The FCC Wireline Bureau is waiving some rules and deadlines for Lifeline, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), E-rate, the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program, and Rural Health Care Program for areas affected by Tropical Storm Idalia, said an order Friday. “Because of these compelling and unique circumstances, we find good cause to waive certain rules and deadlines to assist program participants, service providers, and USF contributors in the affected areas,” the order said. The waived rules include Lifeline non-usage, recertification and reverification requirements, ACP non-usage and de-enrollment rules, and the deadlines to file E-Rate appeals. The waivers “promote the maintenance and rebuilding of communities affected by the hurricane” and “facilitate continued access to telecommunications services for disaster victims,” the order said. The FCC announced Thursday it was scaling back the storm-affected areas being monitored through the disaster information reporting system: DIRS was deactivated for all of South Carolina and for all but 13 counties in Florida. Friday’s DIRS report shows 5.4% of cellsites down in the covered area and 4,752 cable and wireline subscribers without service. No broadcast stations were reported out of service.
The FCC will consider an item at its Sept. 21 meeting that would move the agency closer to launching a 5G Fund, which has been pending since 2020, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Wednesday. Also planned for the September agenda is what Rosenworcel calls a “transparency initiative” for space-related applications and an action aimed at clamping down on “malicious” robocalls.
Nebraska will comprehensively reassess state USF rules, commissioners agreed at a Nebraska Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday. The all-Republican commission voted 5-0 to consider changes to the Nebraska USF (NUSF) high-cost distribution mechanism and associated reporting requirements (docket NUSF-139). The commission will seek feedback this fall.
The optical network market continues to grow after a “slight hiccup” in 2020 when providers hesitated briefly after the COVID-19 pandemic started, said Jimmy Yu, Dell'Oro Group analyst for optical transport, during the Fierce Telecom Optical Summit Tuesday. But Yu predicts challenges ahead. Other speakers predicted growth as providers look to cut operating costs and make their networks more efficient.
Free Press urged lawmakers to make the FCC’s affordable connectivity program permanent as part of any USF revamp legislation. Congress should “appropriate the funding” for ACP “needed to ensure that low-income households can afford broadband long after the initial appropriation from” the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act “is expended,” FP said in comments to Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., and other USF revamp working group members released Monday. Some other commenters also urged Congress to make ACP permanent, in some cases suggesting it outright replace the Lifeline program (see 2308250064). FP also asked lawmakers and the FCC to “reject the cynical call from some of the nation’s largest businesses to massively lower their own USF contribution burdens by imposing a regressive tax on residential broadband services. These parties have for years falsely warned that the USF contributions system is in a death-spiral,” which “is simply not true. The fact is that the total USF contribution pool in real terms peaked in 2012, and has declined substantially since. While the overall contribution factor percentage has risen, the average residential consumer has seen their contribution burden decline slightly, as the burden borne by large businesses increased slightly.”
Three telecom policy stakeholder groups urged Senate Communications Subcommittee leaders Friday to include stronger accountability rules in USF revamp legislation but diverged on some other goals. The entities were responding to a late July feedback request from Communications Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., and other USF working group members for feedback on the path forward on legislation (see 2305110066). FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, meanwhile, is pushing back against criticisms from House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, of the agency's Learning Without Limits proposal to allow E-rate program money to pay for Wi-Fi on school buses and for hot spots (see 2307310063).
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission voted 5-0 Thursday to move forward on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANOPR) on amending state USF rules. The PUC during a livestreamed meeting approved a bid by Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille to seek comment on what she said are “broad questions about the challenges of supporting voice and internet networks and services” as part of the ANOPR. The PUC postponed considering the rulemaking proposal in early August (see 2308020057). Comments on the ANOPR in docket L-2023-3040646 are due 90 days after its publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, with replies due within 120 days.
The FCC wants comments on a notice of inquiry on potential methods to modify the USF's high cost program, said a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. Comments are due Oct. 23, replies Nov. 21, in docket 10-90. Commissioners adopted the item in July (see 2307240064).
T-Mobile’s MetroPCS asked to dismiss a California Public Utilities Commission investigation into a dispute over USF surcharges due to completion of a related court case at the U.S. District Court for Northern California. MetroPCS won judgment against the CPUC earlier this month (see 2308040071). The federal court decided the resolutions the agency was trying to enforce against MetroPCS “are unlawful (because they are preempted by federal law) and enjoined the Commission from enforcing the Resolutions against MetroPCS,” T-Mobile said in Thursday’s motion.
The FCC unanimously approved an FY 2023 regulatory fee order last week that closely resembles the NPRM issued in May.