Plains Internet asked the FCC to designate it as a Lifeline broadband provider (LBP) under the agency's new federal eligible telecom carrier process for the low-income USF support program (see 1604270028). Plains is a facilities-based telecom carrier providing fixed-wireless broadband, VoIP and data services capable of reaching over 293,000 customers, said its petition posted Thursday in docket 11-42. The company seeks LBP approval to serve Lifeline-eligible customers and meets all the statutory and regulatory requirements for such designation, it said. Approval would result in a "higher level of service quality and more competitive pricing and advantageous service options" for low-income consumers, it said, proposing an effective date of Aug. 31.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau admonished Momentum Telecom for not making full and timely contributions to the USF for more than a year. That failure deprived the USF of funds and gave Momentum an advantage over competitors that made timely contributions, said a bureau order Friday in File No.: EB-IHD-15-00018669. The bureau said that starting in September 2013, Momentum failed to make full and timely USF contributions, owing over $100,000 in August 2014, before fully erasing its arrears in October 2015. "An admonishment is appropriate in this case because the relevant statute of limitations has expired for all but a de minimis amount of the USF debt at issue. Nevertheless, Momentum’s habitual late payments to the USF must still be sanctioned," it said. Momentum said the $100,000 debt was due to a single missed invoice and notes it wasn't placed on "red light" status or had its case referred to the U.S. Treasury for debt collection, the order said. The bureau believes the size and duration of the debt warrant some enforcement action, but it didn't issue a fine despite some consideration. Momentum didn't comment Friday.
Fiber proponents urged the FCC to devise a Connect America Fund subsidy auction to encourage deployment of cutting-edge high-speed networks and services, as initial comments on a Further NPRM were posted Thursday and Friday in docket 10-90. Satellite and some wireless interests suggested the rules should encourage broad deployment and industry participation, and traditional telcos seemed fairly sympathetic to that. Regulators in three northeastern states where Verizon declined initial CAF Phase II support asked the commission to ensure or help their states receive their fair share of support through the auction.
NTCA asked the FCC to set a clear implementation schedule for its USF overhaul order transitioning rate-of-return carriers from voice to broadband-oriented support in two mechanisms, including a new option based on a broadband cost model (see 1603300065). The schedule should "enable all reforms (model and non-model) to take effect at approximately the same time to the extent possible, and to provide carriers with sufficient estimates, calculations, and other data in advance of any implementation deadlines to help inform" their upcoming USF support elections, said the rural telco group in a filing Wednesday on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai in docket 10-90; it also met separately with Wireline Bureau officials: "NTCA noted the importance of providing data or analyses that would allow carriers to estimate, if not completely ascertain, the impacts of reforms still being implemented -- specifically: (1) the new operating expense limits; (2) the competitive overlap rule; (3) any new buildout obligations; (4) the budget control as it might apply in 2017, and (5) the new capital investment allowance governing recovery of prospective investments." NTCA continues to believe questions of USF support sufficiency, rural-urban service/rate comparability and intrastate cost recovery need to be addressed in its petition to reconsider/clarify the March 31 FCC order, but it said the most urgent priority is for budget management in the event some carriers elect and then decline model support It's "essential" the model elections be carried out in a way that does "not leave non-model carriers with insufficient support by penalizing those carriers that did not elect the model for the choices of those that expressed initial interest in the model but then 'backed out of' a final election," it said.
