The House Communications Subcommittee's Wednesday FCC oversight hearing is still widely expected to feature ample discussion on President Donald Trump's recent comments threatening the licenses of NBC and implications for commission's independence. But the issue is unlikely to overwhelmingly dominate the proceedings, lawmakers and lobbyists told us.
The Missouri Public Service Commission denied numerous industry requests for more time to comment on proposed changes to state USF rules, including a proposal to support broadband in the state’s low-income program (see 1710170045). PSC staff Oct. 17 asked for comments by Monday. “The short time allowed for these initial comments is merely the first step in a more extensive review process,” the commission said Friday in file TW-2017-0078. “Staff requested quick responses to allow for the possibility of stakeholder input before the suggested rule revisions are presented to the Commission and then to the Governor’s Office for a more detailed review in accordance with time-frames requested by the Governor’s Office.” There will be more opportunities after that, the PSC said.
AT&T and Verizon supported the thrust of an FCC plan for auctioning USF subsidies for fixed broadband services in areas traditionally served by large carriers. They, CTIA and a few others commented for the first time on proposed procedures for the Connect America Fund Phase II auction of up to $1.98 billion in support over 10 years. Replies were posted Wednesday and Thursday in docket 17-182. The commission largely "got it right," commented AT&T, saying the auction "must be simple enough to enable providers of all sizes, using different technologies, to participate." The design must "enable bidders to maximize efficiencies by allowing them to assemble contiguous networks across census block groups," it said. It disputed concerns package bidding would crowd out smaller bidders (see 1709190002) and urged the FCC to keep anti-collusion rules, while suggesting "modest modifications." Verizon backed the framework and endorsed "targeted changes," including USTelecom proposals to modify package bidding, bid-switching rules and a financial qualifications screen. CTIA objected to "proposals to require additional showings from applicants proposing to use spectrum to provide the supported services (wireless applicants)," including "calls for wireless applicants to include propagation maps in their short-form applications." The Wireless ISP Association also opposed the propagation-map proposal of a rural coalition. Microsoft again sought inclusion of unlicensed "white space" spectrum and backed a WISPA proposal for even broader spectrum use. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, joined this time by Public Knowledge and other consumer-oriented groups, said "the FCC should only consider bids that cannot cover all premises in the event that there is no bidder that can connect all premises" in an area. Bidders providing "high-quality fixed service" should be preferred over "high-latency satellite options," they said. SpaceX opposed measures "that exclude any technology that meets" baseline criteria. Hughes Network Systems said the FCC should grant its reconsideration petition to change bid weights and should eliminate package bidding and increase bid-switching flexibility from round to round. Repeating its concern about complexity, a rural electric and telco coalition urged the FCC to simplify the auction by "eliminating or substantially modifying its proposal to allow package bidding; prohibiting bidders from switching tiers between rounds; and allowing proxy bidding." It said anti-collusion rules should be altered to let small providers share auction consultants. The American Cable Association supplemented its arguments against package bidding, a proposed "five-point" financial screen, and anti-collusion rules preventing consultant sharing. Also filing again were GeoLinks, Illinois Electric Cooperative and the Rural Wireless Association.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai accused Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of partisan dissent on the $17.3 million USF settlement with Verizon to resolve an investigation into an E-rate bidding scheme in New York City, which the company blamed on a convicted city consultant (see 1710170057). Clyburn criticized the commission for recovering only a fraction of the "$50 million in harm" and not imposing a penalty, particularly given lawmaker concerns about a lack of more USF resources for high-cost support. Pai said Verizon also forfeited any right to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in E-rate subsidies, and accused Clyburn of leaving key facts out of her dissent, including that the consent decree was negotiated by the Enforcement Bureau under the prior chairman, whose office briefed each commissioner’s office. "Commissioner Clyburn’s office expressed no concerns whatsoever about the agreement at that time -- and there is contemporaneous written evidence of this," he said in a statement Tuesday. "If the terms of a settlement that were just fine under a Democratic chair are now unacceptable under a Republican chair, FCC enforcement becomes little more than political caprice. I hope that that’s not the case going forward." A Clyburn spokesman emailed Wednesday: “It is curious that the Chairman claims that Commissioner Clyburn approved a document in 2016 that was not finalized until 2017. When she was presented with the text of the consent decree in 2017, she determined that she could not support the item as drafted. She negotiated in good faith, and was told that no modifications would be made to the consent decree.”
