Rural healthcare advocates voiced "frustration with the lack of transparency" in the RHC program "and the pace of funding decisions for 2018 applicants." The application window closed in June "and yet the total demand for funding (which is not difficult to calculate) has not yet been released," wrote John Windhausen, Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition executive director, on meetings he and telehealth representatives had with FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, aides and Wireline Bureau staffers, posted Wednesday in docket 17-310. "No applicants we spoke to had received any funding decisions, and ... the lack of information is making it very difficult for applicants to plan." They cited "possible concern" about a recent Universal Service Administrative Co. statement "indicated that eligible single-year applications would be fully funded, which implies that applicants who did not request single-year funding might not be fully funded."
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
The FCC unanimously nixed two AT&T requests to revisit orders in its tariff dispute with Aureon Network Services (Iowa Network Services). Commissioners dismissed and denied AT&T's Aug. 30 petition to reconsider a July 31 tariff investigation order by calculating a CLEC benchmark rate for Aureon's centralized equal access service using the mileage that AT&T says CenturyLink, the competing ILEC, would charge. The request "fails on both procedural and substantive grounds," said a reconsideration order Wednesday in docket 18-60. Members dismissed and denied AT&T's Aug. 31 petition to further reconsider an earlier recon order that found a 2012 Aureon tariff remained in effect, absent a showing of improper accounting to hide potential rate-of-return violations. AT&T repeats "many arguments that the Commission has already fully considered and rejected," said a second order on recon, in docket 17-56: It's "too late" for AT&T's new argument that the 2012 tariff rate exceeded a benchmark that took effect July 1, 2013, when it didn't make the claim in its original complaint. AT&T is "reviewing the orders and considering next steps," emailed a spokesperson.
Comments are due Jan. 14, replies Feb. 12 on FCC business data service NPRMs on treatment of incumbent telco transport offerings, says a proposed rule for Thursday's Federal Register (timetable). Responding to a partial court reversal and remand on procedural grounds in August, the FCC in October proposed to scrap ex-ante pricing regulation of price-cap carrier TDM and other special-access transport (see 1810230032). It also sought comment on a pathway for ending such regulation of lower-capacity (DS3 and below) TDM transport of rate-of-return carriers electing a price-cap BDS regime. Meanwhile, a Supreme Court spokesperson confirmed Wednesday the clerk's office hasn't received cert petitions seeking review of the August ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely upholding the deregulatory 2017 BDS order, consistent with expectations (see 1811270060). Monday was the filing deadline.
Facilities-based providers with residential voice service that isn't line-powered must offer subscribers an option for 24 hours of standby backup power for customers premises equipment starting Feb. 13, said an FCC Public Safety Bureau notice in docket 14-174 and Wednesday's Daily Digest. It's pursuant to a 2015 order that has required 8 hours of backup power. The public notice reminded the fixed service providers of duties to disclose service limitations and backup power information to consumers at point of sale and annually.
The FCC Wireline Bureau approved planned transfer of control of Mitel Cloud Services from Mitel Networks to MLN TopCo, subject to compliance with conditions sought by DOJ and the FBI, said a public notice in docket 18-162 and Wednesday's Daily Digest.
Litigation over a deregulatory 2017 FCC business data service order appears over. No cert petitions were apparently filed seeking Supreme Court review of an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in August that largely upheld the order (see 1808280050). Monday, the 90th day since an Aug. 28 judgment was entered by the 8th Circuit, was the deadline for petitions, we were told. An 8th Circuit case manager said she hadn't received any notifications of cert petitions being filed, and representatives of parties to the case were unaware of any such petitions. Supreme Court and FCC spokespersons didn't comment.
The FCC gave ClearCaptions relief on hearing aid compatibility volume control reset duties. Wireline phones "are permitted to provide amplification to a level greater than the maximum specified in the applicable rule, but must automatically reset to a lower volume after the telephones are hung up," said a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau order Tuesday in docket 18-307. CGB said ClearCaptions sought "waiver of the volume control reset provisions for its ClearCaptions Blue telephone devices ... that 'include a volume control override switch so that persons with hearing disabilities can use the telephone without having to turn the volume back up each time.'” The bureau granted waiver subject to certain conditions. The company didn't comment.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Free Conferencing's request to revisit a panel's 2-1 ruling the company intentionally interfered with a Qwest (CenturyLink) tariff contract with local carrier Tekstar (see 1810220042). The court denied a petition for rehearing en banc and by the panel, said a brief order (in Pacer) Monday in Qwest v. Free Conferencing, No. 17-2412. It noted Judge Bobby Shepherd, who dissented from the panel ruling, would have granted rehearing en banc. Free Conferencing didn't comment.
FCC rules authorizing auction of toll-free phone numbers took effect Friday, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Monday in docket 17-192. An order adopted unanimously by commissioners Sept. 26 targets 17,000 "mutually exclusive" numbers in the recently opened 833 code for the first auction (see 1809260047).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai suggested Puerto Rico may need even more USF support to help the island recover from 2017 hurricanes. Pai noted $117 million in additional short-term funding support already allocated, plus $700 million in long-term support proposed in an NPRM, most of it existing funding repurposed for specific broadband deployment, with a competitive mechanism contemplated to allocate additional support. "The Fund would make available at least $100 million in new funding for Puerto Rico to rebuild and restore communications networks damaged in last year's storms -- with most of that new funding going to rebuilding the wireline networks," he responded to Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, R-Puerto Rico (exchange), posted Wednesday in docket 18-5. "I appreciate that additional support beyond this $100 million increase may well be necessary to rebuild, improve, and expand service in Puerto Rico." Pai, aides and other FCC officials met with Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico CEO Naji Khoury and other executives, who explained their company's use of "Stage 1" funding and proposals for additional funding, particularly its "support for allocating the majority of Stage 2 funding for new deployment through a competitive bidding process at the census block group level."