New Mexico legislators shouldn’t tweak state USF structure, size or purposes, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission recommended in a report sent to the legislature Friday. “No need” to raise the $30 million cap, which sufficiently covers current demands and possible future increases, the agency said in docket 19-00046-UT. “The Commission’s focus at this time is on increasing participation in the fund, particularly the participation of small, rural carriers, as the Commission does not believe that the fund is currently meeting their needs as well as it could.” The agency is mulling a rule change “to increase the number of applications that it receives for Broadband Program support,” including by “potentially decreasing or eliminating the 25% per-project matching amount that the Commission currently requires program awardees to fund from their own pockets.” The PRC may need to do outreach to small rural carriers “who simply may lack the resources to design projects and applications for broadband funding though the areas they serve are in need,” it said. CTIA had urged the New Mexico agency not to recommend USF changes (see 1911010022).

The FCC should strengthen Lifeline and reject proposals to ration the USF, said the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Common Cause and others, posted Friday in docket 17-287. With Lifeline participation low among eligible households, "28 percent as of the most recent measurement," they asked the FCC do more to increase that. Access Now, MediaJustice, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge also signed.

The FCC waived Form 509 rules to let Connect America Fund rate-of-return carriers report actual rates for consumer broadband-only lines in determining 2018 revenue, rather than impute revenue based on the maximum possible rate, in an order Friday on docket 10-90. The Wireline Bureau previously granted one-time waiver to avoid causing a significant reduction in USF support. It found similar circumstances now.

House Commerce Committee leaders raised concerns about lack of detail on the FCC’s recently announced plan to ditch Mobility Fund Phase II and repurpose $9 billion in USF funds for that program and others over the next 10 years for a new 5G Fund (see 1912040027). Several lawmakers raised concerns about the proposal at a House Communications Subcommittee FCC oversight hearing earlier this month (see 1912050043). The “5G Fund must be allocated responsibly,” said House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., and others in Thursday's letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “The way that this fund is structured can make the difference between connecting unserved and underserved Americans or deepening the digital divide.” House Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, also signed. “Goals of [MF-II] remain unmet” so it “is critical that areas that lack 4G LTE coverage -- or any connectivity -- are not left behind in a rush to advance well intended efforts to deploy 5G,” the lawmakers said. “The design and execution of any new fund must be carefully constructed to succeed where [MF-II] failed.” They sought information on what “safeguards” the agency will “put in place to ensure that areas eligible for support are based on reliable coverage data,” along with how the commission will determine which services qualify for 5G Fund support and potential performance benchmarks. The FCC is "pleased" House Commerce leaders are "‘encouraged that the FCC plans to dedicate $9 billion in Universal Service Fund support’ to expand mobile broadband in rural areas as well as the wide range of support for the creation of the 5G Fund," a spokesperson emailed. "The questions they raise are important ones that the Commission will resolve through a notice-and-comment rulemaking to be launched early next year."

The Wireless Bureau approved Arctic Slope Telephone Association Co-op’s and GCI’s revised performance plans in response to the FCC’s 2016 Alaska plan order (see 1608310067). The bureau approved the initial plans three years ago. The Wireline Bureau ended biennial review. Circle Telephone & Electric and Bush-Tell can maintain wireline services at existing levels, the staff said. The bureau approved revised performance obligations for Mukluk Telephone and Arctic Slope for participation in USF. The items on docket 16-271 were in Friday’s Daily Digest.

Virgin Islands Telephone (dba Viya) petitioned the FCC Wireline Bureau for clarification or reconsideration of an order on the Uniendo a Puerto Rico and Connect USVI funds, posted Tuesday in docket 18-143. "Buried coaxial cable and buried fiber have substantially equal resilience and therefore both should be scored zero points" in a regressive competitive bid by providers seeking USF funds to rebuild the islands' telecom networks following destructive hurricanes, it said. Commissioners adopted the order in September (see 1909260032).

Competitive bidding for revisions to the USF Rural Health Care Program's funding year 2020 open Jan. 1, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Tuesday on docket 17-310. Changes became effective Nov. 12. FY 2020 starts July 1. Competitive bidding for FY 2021 also starts then. Commissioners voted this summer to overhaul the program's rules (see 1908010041). Some groups have concerns (see 1911130022).

If Huawei equipment is enough of a threat to warrant barring USF funds to networks using it (see 1911220033), the FCC should look further into having that hardware removed even from networks where carriers aren't getting USF funds, Commissioner Brendan Carr said at Tuesday's Practising Law Institute conference. Legal issues could arise with that approach, but the topic should at least "be on the table," he said. He said the FCC is working "with other three-letter agencies" on such issues. Huawei didn't comment.

Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and 47 other senators urged the FCC Monday to prioritize “sustainable” broadband networks in its proceeding to set rules for the $20 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (see 1905010188). “Promote the deployment of networks that will be sustainable even as new advancements are made and are capable of delivering the best level of broadband access for the available USF budget for many years to come,” they asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Signers include 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said that "networks are built not for the mere sake of meeting deployment goals, but rather for the purpose of connecting as many Americans as possible to one another -- and the Commission’s program requirements should reflect this purpose by aiming higher.” The FCC has "received the letter" and is "reviewing" it, a spokesperson said.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told the new Precision Agriculture Task Force that America's need for broadband on farms and ranches will only increase, at its first meeting Monday. Farmers and ranchers want to upload huge amounts of data to the cloud, "and that's why broadband is going to be central," he said. Pai said task force insights will be important in advising the FCC on how to spend at least $1 billion of the proposed $9 billion 5G Fund that he announced last week (see 1912040027). He said without such USF support for precision agriculture, there might be no business case for 5G in many rural areas.