The FCC released the text of two wireline items Friday that commissioners approved the previous day at their monthly meeting (see 1704200046 and 1704200018). A 64-page item contains an NPRM, notice of inquiry (NOI) and request for comment (RFC) on ways to accelerate construction of advanced wireline broadband infrastructure. The "actions propose to remove regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment at the federal, state, and local level; suggest changes to speed the transition from copper networks and legacy services to next-generation networks and services; and propose to reform Commission regulations that increase costs and slow broadband deployment," said the item. The NPRM proposes steps to ease pole attachments and copper retirements, including by revisiting technology-transition notification rules for the latter, and to streamline telecom service discontinuance requirements under Section 214 of the Communications Act. The NOI explores using FCC pre-emption authority to prohibit enforcement of state and local legal barriers to broadband deployment, and the RFC invites input on when carriers must obtain FCC permission to discontinue a telecom service. An eight-page order on reconsideration partially grants an NTCA petition and allows rate-of-return carriers to deploy broadband networks that exceed their capital allowance limits and still receive USF subsidy support if they pay for the costs above their limits.
The FCC changed a rule to give rural telcos more flexibility to invest in broadband networks without losing high-cost USF subsidy support. The order approved Thursday by commissioners 3-0 will allow rate-of-return carriers to receive USF support for broadband deployment projects with average location costs that exceed a company's capital expenditure limit if they pay for the excess amounts with their own funds. Under a March 2016 rural USF overhaul order, a company construction project that exceeds that limit loses all its USF support, said commission officials and a news release. Thursday's order granted in part an NTCA petition for reconsideration.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai slammed Universal Service Administrative Co. E-rate oversight and urged improvements in the USF school and library discount program, which he said still has "serious flaws," despite previous remedy efforts. Pai said USAC's online E-rate Productivity Center (EPC) portal to process applications "is still not adequately functional," forcing critical steps to be carried out over a legacy IT system. "EPC implementation issues have created major headaches for applicants," many of whom "are still waiting for funding commitment decision letters for funding year 2016," he said in a letter to USAC CEO Chris Henderson listed in Wednesday's Daily Digest. "USAC has failed to fulfill specific commitments made to applicants even as it rolled out EPC system upgrades. USAC has frequently failed to devise solutions for applicants, instead requiring extensive FCC involvement, including from my office, to resolve problems." He also said $30 million has been spent on EPC despite an original estimate of $19 million, and the total cost could spike to "$60 million or greater." Telcos complained last year about EPC functionality (see 1607200074). Pai said USAC's "lack of full transparency" is compounding the various problems. "The current state of affairs is unacceptable. I seek your unqualified commitment that USAC will administer the E-Rate program in a manner that fully complies with Commission direction; works for applicants and participants; and promptly apprises the FCC of all relevant information concerning implementation," he wrote Henderson. Pai urged USAC to "swiftly resolve issues that continue to plague the system," with a focus on supporting and completing "basic EPC functionality" before addressing "ancillary" issues; to "be fully transparent and accountable to the Commission"; and "to identify alternative options to assist applicants" when IT failures occur, including through manual efforts by USAC or a contractor, if necessary. He asked USAC to devise a plan of action by May 18. USAC didn't comment.
Republicans appear poised to comfort broadband providers at the expense of local authorities and their communities, under broadband infrastructure rulemakings up for vote at this week’s FCC meeting, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Tuesday. In a live-streamed keynote at the New Century Cities Digital Southwest event, Clyburn also urged majority commissioners not to punish the poor as they seek to rework Lifeline and promote zero rated and sponsored data plans.
Sandwich Isles Communications objected to disclosure of any information it filed with the FCC or Universal Service Administrative Co. on a USAC audit until SIC's pending request to revise a protective order is resolved (see 1703220043) and a "legally-compliant protective order" is in place. SIC didn't object to the intent of the existing protective order or the inclusion of many documents in the record, but had concerns about the scope of the safeguards and the process for handling objections to the disclosure of particular documents, said a filing posted Friday in docket 10-90. The carrier said AT&T, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, National Exchange Carrier Association and Hawaiian Telcom made filings acknowledging the confidentiality protections under the order, but only the DHHL is a "legitimate interested party." SIC said it gave counsel for DHHL and AT&T unredacted copies of the May 13, 2016, USAC audit report and the firm's response subject to the terms of the protective order despite its "fatal problems." The FCC in December hit SIC with $77 million in repayment duties and proposed fines for violations and apparently violation of the USF high-cost program (see 1612060032). In February, the agency sought comment on why it shouldn't move to revoke the carrier's authorizations (see 1702140063).
