The FCC Office of Economics and Analytics projects three auctions from now through Sept. 30, 2020. Two are already scheduled and a third was promised by Chairman Ajit Pai. The notice doesn’t mention any auctions tied to the USF, including a Mobility Fund II auction. A C-band auction didn’t make the list. The first auction listed is that of the 37, 39, 47 GHz bands, to start Dec. 10 (see 1904120065) and the second is the 3.5 GHz priority access licenses auction, to start June 25 (see 1909260040). The third hasn’t been scheduled, for 2.5 GHz educational broadband service licenses.
Hughes "believes it can meet" the new mean opinion score testing requirements for high-latency bidders in USF competitive awards, after the FCC addressed earlier concerns "that the original MOS testing framework adopted by the bureaus might not be achievable by satellite broadband providers using geostationary satellites," it filed, posted Thursday in docket 10-90. The FCC updated its MOS testing regime this month (see 1909120064). Satellite broadband can compete for USF support through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and a $950 million program to strengthen broadband networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands commissioners OK'd Thursday.
Nebraska residents are falling behind other Americans on broadband, says the Nebraska Rural Broadband Task Force Thursday. Comments are due Oct. 10, before the task force meets to approve the report Oct. 18, says the group’s website. Eighty-nine percent of Nebraskans, and 63 percent in its rural areas, have fixed broadband of at least 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up, compared to 94 percent in the U.S. and 76 percent of rural Americans. Mobile broadband is available to 83 percent of all Nebraskans and 56 percent of rural Nebraskans, vs. 89 and 69 percent respectively. Enhance broadband mapping and data collection, the task force recommends: "Current state and federal broadband mapping efforts likely overstate broadband coverage.” Nebraska’s map uses FCC Form 477 data, but this "census block reporting can overstate broadband availability in large census blocks,” it says. Rural areas could benefit from emerging technologies, but “5G will likely be deployed first in urban areas, potentially exacerbating the speed gap,” the draft says. The Public Service Commission should continue efforts to revamp state USF contribution and "improve provider accountability by moving to a grant-like system of distribution,” and consider reverse auction, it says. Give E-rate matching funds through state USF to incentivize fiber to schools and libraries, and encourage them to “implement programs such as Wi-Fi on buses, hotspot lending programs, low cost pay-by-the-month internet access, or TV White Space deployments," it says. An Ohio report last week also found coverage gaps (see 1909260008).
USTelecom with CEOs urged FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to consider transitions for rural areas where incumbent price-cap carriers lose USF support because they either don't participate in upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auctions or another bidder wins, said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-126: "Rules applicable only to ILECs due to their historical regulatory classification must be relieved in any areas subject to competition." If a winning bidder can't offer telecom service immediately, USTelecom said, new rules should address how an ILEC will receive transitional support from USF if it's required to continue providing service: "Where a new provider receives RDOF support, the ILEC should be relieved of any obligations to continue serving the area." USTelecom still wants a national broadband serviceable location fabric as part of digital opportunity data collections proceeding "as quickly as possible" so it can inform phase one of RDOF. If the agency uses only current Form 477 data "without reference to additional and more granular data provided by the fabric, the commission must address up front the fact that the auction will be based on inherently flawed location counts and bidders should be held harmless," the group said. Association CEO Jonathan Spalter and counterparts from Consolidated Communications, Bob Udell; Tony Thomas of Windstream; Frontier Communications' Dan McCarthy and others also met with each commissioner. Also in Washington last week, Udell spoke with us about RDOF (see 1909230030).
Devote more attention to standardizing decision-making practices for cybersecurity policy, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said Friday, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Rosenworcel urged the FCC to complete a rulemaking to ensure USF support for broadband deployment in rural areas isn't used to buy insecure network equipment, as she said the day before (see 1909260032). It would be a mistake to focus all cybersecurity concerns on Huawei 5G technology, she said: "The situation with this company is just a symptom of a larger problem -- and all of our activity so far is about treating the symptom, not the disease." The FCC should create policies to stimulate a broader market for 5G technology, she said, so "no one company can undermine our national security." If the FCC devotes more mid-band spectrum to 5G, she said, vendors would follow to expand the market for secure equipment. Rosenworcel warned secure U.S. networks could still connect to insecure networks abroad: "The FCC should start a proceeding to investigate the best practices carriers can employ to mitigate that risk. We need to research how we build secure networks that can withstand connection to equipment vulnerabilities around the world." She said her agency should "explore dedicated network segmentation, cross-layer security standards, the role of encryption, and routing validation." She said the FCC might ask licensees to use the NIST cybersecurity framework. Rosenworcel said cyber vulnerabilities multiply as the industry transitions to the IoT. The commissioner wants the FCC to use recent NIST draft security recommendations for IoT devices for use in updating FCC equipment authorization standards. "We should transform the Internet of Things into the Internet of Secure Things," she said.
FCC commissioners voted to move forward with $950 million to help improve and strengthen broadband networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was one of five unanimous votes Thursday at the agency's monthly meeting, though commissioners from each party expressed some concerns.
An Oregon Public Utility Commission state USF proceeding on requiring contributions from interconnected VoIP providers probably will move forward in December, a PUC spokesperson emailed Wednesday. Docket AR-615 (see 1811280057) was on hold while Oregon legislators last session weighed a USF bill that ultimately didn’t pass, she said. Wireless and cable opposed the Oregon USF bill to establish a broadband fund and expand the definition of retail telecom service to include wireless and VoIP (see 1904030038). HB-2184 passed the House but not the Senate.
Telecom, fiber and satellite parties interested in expanding their broadband footprints in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands met with aides to FCC commissioners and officials at the agency's Wireline Bureau over the past few weeks to share their concerns over a new wave of awards in the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund in docket 18-143. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a draft order this month on how the agency will allocate $950 million in USF dollars to providers for rebuilding and strengthening broadband networks in those territories after the devastating hurricanes Maria and Irma hit within a two-week period in 2017 (see 1909050043).
Groups differ over how much broadband deployment data the FCC should collect from providers, in what form, and how others should be able to challenge its accuracy. Comments posted through Tuesday on docket 19-195 weighed in on the agency's plans to update its Form 477 broadband mapping reporting requirements (see 1908210008). Parties mostly agree more granular information is needed to ensure USF dollars are allocated properly in upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auctions (see 1906280059), but some say holding out for detailed location fabrics that attempt to pinpoint every serviceable structure in the nation could slow the program.
Rural broadband providers want the FCC to update or clarify eligibility requirements for applicants in its upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auctions to award up to $20 billion in USF dollars to companies that can deliver high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved parts of rural America (see 1908010060). In comments posted through Monday on docket 19-126, industry groups differed on whether and how to expand the pool of applicants that could receive the federal funding to deliver high-speed internet service to remote communities.