Ian Cohen

Groups urged the FCC to deny Securus' proposed buy of Inmate Calling Solutions from TKC Holdings. "In light of numerous public admonishments for violating other Commission rules, policies and procedures, Securus has clearly demonstrated that it lacks the character qualifications to remain a holder of Commission-issued authorizations," said the Wright Petitioners and seven others in a petition posted Tuesday in docket 18-193. "The proposed transaction will also result in the elimination of the only competitor to the two largest inmate calling service providers." Or designate it for hearing," said the groups, seeking investigation into "serious violations of Commission rules, policies and procedures." At a minimum, the deal "must be held in abeyance" during the investigation, they said. The Urban Justice Center's Corrections Accountability Project also urged denial, saying the deal would reduce competition and harm consumers of correctional phone services. Securus didn't comment. The Human Rights Defense Center, which also joined the Wright Petitioners filing, again urged FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to recuse himself, given his previous representation of Securus. The FCC didn't comment. Pai refused to recuse himself from a Securus private equity transaction completed last year (see 1710300065 and 1708240005).

Alaska Communications asked the FCC to extend an Oct. 1 deadline for it to file a list of census blocks it intends to serve using Connect America Fund Phase II broadband-oriented support. The Wireline Bureau hasn't issued a decision on the CAF II eligibility of thousands of partially served census blocks the carrier submitted, said the company's filing Monday in docket 10-90. "If the Bureau were able to resolve these matters by August 1st, Alaska Communications believes it could satisfy the October 1st deadline," the carrier said. "It currently appears that the earliest the Bureau could resolve these issues will be mid-September. This will not leave sufficient time for Alaska Communications to complete all of its necessary planning by October 1st."

The FCC denied 21 rural telco petitions to waive a deadline for filing audited financial statements for their annual Form 481 reporting obligations. The requests failed to demonstrate "special circumstances" for waiving their duties as privately held USF eligible telecom carriers, said a Wireline Bureau order in docket 10-90 in Monday's Daily Digest. On its own motion, the bureau granted a limited waiver "such that no support will be recovered from the petitioners in this instance" but said it doesn't intend to grant such waiver petitions going forward. It said eight of the small RLEC petitioners (listed in an appendix) hadn't yet filed the required financial information, and if they don't do so within 120 days of July 13, the Universal Service Administrative Co. is directed to reduce their support pursuant to a rule 54.313(j).

Cincinnati Bell completed its takeover of Hawaiian Telcom July 2, said a filing by its outside counsel Friday in docket 17-207. FCC bureaus granted the companies' application to transfer indirect control of Hawaiian Telecom, subject to compliance with commitments made with Team Telecom -- the Department of Homeland Security, DOD and DOJ (see 1806190071).

Telco competitors made their case for the FCC to retain regulated wholesale access to incumbent local loop and interoffice-transport lines despite a USTelecom forbearance petition seeking ILEC relief from requirements to lease out the connections as discounted unbundled network elements and related resale services. The UNEs and resale services "are critical" to competitor ability "to serve consumers and facilitate fiber deployment," said an Incompas filing on a meeting it and 13 upstart providers had with Wireline Bureau staffers, posted Monday in docket 18-141. "Many of the providers utilize unbundled bare copper DS0 loops to provide residential and business customers with voice and data services. ... Access to UNEs such as DS0, DS1, and enhanced extended loops ('EELs') also allows [CLECs] to serve underserved rural and urban areas, including areas where the CLEC is the only available broadband provider." The filing said there are "no economically viable alternatives" to UNE interoffice dark fiber transport to serve rural markets, and cited a "lack of special access or commercial alternatives for certain UNEs." The competitors said existing rules allow "a natural elimination of unbundling obligations" as ILECs retire copper. They said USTelecom's proposed delay in eliminating UNE access until February 2021 "falls woefully short" of giving competitors sufficient time to transition to alternatives: "Rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all timeframe ... the Commission should adhere to the 'natural forbearance' under its current rules. In markets where ILECs have completed copper retirement, they gain full relief from DS0 unbundling obligations. In markets where ILECs have yet to discontinue copper, CLECs should be able to retain access to UNEs." That would ensure CLECs can continue providing consumers in underserved areas competitive alternatives to ILEC copper services, they said.

