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).
Getting Congress to fund the estimated $1.62 billion it would cost to rip and replace Huawei and ZTE equipment in U.S. networks could be a heavy lift this year, but industry is hopeful lawmakers will act. The FCC released cost estimates Friday and a list of some 50 carriers that use the gear (see 2009040022). The agency noted some may not have participated in the data collection. With the Trump administration focusing more generally on China, the commission in June barred the two Chinese vendors from participating in the USF (see 2006300078).
The FCC released guidance for applications to the agency’s $100 million Connected Care Pilot Program, said a news release and public notice Thursday. The PN includes information on how healthcare providers can prepare for the application process and will be followed by a subsequent PN with detailed application procedures and timing for an application window, a release said. “This year, our country has pivoted to a newer model of delivering health care, one that finds connectivity at its core,” said Chairman Ajit Pai. He thanked Commissioner Brendan Carr for leading here. “We worked to stand up this Pilot Program to support the delivery of care directly to patients,” Carr said in a separate release, calling it “Carr’s Connected Care Pilot Program.” The program is open to eligible nonprofit and public healthcare providers, the PN said. To prepare to apply, providers will need an eligibility determination and healthcare provider number from Universal Service Administrative Co., the PN said. The program will use USF funds “to help defray costs of connected care services for eligible health care providers, providing universal service support for 85% of the cost of eligible services and network equipment,” not including devices.
Data collected from carriers found it would cost an estimated $1.84 billion to remove and replace Huawei and ZTE equipment in their networks. In June, the FCC barred the two Chinese vendors from participating in the USF. The agency also released a list of some 50 carriers that have the equipment installed in their networks.
Oregon Public Utility Commission staff seeks comments by Tuesday on draft rules for implementing an Oregon law requiring VoIP and wireless contribution to state USF (see 2008240049), the PUC said in docket AR-640 Tuesday. The Oregon PUC aims to finalize rules by Jan. 1.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission should keep the revenue-based USF contribution for business and government services because it’s less complex than a connections-based mechanism, big telecom and cable companies said in comments received Monday and emailed to us Wednesday. The PSC is proposing to expand its connections-based method that now applies only to residential services (see 2008110047). “Business customers' connections may fluctuate” and “the applicable surcharge would need to be examined, and potentially changed on a monthly basis,” Cox Communications, Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable commented jointly in docket NUSF-119. Large business customers might relocate to a lesser taxed state due to rate shock, the cablers warned. Carriers understand revenue-based contribution; applying contributions to business and government services “will be complex, costly and confusing,” said AT&T. Complexities applying the connections method to business and government services have increased in the past three years, said CenturyLink. COVID-19 “has caused an unprecedented shift to work from home and away from business communications services which is likely to impact the analysis,” it added. Nebraska law requires revenue-based contribution for prepaid wireless services, said CTIA. A connections method for residential services stabilized and increased the fund, so "the financial threat to the NUSF viability has been overcome,” said Frontier Communications. Moving to connections for business and government lines is "impractical at this time," said Windstream. Small rural telcos countered that applying connections-based contribution for all kinds of services is fairer. “Much of rural Nebraska remains unserved or underserved," and current remittances "will come nowhere close" to providing enough support, commented the Rural Telecommunications Coalition of Nebraska. Exempt prepaid wireless, toll revenue and directory, private line and paging services, which don't lend themselves to a connections-based surcharge, said a state group of rural independent companies. Keep revenue-based at least for institutional operator service providers, urged Securus, saying it doesn’t “have the ability to determine or charge the NUSF applying a connections-based methodology" because it charges prison customers per call.