FCC Chairman Ajit Pai viewed hurricane damage and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico Thursday, a day after consulting with the island's leadership and outlining his proposal to help the commonwealth and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 1803070054 and 1803060039). On day two of his four-day visit to the islands, Pai had "informative visits in Utuado," a county "hard-hit" by Hurricane Maria with some parts that "still lack connectivity and basic infrastructure. Much work to do," he tweeted. That was one of his many tweets and retweets (here) of his site visits and meetings with Puerto Rican officials, including Gov. Ricardo Rossello (New Progressive Party). At a news conference Wednesday, Pai discussed his plan to provide $954 million in USF support for telecom networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including $256 million in new funding and other "repurposed" funding. The aim would be to give short-term funding to providers to restore networks and longer-term funding "to improve them and hopefully harden them in the case of future disasters," he said. "We want to be able to make the business case as easy as possible, in this case by providing additional federal funding, an increase over what Puerto Rico would have gotten in the absence of the plan." He said his plan's "lead proposal" is to invite companies to submit competitive proposals for a geographic area, with Puerto Rico's 78 or so "municipios" the suggested unit for the commonwealth. "Let's figure out which [proposal] gets us the biggest bang for the buck," he said, noting other alternatives included a subsidy auction. Funding recipients would have to use the money for its intended purpose and meet buildout and reporting requirements, he said. Rossello said his government is taking actions to speed and streamline the permitting process for telecom construction and other efforts. Pai met with broadcasters during his trip to Puerto Rico, an FCC spokeswoman said. Broadcasters aren’t eligible for new USF money targeting carriers affected by the storm but still need assistance, said International Broadcasting Corp. Legal Adviser Jean Paul Vissepo in an interview. Broadcasters need funds to repair damaged stations and equipment, but Puerto Rico’s damaged economy is also affecting them, he said.
Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, led Thursday filing of the Inmate Calling Technical Corrections Act, which would update rules for inmate calling services rate settings and clarify FCC authority to adjust the rules in the future. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, along with Capitol Hill Democrats and others, meanwhile, voiced concerns during a Thursday Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition event about FCC policy direction on ICS, net neutrality and changes to the USF Lifeline program.
The FCC opposed a Blanca Telephone motion for an injunction pending appeal and said the telco's petition for review should be dismissed. The commission noted it found Blanca ineligible for certain USF subsidies ($6.75 million) and ordered repayment. It also noted the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Blanca mandamus petition -- asking judges to prevent the FCC from collecting -- because the telco didn't exhaust alternatives at the agency, leading to a company petition for reconsideration (see 1801020038). While that petition was pending, Blanca filed a petition with the court seeking review, said commission opposition posted Wednesday in Blanca Telephone v. FCC, No. 18-9502. The FCC said the court lacks jurisdiction to consider the petition for review because the recon petition is still pending at the agency, meaning there's no final order to review. The commission said a staff letter didn't constitute a denial of the recon petition, and it also disputed Blanca's arguments on the merits. Blanca's counsel sent us its brief (in Pacer) making detailed arguments for court jurisdiction and concluding: "The FCC failed to follow legal requirements and has acted arbitrarily, capriciously, and abused its discretion."
The FCC updated a court on its USF transition to broadband-oriented subsidies, saying the shift will "ultimately relieve" incumbent telcos "of the federal high-cost voice service obligations at issue" in litigation. The commission declined to relieve AT&T and others of their duty to provide unsubsidized voice service during the transition, in part "because the obligation is temporary," said an agency letter (in Pacer) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday in AT&T v. FCC, No. 15-1038. It noted actions to begin July 24 a Connect America Fund Phase II auction of subsidies for fixed broadband and voice services in high-cost areas traditionally served by price-cap ILECs but where the incumbents declined initial CAF II support offers. In areas where another winning bidder is authorized to provide CAF-backed service, the incumbents will be relieved of their voice duties, it said. Some areas may not receive winnings bids, but they "will be a fraction of the already small fraction of carriers' service areas" at issue in this case, and they "may be eligible for funding in a second auction for 'Remote Areas,'" the letter said. "Although the July auction will not entirely moot this case, it shows that the transition is proceeding apace." AT&T didn't comment Wednesday. At Oct. 26 oral argument, judges questioned the telco's lawyer more extensively than the FCC's about the company's legal challenge (see 1710260054).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai met with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello (New Progressive Party) and other officials Wednesday, his first day of a four-day visit to the commonwealth and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They discussed Puerto Rico's telecom infrastructure and Pai's proposal to provide Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with $954 million in USF support to help restore and upgrade hurricane-damaged communications networks, according to Spanish-language tweets by Rossello and others that Pai retweeted (here, here, here, here). Pai also met with the CEO of Claro, Puerto Rico's largest telecom carrier, a company spokeswoman emailed. Pai's broadband plan would add $256 million in new USF support and repurpose existing funding currently directed at the islands, mostly to expand fixed broadband connectivity over the long term and 4G mobile broadband connectivity in the medium term (see 1803060039). Asked about the repurposed funding, an FCC spokesman emailed that "among other differences, the new program would include buildout obligations as well as a competitive process for awarding support for fixed broadband." Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who arrived in Puerto Rico Monday, tweeted Wednesday about conditions and recovery efforts in the Villa Cama neighborhood (here) and at a school in rural Toa Baja (here). Pai was to have met with broadcasters in the evening, said Jean Paul Vissepo, legal adviser with Puerto Rico’s International Broadcasting Corp. Broadcasters are hoping for FCC assistance with restoring service to the island. Broadcasting was the communications service used to disseminate emergency information on Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and the extensive damage to broadcast facilities has been under-assessed, Vissepo said.
