The FCC Wireline Bureau adopted the E-rate program's final eligible services list for FY 2025 in an order Friday in docket 13-184. The bureau revised its definition of "wireless" service under category one to include mobile service on school buses and Wi-Fi hotspots. The bureau also declined to include advanced or next generation firewall services as a category two service. The bureau rejected calls to also include domain name system and dynamic host configuration protocol services under either category (see 2410070046).

AT&T will pay a nearly $2.3 million fine under a settlement with the FCC for violations in the emergency broadband benefit program and affordable connectivity program. A Friday order said an Enforcement Bureau investigation found that AT&T sought and received funding for improperly enrolled non-subscriber benefit qualifying persons between "at least" May 2021 and December 2023. AT&T violated rules that require in-store sales personnel to obtain a representative accountability database identification number. The bureau also found that the ISP collected funds for subscribers who had not used their service for at least 45 days. Providers can receive reimbursement for "offering the ACP benefit when the subscriber has used the service at least once every 30 days or has cured their non-usage during a subsequent 15-day cure period."

ClearCaptions raised concerns at the FCC about proposed consumer choice mandates in captioning delivery for IP captioned telephone service providers. In a meeting with Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff, it asked that the commission instead issue a notice of inquiry to determine whether the feature is "in the best interest of IP CTS customers" and the Telecom Relay Service (TRS) Fund. The provider cited "significant challenges" in implementing the service and potential increased costs "without evidence that the proposed mandate would improve the accuracy of captions." ClearCaptions also sought guidance in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 03-123 about potential formatting variances when there's a validation failure with the telecom relay service user registration database.

The Osage Nation urged the FCC to act on its amended petition to receive an eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation. The tribe told an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel its petition has been pending for more than a year and the ETC designation is necessary to ensure it can obtain services through Lifeline. The designation would also "ensure rapid deployment" to residents through a $40.7 million grant from NTIA (see 2208180056), the tribe said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 09-197.

The FCC proposal that mandates "consumer choice in captioning delivery method" for IP captioned telephone service (IP CTS) providers could "hinder competition and innovation," ClearCaptions said in separate meetings with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Instead, ClearCaptions suggested launching a notice of inquiry that will "collect information to determine if such a feature is in the best interest of IP CTS customers," according to an ex parte filing Friday in docket 03-123. The company also expressed concern with the validation process for the telecom relay service user registration database (TRS-URD), saying the system "would not consider formatting variances as validation features."

The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition urged that the FCC grant Sonic Telecom's petition for reconsideration of portions of the FCC's 2020 order on unbundled network elements (UNEs) rules (see 2210170079). Competitive ISPs "should be able to access existing dark fiber transport on an unbundled basis so that they can control the services they offer consumers" and bid on E-rate services, SHLB said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-308. The group said the FCC should "act with haste" to reinstate the provision for such access that was "dramatically curtailed" in the 2020 order.

Pay Tel Communications asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hold unlawful certain portions of the FCC's order covering incarcerated people's communications services in a petition filed Tuesday (docket 24-1984). Pay Tel said parts of the order are "arbitrary" and "an abuse of discretion within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act." A coalition of 14 states petitioned the 8th Circuit on similar grounds (see 2410020039). Last month, the 1st Circuit was selected to hear consolidated challenges of the order (see 2409190061).

The Cybersecurity Coalition urged the FCC to include stand-alone domain name system (DNS) and dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) services on the list of eligible services for E-rate funding recipients, per an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 13-184. The coalition asked Wireline Bureau staff to place the services under category 1 and category 2. DNS and DHCP are "foundational to function connectivity and resilience for schools and libraries," the group said (see 2409110053).

During a meeting with FCC Wireline Bureau staff (see 2409230038), Verizon disputed Wide Voice's claim that it discontinued time division multiplexed (TDM) service without complying with certain regulations. The carrier, in an ex parte filing Friday in docket 01-92, said it "followed the appropriate process to notify its wholesale customers of its planned discontinuance and to obtain FCC authority to discontinue its services to retail customers." Verizon detailed its discontinuance process, saying it filed an application with the commission and notified carrier customers in 2021. "Wide Voice's contrary assertions ignore Verizon's public filings and statements demonstrating that it followed the commission's discontinuance and notice processes," it said. It's "Wide Voice’s apparent insistence on receiving local traffic at its switch in this manner – and not anything that Verizon did or is doing – that is preventing local calls from ILEC customers from reaching Wide Voice."

DC BLOX sees a business model for building regional data centers in places like Greenville, South Carolina, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Birmingham, Alabama, Alan Poole, general counsel of the Atlanta-based company, said during an Incompas webinar Thursday. As connected devices became more powerful, tech companies realized they needed to move data centers and computing power closer to users, Poole said in a conversation with Incompas CEO Chip Pickering during the session. COVID-19 spurred tech growth, Poole said: “The investment in digital infrastructure around that time to help meet the pace of demand was wild, awe-inspiring, and we’re still going through that,” he said. A key element DC BLOX considers is how welcoming a city will be to investment, as data centers require access to land and electricity. The company also examines potential tax incentives to build. Policymakers must ask what they’ll do if one developer takes all the available power, which is “happening all over the country,” Poole said. One center can require up to one gigawatt of power, which is "eye-popping.” Accordingly, the ability of data centers to generate power onsite, including “green” energy, will become increasingly important, he said. Communities should decide whether they want to compete “because there are many [competing] markets” and they are offering tax and other incentives. “At least at DC BLOX we’re doing everything we reasonably can to head off community concerns as soon as possible, because it makes more sense financially.” The availability of large enough fiber pipelines to handle growing demands is also a concern. “Is there enough fiber on all these routes?” Poole asked. “It was assumed, until very recently, that we were never going to need materially bigger conduits and that has proven absolutely untrue.” Some markets getting high-speed internet for the first time don’t have a nearby internet exchange point yet, allowing ISPs to exchange data with other networks: “That’s where the true internet compute happens and if you’re not close to one of those exchanges, you have problems with things like latency that might make real-time videoconferencing … unworkable.” Pickering said he loves the focus on “Tier 2” markets. “Those are great emerging hubs” and data centers “are a critical component and a critical piece of the infrastructure to make those hubs grow, succeed, prosper.” As communications technology rapidly evolves, “electricity is still kind of in the old world,” Pickering said. As the U.S. competes with China, “electricity and energy really is the supply-chain critical component.”