Total funding to carry forward for the FCC rural healthcare program after FY 2022 is $328.5 million, said the Universal Service Administrative Co. in a letter to the Wireline Bureau posted Wednesday in docket 02-60.
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted NTCA's and AT&T's requests to waive some non-usage tracking rules for the affordable connectivity program, in an order Tuesday in docket 21-450. The bureau granted NTCA's request to let small providers track usage for households on tribal lands receiving a fully subsidized offering on a rolling 30-day basis until Sept. 15 and a retroactive waiver to Jan. 1 of the Lifeline usage tracking requirement for providers applying the Lifeline and ACP benefit to the same service if it results in a fully subsidized offering (see 2205270043). Providers must inform the Universal Service Administrative Co. of their intent to take advantage of the waiver within 30 days. The bureau also granted AT&T's request to waive the non-usage rules for its customers receiving fully subsidized plans that use asymmetric digital subscriber line technology until Aug. 13 (see 2205090056).
The FCC Wireline Bureau announced it received Florida's certification preempting the commission from accepting pole attachment complaints, said a public notice Monday in docket 10-101. Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., have now certified that they regulate pole attachments, after the Florida Public Services Commission approved a staff recommendation to finalize its authority (see 2206070071).
The Q3 USF contribution factor will be 33%, said an FCC Office of Managing Director public notice Friday, as expected (see 2206010052).
Spectrum Advanced Services' application to discontinue its VoIP services was deemed not automatically granted, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice Thursday. The commission "requires additional time to complete its review" following oppositions filed by the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Division of Consumer Advocacy and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
The FCC committed more than $244 million in additional Emergency Connectivity Fund support, said a news release Thursday. The new funding will support 259 schools, 24 libraries and one consortium that applied during the third application filing window (see 2205250061). The commission also announced an additional $18 million in support for applicants from the third two filing windows. "I'm pleased to announce two new rounds of funding in our ongoing work to help get students the broadband access they need to get online and keep up with schoolwork," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: "While there is more work to do, we are making steady progress closing the homework gap."
The FCC upheld several Enforcement Bureau orders resolving a pole attachment complaint filed by AT&T against Florida Power and Light, in an order Wednesday (see 2109160054). The order denied AT&T's challenge of the bureau's finding on the average number of attachers and space occupied and granted its challenge on the calculation of the rate of return. "We find that the parties should apply the rate of return prescribed by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) for FPL’s intrastate services rather than ... the commission’s default rate of return," the order said. The PSC voted Tuesday affirming its authority to reverse preempt the FCC on complaints (see 2206070071). The FCC also denied AT&T's application for review of the bureau's decision to dismiss with prejudice its complaint regarding a joint use agreement.
Annual location certifications for rate-of-return Alaska Plan carriers Adak Telephone Utility, Arctic Slope Telephone Cooperative and Matanuska Telephone Association are due by July 15, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice Tuesday in docket 10-90. The bureau waived the March 1 deadline for the carriers until the Universal Service Administrative Co. completed certain modifications to the high-cost universal broadband portal.
The National Opinion Research Center asked the FCC to require that voice service providers use session initiation protocol 607 or 608 for call blocking analytics, in meetings with Wireline and Consumer and Governmental Affairs staff (see 2202010031). There are "no guarantees that SIP 603+ standardization will not face the same implementation delays as those the telephone industry has claimed would plague SIP Code 607/608 standardization," the group said, per an ex parte posted Tuesday in docket 17-59. NORC asked the FCC to "completely ... sunset" SIP code 603's use once codes 607 and 608 are fully standardized.
Louisiana, New Hampshire, Virginia and West Virginia will receive a combined $582.8 million for broadband projects connecting more than 200,000 homes and businesses, as part of the first tranche of money from the Treasury Department-administered $10 billion American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, Treasury said Tuesday. The department approved $219.8 million in broadband money for Virginia, $176.7 million for Louisiana, $136.3 million for West Virginia and $50 million for New Hampshire. The COVID-19 pandemic “turned so many aspects of life online from work to school and laid bare the urgency of closing the digital divide for all Americans -- especially those living in rural, Tribal, and low-income communities,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. “Treasury’s broadband funding represents a significant step in the Biden-Harris Administration’s unprecedented investment to increase access to high-speed internet and reduce broadband bills for every American household and business.” The White House highlighted the Treasury money as part of a combined $25 billion in broadband funding included in ARPA. ACA Connects, Incompas and New America’s Open Technology Institute hailed Treasury’s approval of the money.