A coalition of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction winners met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about a June letter from Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; JD Vance, R-Ohio; and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., on supplemental funding for winning bidders, per an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-126. The providers, which included Aristotle Unified Communications and TekWav, sought "assistance for relief that is available under its existing and already funded RDOF program" to address "huge cost increases" that "could never have been anticipated by the commission and RDOF winners" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Supplemental funds "should not be limited to those RDOF winners with less than 250,000 current broadband subscribers" because cost increases "impacted all RDOF winners," the providers said.

An FCC order expanding Stir/Shaken authentication to non-gateway intermediate providers takes effect Aug. 21, said a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register. Commissioners adopted the item in March (see 2303170056).

USTelecom "misapplies" the neutrality criteria for industry traceback consortium eligibility and its concern that iconectiv wouldn't be a competent manager "is without merit," the company told the FCC (see 2306120050). Iconectiv said in reply comments posted Friday in docket 20-22 it meets all neutrality requirements as it currently complies with the numbering administrator neutrality requirements. The company said it "has an impeccable reputation and is recognized in the telecommunications industry as a trusted, neutral steward of data." Its "extensive qualifications are well known to the commission" and it "has proven on multiple occasions that it can successfully transition ongoing operations from incumbents using a do-no-harm approach," iconectiv said.

The FCC will host an in-person workshop July 12-13 in Washington state for tribal governments, employees, and members, said a public notice Friday. The event will "provide information that will help tribal nations identify and evaluate opportunities to develop more robust broadband infrastructure and services in tribal communities."

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated an order Friday that would create an Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (ACAM) program, said a news release. The item would require participating providers to deploy 100/20 Mbps or faster service to all locations in return for an extension of the program and an "incremental increase in support for expensive-to-serve areas." Rosenworcel also circulated a rulemaking and notice of inquiry that would seek comment on "further reforms to the legacy rate-of-return system and methods" for modifying the program to "support ongoing expenses for broadband networks." The high-cost programs "have a track record of supporting networks that connect remote communities across the country,” Rosenworcel said, but "to keep pace with the demand for reliable broadband and meet the needs of consumers today and into the future, we need to optimize these programs to bring higher speeds and greater bandwidth to consumers.”

The Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC) and AT&T remain at odds on the carrier’s proposed discontinuance of its toll-free Megacom service, per filings posted Thursday in FCC docket 23-148. “The consensus among … affected membership is that if AT&T guarantees delivery of alarm traffic solely in G.711 codec and will not do any peering or least cost routing with carriers that cannot provide G.711 service, AT&T’s IP Toll-Free service will be a viable replacement for MEGACOM,” AICC said. “If AT&T cannot guarantee G.711 for alarm traffic, the alarm transmission will be in an unreliable state and prone to failure, putting life safety and property at risk.” AICC asked for guarantees as a condition of the FCC Wireline Bureau approving the AT&T request. AT&T replied its IP toll-free service is “only one of a number of replacement services for Toll-Free MEGACOM that AT&T has cited in support of its application.” Given the availability of replacement services, “including a service that addresses AICC’s stated concern regarding the G.711 codec,” the carrier asked the bureau to keep its discontinuance application “on streamlined processing and not place any conditions” on approval.

Comments are due June 30, replies July 10, on an application by Micronesian Telephone for a five-year FCC renewal of certification for its telecommunications relay service program. The renewal period would start July 26, said a Thursday notice in docket 03-123: “Each state and U.S. territory’s application for certification must demonstrate that its TRS program complies with section 225 of the Communications Act and the Commission’s rules governing the provision of TRS.”

Dominion Energy told FCC Wireline Bureau staff the cost apportionment framework for pole attachments in current FCC rules is “equitable, economically efficient, and ideally-suited to promote broadband deployment in the same way it has promoted investment in communications infrastructure for nearly thirty years.” Contrary to claims by NCTA and others “the pole replacement data collected by Dominion Energy over the past four years demonstrates that less than 3% of pole replacements in its service area have been performed at the cost of third-party attachers,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-84: “In the case of wireline attachments … less than 1% of pole replacements have been performed at the cost of third-party attachers.”

Industry groups urged the FCC to largely continue its current methodology for calculating benchmarks for the urban rates survey (see 2305090068). Comments posted Friday in docket 10-90 sought minor adjustments. The benchmarks "offer high-cost support recipients a simple way to demonstrate that they have satisfied their obligation," said NCTA. The group backed giving the Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics the "flexibility to account for variables that result in irregularities," but said any major modifications should be subject to peer review. "The current methodology for calculating these benchmarks is sufficient and need not be materially changed," said USTelecom. The group sought "a few discrete administrative adjustments," including that providers only be required to report rates for service plans necessary to calculate the benchmarks and non-discounted rates for each service tier within a census tract. WTA said it "strongly supports the continued inclusion of accurate upload speed and capacity allowance variables in the URS and its benchmark calculations," saying capacity allowances and overage charges should be included in the survey data and benchmarks.

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by July 10 on proposed revisions to the 2024 annual and quarterly telecom reporting worksheets, said a public notice Thursday in docket 06-122.