FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly got relatively little attention from Senate Commerce Committee members during a Tuesday hearing on his renomination. What attention he did receive was largely positive, with Democrats training their fire on other nominees. President Donald Trump renominated O’Rielly in March to a term ending June 30, 2024. O’Rielly’s current term ended last June, and he can remain until the beginning of 2021. O’Rielly has a good chance of confirmation (see 2004030072).
The 3Q USF contribution factor will be 26.5%, proposed an FCC Office of Managing Director public notice Friday, as predicted (see 2006010041).
The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks comments by July 13, replies July 27, to update the record on whether to include revenue from "one-way" VoIP services as part of USF contribution base or impose other regulatory fees, said a public notice for docket 06-122 in Friday's Daily Digest.
Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., filed the Expanding Opportunities for Broadband Deployment Act Thursday. It would eliminate a requirement only ISPs designated eligible telecom carriers are eligible for USF. “Millions of Americans still lack access to consistent and reliable Internet service because the broadband infrastructure necessary to serve all households and businesses does not exist,” Butterfield said. “And in urban areas where broadband service is available, there are numerous low-income families that simply cannot afford it.” Reps. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Don Young, R-Alaska, filed the Universal Broadband Act last month. HR-6723 would increase the USF contribution base to include all broadband services rather than the existing model that draws support from phone services (see 2005050064). Charter, NCTA and the Wireless ISP Association backed Butterfield’s bill.
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska might have to push forward uncertainly in telecom matters until it meets resistance, Chairman Bob Pickett said at one in a series of summer meetings about the RCA's telecom jurisdiction after 2019 deregulation law SB-83 (see 2005130039). There should be no confusion about what authority the agency retains, said Alaska Telecom Association Executive Director Christine O'Connor in an interview.
USTelecom and its members urged the FCC to launch an order soon on a February consensus proposal on toll-free access rates. Rural and competitive LECs want to make sure they don't lose revenue in the process or face added costs. Activity in docket 18-156 heated up in recent weeks as stakeholders lobby Wireline Bureau staff and commissioner offices. The commission issued a Further NPRM two years ago (see 1807020040). At issue is who pays to move toll-free traffic and who gets revenue for it.
The FCC reached a $5 million settlement with magicJack over the VoIP provider's failure to report its interstate revenues and contribute to USF, it said Friday. The consent decree includes an extensive compliance plan. The company didn't comment.
Parts of USF changes approved by the FCC involving a 5G Fund take effect Friday, says that day's Federal Register.
China may be “attempting to drive a high-tech wedge” between the U.S. and U.K. via concerns about the national security implications of allowing equipment from Huawei on telecom infrastructure, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told the U.K. House of Commons’ Defense Select Committee Tuesday. Cotton and other U.S. lawmakers criticized the U.K. allowing Huawei on “non-core” parts of communications infrastructure but bar it from “sensitive locations” like military bases (see 2001280074). Recent media reports claim the U.K. government may be planning to change that.
The move to open-radio access networks in wireless is a natural evolution, follows trends in other industries and could help the U.S. make networks more secure, speakers said during a Hudson Institute webinar Tuesday. The FCC postponed a March 26 summit on 5G-focused O-RAN technology because of coronavirus concerns (see 2003120071) and hasn’t set a new date, a spokesperson confirmed now. In February, Attorney General William Barr said the O-RAN is “just pie in the sky” and a “completely untested” approach that would “take many years to get off the ground.”