IDT Telecom received somewhat more support than opposition to its bid for an FCC rulemaking aimed at expanding the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund’s revenue base to include the intrastate revenue of industry contributors (see 1512210029). IDT’s petition got support from a coalition of consumer groups that advocate for the rights of the deaf and hard of hearing, and from some industry parties, including two video relay service (VRS) providers. But a VoIP industry group opposed the petition and an incumbent telco group said the FCC shouldn't make changes to the TRS Fund’s contribution at this time. The initial comments of parties were posted in docket 03-123 Thursday and Friday. The FCC currently assesses industry interstate and international telecom end-user revenue to pay for the TRS Fund.
The FCC's Democratic majority renewed its support for extending Lifeline USF subsidies to broadband service to low-income consumers as part of a broader restructuring of the program. Opening a meeting of the agency's Consumer Advisory Committee, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler also continued to push for fomenting more competition in the cable set-top box market and continued to count down to the March 29 incentive auction. "We are 54 days away from the world's first incentive auction, not that anybody is keeping track," he quipped.
Sprint is committed to demonstrating that its Lifeline customers are fully qualified for the USF program, Sprint representatives told FCC Wireline Bureau officials during a meeting. Sprint also is updating its analysis of the impact of a minimum service standard for Lifeline broadband service, said the filing in docket 10-90. “Sprint remains deeply concerned that Commission adoption of a minimum standard for Lifeline broadband service may well necessitate an out-of-pocket end user charge," the carrier said. "Lifeline customers are extremely cash-constrained (the average household income for an Assurance Wireless customer is approximately $14,000 per year); thus, even a seemingly modest monthly fee may prove to be an insurmountable barrier to subscription,” Sprint said.
FCC talks with rural telcos over potential USF restructuring have intensified, industry filings this week indicate. USTelecom and NTCA executives have had a number of recent meetings with senior FCC officials, including Chairman Tom Wheeler, to discuss proposals to update rate-of-return USF mechanisms and related concerns, said filings for the groups in docket 10-90. Wheeler appears interested in circulating a draft order soon, informed sources told us Thursday. An FCC spokesman had no comment.
Senators probed ISP industry officials on what all largely agreed was inaccurate broadband mapping and USF support mechanisms that some officials contended don't meet consumer needs. They argued during a Thursday Communications Subcommittee USF hearing that the FCC’s support programs are biased in favor of wireline providers and aren't as technology neutral as they should be. No officials representing the FCC or other government agencies testified, and FCC spokespeople didn't comment.
The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga hopes to "work with the FCC to resolve" a problem that led the Wireline Bureau to remove the Tennessee utility's rural broadband experiment from further funding consideration, an EPB spokeswoman told us Wednesday: "It seems that wires got crossed in terms of deadline expectations." The bureau denied an EPB petition for a waiver and extension of a June 2, 2015, deadline to provide proof that it had been designated as a USF "eligible telecom carrier" for all rural areas covered by its broadband experiment, which had been provisionally selected to receive $710,147 in commission funding (see 1602020034). An agency spokesman didn't comment.
The FCC Consumer Advisory Committee is to hear from Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn at a Friday meeting of the committee, according to an agenda. Other scheduled speakers include Alison Kutler, acting chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, and three of her deputy chiefs. Among the topics of later staff presentations are "Robocalls and Federal Debt Collection: New TCPA Amendment," a "CGB Outreach and Consumer Update," an "Incentive Auction Update," and sessions on a Lifeline USF recommendation and the new fcc.gov site.
From regulatory reform to incentives to help justify the total cost of ownership of a network, rural broadband advocates came to the launch of the House's bipartisan Rural Broadband Caucus Wednesday with a litany of suggestions. "As much as we want to advance rural broadband, if you don't have a government program [to] support the deployment and maintenance, people aren't going to deploy it," said Sarah Tyree, CoBank vice president-government affairs. The caucus' focus was expected (see 1602020057).
The FCC gave Lifeline providers 120 more days to transition to an Oklahoma map that limits the scope of enhanced tribal support in the state under the low-income USF program. The Wireline Bureau moved the implementation date to June 8 to address concerns a Feb. 9 deadline would preclude eligible telecom carriers from giving consumers adequate advance notice of the change, said an order in docket 11-42 released Tuesday and listed in Wednesday's Daily Digest. Lifeline providers usually receive $9.25 per low-income subscriber in monthly support, but they receive $34.25 per low-income subscriber under the enhanced tribal monthly support.
The USF contribution factor for carriers could drop in Q2 to 17.6 percent of interstate and international telecom revenue, but it could be higher if industry revenue declines continue, said industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg in an email update Monday. The Q1 factor is 18.2 percent (see 1512110040), which Gregg accurately estimated once Universal Service Administrative Co. came out with revenue projections (see 1512040003). USAC Monday projected USF demand for Q2 would be $2.211 billion, down $65.5 million, Gregg said. "Out of period adjustments ... accounted for almost all" of the demand decrease, he said. Revenue in the contribution base last year totaled $60.5 billion, "the lowest annual revenues" in USF history, and Q1 revenue was $14.929 billion, "the lowest quarterly revenues" in USF history, he said. "If revenues for the second quarter of 2016 are the same as revenues for the first quarter, the USF assessment factor will decrease to 17.6%. However, if the trend of declining quarterly revenues continues, the USF assessment factor for the second quarter will be higher than 17.6%." He said USAC revenue projections for Q2 are due in early March.