NTCA members “continued to lead the charge” in bringing high-speed internet to underserved parts of the U.S., the group said Monday as it released its 2025 Broadband/Internet Availability Survey Report. Despite serving "deeply rural areas," respondents said nearly 92% of their customers can receive downstream speeds of 100 Mbps or above, up from 89% in 2024, the report said. Nearly 79% of customers have access to gigabit downstream speeds, compared with 76% last year.
The Wireline Bureau granted a roughly one-month extension on comment dates for the FCC’s incarcerated people’s communications services order, said an order Friday. Comments are now due Feb. 3, replies March 5. Comments were previously due Jan. 5. The extension was requested by the National Sheriffs’ Association because of the holidays and to allow additional time to gather input from its member organizations.
The National Emergency Number Association urged the FCC to require carriers to continue to support time-division multiplexing (TDM) as they move to IP-based services. Many 911 authorities aren’t ready to receive next-generation 911 traffic and depend on "increasingly scarce and expensive copper wire service and will have to continue doing so for a number of years,” said a filing last week in docket 25-304. “Typically, local and state governments operate on a 5-year purchasing schedule for infrastructure upgrades, and NG9-1-1 transitions are no exception.”
Incompas urged the FCC on Friday to release an NPRM establishing a “clear” clock for permit reviews, create safe harbor fees “based on actual costs,” prohibit discrimination between providers and require transparency for all permitting requirements. The group filed comments in docket 25-253 in response to a notice of inquiry on streamlining wireline rules (see 2511180033).
The National Sheriffs’ Association asked the FCC to delay the deadline for comments on an NPRM on incarcerated people’s communications services rules (see 2512160009).
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on Thursday extended for six months, through June 18, the conditional certification of Global Caption and Nagish to serve as IP captioned telephone service providers supported by the telecommunications relay services fund. The companies were given two-year conditional certifications in 2024, which were set to expire in January (see 2401040069).
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation filed comments Wednesday supporting an FCC proposal to forbear from enforcing incumbent interconnection obligations specific to local exchange carriers. Initial comments the agency's IP interconnection NPRM, approved by commissioners in October (see 2510280024), are due Jan. 5 in docket 25-304.
The percentage of U.S. broadband subscribers getting service via fiber will likely surpass the percentage using cable modems in 2028 or thereabouts, said Mike Render, CEO of RVA, a market research and consulting firm, during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar Wednesday. Fiber “is winning wherever it's available.”
The United Church of Christ's Media Justice Ministry asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the FCC’s recent controversial changes to rules for incarcerated people's communications services, which commissioners approved 2-1 in October (see 2510280045). UCC seeks review on the grounds that the latest order is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise contrary to law within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act.”
The FCC Office of International Affairs has signed off on Google subsidiary Starfish Infrastructure's planned Bulikula submarine cable system, which will connect Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Hawaii to Fiji and French Polynesia. Starfish applied for approval 13 months ago (see 2411180002). In a public notice last week, the FCC said the subsea system license was granted with routine conditions.