Ian Cohen

Thirteen more rural telcos serving tribal lands are eligible for FCC relief from USF operational expense restrictions, beyond the five carriers identified in April and Mescalero Apache Telecom, whose petition for reconsideration was granted Monday (see 1901020033). The 13 are eligible for opex relief under an April order establishing certain broadband limits, "even though they were not affected by the previous opex cap," said a Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 10-90. The newly identified carriers are Atlas Telephone, Beggs Telephone, Bixby Telephone, Cherokee Telephone, Cheyenne River Sioux, Lavaca Telephone, Oklatel Communications, Sacred Wind Communications, San Carlos Apache, Shidler Telephone, Tohono O'odham Utility, Totah Communications and Wyandotte Telephone. Sacred Wind petitioned the FCC to reconsider a 90 percent 10/1 Mbps broadband deployment limit (carriers eligible for relief have to be under that threshold), or, if the limit is retained, to find that Sacred Wind was eligible for relief. That petition was "rendered moot" by the PN, said a commission spokesperson Thursday, before the FCC shut down most operations. A Sacred Wind representative didn't comment. Pine Telephone, Terral Telephone, Gila River Telecommunications, Fort Mojave Telecommunications and Saddleback Communications were also listed in the PN. They were the five carriers identified in April as eligible for relief.

The FCC denied a Sandwich Isles Communications request to reconsider a 2016 order saying the Hawaiian telco received $27.3 million in improper USF payments from 2002 to 2015, which it was ordered to repay (see 1612060032). Sandwich Isles petitioned for reconsideration (see 1701050068) of "virtually all aspects" of the order, arguing the FCC ignored its legal arguments and factual submissions, "but in fact, the Commission painstakingly responded to those arguments and submissions and deemed them unpersuasive," said the unanimous agency order issued Thursday in docket 10-90. It was adopted Dec. 4; no commissioner statements were attached. "SIC fails to take account of the text of the [Communications] Act and the reasonable policies underlying the Commission’s universal service rules, which among other things preclude recovery for facilities that are not actually used to provide service in covered areas," said the new order. "While SIC points to evidence that it claims shows that its cost accounting did in fact comply with Commission rules, that evidence is either incomplete, unpersuasive, or else outright contradictory to other facts and claims made elsewhere by SIC." The commission remains committed "to service for customers on the Hawaiian Home Lands," the order added. "SIC still has ongoing obligations to its customers, under both the Communications Act and Commission rules, to continue to provide interstate telecommunications services. SIC may not discontinue service without our express authorization. Nor, however, may SIC ignore our accounting rules and universal service safeguards going forward." An SIC representative didn't comment.

Windstream sold what it called the legacy EarthLink consumer internet business for $330 million cash to the Trive Capital private equity firm. The telco's Monday announcement noted it bought EarthLink in February 2017. That deal was valued at about $1.1 billion. This divests "a non-core segment" to "focus exclusively on our two largest business units," said Windstream CEO Tony Thomas. The consumer business is "a fraction of EarthLink," said a Windstream spokesperson Wednesday. "Most of EarthLink resides in our Enterprise segment."

The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment Friday on Charger Access’ proposed takeover of DataConnex. DataConnex is a Florida company that provides “facilities-based and resold telecommunications services primarily to Rural Health Care Program healthcare providers in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee,” the bureau said. Comments are due Jan. 11, replies Jan. 18, in docket 18-398.

The FCC Wireline Bureau dealt with various E-rate appeals in a Friday public notice in docket 02-6. The bureau dismissed requests for waivers by the Brookings-Harbor District 17 C in Oregon and the Harkham-GAON Academy in California. It rejected petitions for reconsideration filed by the Mary Help of Christians Academy, New Jersey, and the Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic School, Alabama.

FCC information collections on wireline broadband infrastructure deployment are poised to take effect for three years after being approved by the Office of Management and Budget, said rules (here and here) scheduled for Wednesday's Federal Register.

Telcos supported FCC elimination of two Part 61 tariff rules, as proposed in an Oct. 18 NPRM: a cross-referencing rule, which bars carriers from referencing their own tariffs and those of affiliates in tariff publications; and a rule requiring price-cap ILECs file short-form tariff review plans 90 days before their access tariffs are due. CenturyLink, Frontier Communications and Verizon backed ending both rules, in docket 18-276. ITTA supported scrapping the cross-referencing rule.

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment Friday on a petition for declaratory ruling filed by Best Doctors on FCC Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules. The petition asks for clarification that “a request sent to a telephone facsimile machine asking the recipient to verify ... contact information and operational status ... for inclusion in a database when the request does not state the commercial availability or quality of property, goods, or services is not an ‘advertisement’” under the TCPA, as modified by the Junk Fax Protection Act, the bureau said. Comments are due Jan. 25, in docket 02-278, replies Feb. 8.

The FCC set 2019 rural benchmark rates for fixed voice and broadband services of eligible telecom carriers receiving high-cost USF support. Based on an urban rate survey (data here) and a "reasonable comparability" mandate, the rates cover ETCs with broadband duties, including rate-of-return incumbents and price-cap ILECs receiving Connect America Fund Phase II support, CAF II auction winners and rural broadband experiment providers. ETCs must certify by July 1 their monthly basic residential voice rates are no higher than a rural benchmark of $51.61, which is two standard deviations above the urban average of $26.98, said a Wireline Bureau public notice in Thursday's Daily Digest and docket 10-90. The PN said, absent further FCC action, ETCs will be subject to support reductions for any rate below the $26.98 rate floor, and must report such rates in annual Form 481 filings. Most rural broadband benchmark rates were set between $66.12 and $162.33, depending on data speeds and monthly usage allowances; Alaska Plan carrier rates were set between $113.19 and $232.38. For RoR and CAF II fixed service providers, the bureau raised a 170 GB monthly minimum usage allowance to 215 GB, based on updated Measuring Broadband America data.

FCC staff granted a one-time rule waiver to allow rate-of-return telcos to report "their actual rates for consumer broadband-only lines to determine 2017 revenues on their FCC Form 509," rather than imputing revenue based on the maximum rate that could be assessed. "A significant amount of uncertainty existed regarding actual demand for consumer broadband-only service initially, which resulted in demand projections for many carriers that would have produced rates that were not sustainable in the market," said a Wireline Bureau order Thursday in docket 10-90. "Imputing revenues based on these maximum rates would have the effect of significantly overstating the revenues for many carriers" and cause "a similarly significant reduction in universal service support."