USTelecom urged the FCC to continue designating its Industry Traceback Group (ITG) as the consortium to coordinate industry efforts on identifying illegal robocalls. The group noted in a letter Wednesday in docket 20-22 that the ITG "receives direction and support from a broad cross-section of the communications industry." The ITG "continues to meet the criteria established in the Traced Act for the registered consortium and the ITG’s track record demonstrates that it is and remains the best candidate for the role of the commission-designated registered consortium," USTelecom said.

NCIC Communications backed Worth Rises' call for the FCC to set video calling rates on a per minute basis for incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS). The IPCS provider also asked the commission in a letter Tuesday in docket 23-62 to "immediately address" single-pay transaction fees for phone calls. "The FCC will have to expand its authority in order to capture all video visitation providers and subject them to rules that are adopted in this proceeding," NCIC said, noting IPCS companies "provide only about half of the video visitation systems in the corrections industry." The company said it was "aware of numerous IPCS providers not registered with the FCC who claim to be outside of the scope of FCC authority by offering video visitation" and phone calls over non-interconnected VoIP platforms.

R Street Institute is concerned that the FCC's proposed rules banning broadband bulk billing in multi-tenant environments (MTE) could retard broadband inclusivity efforts. The group told an aide to Commissioner Anna Gomez the rules could "potentially exacerbate challenges to getting Americans online and staying connected," in an ex parte filing Tuesday in docket 17-142 (see 2405080043). Consumers "benefit from lower prices that are possible when a broadband provider can negotiate with" MTE owners, "reducing the risk of investment and increasing potential return," said R Street. It also warned that letting consumers opt out of bulk billing agreements "could prevent such agreements at all, depending on the text of the rule." It urged that the FCC seek additional data on the potential rule's impact. In addition, Summit Broadband raised concerns about the proposed rules, holding separate meetings with aides to Gomez, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington. The facilities-based provider warned of the potential harm the proposed rules would have on its customers, many of whom are homeowners associations (HOA). "These mandatory opt out provisions would cause ISPs to raise prices to recoup potential lost revenues and could push some providers to exit the HOA marketplace altogether, leading to less facilities-based competition," Summit Broadband said.

A trial is underway and expected to end this year on the use of cross-border call authentication (CBCA) technology, ATIS told FCC Wireline Bureau staff. CBCA will let calls be "verified end-to-end, even if they originate in a country that has not yet deployed Shaken" technology, ATIS said in an ex parte filing Tuesday in docket 17-97. It expects to launch CBCA live service this year and said the next steps include formally requesting the Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority's "recognition of CBCA to allow cross border calls to be fully authenticated" and signing additional international service providers.

The FCC's broadband data collection process has "lingering structural problems" that "plague the promise and ultimate reliability of" the national broadband map, NTCA said in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Anna Gomez. The group said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 19-195 that the FCC should consider creating public heat maps, updating BDC challenge codes, making successful challenges more "sticky," improving verification efforts and technical standards, and closing a "loophole" where certain providers can "avoid submitting technical explanations for propagation assumptions." NTCA also stressed the need for "proper enforcement measures in the case of chronic overreporting of coverage."

Liberty Communications of Puerto Rico told the FCC it's still working with the Universal Service Administrative Co. to "complete the steps necessary to engage in pre-testing performance measures" for USF Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund Stage 2 recipients (see 2304190063). In a letter Friday (docket 18-143), Liberty said it "continues to have technical difficulties with accessing and uploading data" to USAC's performance measures module and can't begin pretesting for Q2 2024.

The FCC reminded competitive LECs they must submit interstate tariff revisions by July 17. A Wireline Bureau public notice posted Tuesday in docket 21-41 encouraged CLECs to file revisions "after the competing incumbent LEC's interstate access charge tariffs become effective on July 2."

A coalition of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winners urged the FCC to grant a limited waiver of the program's rules concerning a letter of credit and relinquish census block groups in areas that have been or will be overbuilt by federal-funded broadband deployment projects. The coalition said in a meeting with Wireline Bureau staff that waiving the letter of credit rule to one year of support was needed because "unforeseeable cost increases place significant strains on RDOF winners to contribute huge amounts of additional funds for RDOF broadband deployments." The group also urged the commission to "promptly address" potential overbuilding "through its deconfliction process and allow RDOF funding recipients to return such areas ... without financial penalties."

The FCC wants comments by May 28, replies by June 7, in docket 03-123 on Telecom Relay Services Fund compensation formulas, funding requirements and contribution factors from July 1 through June 30 that Rolka Loube Associates proposed, a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice Friday said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau announced its annual tariff review plans for LECs, effective July 1, in an order Friday in docket 24-41. The bureau also adopted modifications for its rate-of-return tariff review plan and waived rules requiring that carriers file an access charge tariff for a two-year period.