FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an order Monday for the Nov. 19 commissioners’ meeting that would bar providers from using USF support to buy from suppliers deemed a threat to national security. Pai mentioned Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE (see 1910280021). FCC officials said the order singles out those two. Pai proposes to seek comment on rules requiring eligible telecom carriers remove from their networks existing equipment from the suppliers and on how to provide financial assistance to carriers to help them transition to a trusted supplier.

Nebraska residents are falling behind other Americans on broadband, says the Nebraska Rural Broadband Task Force Thursday. Comments are due Oct. 10, before the task force meets to approve the report Oct. 18, says the group’s website. Eighty-nine percent of Nebraskans, and 63 percent in its rural areas, have fixed broadband of at least 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up, compared to 94 percent in the U.S. and 76 percent of rural Americans. Mobile broadband is available to 83 percent of all Nebraskans and 56 percent of rural Nebraskans, vs. 89 and 69 percent respectively. Enhance broadband mapping and data collection, the task force recommends: "Current state and federal broadband mapping efforts likely overstate broadband coverage.” Nebraska’s map uses FCC Form 477 data, but this "census block reporting can overstate broadband availability in large census blocks,” it says. Rural areas could benefit from emerging technologies, but “5G will likely be deployed first in urban areas, potentially exacerbating the speed gap,” the draft says. The Public Service Commission should continue efforts to revamp state USF contribution and "improve provider accountability by moving to a grant-like system of distribution,” and consider reverse auction, it says. Give E-rate matching funds through state USF to incentivize fiber to schools and libraries, and encourage them to “implement programs such as Wi-Fi on buses, hotspot lending programs, low cost pay-by-the-month internet access, or TV White Space deployments," it says. An Ohio report last week also found coverage gaps (see 1909260008).

Nebraska residents are falling behind other Americans on broadband, says the Nebraska Rural Broadband Task Force Thursday. Comments are due Oct. 10, before the task force meets to approve the report Oct. 18, says the group’s website. Eighty-nine percent of Nebraskans, and 63 percent in its rural areas, have fixed broadband of at least 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up, compared to 94 percent in the U.S. and 76 percent of rural Americans. Mobile broadband is available to 83 percent of all Nebraskans and 56 percent of rural Nebraskans, vs. 89 and 69 percent respectively. Enhance broadband mapping and data collection, the task force recommends: "Current state and federal broadband mapping efforts likely overstate broadband coverage.” Nebraska’s map uses FCC Form 477 data, but this "census block reporting can overstate broadband availability in large census blocks,” it says. Rural areas could benefit from emerging technologies, but “5G will likely be deployed first in urban areas, potentially exacerbating the speed gap,” the draft says. The Public Service Commission should continue efforts to revamp state USF contribution and "improve provider accountability by moving to a grant-like system of distribution,” and consider reverse auction, it says. Give E-rate matching funds through state USF to incentivize fiber to schools and libraries, and encourage them to “implement programs such as Wi-Fi on buses, hotspot lending programs, low cost pay-by-the-month internet access, or TV White Space deployments," it says. An Ohio report last week also found coverage gaps (see 1909260008).

Broaden the definition of healthcare providers, allow funding for remote monitoring and medical body area network devices (MBAN), and make the program available in a wide geographic area. Those are among recommendations for the FCC pilot USF pilot to support connected care for the poor and veterans. Comments posted through Friday docket 18-213 for the three-year, $100 million program (see 1907100073).

Broaden the definition of healthcare providers, allow funding for remote monitoring and medical body area network devices (MBAN), and make the program available in a wide geographic area. Those are among recommendations for the FCC pilot USF pilot to support connected care for the poor and veterans. Comments posted through Friday docket 18-213 for the three-year, $100 million program (see 1907100073).

Opposition poured in to an FCC proposal to cap the overall budget for the various USF programs and to combine the budget cap for two mechanisms to fund anchor institutions, in comments posted through Tuesday to docket 06-122. Stakeholders said such a plan would be difficult to implement and contradicts both the USF mission and the current FCC chairman's top priority to close the digital divide (see 1906030059).

Opposition poured in to an FCC proposal to cap the overall budget for the various USF programs and to combine the budget cap for two mechanisms to fund anchor institutions, in comments posted through Tuesday to docket 06-122. Stakeholders said such a plan would be difficult to implement and contradicts both the USF mission and the current FCC chairman's top priority to close the digital divide (see 1906030059).

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and other commissioners placed blame for recent hiccups in work to free up spectrum for commercial 5G use squarely on the Commerce Department and NOAA, during a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Pai used the panel to announce pending FCC action to improve the agency's broadband coverage data collection practices, which have come up repeatedly in Capitol Hill communications policy hearings (see 1905150061). Senators also used the panel to probe FCC actions on other communications policy items, including GOP commissioners' public support for T-Mobile's proposed buy of Sprint.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and other commissioners placed blame for recent hiccups in work to free up spectrum for commercial 5G use squarely on the Commerce Department and NOAA, during a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Pai used the panel to announce pending FCC action to improve the agency's broadband coverage data collection practices, which have come up repeatedly in Capitol Hill communications policy hearings (see 1905150061). Senators also used the panel to probe FCC actions on other communications policy items, including GOP commissioners' public support for T-Mobile's proposed buy of Sprint.

Officials in President Donald Trump's administration and the FCC spoke optimistically about the U.S. path forward on rural broadband and spectrum policy during a Monday NTCA event, citing 2018 successes and actions slated for this year. The FCC's plans to follow up the USF Connect America Fund with a new $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (see 1904120065) received some attention at the event, but more focus was on upcoming spectrum auctions and ways to increase rural broadband deployments.