Cloud communications company Bandwidth opposed AT&T’s petition at the FCC to stop accepting applications for special access DS3 services wherever they’re still offered to new customers throughout the company’s 21-state legacy wireline footprint (see 2508180039). Bandwidth said that if the service ends, there’s “no reasonable substitute available” for time-division multiplexing, particularly for 911 call centers. Comments on the application were due Friday, and Bandwidth was the only company to file.
WTA representatives met with FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty to discuss various concerns, including the USF and the agency's notice of inquiry on the future of Telecom Act Section 706 reports (see 2509090010), said a filing posted Friday in docket 25-233. The group also met with aides to Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez.
Comments are due Oct. 16, replies Oct. 31, on Tin Can’s petition for a declaratory ruling that its services don’t constitute interconnected VoIP under Title II of the Communications Act, said a public notice in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. Tin Can provides “restricted access to whitelisted contacts through the Public Switched Telephone Network.” If the FCC instead determines that the VoIP rules apply to Tin Can’s service, the company wants the FCC to waive its VoIP regulatory requirements, the notice said.
The FCC continues to hear from people with family members in prison as they challenge a Wireline Bureau order delaying some incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507310049). “Contrary to the baseless claims made by the opposition, which is dominated by the predatory correctional telecom industry itself, the delay will significantly harm families impacted by incarceration,” said a comment by Karen Christenson this week in docket 23-62.
A second amended class-action complaint about AT&T ownership of legacy telecom cables laden with toxic lead (see 2311270004) still hasn't alleged enough facts to show that the company knowingly acted wrongly or with an intent to deceive, according to the company. In a motion to dismiss filed with the U.S. District Court for Northern Texas (docket 3:24-cv-01196), AT&T said the plaintiffs ignore the fact that more than two years after Wall Street Journal articles about the old telecom infrastructure and its environmental risks, which prompted the litigation, "none of those purported risks has come to fruition." The plaintiffs also haven't adequately pleaded actionable falsity for any alleged misstatement or omission, AT&T added.
California, New York and other “blue” states supported an application for review asking the FCC to rescind a Wireline Bureau order delaying some incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507310049). Other groups also supported the review in filings posted Tuesday in docket 23-62.
NTCA urged the FCC to tweak the enhanced alternative Connect America cost model (E-ACAM) “in a manner that captures as accurately as possible the effects on costs associated with location changes.” An NTCA representative discussed the program with a Wireline Bureau staffer, said a filing Monday in docket 10-90. NTCA favors applying the threshold for support adjustments in a manner that mitigates volatility in support levels, so providers can deliver “on the obligations of the program consistent with a reasonable understanding of such obligations at the time of program elections despite lingering concerns” and outdated data in the national broadband map, the group said. The FCC should also use its map as a “starting point rather than as a ‘finish line’ for assessments of would-be competitive presence.”
The FCC Enforcement Bureau on Monday removed the certification of Chase Tech from the commission’s robocall mitigation database. The company’s certification “was found to contain false information regarding the Company as it submitted personal identification information of an individual who is unaffiliated with the Company, thus making the certification deficient under the Commission’s rules,” the bureau said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau has rejected a petition by CRC Communications asking for a waiver of agency rules about Connect America Fund Phase II noncompliance. In a docket 10-90 order Friday, the bureau said that while CRC argued that its subcontractor, WiValley, going out of business made it unable to fulfill its CAF Phase II carrier obligations, CRC didn't explain how it failed to notice it wasn't actually offering service meeting FCC requirements despite certifying that it was. CRC will be subject to CAF Phase II noncompliance measures if it doesn't serve its required number of locations, the bureau said.
Comments are due Sept. 26, replies Oct. 3, on Plains Internet’s request to transfer all its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund obligations in Wyoming to Visionary Communications, said a public notice Friday. Plains, which is based in Texas, provides voice and broadband to 5,300 customers. Visionary, based in Wyoming, provides communications services there and in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico and Washington.