Gabriella Novello

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by Dec. 8, replies by Dec. 28, on implementation of the Affordable Connectivity Program, said a public notice Thursday in docket 21-450. The new program provides a $30 monthly broadband subsidy for nontribal households and retains the emergency broadband benefit program's $75 monthly subsidy for tribal households. The bureau proposes to retain EBB rules for a connected device. The effective date of the new program will be Dec. 31 as EBB won't be fully expended beforehand and a 60-day transition period for EBB enrollees begins then. The new program would retain similar rules to EBB, including those for participating providers. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act modified household eligibility to remove those that were eligible for a provider's COVID-19 program or experienced a substantial loss of income in the past year, while adding households that receive Women, Infants and Children benefits. The bureau seeks comment on whether aspects of the EBB application process should be retained or modified, and whether providers should file an election notice to participate if they're already in the EBB program. The PN seeks comment on a statutory requirement that providers "allow an eligible household to apply the affordable connectivity benefit to any internet service offering of the participating provider, at the same rates and terms available to households that are not eligible households." The bureau proposes a 30-day non-usage period requirement with 15 days for households to cure the non-usage. The PN seeks comment on whether modifications to this requirement are warranted. The infrastructure law requires that participating providers let enrollees apply the benefit to any internet service. The bureau is seeking comment on how to implement this. Staff proposes requiring providers seek affirmative consent before enrolling a household in ACP and seeks comment on whether that should be done through written consent (see 2111170066). The bureau also is seeking comments on outreach (see 2111090063). The PN seeks comment on partial reimbursement and provider disputes.

Tribal libraries may soon get the clarity they sought on E-rate eligibility rules, as industry and tribal groups widely approved, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 02-6, FCC-proposed updates to the definition of an eligible library (see 2110010070). Some said more is needed to encourage participation.

Industry and state officials disagreed whether the FCC's Further NPRM to impose additional requirements for those seeking direct numbering resources would further efforts to curb illegal robocalls, in replies posted Tuesday in docket 13-97 (see 2110180045). Require applicants for direct numbering access to disclose foreign ownership information and those with authorization to update the commission of any ownership changes within 30 days, said attorneys general from every state and the District of Columbia. The AGs backed requiring applicants to certify robocall mitigation compliance or Stir/Shaken implementation and rejecting or revoking authorization if the applicant or holder is found to originate or transmit illegal robocalls. These "reasonable proposals will help curb illegal robocallers’ ability to misuse our nation’s limited numbering resources and circumvent the protections of the Stir/Shaken call authentication framework," they said. Requiring VoIP providers to adhere to state requirements is "reasonable and helps to ensure a competitive market while imposing safeguards on limited numbering resources," said the Michigan Public Service Commission. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission backed the 30-day notice for growth requests, and said it's the "only real means for state commissions to have a true sense of the entire universe of entities obtaining finite numbering resources." Allow state commissions to "assist the FCC and the Numbering Administrator to effectively oversee the use of numbering resources," said NARUC. Close "any perceived loopholes" in access stimulation rules, said Verizon, such as amending commission rules to qualify VoIP providers as access stimulators if they engage in such behavior. Verizon backed similar changes to the definitions of "end user" and "end office" that AT&T sought. Focus on "directly addressing any gaps in its existing frameworks" and avoid "imposing unnecessary, confusing, and/or duplicative requirements," said USTelecom. Don't adopt "new one-off rules that would apply uniquely to subsets of providers," said NTCA. The proposals "will make the robocalling problem worse," said RingCentral, Telnyx and Vonage. They "are neither necessary nor technologically neutral," said NCTA, which Microsoft and Lumen echoed. The "single most effective step" the FCC can take is a "targeted acceleration of the Stir/Shaken implementation deadline for those providers most likely to originate illegal robocalls," NCTA said.

The FCC precision agriculture task force unanimously approved its final report and recommendations to the FCC and Department of Agriculture on the connectivity and technology needs of precision ag, during the final meeting of its initial term. A central focus of Wednesday’s virtual meeting was how the document should address the concept of symmetrical speeds.

Funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to continue a modified version of the emergency broadband benefit program is being hailed as a game changer by advocacy groups for including language allowing the FCC to provide grants for outreach efforts (see 2111080067). Under the EBB program, the FCC wasn't allowed to use funds for this purpose (see 2102260058).

Inmate calling service providers and advocacy groups disagreed with some proposed reporting requirements in FCC mandatory data collection, in comments posted Friday (see 2105200044). Including surveillance and security costs is "vital" to determining rate caps, said Worth Rises in docket 12-375, saying the FCC should impose a penalty on ICS providers that "manipulate" those costs. The Prison Policy Institute sought clarity on how security services are defined. The Wright Petitioners, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and Public Knowledge agreed and urged "robust collection" of data. Securus said security costs are "inextricably intertwined with the provisions of ICS," which Global Tel*Link echoed. Mandatory data collection is "not the proper administrative vehicle for evaluating what categories of security costs are directly related to ICS," GTL said. On a reporting period, advocacy groups and Securus want 2019-2021; NCIC suggested 2021 is "the most relevant year." GTL objected to several aspects of the proposed data collection. It said providers don't maintain sufficient records because they're nondominant competitive carriers and aren't required to do so: The FCC would "foist upon" them accounting and reporting requirements "impossible to satisfy."

The FCC Wireline Bureau paused phasedown of Lifeline voice-only support until Dec. 1, 2022, said an order Friday (see 2111050051). Staff waived the increase of minimum service standards for mobile broadband until then, as expected (see 2111030038). The bureau didn't address the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates’ petition for reconsideration and instead acted on its own motion.

The U.S. should adopt a "100% policy" on broadband access, said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel during a League of United Latin American Citizens webinar, as "100% of our households should have access to electricity, clean water, and fast and reliable broadband that they can afford." Rosenworcel called it her "primary goal." Students that lacked access to virtual classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic were "disproportionately rural, low-income, and Latinx," she said: "Our collective success depends on getting every one of those students connected." Touting the Emergency Connectivity Fund, Rosenworcel wants the FCC to continue working on "a way to solve the homework gap once and for all." Also Thursday, LULAC announced a partnership with Heartland Forward and will use $50,000 in grant funding for outreach efforts to boost emergency broadband benefit program enrollment among Latino households. Partnerships like this are "crucial to expanding outreach and enrollment efforts, particularly in Latino communities where many still don’t have the home internet access they need," Rosenworcel said in a statement.

The FCC Wireline Bureau paused phasedown of Lifeline voice-only support until Dec. 1, 2022, said an order Friday, in a move that some had expected (see here). Staff waived the increase of minimum service standards for mobile broadband until then. The bureau didn't address the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates’ petition for reconsideration and instead acted on its own motion.

The FCC is likely to act soon on the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates’ petition for reconsideration of the scheduled Dec. 1 phasedown of Lifeline voice-only support, experts said in recent interviews. The service's backers anticipate the agency will at least pause, if not reverse, its 2016 decision (see 1603310056).