Frontier will deliver broadband with speeds of 25 Mbps for downloads and 2-3 Mbps for uploads to an additional 750,000 households across its entire footprint by the end of 2020, CEO Daniel McCarthy told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 15-44 on the company's planned buy of Verizon wireline systems in California, Florida and Texas. The FCC's general broadband ("advanced telecom capability") definition is 25/3 Mbps, though it's only 10/1 for telcos using USF subsidies to serve high-cost rural areas. McCarthy said the deal presented new broadband opportunities and would build on its previous takeover of Verizon wireline systems in 14 states, where he said Frontier met its broadband commitments. "Over the last five years we have invested heavily in broadband infrastructure and I commit to continue that investment," he said. McCarthy said the new deployment will be coordinated with the company's efforts to expand broadband to 650,000 households and businesses in rural areas backed by USF support from the FCC's new Connect America Fund. "While this commitment is aggressive, we have spent the last five years building out our network and identifying ways to achieve high speeds over our copper loops for our rural customer base," he said.
Rural telco groups presented FCC officials with a bevy of potential "technical assumptions" for implementing an overhaul of rate-of-return carrier USF support mechanisms. Representatives of the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance, NTCA, USTelecom and WTA said that none of their associations were ready to endorse the assumptions they outlined to the FCC in a document, but they were submitting them to help in the identification and discussion of issues that may need further examination and resolution. "This approach has not been fully defined or modeled, and thus does not represent a fully-formed proposal that has been vetted by or is necessarily supported by industry representatives; some of the associations also have continuing questions and some concerns about issues that may arise in connection with such an approach," the groups said in a USTelecom filing posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. Derrick Owens, WTA vice president of government affairs, told us that the assumptions incorporated feedback from FCC officials, and are to be used to generate projections for rural telco funding under proposed USF changes. "The idea is to see what the effects are for the companies and the fund in general, and to see what other issues will pop up that need to be addressed," he said. The groups in May proposed a two-track overhaul of rate-of-return USF that would create a voluntary model-based approach and revise existing USF mechanisms to support stand-alone broadband, but many details remain in play (see 1506030052 and 1506040028).
Comment deadlines in the Lifeline USF Further NPRM were extended a couple of weeks, said an order issued by the FCC Wireline Bureau Wednesday in docket 11-42. Initial comments had been due Aug. 17, replies Sept. 15, but telecom trade groups and state parties asked for 30-day extensions (see 1507310061, 1508030067 and 1508040031). Bureau Chief Matthew DelNero said an extension was warranted, given the requests and the "breadth and complexity" of the second Further NPRM aimed at revamping the Lifeline program for broadband coverage and administrative restructuring. But he said the bureau was granting just a 14-day extension for initial comments until Aug. 31 and a 15-day extension until Sept. 30 for replies because it was committed to acting "in a timely manner." The "limited" extensions "will allow for more thoughtful consideration of the issues raised in the Second FNPRM, while at the same time not unduly delaying the resolution of these issues," he said.
Windstream will accept $174.9 million in annual USF support to provide broadband speeds of at least 10/1 Mbps to more than 400,000 rural locations in 17 states utilizing the FCC's new Connect America Fund, the commission and company announced (here and here) Wednesday. Windstream was eligible to receive $178.8 million in annual support. “Windstream’s decision to accept support from the Connect America Fund will greatly benefit its rural customers by expanding robust broadband in their communities,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. The FCC offered price-cap telcos a total of $1.675 billion in annual Phase II CAF support over six calendar years (2015-2020). Frontier previously said it would accept its entire $283.4 million share. Other carriers have until Aug. 27 to make their decisions. Carriers receiving CAF support must build out 10/1 Mbps broadband to 40 percent of funded locations by the end of 2017, 60 percent by the end of 2018, and 100 percent by the end of 2020, the FCC said.
The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates became the fifth party to ask the FCC to extend the comment period on proposals to overhaul the Lifeline USF support program to cover broadband and restructure its administration. Initial comments are currently due Aug. 17, replies Sept. 17, NASUCA said in a motion posted Tuesday in docket 10-90 asking for an extension to Sept. 16 and Oct. 19, because the issues addressed in the NPRM are a "sea change for the Lifeline program" and "are extremely complex and vitally important" to telecom customers the group represents. "There are literally hundreds of questions covering nearly every conceivable aspect of designing a Lifeline program for broadband, and many of the issues also affect the Lifeline program for voice services," said NASUCA, saying many key staffers would be on pre-scheduled family vacations. Previously, CTIA, the ITTA, USTelecom and California Public Utilities Commission asked for 30-day extensions (see 1507310061 and 1508030067).
