The FCC denied GCI Communication's application for review (see 2001220024) and upheld last March's waiver denial regarding broadband mapping requirements in the USF Alaska plan, in an order for docket 16-271 in Thursday's Daily Digest. The Alaska Telecom Association requested the initial waiver, which the FCC deemed overly broad (see 1903040026).
The FCC Wireline Bureau waived gift rules through Sept. 30 for the E-rate and Rural Health Care programs to help schools, libraries and healthcare providers better respond to COVID-19 outbreaks, in an order Wednesday on docket 02-60 (see 2003180048). Waivers in the healthcare program are limited to providers involved in screening and treatment of COVID-19 or mitigating its spread, the order said. The E-rate waiver is limited to eligible entities adjusting to school or library closures due to COVID-19, regardless of the USF program's funding year. The FCC will monitor whether extensions are needed. “By waiving certain FCC rules today, we are giving service providers the chance to step up and give health care providers more tools to fight the ongoing pandemic and serve patients more effectively," Chairman Ajit Pai said. He encouraged "service providers and equipment makers to partner with schools and libraries to provide mobile hotspots and other broadband-enabled devices to students to help bridge the digital divide during the coronavirus pandemic." Such efforts could complement the agency's work with Congress to appropriate funds for a remote learning initiative and a COVID connected care pilot, Pai said, adding such programs would allow the agency to use federal funds to support in-home equipment for patients and students affected by the pandemic. The agency's Connected Care pilot remains in the rulemaking stage, and it sought comment on whether the program should subsidize patient monitoring equipment and broadband to the home (see 1906190013). Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel called the gift waivers a smart step. "But let’s not confuse generosity for justice," she said. "We need a national plan to ensure that everyone is connected during these unprecedented days." She wants the FCC to use its "universal service powers" to provide hotspot loans to students caught in the homework gap, and connectivity for telehealth services to support treating coronavirus patients and those quarantined. Stakeholders for USF programs supporting anchor institutions expect a spike in telehealth (see 2003060036) and online learning (see 2003170014) this year. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition asked the FCC to waive the gift rules, in a letter Tuesday (see 2003170014). The gift ban was in place to prevent undue influence in the competitive bidding process, SHLB Executive Director John Windhausen told us. SHLB views this as "a timely step,” he emailed Wednesday. “The coronavirus is putting online learning and telemedicine in high demand ... We hope the FCC will continue to be proactive.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau is taking challenges through April 10 on its preliminary list of census blocks eligible for its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction 904 proposed to launch in October, said a public notice Tuesday in docket 19-126. It released a map of areas initially deemed eligible for RDOF phase I participation. Stakeholders can challenge the list if any areas are served by voice and 25/3 Mbps, or if parties got government broadband subsidies to serve areas deemed eligible. Rate-of-return carriers that don't expect to satisfy their USF broadband obligations can alert the FCC to move census blocks from ineligible to potentially eligible.
FCC staff waived some USF healthcare and E-rate gift rules amid COVID-19. Some stakeholders had sought these and other actions.
Consumers shouldn't be misled on their telephone bills "into believing that a USF surcharge is the equivalent of a sales tax and as such an unavoidable cost of service," since it's a "carrier's choice to pass through a charge to customers that it might otherwise have absorbed as part of its business," said the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, in truth-in-billing reply comments posted through Monday in FCC Wireline Bureau docket 98-170. CTIA said the FCC "should refrain from compelling voice providers into one-size-fits-all requirements of how they present government-mandated charges on consumer bills." The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors wants itemization of government-related costs to be transparent "so that consumers can readily distinguish portions of their payments that a government entity requires the provider to collect from customers" rather than ones providers opt to collect as an itemized charge.
The FCC will “consider the distinct challenges of deploying 5G in rural areas when proposing performance requirements” for its new 5G Fund, Chairman Ajit Pai wrote Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., and four other senators in letters released Monday. Kennedy and the others -- Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Jim Lankford, R-Okla.; Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; and Jon Tester, D-Mont. -- told Pai in January they had “serious reservations” about the proposed fund, citing ongoing concerns about the accuracy of broadband coverage data the FCC collects. The issue later came up during a January Senate Commerce Committee hearing (see 2001160053). “You can be assured that I will propose including an adjustment factor in the 5G Fund to address the increased costs of deploying 5G services in more rugged areas,” Pai told the senators. He said he understands their concerns about spending USF funds on 5G while some areas still lack 4G LTE services, “but it does not make sense for a multi-year support program to fund a technology that will be outpaced by 5G before the end of the program. That would be like focusing our Rural Digital Opportunity Fund on the deployment of 4/1 Mbps fixed broadband over the next decade.” Pai also noted their broadband mapping concerns and said the new Digital Opportunity Data Collection will result in the FCC “collecting mobile data subject to specific parameters and provide an opportunity for feedback from stakeholders. And I expect the Commission will seek comment on how to incorporate the coverage data available into the 5G Fund.”
Puerto Rico has much to share about resiliency, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said in a recent interview after he returned from a field hearing (see 2002260041). "There has not been a network or a people that has been as tested," he said of the hits they took from Hurricane Maria in 2017 and from earthquakes more recently.
The Q2 USF contribution factor would drop to 19.6% under a proposal from the FCC's Office of Managing Director Friday in a public notice on docket 96-45. USF revenue is projected to be its lowest ever (see 2003020077)
Utah legislators passed a bill to increase prepaid wireless contributions. The House voted 70-0 Thursday after the Senate voted 27-0 Monday. SB-225 would require prepaid wireless to contribute 1.2% of sales for state USF. It modifies the existing rule that prepaid providers remit 60 cents monthly per access line to the Utah Public Service Commission. It would increase the prepaid wireless 911 surcharge to 3.7% from 3.3%. Rates would take effect Jan. 1.
As fears about the spreading coronavirus increase, stakeholders are upping requests (see 2003060036) for additional government actions on telehealth and remote patient monitoring. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said Thursday Michigan plans to give Medicaid patients easier access to telehealth services during the pandemic. That will expand "opportunities for safe, quality care through telemedicine," she said.