USF contribution reform could still be a long way off, said FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and former Chair Mignon Clyburn at NARUC’s virtual annual conference Tuesday. O’Rielly, co-chair of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, slammed that body as dysfunctional. Earlier in the day, state officials cited the COVID-19 pandemic as they urged national broadband action.
State commissioners can influence broadband policy even with limited telecom authority, said NARUC broadband task force members at the association’s virtual annual meeting Thursday. Utility regulators’ telecom role “has diminished significantly” in most states, but they can still “play the role of honest broker,” said Idaho Public Utilities Commissioner Paul Kjellander, who next week becomes NARUC president. Collaboration with federal government is a must, said other commissioners.
State commissioners can influence broadband policy even with limited telecom authority, said NARUC broadband task force members at the association’s virtual annual meeting Thursday. Utility regulators’ telecom role “has diminished significantly” in most states, but they can still “play the role of honest broker,” said Idaho Public Utilities Commissioner Paul Kjellander, who next week becomes NARUC president. Collaboration with federal government is a must, said other commissioners.
Several members of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees face tough reelection fights, elections experts told us. Most of the vulnerable lawmakers are Republicans, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Judiciary Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Commerce Security Subcommittee Chairman Dan Sullivan of Alaska. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan is the only Democrat on either committee who faces similarly long odds. The House Commerce and Judiciary panels face far less potential turnover among incumbents seeking to return in the next Congress.
Several members of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees face tough reelection fights, elections experts told us. Most of the vulnerable lawmakers are Republicans, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Judiciary Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Commerce Security Subcommittee Chairman Dan Sullivan of Alaska. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan is the only Democrat on either committee who faces similarly long odds. The House Commerce and Judiciary panels face far less potential turnover among incumbents seeking to return in the next Congress.
Votes on the 5G Fund and rule changes to make it easier for tower companies to expand the footprint of cellsites appear likely to be added to the agenda for the Oct. 27 commissioners’ meeting, FCC and industry officials told us. The gathering is the last before the election and would wrap up two big 5G items. Both are expected to be controversial.
COVID-19 robocall scams remain a problem and are becoming more sophisticated, FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Associate Chief Ed Bartholme warned the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee Friday. Ensuring consumers answer calls from COVID-19 contact tracers is a growing concern, he said. CAC members said broadband deployment continues to be a rural issue. The meeting was the last under CCS' current charter, though the FCC rechartered the group (see 2007070052).
COVID-19 robocall scams remain a problem and are becoming more sophisticated, FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Associate Chief Ed Bartholme warned the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee Friday. Ensuring consumers answer calls from COVID-19 contact tracers is a growing concern, he said. CAC members said broadband deployment continues to be a rural issue. The meeting was the last under CCS' current charter, though the FCC rechartered the group (see 2007070052).
COVID-19 robocall scams remain a problem and are becoming more sophisticated, FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Associate Chief Ed Bartholme warned the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee Friday. Ensuring consumers answer calls from COVID-19 contact tracers is a growing concern, he said. CAC members said broadband deployment continues to be a rural issue. The meeting was the last under CCS' current charter, though the FCC rechartered the group (see 2007070052).
The Nebraska Public Service Commission should keep the revenue-based USF contribution for business and government services because it’s less complex than a connections-based mechanism, big telecom and cable companies said in comments received Monday and emailed to us Wednesday. The PSC is proposing to expand its connections-based method that now applies only to residential services (see 2008110047). “Business customers' connections may fluctuate” and “the applicable surcharge would need to be examined, and potentially changed on a monthly basis,” Cox Communications, Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable commented jointly in docket NUSF-119. Large business customers might relocate to a lesser taxed state due to rate shock, the cablers warned. Carriers understand revenue-based contribution; applying contributions to business and government services “will be complex, costly and confusing,” said AT&T. Complexities applying the connections method to business and government services have increased in the past three years, said CenturyLink. COVID-19 “has caused an unprecedented shift to work from home and away from business communications services which is likely to impact the analysis,” it added. Nebraska law requires revenue-based contribution for prepaid wireless services, said CTIA. A connections method for residential services stabilized and increased the fund, so "the financial threat to the NUSF viability has been overcome,” said Frontier Communications. Moving to connections for business and government lines is "impractical at this time," said Windstream. Small rural telcos countered that applying connections-based contribution for all kinds of services is fairer. “Much of rural Nebraska remains unserved or underserved," and current remittances "will come nowhere close" to providing enough support, commented the Rural Telecommunications Coalition of Nebraska. Exempt prepaid wireless, toll revenue and directory, private line and paging services, which don't lend themselves to a connections-based surcharge, said a state group of rural independent companies. Keep revenue-based at least for institutional operator service providers, urged Securus, saying it doesn’t “have the ability to determine or charge the NUSF applying a connections-based methodology" because it charges prison customers per call.