The California PUC asked the FCC for a 30-day extension to file comments on Lifeline USF overhaul proposals, adding to the joint call by three telco trade associations on Friday for such an extension (see 1507310061). The current deadlines are Aug. 17 for initial comments and Sept. 17 for replies, the CPUC said. The CPUC said in a filing posted Monday to docket 11-42 that it needed more time because it runs a Lifeline program that's more comprehensive than the FCC's, "and is accordingly, more complicated to manage." The CPUC also said it needed more time to write comments on the potential interplay between the federal and California Lifeline programs. CTIA, ITTA and USTelecom said an extension was warranted because of the complexity of the FCC proposals to cover broadband and restructure the program's administration, and because the initial comment deadline fell in the middle of the traditional summer vacation period.
USTelecom, CTIA and the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance asked the FCC to extend the comment deadlines by 30 days in the rulemaking to revamp Lifeline USF subsidies to cover broadband and make administration of the program more efficient. Instead of initial comments being due Aug. 17 and replies Sept. 15, they would be due Sept. 16 and Oct. 15, the telco associations said Friday in their request. The groups said the extension was warranted because the reform proposal was "unusually complex" and the current initial deadline fell during the traditional summer holiday period.
An FCC request to refresh the record on eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designations and duties in areas served by price-cap telcos is to be published on Monday in the Federal Register, according to a notice posted Friday. FR publication of an FCC public notice would set due dates for initial comments on Sept. 2 and replies on Sept. 17. The PN noted an updated list of census blocks where price-cap carriers continue to have ETC obligations to provide voice service after some census blocks were removed under a December partial forbearance order. The list includes census blocks that the USF Connect America Cost Model identifies to be in high-cost and extremely high-cost areas and unserved by an unsubsidized broadband/voice competitor. Price-cap carriers that decline to accept new broadband-oriented Connect America Fund subsidies in these census blocks (decisions are due by Aug. 27) will be required to continue to provide voice service there until replaced by another ETC offering voice and broadband service or unless and until the FCC gives them relief. The public notice seeks further comment on issues unresolved by the December order and pending in related proceedings, including requests by USTelecom and AT&T for greater relief from state ETC designations and associated voice duties in states where carriers decline CAF support. AT&T challenged the December order in court as not providing sufficient relief, but the FCC said the case should be held in abeyance while it resolves related issues in various proceedings (see 1507270038).
The FCC impermissibly changed its VoIP symmetry rule to allow competitive LECs partnering with over-the-top (OTT) VoIP providers to charge interexchange carriers (IXCs) end-office switching fees for connecting long-distance calls to customers, AT&T argued Thursday in a brief asking a court to overturn a commission declaratory ruling. Alternatively, AT&T asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to disallow the FCC’s decision to require AT&T to retroactively pay CLECs for charges it withheld while their regulatory dispute was pending. The case is AT&T v. FCC, No. 15-1059.
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn promised she will continue efforts to ensure the USF Lifeline program is expanded to cover broadband. Clyburn spoke Thursday to the National Urban League annual convention and the FCC posted her remarks. Many “people of color” say they're making more money online “than they ever did when they were pounding the pavement and knocking on doors,” Clyburn said. But many can't afford to be connected, she said. “Too many of our schools and libraries have inadequate broadband speeds. Too many children lack broadband at home to complete homework.” The conventional wisdom is that cost alone isn't the biggest factor keeping people from subscribing to broadband, Clyburn said. “But as community leaders, you know firsthand that when you ask that proud senior on a fixed income whether she wants to sign up for broadband, her dignity will never allow her to admit that she cannot afford it,” she said. “She will tell you that she does not need it, but we know that is just not true.” The Pew Research Center recently said African-Americans have adopted broadband faster than any other group the past 15 years, she said. But Pew “also reported that of the majority of those without broadband have household incomes lower than $30,000 a year,” she said. “We are committed to ensuring that cost is no longer a barrier to broadband adoption, but this will only happen through partnerships with industry, the government, and you.” Clyburn cited the FCC approval of AT&T’s buy of DirecTV (see 1507280043). Less well known, Clyburn said, is that her office worked with AT&T to design a program that will offer individuals and families eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program the ability to buy 10 Mbps of broadband for $10 a month. “At that speed, you could download instructional videos, get wellness care through telemedicine, and start and maintain an online business,” she said.