Uniti Fiber is "deeply concerned" by USTelecom's forbearance petition for ILEC relief from wholesale unbundled network element (UNE) discounts, but Frontier Communications and Windstream cited UNE details they say support the petition. "While we are foremost a 'facilities‐based' service provider, we nonetheless also use significant numbers of unbundled network elements to expand our reach, meet customer demands, and establish access to new markets," said a Uniti filing posting Friday in docket 18-141, noting it provides cellsite backhaul and small-cell solutions for wireless carriers and other network services. Uniti said it buys DS1s and DS3s, and relies heavily on dark fiber interoffice transport to connect customers in distant central offices to its network. "While Uniti may be able to overbuild some of these routes, many are in locations and over geographic obstacles that would be extremely costly, if not impossible, for us to re‐create. Without access to these network elements, Uniti Fiber would lose access to some customers. Loss of these inputs would ... slow deployment of broadband, especially to remote and rural areas." Frontier said the supportive data it provided USTelecom was from states containing a large majority of its total UNE loop demand and representative of its overall territory, both rural and urban. "There is very limited demand for UNE Subloops and no demand for UNE [network interface devices]," it said. Frontier said there's "very little" CLEC ordering in rural areas, and mostly for business locations that could be served by at least one other facilities-based provider. Windstream outlined its CLEC business use of analog and digital DS0s (voice-grade, dial-up and Ethernet-over-copper data services), DS1 (1.5 Mbps) and DS3 (45 Mbps) UNEs, and "discussed the various factors," including price, availability and service characteristics sought by customers, "that play a role in determining which service to purchase (such as UNEs, special access or commercially available alternatives)." Windstream, also an ILEC, said the February 2021 UNE elimination it proposed with USTelecom was sufficient time for CLECs to shift to other services, "including next generation networking."

A draft FCC order would grant relief to Alaska's Pribilof School District and others "similarly impacted by problems" with Universal Service Administrative Co.'s E-rate Productivity Center, said Chairman Ajit Pai, responding to Sen. Lisa Murkowski and other Alaska congressional members who expressed concern (exchange posted here Thursday in docket 18-5). "Like other school districts, Pribilof was adversely impacted by the problematic roll-out of the [USAC's EPC] under the prior Administration, which threatened the connectivity that these schoolchildren rely upon," Pai wrote. "I have good news," he said, noting he circulated the draft relief order (see 1807110006).

The FCC Wireline Bureau approved the transfer of control of FirstLight brand telecom service providers to Flight Group Holdings, subject to conditions negotiated with executive branch Team Telecom departments, said a public notice in docket 18-83 Thursday. The bureau granted an application under Communications Act Section 214 after the DOJ, DOD and Department of Homeland Security said they wouldn't object to the transaction on national security and other grounds. That's provided the FCC conditions its approval on Flight Group and its parent entities -- OHCP Northeastern Fiber Buyer and Antin Infrastructure Partners III -- abiding by the commitments and undertakings set forth in the July 9 agreement with DOJ.

Rural telco groups pressed the FCC to increase their annual high-cost subsidy support. WTA said a "fully-funded" rate-of-return (RoR) USF budget would start at $2.43 billion in 2018 and gradually increase to $2.975 billion in 2026. "This increase is warranted, in major part, because of the substantial construction and operating cost increases that have occurred during the course of the transformation of the predominately voice and lower-speed broadband network of 2011 into today’s higher and higher-speed broadband network," said WTA's filing posted in docket 10-90 Friday on a meeting with Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and an aide. Similar filings were posted on meetings with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel (here, here, here). GVNW Consulting cited NTCA estimates that $2.55 billion will be needed in 2018, with budget demand growing to about $2.8 billion by 2026, said filings on meetings with all four commissioners (here, here). It also said "the vast majority of comments" opposed using reverse auctions to distribute USF support. In a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, ITTA urged the FCC to "fully fund separate budgets" for the two RoR segments of the high-cost program: the Alternative Connect America Cost Model program and legacy support mechanisms.

Comments are due July 25, replies Aug. 1 on the planned sale of PacOptic Networks from Shawn Matthews to 385 Inc., said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 18-211 and Thursday's Daily Digest. PacOptic provides competitive telephone exchange services and exchange access services in Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Massachusetts, the PN said. 385 is wholly owned by Stevin Dahl and is a holding company created for the transaction.