The Missouri Public Service Commission sought comment on proposed changes to the state USF. The Tuesday staff request in docket TW-2017-0078 outlined several proposed edits, including to definitions and rules on support, assessment, administration and eligibility. Comments are due Monday.
A fuller picture of broadcast operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands emerged in the FCC's Tuesday report on the impact of Hurricane Maria. In Puerto Rico, five TV stations were confirmed operational and nine out of service, compared with two operational and one out of service in Monday's report (see 1710160028). Eighty radio stations were confirmed operational and 51 out of service in Puerto Rico, compared with 72 operational and 33 out of service Monday. In the Virgin Islands, four radio stations were confirmed operational and four out of service, compared with two operational Monday, with no reports on TV stations. Information on wireless, wireline, cable and 911 operations was little changed; about 75.3 percent of cellsites were out in Puerto Rico and 55 percent of cellsites were out in the Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico's education secretary, the governor of Texas and the Texas Education Agency asked the FCC for urgent USF E-rate support to schools and libraries affected by hurricanes, in filings (here, here, here) posted Tuesday in docket 02-6.
The FCC and DOJ settled with Verizon over possible E-rate competitive bidding violations. The telco agreed to pay $17.325 million to the USF and $354,634 to the U.S. Treasury to resolve parallel investigations, said a commission release Tuesday. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn dissented, citing "over $50 million in harm." The company responded that New York City Department of Education consultant Ross Lanham was at fault, engaged in fraud without the telco's knowledge and the company worked to return money to the program.
Alaska Communications pressed the FCC on a rural healthcare telecom connectivity funding "crisis." The telco repeated "concerns about the resolution of Funding Year (FY) 2016 rural health care (RHC) funding requests, the likelihood of an even greater -- substantially greater -- funding shortfall in FY 2017, and the detrimental and immediate impact this is having on the delivery of health care in rural parts of Alaska," said a filing posted Friday in docket 16-46 on meetings with aides to all five commissioners. The telco urged the commission to craft near-term and long-term solutions that would include "increasing the budget for RHC support, reducing delays in processing funding requests, and updating the rules to accommodate advanced service delivery." It also made several other filings, including on a petition for reconsideration on high-cost USF support in docket 10-90 (here) and VoIP service regulatory classification in docket 17-108 (here)
The Alaska Telephone Association asked the FCC to reconsider "mapping reporting" duties imposed by the Wireline and Wireless bureaus on participants under a commission "Alaska Plan" USF order to boost broadband (see 1608310067). ATA said it respected the order's "limited data collection and reporting requirements" on middle-mile connections to give the agency information on participant compliance with performance commitments and other requirements. But the bureau details "go beyond what is needed" and "are not appropriately tailored to the relatively simple task of ascertaining the nature of middle mile facilities" connecting communities to the internet backbone, said a petition posted Wednesday in docket 16-271, following the group's recent concerns to commissioners and staffers (see 1710040061). It said the collection includes "many last mile facilities ... no matter how small" that "are not relevant" to middle-mile connectivity. The duties would "be extremely expensive and burdensome," requiring all locations to "be measured and links described to within 7.6 meters of accuracy, which in most cases will require a site visit and survey." A March 1 deadline is also unrealistic, given Alaska's geography and winter conditions, it said.
The Nevada Public Utility Commission voted 3-0 to adopt a state USF order meant to simplify the process for requesting high-cost support for small scale providers of last resort (SSPLR). "Previously, eligible providers would file an annual request for support that amounted to a mini rate case proceeding, which was burdensome on both the SSPLR and Staff," the draft order said. Under the new process, the commission would set an NUSF support amount for five years subject to limited annual adjustment to account for fluctuations in federal USF support. The action makes permanent the new method, which the PUC adopted on a temporary basis in April. “This amendment to the regulations helps streamline the process to ensure that there is equity” service between rural and urban areas, PUC Chairman Joseph Reynolds said at the livestreamed meeting.