An FCC order, offering rural telcos more USF support in exchange for deploying 25/3 Mbps broadband, partially takes effect March 21, said a rule from docket 10-90 in Tuesday's Federal Register. It noted some rule changes in the order adopted Dec. 12 with an NPRM (see 1812120039) will take effect Jan. 1. OMB must approve other, associated reporting requirements, which will be the subject of a future FCC document in the FR, the PN said.
The FCC provided guidance on complying with USF rural healthcare program rules, with applications due through May 1 for the 2019 funding year beginning July 1. A telecom or broadband "service provider should determine the rural rate before it responds to a health care provider’s request for bids (FCC Form 465) and ensure that the rate is sufficiently documented at that time," said a Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 02-60 and Tuesday's Daily Digest. "Once the health care provider selects a winning bid and service provider, and enters into a commitment, any attempt to change the rates or other contract terms could violate the program’s competitive bidding rules. ... [H]ealth care providers must have program-compliant rural rates supported by documentation in hand before they file their FCC Form 466 funding applications." The PN noted three methods that service and healthcare providers can use to determine rural rates.
Amid the FTC's "huge portfolio that’s much different" from his agency's, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said, are "a bunch of things that are unrelated. It makes it a very challenging opportunity for them." He was answering a question about the two agencies' coordination on net neutrality, during an episode of C-SPAN's The Communicators to be online Friday and televised this weekend. He repeated that net neutrality is a federal, not state, issue and raised national security concerns about Chinese 5G gear.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure faced no outright opposition to the carriers' proposed combination during a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing. Many Democrats registered varying degrees of skepticism regarding the executives' claims. Questions tilted toward focus on antitrust aspects of T-Mobile/Sprint, as expected (see 1902120056). Some probed the carriers' claims about the transaction's benefits for deploying 5G. Legere and other executives from the two carriers met FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Friday, they said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-197.
NARUC's Telecom Committee unanimously cleared an amended Lifeline resolution urging the FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. ensure the national verifier accesses state databases required to automatically check users are eligible. USAC is responding to concerns and committed to making the NV work, South Dakota Commissioner Chris Nelson told us after the vote.
Ditching the requirement to notify VoIP users it won't work without power and eliminating supposedly outdated reporting requirements were among suggestions by telecoms, the cable industry and others for the FCC's 2018 biennial review of telecom regulations. Comments in seven dockets, which had been due Jan. 17 (see 1812180002), were posted Monday due to an extension from the partial federal shutdown.
Universal Service Administrative Co. hasn't de-enrolled any Lifeline users who failed the national verifier's automatic reverification, and no decision has been made on when that will happen, USAC Vice President-Lifeline Michelle Garber told the Telecom Staff Subcommittee at NARUC Sunday. A state commissioner and subcommittee members grilled Garber on high rates of users failing the automated check due to the NV not accessing all databases relevant to determining eligibility, with USAC not even trying to access them in higher cost states.
AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan met FCC Chairman Ajit Pai about the company’s “ongoing 5G deployment and the importance of millimeter wave spectrum to 5G technologies,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 14-177. Donovan and other AT&T executives also discussed the national security NPRM (see 1812120043): "Any measures to address national security threats related to the communications supply chain should be proportionate to the risk and applied to all networks and providers, not to just entities that use Universal Service Support.” The Telecommunications Industry Association called for action on security rules in a meeting with Wireline Bureau staff. The record the FCC is building “provides details about specific concerns,” TIA said in docket 18-89, in a meeting handout. “Marketplace needs certainty as 5G is being rolled out in earnest.” The USF proceeding should target specific suppliers of concern, the group said.
New Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said the FCC must move quickly on complaints AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint are selling customers' real-time location data to bounty hunters (see 1901080046). The ex-Enforcement Bureau staffer, flanked by staff, met reporters Friday.
Comments are due March 8, replies April 8, on an FCC Further NPRM seeking to auction off subsidies in rural telco areas largely or completely served by unsubsidized competitors, said a proposed rule in Wednesday's Federal Register. Input is sought on how to structure the subsidy auction, address conversions to broadband-only lines and address legacy support in tribal areas. Commissioners approved the FNPRM Dec. 12 with an order offering rate-of-return telcos more USF support in exchange for more 25/3 Mbps broadband service (see 1812120039).