The FCC denied Allband Communications Cooperative a further waiver of a rule establishing a presumptive $250 monthly line cap on total high-cost USF support for eligible telecom carriers. The commission gave Allband previous waivers to the rule, which was adopted in a 2011 order overhauling USF mechanisms. "Allband has consistently misapplied our cost allocation rules rendering its cost accounting unreliable," said an FCC order Wednesday adopted unanimously in docket 10-90. "We are therefore unable to determine, at this time, what, if any, support in excess of the $250 cap is justified and in the public interest. Accordingly, we deny Allband’s Further Waiver Request and require that Allband revise its cost accounting practices to be consistent with our rules. Once that has occurred, Allband may submit a new request for a waiver of the $250 cap if its revised cost study incorporating correctly determined costs would result in a need for support in excess of $250 per line. In addition, we deny Allband’s Application for Review of the Wireline Competition Bureau’s July 25, 2012 waiver grant. Allband requested that the Commission extend its July 2012 waiver of the $250 cap until 2026, rather than 2015, and waive the Commission’s benchmarking rule. Allband also made several legal challenges to both rules. We deny Allband’s legal challenges, consistent with the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit." Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly issued separate statements attached to Wednesday's order. An Allband representative didn't comment.
Lobbying spending among some wireless heavyweights is up. CTIA lobbying rose in Q2, to $1.96 million, vs. $1.76 million in last year’s Q2. T-Mobile spent more than $2.1 million in Q2, vs. $1.6 million a year ago. T-Mobile typically has spent aggressively on lobbying, and this is the first quarter in many years that it’s broken the $2 million mark in quarterly lobbying spending. An exception is Q2 2008, when T-Mobile recorded $3.29 million.
Major telcos said they can't provide E-rate discounts and may exit the program unless fixes are made to the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC), an online portal of the Universal Service Administrative Co. "While USAC released several waves of Funding Decision Commitment Letters (FCDL) to date, approving approximately $77.8 million in E-rate funds, these commitments are of little value to applicants unless service providers can access information regarding their customer’s E-rate funding status -- information essential to deliver service and provide the discounts USAC has authorized," said a letter Wednesday from AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier Communications, Sprint, Verizon and Windstream to USAC CEO Christopher Henderson in FCC docket 13-184. The letter followed up on an attached April 20 letter previously not released.
Crocker Telecommunications asked the FCC to revisit Connect America Fund auction plans. Crocker, headquartered in Greenfield, Massachusetts, said the CAF Phase II auction funds should be sufficient to bring fiber-based advanced services to unserved areas. "We strongly urge the Commission to adopt rules for the CAF PH II auction that will allow for the deployment of the most robust and future proof physical infrastructure possible, recognizing that the infrastructure enabled by the USF support funds should be capable of delivering both broadband and voice services, and be capable of scaling in speed and performance for decades to come," it said in a petition posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. It asked the commission to clarify or reconsider decisions and proposals on scoring and weighting of bids, validating locations, letters of credit and accelerated payments in a May order and Further NPRM (see 1605250046 and 1605260034). Comments are due Thursday.
The uncertain timing of a federal USF contribution overhaul stirred debate over whether states should proceed with changes to their own funds. In replies Friday at the Nebraska Public Service Commission, some telecom companies urged the PSC to wait to revamp its surcharge methodology until the FCC Federal State Joint Board on Universal Service and the FCC act on federal contribution reform. It’s unclear when the Joint Board will issue a recommendation; the FCC USF contribution reform proceeding has been open for more than a decade.
With its universal service fund quickly depleting, the Utah Public Service Commission tentatively decided to increase its USF surcharge to 1.65 percent from 1 percent of billed intrastate retail rates, said a notice in Friday's Utah State Bulletin. The rule change may become effective Aug. 22, though the PSC could change its decision after comments are filed Aug. 15. If no change is made, the rate would increase Oct. 1, the Bulletin said. The new rate is “intended to function as an interim solution to address the current funding deficiency in the least disruptive way possible, and to allow time for the Utah Legislature to consider other changes to the fund,” it said. The Utah Division of Public Utilities last month urged a revamp of the state USF contribution method, saying without a change, the fund balance could dip $3 million this year and run out completely by early 2017 (see 1606210035). The DPU had recommended moving to a charge of 32 cents per line. But a Legislature committee “expressed interested in more fundamental changes to the Utah Universal Service Fund,” the State Bulletin said. Revenue from contributions to state USFs has declined in multiple jurisdictions, our survey has found (see 1607010010).