Disagreement continued between inmate calling service providers and advocates on the ICS rate-making process, in replies posted Monday in docket 12-375 (see 2109290074). Permanent caps “should be substantially lower than the current interim caps,” said the Prison Policy Initiative, asking the FCC to “prioritize the issue of USF relief for ICS customers.” PPI finds “that facility size does not correlate to costs and should be considered by the FCC as a rebuttal to the ICS providers’ argument that size impacts costs,” said 33 organizations led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Make a list of ancillary fees that can and can’t be charged to ICS users, said NCIC. The fee caps the FCC previously adopted “have been subverted by certain ICS providers,” it said. All security and surveillance costs “are not inextricably intertwined with telecom costs,” said Worth Rises. Global Tel*Link said they’re “an integral part of ICS.” Consider a "brief pause" on additional reform to "allow for the collection of accurate and reliable data," said Pay Tel. The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates backed comments opposing security and surveillance costs being included in the rate-setting process. Require providers refund account holders after inactivity or an incarcerated person’s release, said the Wright Petitioners, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, United Church of Christ and Public Knowledge. The record “unanimously confirms the commission’s legal authority under Section 225 of the [Communications] Act extends to incarcerated people with disabilities,” said deaf and hard of hearing advocates led by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. ICS providers and facilities “can readily provide modern forms of TRS, including VRS,” the groups said. ZP Better Together recommended a registration system for VRS providers to create an account to provide services to a correctional facility.

An FCC disaster information reporting service release Friday showed 14,161 cable and wireline subscribers without service in the Kentucky counties affected by recent tornado damage. That’s better than the 24,790 reported Thursday (see 2112150051). Some 1.2% of cellsites are down in the affected area, down from the 1.8% in Wednesday’s report. No public safety answering points, TV stations or radio stations were listed as out of service.

FCC nominee Gigi Sohn now has the backing of Commerce Committee member Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, bringing her one vote closer in her bid to get support from all 14 panel Democrats. "After meeting with" Sohn "and questioning her at her confirmation hearing, I am confident that she understands the internet connectivity challenges facing communities in Montana and across rural America," Tester said in a statement Wednesday. "I intend to vote for her nomination because it’s critically important we have a fully functioning FCC, and I will hold her accountable to her commitment to increase access to high-speed internet that will lower costs for Montana families, create good-paying jobs, and grow the economy." Tester was one of three Commerce Democrats believed undecided on Sohn, which led to a delay of the committee's vote on advancing the nomination to the floor (see 2112090058). Sens. Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are the other panel Democratic holdouts. Rosen is to meet with Sohn Friday (see 2112150069). Sohn will likely need unified Democratic support within the panel and the full Senate to win confirmation, given expectations no Republicans will back her (see 2112030058).

The FCC wants comments by Jan. 18, replies by Jan. 31, in docket 21-476 on its report to Congress on the future of the USF, said a notice of inquiry listed in Thursday's Daily Digest. The report was mandated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The NOI seeks comment on how the law's new broadband funding impacts existing USF programs and on "improving its effectiveness in achieving the universal service goals for broadband." It also seeks comment on USF's contribution factor and any recommendations the commission should make to Congress for legislative action. Commissioner Brendan Carr was the only commissioner to release a statement, saying USF is "stuck in a death spiral." Carr again said Big Tech should pay into USF (see 2106010041).

Senate prospects for confirming NTIA administrator nominee Alan Davidson remained murky Thursday, as chamber leaders continued to haggle over how many of President Joe Biden’s nominees they would have to invoke cloture on before final votes and who they would be able to bundle together in a package to clear via unanimous consent. Senate leaders faced pressure to reach a deal on nominations this week instead of returning in the days before Christmas, given expectations that talks on the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package will drag on into 2022. “I think he’s going to make it” through confirmation “before the first of the year,” said Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in an interview. Biden would need to renominate Davidson in January absent confirmation because all presidential nominations expire at the end of the 117th Congress’ first session. Senate Commerce cleared Davidson Thursday on a voice vote, with three Republicans asking to be recorded as no votes (see 2112150069). Others were less optimistic. “We’re trying” to set either a vote on Davidson or put him in the UC confirmations package, committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us. “I haven’t seen [Davidson’s] name in any of the proposed lists of folks” the Democrats “want to get done,” but “I can’t say for certain” he won’t be added, said Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D. Thune, also Communications Subcommittee ranking member, was one of the three Republicans who voted against Davidson but is believed unlikely to block floor progress on the nominee.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau activated emergency response measures for 17 counties in Kentucky, after the recent tornado strikes, said public notices and releases through Wednesday. The disaster information reporting system was turned on Tuesday. The bureau issued PNs on emergency contact information for licensees that need special temporary authority and on 24-hour availability of staff. A PN reminded essential personnel about availability of priority telecom services overseen by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for when local networks are damaged or congested: Entities working in emergency response that haven’t enrolled should consider participating in PTS. No public safety answering points, TV stations or radio stations were listed as out of service in Wednesday's DIRS report. It listed 24,817 cable and wireline subscribers as without service, and 0.8% of cell sites in the affected counties as down.