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn pushed for a "broadband health safety net" for underserved groups, again highlighting "double burden" counties with higher disease rates and lower connectivity levels (see 1802080057). She thanked Chairman Ajit Pai for his continued commitment to a Connect2HealthFCC task force but said more should be done. "We should stop shaking our heads and conceding that some people will always fall through the cracks," she said in prepared remarks at a conference Wednesday. "Let’s aim higher, by intentionally meeting the health needs of every single American ... and let’s leverage broadband technology." She cited efforts to use broadband to address health needs, including in Appalachia, "where the cancer picture is bleaker than in other rural" areas.
Bitcoin-derived blockchain technology might improve an FCC Lifeline program that is ineffective and has seen "considerable fraud," said Mark Jamison, American Enterprise Institute visiting scholar and director of the University of Florida's Public Utility Research Center. "Studies consistently demonstrate" the low-income USF support program "has little impact and is costly," he blogged Tuesday. Blockchain transactions are conducted using "wallet" software that contains private and public keys to protect security, along with computer "miners" to verify transactions, he wrote. For Lifeline, "each person that is enrolled in one of the qualifying federal programs and that does not have a phone would be assigned a wallet suitable for the service for which the person wants to use the subsidy," he said. "The wallet might be an app on a secure smartphone if the person wants to use the subsidy for mobile service or on a piece of hardware that could plug into a smartphone, laptop, or tablet computer." Universal Service Administrative Co. each month "could transfer the Lifeline subsidy from a USAC wallet to the recipient’s wallet," he wrote. "The recipient could then use the currency to pay all or part of the service fee, depending on how much the person is paying for service. This payment would be made from the recipient’s wallet to a wallet designated by his or her service provider."
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed $954 million to help Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands restore and upgrade their communications networks, which were damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The plan would create a $750 million Uniendo a Puerto Rico (Bringing Puerto Rico Together) Fund and a $204 million Connect USVI Fund, said a release Tuesday. It said the proposal would add about $256 million in new funds and repurpose other USF support currently directed at the islands. Pai had said previously that recovery efforts would require additional funds (see 1711070068)
The FCC proposal to ban reseller participation in Lifeline USF drew more fire (see 1802210045 and 1802220061), now from Daniel Lyons, an American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow and Boston College associate law professor. Lifeline is a "noble" venture, but it's one of the commission's "most problematic" programs, "suffering repeated criticism" from GAO and others "for waste fraud and abuse," he blogged Monday. "But far from improving Lifeline, this proposal is likely to undermine the program and harm the vulnerable populations that the program seeks to serve." Lifeline "is not the vehicle to pursue" broadband investment, though it's a "worthy goal," he said. The reseller ban would restrict choice and ignore Lifeline consumer preferences and "the role that wireless substitution plays in low-income communities," he wrote. The FCC declined to comment.
House leaders formally set a Tuesday floor vote on a compromise version of the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization bill (HR-4986) under suspension of the rules, as expected (see 1803010056). Leaders didn’t yet estimate what time the vote would occur. The amended bill now contains a revised version of language from the Senate-passed Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless (Mobile Now) Act (S-19) spectrum bill, as part of an agreement announced Friday between the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees (see 1708030060 and 1803010056). The lawmakers and their staffs agreed to assuage concerns from DOD and other federal agencies about S-19’s previous language by nearly halving -- to 255 MHz -- the amount of spectrum they would be required to identify for broadband use by 2022. The 500 MHz figure previously delineated in S-19 was somewhat "already dated,” a House aide said: “It was a concession to DOD but in some ways it was a matter of updating the spectrum provisions” to reflect reallocation progress by federal agencies. HR-4986 includes language to authorize additional TV incentive auction repack funding (see 1802140064) and from the Spectrum Auction Deposits Act (HR-4109) that would let the FCC place bidders' deposits in future spectrum auctions in a Treasury Department fund (see 1710250026). HR-4986 already also reflected a raft of other Senate bills, including the Rural Wireless Access Act (S-1621), which the Senate passed last week under unanimous consent (see 1710100066 and 1803020026). The revised bill also eliminates all but one provision from the FCC Process Reform Act (HR-290) that had been included in earlier House Commerce-cleared versions of the bill at the behest of Senate Commerce ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla. The remaining HR-290 language extends an existing exemption of FCC USF expenditures from Anti-Deficiency Act requirements.