The FCC Wireline Bureau is "more narrowly" tailoring penalties for its broadband performance testing program to recognize past performance in carriers that fall out of compliance at the end of their USF Connect America Fund support terms, said an order to docket 10-90 posted Thursday. It will withhold support when a carrier is unable to demonstrate compliance at the end of the support term "only for the amount of time since the carrier's network performance was last compliant." It clarified that if a carrier "was not in compliance with our performance measures for five quarters of testing but comes into compliance before or during end-of-term testing," Universal Service Administrative Co. wouldn't recover any of the CAF support. But if the carrier never comes into compliance during the test period, USAC will withhold the appropriate amount for the entire term. The order differs from its draft by reconsidering a requirement for carriers to meet CAF performance test obligations even when customers chosen at random for testing haven't bought service offerings at the CAF-required speeds. Industry sought the changes (see 1910220007) and commissioners approved the order at their meeting Friday.

Instituting new Lifeline broadband minimum service standards Dec. 1 and reducing support for voice "will not only undermine the commission's primary purpose in establishing the minimum service standards -- to increase broadband access -- but will threaten the program's very existence," TracFone told the FCC, posted Wednesday in docket 11-42. The changes restricting low-income consumers' access to Lifeline and undermining the program's affordability would be so severe it would "set into motion a death spiral" for the program, it said. The company proposed partial grant of an earlier joint petition to delay the new standards (see 1906280012). The FCC should enforce a monthly broadband data allowance of 3 GB on Dec. 1 instead of 8.75 GB, TracFone said, expedite by one year its Lifeline market report to June, and freeze the new Dec. 1 standards until the report's evaluated. The Wireline Bureau should study how increases in data allowances beyond the current 2 GB requirement affect the market, it said. TracFone also wants the FCC to consider keeping the current subsidy for voice. In a Thursday filing, the National Lifeline Association and Q Link Wireless said "phasing out support for voice services endangers public safety," and "there is no support for the voice phase-out in the record."

More should be done to promote broadband competition, reported Jonathan Sallet, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society senior fellow, on broadband for the 2020s. He said Wednesday states should repeal laws that restrict localities from broadband deployment or Congress should pre-empt them. Federal funding designed to avoid overbuilding ISP networks confuse well-being of competitors with consumers, he said: Those most likely having limited broadband competition are rural, or with median household incomes below $60,000. Sallet cited the National Digital Inclusion Alliance showing pockets of high-poverty neighborhoods in Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, Dallas and Dayton where incumbent telecoms hadn't deployed fiber. Proposed Lifeline changes to eliminate mobile resellers would effectively end Lifeline broadband access for millions, the report said. Sallet instead recommends schools and libraries be allowed to provide Lifeline, too. Such competition could increase once the national verifier is fully implemented, Sallet suggested. "An even more efficient mechanism would make Lifeline enrollment automatic when people are enrolled in a qualifying federal program." The 150-page footnoted document acknowledged a persistent problem of areas unserved by broadband, saying the executive branch should establish an Office of Broadband Coordination for Tribal Lands.

A new draft FCC order on updating E-rate would finalize a five-year-spending approach for category 2 equipment and services inside anchor institutions, agency officials told us. The Wireline Bureau draft circulated Oct. 18. Without a yes vote, the spending pilot sunsets in 2020, a spokesperson said Wednesday. The FCC took comment this summer in docket 13-184, and filings widely supported moving to a districtwide funding approach to give localities more flexibility to direct resources where most needed; commenters also sought a larger funding floor for rural institutions to incentivize more of them to apply (see 1908190008). A vote is expected before schools and libraries submit proposals for the next funding year. The Enforcement Bureau also drafted an order on circulation about an unresolved market dispute between Verizon and Wide Band filed in June. The FCC doesn't comment on pending enforcement matters.