Don't get too prescriptive in rules to prevent SIM swap and port-out fraud, telecom interests said in FCC docket 21-341 replies that were due Tuesday. Comments last month requested flexibility (see 2111160036). Local number portability administrator (LNPA) interests said they don't have a role in verifying subscribers' identities. Saying the record doesn't show that SIM swap and port-out fraud is widespread, CTIA said the commission should expand its list of “secure authentication method" examples. "Enshrining authentication requirements into rigid regulations is not an effective way to fight the bad actors behind these fraudulent schemes," it said. It opposed prescribing specific authentication methods or being rigid in authentication requirements. Opus Research urged looking at other authentication methods, such as voice biometrics. Carrier Bandwidth said creating rules solely oriented to wireless services and numbers is "unlikely to effectuate the Commission’s stated objectives." It said the FCC should "lead the industry to develop and adopt improved competitively neutral text enablement methods and procedures that are consistent with established solutions in the toll free texting space." North American Portability Management said the agency should reject proposals for the LNPA to play a role in disputes between carriers and in identification of numbers. Iconectiv said the Number Portability Administration Center service management service and LNPA aren't involved in the pre-port process, nor do they have access to customer information, and thus don't have a role in identification of a customer or the request and response of information exchanged between current and new service providers.

Corrections: An NPRM was the type of E-rate item that was up for a vote at Tuesday's FCC meeting and that was approved there (see 2112130042). ... Up Entertainment's general counsel is Reta Peery (see 2112100027).

Characterizing NAB’s push for regulatory fees on tech companies as a Wi-Fi tax is “plainly false” and “intellectually dishonest,” NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan blogged Tuesday (see 2110230001). The FCC’s current regulatory fee regime is “sloppy at best” because it requires broadcasters to pay fees to support initiatives that don’t involve broadcasting, such as the USF, he said. “The Facebooks of the world like business plans that rely not only on free, unregulated spectrum, but also Commission resources subsidized from regulatory fees that they are not obligated to pay.” NAB’s request to update regulatory fee payors doesn’t mention Wi-Fi and goes beyond unlicensed spectrum, Kaplan said. “Broadcasters are not seeking to escape paying regulatory fees,” he said. “It should not be controversial for broadcasters to cry foul when being forced to subsidize enormous companies like Microsoft, which generate revenue beyond the GDP of most countries (even after paying groups like Public Knowledge),” Kaplan said. “If public interest groups truly supported what’s best for the public, they wouldn’t simply kick and scream because Facebook, Google, and Microsoft may have to pay their fair share.” Reg fees for unlicensed spectrum is what the FCC sought comment on after NAB's petition, "because those were their words," emailed Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld. "Every single trade association that filed read this the same way -- as a tax on WiFi. If there is any intellectual dishonesty here, it is the effort of NAB to avoid admitting they proposed something so stupid." The FCC and Information Technology Industry Council didn’t comment.

The Supreme Court likely will decide in late January or early February if it will hear the challenge by various localities of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision on the FCC's cable franchise fees order (see 2111010048), said Tim Lay of Spiegel & McDiarmid Monday in a NATOA webinar. He said the deadline for NCTA to seek SCOTUS review of the 1st Circuit's decision on Maine's public, educational and government access channel carriage provisions (see 2108040022) has passed, so the cable industry seemingly is hoping other states don't follow Maine legislatively. NCTA didn't comment. Congressional action on legislation will sharply drop off as it gets closer to midterm elections, making the next few months "pretty critical," said Angelina Panettieri, National League of Cities legislative director-information technology and communications. The Build Back Better Act (HR-5376) passed the House, but take it "with a whole shaker full of salt" that all its provisions -- such as an emergency connectivity fund extension -- will ultimately pass, since negotiations are ongoing, she said. The National Defense Reuthorization Act (HR-4350), which also passed the House, will likely bring with it a requirement local governments report cybersecurity incidents, she said. Key bills for coming months likely include the Broadband Incentives for Communities Act (HR-5058), the Wireless Resiliency and Flexible Investment Act (HR-1058) and the Protecting Community Television Act (S-3361), she said. Gerard Lederer of Best Best said the FCC will likely have a 2-2 split at least until mid-February. He said Democratic commissioner nominee Gigi Sohn not being up for vote by the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday seems to indicate a lack of sufficient Democratic support. He said that points to difficulty mustering the 60 votes needed to pass a motion to end debate. He said there's a large contingent in the Senate "that is just not giving the president any of his team."