An array of faith-based organizations are lobbying the FCC's 10th floor to get it to reverse or alter course on the prison-calling draft order and Further NPRM that are before commissioners. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr circulated the draft order earlier this month (see 2510070044), proposing to change the agency's rate-cap-setting methodology and include security and surveillance costs in the rates. "Deeply held Catholic beliefs show that the lowest possible rates should be offered to families and incarcerated people," the faith groups said in a docket 23-62 filing posted Friday to recap meetings with FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty and staffers for Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez.
Fiber operator Bluespeak, formerly Vast Broadband, said Monday it had upgraded speeds for more than 25,000 South Dakota and Minnesota customers for free, giving them a minimum of 300 Mbps. The company is moving toward multi-gig options in the near future, it added.
Plaintiffs' attempt to bring yet another amended complaint related to AT&T's ownership of old cables with lead contamination is a "brazen attempt to skirt the Rules," the carrier told the U.S. District Court for Northern Texas last week (docket 3:24-cv-01196). In an emergency motion to strike, AT&T said the amended class-action securities fraud complaint is an attempt to avoid responding to its pending motion to dismiss (see 2509170009). The amended complaint was filed earlier last week. Typically, plaintiffs get to amend their complaint once, and the third filing "flouts that rule," AT&T said. The company is being sued for allegedly having made “materially false and misleading statements” about its ownership of legacy telecom cables with toxic lead.
Wisconsin-based cable ISP TDS Telecom said Thursday it has started a multiyear project to upgrade its Kentucky network to fiber-optic cable. Aside from TDS' own financing, the project is also getting support from the FCC's enhanced alternative Connect America cost model program, the company said. That portion of the work will be done by the end of 2028.
Incompas weighed in Wednesday against “remedies proposed by the government, including a forced divestiture,” in DOJ’s antitrust case against Google’s ad tech business (see 2506110049). The remedies trial “has reinforced the critical principle that successful and innovative companies should be encouraged, not dismantled,” said Incompas CEO Chip Pickering. “True competition in the marketplace, not government-mandated restructuring, is what drives innovation and benefits consumers.” Pickering added that as the trial unfolded, “witnesses explained that the DOJ’s untested proposed remedies would cause harm to the small and medium-sized businesses that depend on affordable ads to reach customers on different mediums.”
Utah-based All West Communications is now All West Fiber, it said Monday. CEO Justin Nelson said the name change highlights "our continued dedication to providing the best fiber experience possible."
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Friday that he will seek a vote at the Oct. 28 open meeting on revisions to incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) rules, which were approved with his vote during the Biden administration. Last month, the FCC said commissioners would vote at the meeting in a filing at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is reviewing challenges to the 2024 order (see 2509080034).
The Wireline Bureau is pausing deadlines connected with Section 214 discontinuance applications and transfers of control during the federal shutdown, said a public notice Wednesday. Section 214 discontinuance applications generally have a deadline by which they will be automatically granted, but that won't happen during the shutdown, the notice said. Instead, applications with comment deadlines that fall during the shutdown will be due the next business day after the government resumes operations. The notice listed 10 dockets with deadlines that are affected. “These actions are necessary to ensure the orderly processing of these applications and review of any comments that may be filed in opposition to these section 214 filings.”
The Telecommunications Industry Association Monday asked the FCC to act quickly on rules that could speed up the transition by carriers away from legacy copper networks (see 2507240048). Comments were due Monday in docket 25-208. The FCC also continues to hear from consumers on what they see as the advantages of traditional wireline phones (see 2509250045).
Incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) provider Pay Tel asked the FCC for a waiver of a rule against charging prisoner families ancillary fees. The ban was adopted as part of the 2024 order (see 2407180039) implementing changes required by Congress in the Martha Wright-Reed Act. In late June, in a surprise move, the Wireline Bureau delayed some deadlines in the order until April 1, 2027 (see 2506300068).