Votes on the 5G Fund and rule changes to make it easier for tower companies to expand the footprint of cellsites appear likely to be added to the agenda for the Oct. 27 commissioners’ meeting, FCC and industry officials told us. The gathering is the last before the election and would wrap up two big 5G items. Both are expected to be controversial.
The looming battle for Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett could either help or hurt FCC nominee Nathan Simington's chances of getting the chamber's approval before the election, lawmakers and others told us. President Donald Trump announced his Barrett pick Saturday to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as expected (see 2009220022). Trump earlier named Simington, an NTIA senior adviser, as his pick to replace Commissioner Mike O'Rielly (see 2009150074).
COVID-19 robocall scams remain a problem and are becoming more sophisticated, FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Associate Chief Ed Bartholme warned the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee Friday. Ensuring consumers answer calls from COVID-19 contact tracers is a growing concern, he said. CAC members said broadband deployment continues to be a rural issue. The meeting was the last under CCS' current charter, though the FCC rechartered the group (see 2007070052).
Oregon's Public Utility Commission voted 3-0 for a formal rulemaking to adopt state USF changes implementing an Oregon law (SB-603) requiring VoIP and wireless contribution to state USF (see 2009020005). Commissioners agreed with staff’s recommendation at a teleconference Tuesday.
The FCC Wireline Bureau Friday identified seven companies that applied to participate in the Stage 2 competitive process for the USF telecom rebuild program for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The deadline was Sept. 3 (see 2008070035). In Puerto Rico, applicants are: AeroNet Wireless Broadband, Critical Hub Networks, Data@ccess Communication, Liberty Communications of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico Telephone. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, they are: Broadband VI and Virgin Islands Telephone. A quiet period for the companies started Sept. 3.
Increasing the Lifeline benefit would require USF contribution changes, AT&T Executive Vice President-Regulatory Joan Marsh blogged Wednesday. Lifeline “needs to be reformed from its current provider-centric structure to one that instead puts the beneficiary at the center of a more digital approach, as modeled after the Department of Agriculture’s successful and evolving [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] program,” Marsh said. Congress must "ensure that funds are directly appropriated to support any benefit increase or otherwise ensure that the USF funding mechanism is significantly reformed,” she said. Carriers, state regulators and public industry groups united in opposition to an FCC proposal to raise the Lifeline wireless broadband minimum service standard (see 2009150072). In Sept. 3 letters replying to Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and other members of Congress, posted Tuesday, Chairman Ajit Pai said the commission “is faced with wildly divergent requests." The "subscribers shouldn’t receive second-class service, so the status quo is unacceptable,” but a dramatic increase “is likely to disrupt the market,” he wrote. Pai proposed a “modest increase to 4.5 GB.”
The proposed universal service contribution factor for Q4 is 27.1%, said an Office of Managing Director public notice Monday. If the FCC doesn’t act on the proposed factor or the numbers used to calculate it in the next 14 days, the proposed number “shall be deemed approved by the Commission,” the PN said. Universal Consulting owner Billy Jack Gregg called it “the highest contribution factor in the history of the USF" (see 2009010067).
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said Monday he’s actively “working with” appropriators to allocate funding to the FCC to implement the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998) and Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act broadband mapping law (S-1822 and see 2003040056). “The FCC estimates that will cost between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion” to implement HR-4998 (see 2009040050), Wicker said during an Incompas event. “When we’re spending 2.2 trillion” via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (see 2003250046), spending less than $2 billion on HR-4998 implementation would be “well worth it.” When “you talk to” the FCC about implementing S-1822, they “will point out that it’s great to have” the law, “but they’re not able to appropriate the money” to implement the changes to its broadband coverage data collection practices envisioned in the statute, Wicker said. “They need $65 million to implement that change and we’re working to make sure that we get there soon lest we proceed with faulty information.” He hopes Congress appropriates money to implement HR-4998 and S-1822 by the end of the month, when lawmakers have to either pass FY 2021 appropriations measures or a continuing resolution to fund the government past the Sept. 30 end of FY 2020. Kelley Drye USF lawyers John Heitmann and Steve Augustino told Incompas the FCC's approaches and priorities may shift depending on which party wins the November presidential election (see 2009140032).
A Republican- or Democratic-controlled FCC will continue to focus on issues like the digital divide and 5G deployment, but expect differences in approaches and priorities, said Kelley Drye USF lawyers John Heitmann and Steve Augustino at the Incompas Show Monday. On FCC direction next year, Heitmann said rhetoric about digital divide issues will continue, though the GOP prioritizes infrastructure issues, while Democrats prioritize affordability and accessibility via Lifeline. Augustino said more attention likely will be on broadband infrastructure spending, though Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign has been making it more of an emphasis than President Donald Trump's. Augustino said the Republican approach to 5G focused heavily on deployment, particularly via preemption of state and local government regulation, but Democrats are less likely to focus so heavily on preemption. He said Democrats have called more for revamping FCC broadband mapping, while the GOP-led agency focused more on making do with current mapping until Congress provides the resources for a deep dive. Under a Democratic-controlled FCC, expect "a re-reclassification" of broadband, perhaps accompanied by privacy regulations, Heitmann said. Expect the agency to continue to focus heavily on robocalls and supply chain security issues, the two said. With it widely expected that Ajit Pai leaves the chairmanship soon, Augustino said Commissioner Brendan Carr seems to have the inside track to replace him in a Republican FCC, while the Democrats have a history of going with dark horse outsiders. Heitmann said Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel or former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn seem to be the likeliest Democratic choices, and while Carr might be odds-on likeliest for Republicans, other candidates, such as a variety of Senate Commerce Committee staffers, could be in the mix. Heitmann said the next chairman isn't likely to roll back transparency initiatives Pai instituted, such as releasing draft items before commissioner meetings. "It's an irreversible trend," and a subsequent chairman would find it difficult to justify less openness, he said.
Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley subpoenaed AT&T Thursday for information on what happened with more than $283 million in Connect America Fund support to expand broadband to 133,000 Mississippi locations. “I want to know very simply how many of these customers have in fact signed up,” but AT&T refused to say when Presley asked last week, he said Thursday in a news conference livestreamed on Facebook. Presley, who is NARUC president, also asked the company for data on customer complaints and how many consumers in areas advertised as covered couldn’t get service. "AT&T is in full compliance with the federal requirements" in CAF and "state and federal laws regarding federal USF program monies, and we will respond to any lawful request for information," a spokesperson said. "In Mississippi as part of our participation in Phase II of the CAF program, we are confident that we will exceed the final deployment goal of providing high-speed access to 133,000 rural Mississippi locations by the end of this year." Earlier this week, Presley said he will hold up Frontier Communications’ bankruptcy reorganization until that telco improves service (see 2009090055).