August recess on a broader spectrum legislative package.
The California Public Utilities Commission may update USF contribution at its Oct. 6 meeting. Commissioners will consider assessing state public purpose program (PPP) fees “based on the number of active access lines a carrier operates,” said a Friday proposed decision in docket R.21-03-002. Customers would see one consolidated surcharge on monthly bills instead of six separate PPP fees, it said. Low-income LifeLine customers and incarcerated people wouldn’t have to pay surcharges, it said. Wireless companies and consumer groups last year panned a CPUC staff recommendation to shift to a flat, per-line surcharge (see 2112010014).
The FCC Wireline Bureau extended until Oct. 31 the deadline for high-cost USF recipients to submit annual use certifications, said a public notice Tuesday in docket 10-90. The waiver applies to eligible telecom carriers and states that are "not subject to the jurisdiction of a state."
The FCC won’t include funds for indirect full-time equivalents connected with aspects of the USF in calculating broadcaster regulatory fees but rejected many other broadcast proposals for reduced fees, said the FY2022 regulatory fees order and notice of inquiry released Friday. Radio stations that faced a 13% reg fee increase from 2021 will instead have an increase of 7% or 8%, broadcast industry officials said. Commissioners adopted the order unanimously Thursday. “Regulatory fees are not based on a precise allocation of specific employees with certain work assignments each year and instead are based on a higher-level approach,” said the order. Regulatory fees must be collected before the Sept. 30 end of the federal fiscal year.
The Universal Service Administrative Co. projected USF Q4 revenue will be $8.6 billion, said a filing Thursday in docket 06-122. That's about a $300 million increase from Q3 (see 2206010052). The quarterly contribution factor will likely fall from 33% to 28.9%, emailed analyst Billy Jack Gregg. "The FCC has apparently recognized that something needs to be done to place the USF on a more stable foundation," he said: "Get ready for legislative action in the coming years."
The FCC's "failure to account for all of the known sources of federal funds" for broadband projects in its report to Congress on the future of the USF "necessarily casts doubt on its conclusions as to the future relevance and need for" the high cost fund, blogged Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long Tuesday (see 2208160055). The "end state" for the high cost fund should be defined in dollars, Long said. "The moment when federal subsidies reach that specific financial target is the moment when the goal of the high cost fund has been achieved." The report "effectively ignores" the American Rescue Plan Act's $360 billion, which included some funding for broadband projects, he said, and its "narrow focus" on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act "paints an incomplete picture of progress."
Pennsylvania and California commissioners pondered VoIP jurisdictional issues at livestreamed meetings Thursday. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille dissented as members voted 2-1 for a petition by T-Mobile’s Sprint to discontinue CLEC and interexchange services while continuing VoIP service in the state (docket A-2021-3028993). The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved a rulemaking to consider changes to VoIP licensing requirements and other obligations (see 2208190030).
Regulatory Commission of Alaska members broadly agree the body needs more time to consider the next step for Alaska USF and will look at proposals extending the planned June sunset of the AUSF at the group's Sept. 28 meeting, the RCA said on a videoconference Wednesday. The RCA’s authority over the telecom industry remains unclear after a 2019 deregulation law (see 2006100048) and the proposals received for the AUSF’s future in two rounds of comments have been light on evidence, said Commissioner Robert Pickett. The commission was also told a plan for the AUSF would need to be in the hands of the Alaska Department of Law by October for it to take effect before the sunset, Pickett said. “There has been a lot of support for continuing the program but not any kind of consensus on how it should be done,” said David Parrish, RCA common carrier specialist. “Allowing more time for some of these things to shake out is probably wise,” said Commissioner Robert Doyle. The RCA is waiting for clarity from the state's Department of Law on the bounds of its authority, and several commissioners questioned whether the language of the USF statute, which gives the body authority to oversee reasonable long-distance rates, could be stretched to include broadband or oversee a competitive telecommunications marketplace. Extending the USF “by a few years” could provide “space for industry to engage with the legislature” and time to clarify the RCA’s role, said Chairman Keith Kurber. Pickett indicated he prefers a short extension and said he didn’t want to leave it up to a future RCA. “We extend it three years and then some of us aren’t here anymore,” he said. Pickett said staff and commissioners, between now and the September meeting, would discuss and take a look at precise dates for the extension.
A draft order on regulatory fees circulated to FCC commissioners’ offices last week would create a 13% FY2022 regulatory fee increase for broadcasters and doesn’t include proposed shifts in the way full-time equivalents (FTEs) are allocated to bureaus, industry and FCC officials told us.