USF rural healthcare subsidies will be cut 16 percent to individual providers and by 26 percent to consortia for the 2017 funding year ending June 30, said the Universal Service Administrative Co. Because RHC fund demand in recent years exceeded an FCC $400 million annual cap, pro rata cuts have been applied to providers. The commission in December waived the cap for this year (see 1712140054). The order "directed USAC to use any unused RHC Program funds from prior funding years to offset the proration for individual rural health care providers (HCPs), and afterwards for consortia if there were funds remaining," USAC said. "After applying these unused funds to individual HCPs, there were not sufficient funds to offset the proration for consortia as well. So, as per the FCC Order, only individual HCPs will receive this prior year funding. USAC will commit the unused funds, which amount to $31.35 million, for individual HCPs in both the Telecommunications (Telecom) and Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) programs." The proration factor for consortia in the HCF program is 74.47 percent, and for individual HCPs in both programs is 84.4 percent, it said. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition is "extremely disappointed" with cuts exceeding last year's 7.5 percent reduction, said Executive Director John Windhausen, citing market changes driving demand. "When rural Americans are struggling to obtain high-quality Internet connections and are also suffering from the closure of rural hospitals, the announced funding reductions -- which will lead to price increases for health care providers across the country -- will have a devastating impact on the quality of rural healthcare," he said, urging the FCC to "substantially increase" the cap for FY 2018. Numerous NPRM commenters backed a funding increase, though some said reforms were needed first (see 1802050026 and 1803070043).
With a lack of electricity and access to funding hampering recovery efforts for communications services in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, some concerns about the FCC USF-based aid proposal have emerged, industry and government officials in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington told us. Some industry officials expressed concern about the proposal's goals and said the plan does nothing for affected broadcasters. A group of Puerto Rico broadcasters pitched a nationwide disaster relief plan for broadcasters to Chairman Ajit Pai during his visit earlier this month. “What happened in Puerto Rico can happen elsewhere in the U.S.,” said Eduardo Rivero of Puerto Rico station owner Media Power Group.
A California Senate panel is expected to hear net neutrality legislation by Sen. Scott Wiener (D) in early April, his office said Wednesday. Wiener summarized amendments to SB-822 in a fact sheet. The amended bill would prohibit “blocking or speeding up or slowing down of favored data, paid prioritization, charging services (whether businesses, nonprofits, government agencies, advocacy organizations, etc.) access fees to reach certain consumers, and economic discrimination practices that distort consumer choice,” including zero rating. The bill would charge the state attorney general authority with enforcement. SB-822 would prohibit public entities in California from contracting with ISPs that don’t follow net neutrality rules; restrict USF infrastructure funding under California’s Advanced Services Fund to net neutral ISPs; and condition video franchise agreements on compliance. The Senate earlier passed SB-460 by Democratic Senate President Kevin de León (D). The Electronic Frontier Foundation saidSB-460 is legally vulnerable and supports Wiener’s bill (see 1802010013).
Lifeline USF providers endorsed a request that program providers be reimbursed during a subscriber non-usage grace period. The National Lifeline Association recently petitioned the FCC to rule that Lifeline eligible telecom carriers (ETCs) be "permitted to seek reimbursement for all Lifeline eligible subscribers served as of the first day of the month ... including those subscribers that are in an applicable 15-day cure period following 30 days of non-usage." Universal Service Administrative Co. had reversed guidance that let Lifeline ETCs be reimbursed during the cure (grace) period, providers said in comments posted Monday and Tuesday in docket 11-42. "FCC rules require ETCs to provide Lifeline customers with service during the cure period (Section 54.405(e)(3)), and mandate provision of Lifeline support to eligible Lifeline subscribers served on the first day of the month (Section 54.407(a))," Sprint said. "The reasonable and logical import of these rules is that Lifeline support is due for Lifeline customers who are in the cure period as of the first of the month." It said providers incur "significant" costs for accounts during the cure period, and said if USAC's reversal is upheld, it should be applied only prospectively. Q Link Wireless and Smith Bagley filed supportive comments (here and here). Smith Bagley discussed with FCC staffers an upcoming transition to a national verifier of Lifeline eligibility and "ways to mitigate potential impacts on Tribal areas," said another filing. Tribal representatives affiliated with the National Congress of American Indians also voiced support for Lifeline on tribal lands, in discussions with Chairman Ajit Pai, other commissioners and staffers in conjunction with NCAI's meeting Feb. 15 (see 1803130057). Chickasaw Nation Lt. Gov. Jefferson Keel "expressed concern about changes to the geographic scope of the enhanced Tribal subsidy," filed Barbara Esbin, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau deputy chief. "Teresa Hopkins, Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, expressed concern about the loss of one-on-one relationships between providers and Lifeline recipients in the move to the National Eligibility Verifier, which have proven particularly important to those serving and living on Tribal lands, where many rely on mobile wireless and Smartphones as their only source of communications services." It said tribal leaders urged the FCC to act on a February 2017 draft order to exempt carriers primarily serving tribal lands from operating-expense limitations (see 1802020058), and supported a tribal broadband factor proposed by a recently circulated draft NPRM and order (see 1801160040).