The Senate expects to hold a cloture vote Wednesday on an amendment from Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., that seeks to replace the text of the House-passed “minibus” FY 2020 budget bill (HR-3055) that includes funding for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the Agriculture Department with similar Senate Appropriations Committee-cleared measures S-2522 and S-2584 (see 1909240053 and 1910080043). Both bills would allocate $42.4 million to NTIA and $3.45 billion to the Patent and Trademark Office. The Senate bill would allocate $753 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, $2 million more than in HR-3055 and $353 million above what President Donald Trump's administration said it wanted (see 1903180063). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., filed cloture on the amendment Monday. McConnell also filed cloture on the House-passed FY 2020 minibus budget bill (HR-2740) that aimed to increase CPB's annual funding to $495 million. Senate leaders have been eyeing replacing the House-passed legislative language with a Senate Appropriations substitute that would maintain CPB's annual funding at $445 million, despite the increase sought by America’s Public Television Stations (see 1909180058). The Senate version also includes $20 million for upgrades to the public broadcasting interconnection system. The Trump administration proposed in March to wind down and then cut off CPB federal funding.

More radio stations reported outages as telecom problems decreased amid California public safety power shutoffs, the FCC Public Safety Bureau reported Tuesday. Twenty-one FMs reported being off air, up from four Monday. Two other FMs were out but sending programming to another station, same as Monday (see 1910280050). Three AMs said they were out of service, up from two Monday. Cellsites out of service due to public safety power shutoffs decreased to 1.8 percent Tuesday from 3.3 percent a day earlier. Outages decreased in Marin County to 35.5 percent from 57.1 percent. Cable and wireline companies reported about 224,000 subscribers out of service due to power shutoffs, down from nearly 455,000. And 911 calls to Fairfax Police Department are rerouting to another public safety answering point with location information.

Out-of-service California cellsites increased to 3.3 percent Monday, from 2.4 percent Sunday, amid public safety power shutoffs, the FCC Public Safety Bureau reported. Marin County was the worst, with 57.1 percent out of service, with 134 of 160 of the outages due to lack of power, said the disaster information reporting system communications status report. Sunday's report showed Marin County with just under 50 percent out. Cable and wireline companies reported nearly 455,000 subscribers out of service, up about 61,000 from Sunday and about 443,500 from Friday (see 1910250061). Six FM and two AM radio stations were off-air Monday, with two of the FM stations sending programming to others. No 911 outages were reported. The bureau expanded DIRS information collection to 32 counties Saturday from 14 in the original notice (see 1910240075).

Commissioner Christine Wilson hopes the FTC shares how the agency calculated its $5 billion privacy fine against Facebook in the “coming weeks.” She noted during an interview with The Communicators, which was online Friday and to have been on C-SPAN this weekend, that such information isn’t currently public. Addressing criticism of the Facebook settlement, Wilson said it's not unusual for release of liability. She noted the agency can still pursue action against FTC Act Section 5-related conduct that was previously unknown. Echoing repeated comments from Chairman Joe Simons, Wilson urged repeal of the agency's common carrier exemption. Competition works best when all players competing for the same kind of business have a level playing field, she said. Wilson's fully committed to maintaining the strength of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act as the agency reviews its COPPA rule (see 1910170051): "Innovation can't come at the expense of children's privacy.” She said robocall complaints are the most common submissions for the agency’s consumer complaint database, and the agency is working “diligently” with industry to “eradicate” the problem.

Emergency 911 call takers need at least a floor number or wing specification when getting Z-axis information from wireless carriers, District of Columbia Office of Unified Communications Director Karima Holmes wrote the FCC Thursday in docket 07-114. “The need for a vertical estimate is needed but if the estimate is given in indecipherable terms like XXXX above mean sea level (AMSL), it does not help articulate to the caller, call taker nor the responder of where the emergency is occurring.” Massachusetts State Police asked the same earlier this week (see 1910230041).

The FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment will be chaired by Anna Gomez, of Wiley Rein, and working groups will be chaired by Beasley Media CEO Caroline Beasley, Comcast Vice President-Global Public Policy Rudy Brioche, and Brookings Institute Fellow Nicol Turner-Lee, said a public notice on docket 17-208 Thursday. Beasley will head the Access to Capital Working Group, Brioche the Digital Empowerment and Inclusion WG, and Turner Lee the Diversity in the Tech Sector one. The rechartered ACDDE holds its first meeting Wednesday.