The FCC Wireline Bureau said Thursday it’s extending its gift rules waiver to the Rural Health Care and E-rate programs by three months, to Dec. 31. The original waiver cut-off date was Sept. 30 (see 2003180054). The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, Consortium for School Networking and State Educational Technology Directors Association sought an extension through June 30, citing the pandemic (see 2008050052). “We find good cause to extend” the waiver because of “the ongoing disruptions caused by COVID-19 to program participants and the continued need for robust connectivity,” the bureau ordered. It waived “the RHC deadline for responding to” Universal Service Administrative Com. information requests through Dec. 31. It directed USAC “provide a 30-day extension to E-Rate program participants impacted by the pandemic that request an extension to respond to certain USAC information requests, including those related to Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) requests, issued through December 31.”
The FCC proposed a $163,912 fine, the maximum allowed, against BarrierFree 4-1 Wednesday for allegedly reporting inaccurate data that “significantly inflated its broadband subscription numbers, failing to file required deployment data, making false statements to Commission investigators, and failing to respond to other inquiries.” The company reported in three filings “vastly more broadband subscribers than there were housing units in the Suffolk County, New York, census tracts where it reported providing service,” said a news release: BarrierFree “apparently failed to submit its March 2019 broadband deployment data Form 477 filing, provide accurate responses to Letters of Inquiry issued by the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau during the course of its investigation, and fully respond to those Letters of Inquiry.” Partially dissenting Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel asked why the FCC took so long to clamp down on the ISP, since it had apparently failed to file the required form 27 different times. “For too long the FCC has fumbled efforts to fix its broadband data and put off initiatives to improve its maps, making it more difficult to close the digital divide -- both during this pandemic and beyond,” she said: “Regrettably, today’s enforcement action is another episode in this continuing mess.” The proposed fine is too small, though all the law allows, said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, voting to concur with the action. The case points to the need for “robust verification and challenge processes,” he said: “The forfeiture proposed here cannot be … severe enough to adequately address the harm BarrierFree caused and deter future violations.” The provider didn't comment.
NTIA will meet virtually on the multistakeholder process for promoting software component transparency (see 2006180024) at noon EDT Oct. 22, said Thursday’s Federal Register.
USTelecom countered an Incompas grandfathering proposal on dark fiber (see 2002060006). Incompas proposed that even if the FCC decides CLECs aren’t impaired without access to dark fiber, “it should nevertheless require incumbent local exchange to indefinitely continue to offer unbundled access to any dark fiber arrangements ordered before January 6, 2020,” USTelecom said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-308: “This outcome would be contrary to the Communications Act, Commission and judicial precedent, and Congressional intent.” USTelecom spoke with Office of General Counsel and Wireline Bureau staff. “USTelecom’s claim of a concession is completely and utterly false,” emailed Incompas CEO Chip Pickering: The Telecom Act “serves as the government’s contract with the people to guarantee they have access to broadband competition. Dark fiber is the bridge to broadband for both urban and rural communities. Cutting it off will leave millions of Americans in the dark.”
USTelecom, the Session Initiation Protocol Forum and carriers warned FCC staff of potential pitfalls in implementing secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) as a tool to block unwanted robocalls. “Widespread deployment by originating and terminating VoIP providers will reduce the effectiveness of illegal spoofing and assist efforts to quickly identify calls with illegally spoofed caller ID information,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 17-97: “Deployment obligations beyond voice service providers’ authentication at origination and verification at termination, however, can undermine the framework.” They said every Form 499 filer should “be required to certify that it has implemented an appropriate robocall mitigation program and the Commission should maintain a database identifying the providers that issued those certifications.” Representatives of the two groups, AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier and Verizon spoke with staff from the Wireline and Public Safety bureaus.
Comments are due Oct. 2, replies Oct. 19, in docket 20-221 on proposed changes to FCC ex parte rules, per a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. Under the NPRM adopted in July (see 2007100034), exemptions would include some government-to-government consultations between it and federally recognized tribal nations and communications with certain program administrators such as the toll-free numbering and reassigned numbers database administrators. The FCC also seeks comment on requiring that all written ex parte presentations be submitted before the sunshine period and replies to them be filed within the first day of that period.
NTIA’s petition for an FCC rulemaking on Communications Decency Act Section 230 “lacks a legitimate legal basis” and would “cause serious harm to company moderation efforts,” Internet Association Deputy General Counsel Elizabeth Banker told reporters Tuesday (see 2008120050). Content moderation protects consumers, and reasonable people want platforms to take action like “removing promotion of suicide, plans for bombs and other dangerous materials, or 419 scams,” she said. The FCC lacks “authority to implement this rule under both First Amendment case law and administrative law precedent,” she added. Comments on the petition are due Wednesday.
Comments are due Sept. 14 on the National Lifeline Association’s petition for waiver of the scheduled increase in the minimum service standard for Lifeline mobile broadband (see 2008280050). Currently 3 GB, it will rise to 11.75 GB on Dec. 1 without FCC action. An order on circulation would change the way MSS increases are calculated and result in an MSS of 4.5 GB (see 2008240024). The NaLA petition filed last week also asks the FCC to halt a scheduled rate decrease, from $7.25 to $5.25. Replies are due Sept. 21, said Monday's Wireline Bureau public notice on dockets including 11-42.
Two John Malone-chaired public companies, GCI Liberty and Liberty Broadband, seek FCC OK to combine under Section 214 of the Communications Act, per an application Monday. GCI Liberty would become part of a Liberty Broadband subsidiary, with its operating companies keeping the GCI brand and its Anchorage management and headquarters. The deal was announced in August.