The House began considering amendments to the Democrats’ Moving Forward Act infrastructure legislative package (HR-2) Tuesday, including 10 on broadband. The underlying measure contains $100 billion in broadband funding, with $9 billion for a Broadband Connectivity Fund to give eligible households an “additional broadband benefit” and $5 billion for E-rate. It also includes $12 billion for next-generation 911 (see 2006180062). House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina and other Democrats pushed for the measure's adoption. Republicans argued it's a purely partisan measure that has no chance of making it through the Senate or getting support from President Donald Trump.

The end of the FCC's Keep Americans Connected (KAC) pledge -- which was to have expired Tuesday -- won't necessarily mean a universal end of ISPs offering a safety net of modified broadband subscriber terms during the pandemic, companies and consumer advocates told us. They expect a patchwork response of a rollback of some terms and more emphasis on setting up payment plans. Resumption of data caps is expected, as reported in a previous installment in this series of stories about the novel coronavirus (see 2006180002).

Wireline, VoIP and mobile phone providers are using a "substantial" variety of proprietary and third-party tools to block unwanted robocalls, the FCC reported Thursday after taking comments. The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau didn't hear of "any instances in which their programs have blocked an emergency call, or a call-back from a Public Safety Access Point to a caller who dialed 911," it said.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai laid out a busy agenda for commissioners’ July 16 meeting. It tentatively includes (see 2006240044) an order addressing supply chain security and equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE, and an update of vertical location accuracy rules for wireless calls to 911. Commissioners will also consider broadband mapping, call blocking technology and emergency calling rules. Also on the agenda is the draft order establishing 988 for a nationwide three-digit suicide hotline and giving carriers a July 2022 deadline for implementation (see 2006230022). FCC members would vote on changing the cable leased access rate formula.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment by July 8 in docket 20-183 on last week’s T-Mobile outage (see 2006180047). The bureau “is conducting an investigation into this outage given the large area affected and the critical importance of dependable and resilient 911 service throughout the United States,” the Tuesday notice said: “To permit a thorough and accurate analysis of this outage, the Bureau … invites interested parties to provide all relevant information concerning the causes, effects, and implications of this outage.” T-Mobile didn’t comment Tuesday. Its officials attributed the problem to a fiber outage.

The FCC will consider rules for the vertical location accuracy of wireless calls to 911 and broadband mapping at commissioners’ July 16 meeting, as expected; see here. Also on the tentative agenda, an order addressing supply chain security and equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone of New Jersey and other Democratic leaders released the Moving Forward Act infrastructure legislative package Monday, as expected (see 2006180062). HR-2 includes $100 billion in broadband funding, including $12 billion for next-generation 911. It would allocate $9 billion for a Broadband Connectivity Fund to give eligible households “additional broadband benefit” and $5 billion for E-rate. The broadband language reflects the House-passed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (Heroes) Act (HR-6800) and other proposals (see 2006160049). The measure allocates $5 billion for a proposed NTIA program for communities and public-private partnerships, reflecting the Broadband Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (HR-4127). Digital equity investments mirrors a proposal in the Digital Equity Act (HR-4486/S-1167). There's also language from the House-passed Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Business Resources, Opportunities, Access and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand (Access Broadband) Act. HR-1328/S-1046 would establish an NTIA Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (see 1905080081). The bill has a provision resembling HR-1693, for Wi-Fi equipment on school buses to be E-rate eligible. HR-2 also reflects the Closing the Homework Gap Through Mobile Hotspots Act (HR-5243). It's "a comprehensive plan to close the digital divide,” said Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff.

The FCC is expected to consider vertical location accuracy for wireless calls to 911, and something on the digital opportunity data collection at the July 16 commissioners’ meeting, agency and industry officials said. Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to release a blog post on the meeting Wednesday, with drafts the following day.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and top lawmakers weighed in Thursday and Friday with additional broadband legislative proposals aimed at tying into COVID-19 aid legislation and broader infrastructure measures. House Democratic leaders announced plans Thursday to merge existing proposals into a $1.5 trillion Moving Forward Act infrastructure measure that would include $100 billion for broadband (see 2006180062). President Donald Trump’s administration is believed to be preparing a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that will have funding for 5G infrastructure and rural broadband deployments (see 2006160049).

While most associations have dropped plans for in-person summer conferences due to COVID-19, APCO is forging ahead with plans to meet Aug. 2-5 in Orlando. It's even offering a $100 credit to attendees, to be used at next year's conference. Infection rates are on the rise in Florida, and experts warned against holding the conference live.