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.
Fifteen small rural telcos would lose almost $9 million in annual USF subsidies under preliminary FCC findings to phase out support where carriers completely overlap with unsubsidized broadband competitors. A Wireline Bureau public notice posted Wednesday in docket 10-90 sought comments by Aug. 28 and replies by Sept. 28 on the initial determinations.
The FCC order approving AT&T’s takeover of DirecTV was released Tuesday, laying out the conditions it imposed. The 241-page order includes 59 pages of "merger simulation model" analysis and 17 pages of conditions that appear to track commission descriptions over the last week (see 1507210078, 1507220076, 1507230059, 1507240055 and 1507270074) but with more specifics. For instance, while the conditions generally last four years, if AT&T doesn’t complete a required fiber buildout within that time frame, all the conditions will remain in effect until it does. In addition, if the FCC finds AT&T has violated any conditions, it can extend the terms of such conditions for two years.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives plans a public hearing at 1 p.m. on Aug. 24 for HB-1417, which creates a freestanding act maintaining the state's Universal Service Fund. The Rural Telephone Access and Availability Act would extend the life of the Pennsylvania USF until 2022.
The FCC urged a federal court to put off consideration of an AT&T challenge to a December commission order on price-cap telco USF obligations, pending further regulatory action on related issues in other proceedings. Granting an FCC motion to hold the case in abeyance will allow regulators to address the issues raised by AT&T, which could obviate the need for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to adjudicate the case, or at least may alter its review, the agency said in a reply to the court on its motion in AT&T v. FCC, No. 15-1038. AT&T opposed the motion and said there was no reason for delay. The D.C. Circuit recently suspended its briefing schedule in the case while it considers the FCC motion (see 1507160032). AT&T is challenging the December order because, among other things, it relieved price-cap carriers of only some statewide USF obligations -- not all, as AT&T requested -- to provide voice support in high-cost areas where they would no longer be subsidized under the FCC's broadband-oriented Connect America Fund Phase II overhaul. The FCC said it had made "unequivocal statements that it has yet to decide any of the issues" underlying AT&T's challenge. "The FCC has not yet taken any final, reviewable action relevant to this case," the agency said. The commission noted its Wireline Bureau issued a public notice Thursday listing census blocks where price-cap telcos still have federal high-cost voice duties and seeking comment on related pending issues in various proceedings. The FCC also noted it has a Jan. 4 statutory deadline to finish a proceeding in which it is "actively considering the arguments at issue here." The D.C. Circuit should reject AT&T's attempt to "bypass ordinary administrative procedures and involve the Court in agency decisionmaking that is not yet complete," the agency said.
Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry lauded the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FCC funding package for FY 2016 due to its provisions on wireless. The funding bill “includes important language to maintain certainty for wireless carriers that receive USF support,” Berry said in a statement. “The FCC’s [USF] order called to maintain USF support until an adequate replacement mechanism is available.” The bill would ensure “the FCC stays on this path, providing certainty to wireless carriers that current support amounts will be available until a sufficient Mobility Fund Phase II is operational,” he said. “This will help maintain necessary economic, health, public safety, educational and civic engagement opportunities in high cost areas.” Appropriations Committee Democrats blasted the mobile broadband provisions of the appropriations measure, which proved divisive on several fronts and passed the committee despite strong Democratic opposition (see 1507230061). Senate appropriators posted the Financial Services bill text and accompanying report Friday for the first time.
Hughes Network Systems rolled out services and hardware aimed at the K-16 education market, including high-speed satellite Internet access for rural and remote schools and managed Wi-Fi for guest access, campus broadband, distance learning and digital signage, the satellite company said in a Tuesday news release. Some of its offerings are eligible for government funding through the E-rate USF program, Hughes said.
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., on Monday pressed for regular order to tackle what she considers problems with federal agencies. The Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee scheduled a markup of its FCC funding bill for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in 138 Dirksen, as expected (see 1507140069), a spokeswoman for Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., told us Monday.