It’s unfair to charge voice customers for broadband networks, but not guarantee voice services will be provided, said Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Crystal Rhoades Wednesday. On a webinar hosted by the National Regulatory Research Institute, Rhoades urged a revamp of USF contribution that includes broadband assessments. “We have to stop pretending that voice and broadband are separate things,” she said. “Ignoring the fact that we cannot build the network that we need without the inclusion of an assessment on broadband is almost delusional.” Competitive Carriers Association General Counsel Rebecca Thompson and NTCA Senior Vice President-Policy Mike Romano agreed. Not including broadband in the contribution base is “a disaster waiting to happen,” Romano said. The FCC has been mulling a contribution overhaul for more than 15 years, but politics remains a barrier to action, said ex-Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey, now a consultant. Congress must be convinced it’s not taxing the internet to assess contributions on broadband, she said. But USTelecom Senior Vice President-Law and Policy Jonathan Banks said it’s forward-looking to fund broadband networks rather than voice lines. It’s important to take another look at USF contribution, but first there’s more work to do on the Connect America Fund, he said: “It’s important to keep our eye on the ball of getting current stuff done.”
Qualifying USF rural healthcare demand of $275 million exceeded available funding of $254 million for the filing window of Sept. 1-Nov. 30, said a Universal Service Administrative Co. release Monday. Recipients will thus receive a pro-rata percentage of 92.5 percent of their qualifying requests. The FCC capped the rural healthcare annual budget at $400 million, and qualified recipients got $133 million in a previous window for funding year 2016 (there is also about $13 million in administrative expenses). The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition "appreciates the difficult position" USAC faced because "for the first time, demand for RHC program funding" exceeded the cap, said John Windhausen, SHLB executive director, in a statement. "Unfortunately, this will mean that many rural health centers will be forced to pay more to maintain their existing telemedicine connections, and some of these clinics may be forced off the network altogether, which jeopardizes the quality of health care delivered to rural America. This funding crisis points to the need for comprehensive reform of the RHC program, which the SHLB Coalition requested in its Petition for Rulemaking filed in December 2015," he said, citing RHC as the only USF program that "has not been fully reformed."
Citing USF funding issues, 56 senators urged the FCC to "consider any changes" needed to ensure affordable broadband is made available in high-cost rural areas. "We are still hearing frustration about the prices for and the availability of standalone broadband," said a letter Tuesday to commissioners, spearheaded by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Millions of rural Americans still don't have affordable stand-alone broadband "due to insufficient USF support," despite 2016 FCC changes, they wrote. "[T]he limited USF budget also reduced the amount of funding available to carriers electing new 'model-based' USF support, resulting in tens of thousands of rural consumers receiving slower broadband speeds than intended by the model or not gaining access to broadband at all. We are concerned that the lack of sufficient resources in the reformed High-Cost mechanism may be undermining the desired effect of the reforms and falling short of the statutory mandate that reasonably comparable services at reasonably comparable rates be available to rural and urban Americans alike." NTCA commended the senators, in a release. “We are deeply grateful to Senators Fischer and Klobuchar, and the many other members of the Senate representing more than half of the chamber, for their leadership in encouraging the FCC to ensure this program continues to be an effective linchpin of our country’s efforts to deploy and sustain advanced, affordable communications in rural communities,” NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said. “This letter demonstrates a consistent and enduring commitment on the part of Congress to make sure that ongoing reforms to the USF are done right.”
The FCC asked a court to resume its review of AT&T and CenturyLink challenges to 2014 and 2015 orders granting ILECs only partial forbearance from telecom regulations that left them subject to unsubsidized USF voice obligations. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Feb. 7 granted an FCC request to hold the case in abeyance while the agency's new leadership considered its course (see 1702070026). "The Commission has now decided to proceed with this litigation. The FCC therefore respectfully moves the Court to remove these cases from abeyance, and to proceed with scheduling argument at the Court’s convenience," said an FCC motion (in Pacer) to the court Friday in AT&T; CenturyLink v. FCC (No. 15-1038).
President Donald Trump’s “bold, broad view of infrastructure” includes broadband, a White House spokesman told us Thursday. The official declined to say whether any broadband funding in Trump’s much-discussed $1 trillion infrastructure plan would be funneled to FCC USF or other programs. The White House previously said it was considering broadband for its infrastructure package (see 1702230059), and bicameral and bipartisan congressional pressure all year pushed the White House to make broadband a priority.