A Tuesday Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on broadband provisions in President Donald Trump's infrastructure legislative proposal discussed how the plan would deal with streamlining broadband-related regulations and funding to encourage deployments. Senators reserved their strongest criticisms for the state of connectivity data collection and mapping. All three issues were among those expected to be covered (see 1803120054). Secretaries of Transportation Elaine Chao, Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Commerce Wilbur Ross are among those expected to testify at a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing that also could involve broadband provisions in Trump's plan.
The FCC proposed a USF contribution factor for Q2 of 18.4 percent of carrier revenue from interstate and international telecom service end users, said an Office of Managing Director public notice in docket 96-45 in Monday's Daily Digest, as a consultant projected (see 1803020057). The decline from Q1's 19.5 percent will take effect March 23 absent further action.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is back from a four-day visit to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, a spokeswoman confirmed Monday. Pai viewed hurricane damage and recovery efforts (see 1803070054, 1803080048 and 1803090062), and explained his plan to provide USF support for telecom networks (see 1803060039). Pai retweeted (here) FCC tweets on his meetings and visits with officials and people in the Virgin Islands Friday and Saturday. U.S. Virgin Island government officials, Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Homeland Security "and unified telecommunications industry leaders met for two hours and recounted the impacts to the U.S. Virgin Islands infrastructure from the two ... CAT 5 hurricanes, focusing on communications and how government, industry, the private sector and other organizations all worked together to deal with the crisis," emailed U.S. Virgin Islands Public Service Commissioner Johann Clendenin. "From impacts, to response and recovery, the participants related their stories, sharing personal perspectives of the challenges, successes, work arounds, important lessons learned and recommendations for the FCC to shorten recovery and increase infrastructure resiliency in the future." Members of a Hurricane Integrated Telecommunications Team discussed various recommendations with Pai, including "the need for overall unified Telecommunications jurisdiction during Disaster response by States and Territories," which can "support relief ... hot spots, roaming, infrastructure support, debris removal, permits, equipment -- cranes, dozers, etc.," he said.
A federal court rejected a Consolidated Communications challenge to an FCC order denying SureWest Telephone (now a Consolidated unit) a waiver from a federally mandated USF state certification deadline the telco missed in 2012. "Consolidated fails to show that 'special circumstances' required the FCC to grant a waiver here," said a judgment (in Pacer) Friday of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Consolidated Communications v. FCC, No. 16-1431. "SureWest’s mere 'confusion' about its new regulatory classification after the acquisition is insufficient to justify a waiver. ... And the long delay before filing the missing certification -- nearly four months -- further weighs against granting a waiver." The panel rejected other Consolidated arguments and made the decision on the basis of briefs and official documents, without hearing oral argument (see 1801290029). Consolidated didn't comment.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was on his way to the U.S. Virgin Islands Friday after finishing his trip to Puerto Rico (see 1803070054 and 1803080048). "Leaving #PuertoRico grateful to the countless people in the public and private sectors who are doing their best to bring back communications services. @FCC stands ready to work with them in Uniendo a Puerto Rico ! Now on to the U.S. Virgin Islands," he tweeted. Pai was on a four-day swing through the islands to survey hurricane damage and recovery efforts and to explain his plan to send additional USF support to providers for telecom network restoration and improvement efforts (see 1803060039). He was scheduled to conclude the trip Saturday.
About half of South Carolina phone companies said they suspended recovery of state USF fees from customers in December, as directed by the Public Service Commission, South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff reported Wednesday in PSC docket 2017-334-C. ORS requested the suspension “to avoid a situation of over-collection and the subsequent need for repayment,” it said. The staff said 71 companies suspended USF fee recovery, but 61 companies didn’t respond and seven other companies reported collecting the money anyway. The companies that collected fees claimed “there is a lag between the reporting period and the collection period” that “causes companies to under-recover support from their customers,” ORS said. "No data was provided to support this claim.”