Citing “serious flaws” in the rates database for the FCC’s rural healthcare telecom program, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday the agency is fixing the issue "for good" (see 2301230045). Commissioners during their open meeting adopted an order on reconsideration and NPRM on streamlining and improving the program's funding mechanism. Commissioners also denied several petitions for reconsideration as moot. Also approved 4-0 was an NPRM about extending 911-like outage reporting requirements to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The FCC will consider an item to help domestic violence survivors get access to "safe and affordable connectivity" during the commissioners' Feb. 16 open meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote in a Wednesday note (see 2208190056). Rosenworcel will meet with My Sister's Place, a shelter in Washington, D.C., next week to "help to ensure these ongoing efforts are informed by the experiences of domestic violence survivors and the organizations that serve them," she said. Rosenworcel said commissioners will consider proposed rules under the Safe Connections Act, including rules to "help survivors separate service lines from accounts that include their abusers, protect the privacy of calls made by survivors to domestic abuse hotlines, and support survivors who suffer from financial hardship access our Lifeline and affordable connectivity programs" (see 2212070055). Also on the agenda is an item seeking comment on ways to improve a pilot program aimed at increasing tribal library enrollment in the E-rate program (see 2210200046). "Libraries are a vital source of internet access across Indian country," Rosenworcel said. Commissioners will also consider an adjudicatory matter from the Media Bureau.
GAO recommends several improvements to performance metrics, outreach efforts and fraud prevention efforts for the FCC's affordable connectivity program. GAO said Wednesday that ACP goals and measures "lack specificity and clearly defined targets, raising questions about how effective these goals and measures will be at helping FCC gauge the program's achievements and identify improvements." It said translations of ACP outreach materials varied in quality. GAO said the commission did a fraud risk assessment, but it hasn't developed an anti-fraud strategy to address identified risks or a process to do such risk assessments regularly. The GAO's nine recommendations include revising the language translation process through incorporating revision and quality assurance steps and the Office of the Managing Director developing and implementing a process for regular fraud risk assessments. The FCC didn't comment.
Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley (D) said Thursday he's running for state governor this year, setting him up for a potential challenge to incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. Presley has been active on telecom policy since joining the PSC in 2008, including raising concerns last year about potential provider abuse in the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (see 2201250028). As NARUC president November 2019 through November 2020, he was active in prodding Congress to allocate significant funding in COVID-19 aid bills for increasing broadband buildouts (see 2003260063). He asked Congress to speed disbursing funds from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction (see 2005280048). Presley also sharply criticized language in two 2020 bills in Congress that omitted a requirement that companies be designated eligible telecom carriers to qualify for proposed broadband funding (see 2009150070). Presley cited his work on the PSC Thursday, saying in a campaign launch video he “brought high speed internet service all the way out … to some of the most rural and forgotten places in our state.” House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., endorsed Presley.
An FCC order establishing a data collection for the affordable connectivity program takes effect Feb. 13, said a notice for Friday's Federal Register. Commissioners adopted the item in November (see 2211230074).
Procedural concerns could complicate a case at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a New York law requiring affordable broadband. At oral argument Thursday in Manhattan, Judge Richard Sullivan grilled parties on a procedural maneuver they used to move the case to the 2nd Circuit from the trial court. Sullivan asked New York’s attorney tough questions on the state’s argument that its law isn’t preempted.
The FCC Wireline Bureau clarified that participation in the affordable connectivity program's Your Home, Your Internet pilot program by nongovernmental entities "must be in partnership with a federal government entity or a state, local, or tribal housing entity" in response to an inquiry from the Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future. Organizations with existing partnerships with government agencies are eligible to participate, the bureau said in a letter posted Friday in docket 21-450, although the government entity must certify and submit the applications. The bureau also declined to extend the application deadline, citing the FCC's "goal of initiating our pilot programs and grant-funded outreach efforts as soon as possible."
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau encouraged potential applicants to submit applications for the affordable connectivity program's outreach grants by Monday at 11:59 p.m. EST (see 2211220067). Late applications won't be accepted, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 21-450. The bureau also reminded potential applicants that the deadline to submit applications for the ACP navigator and Your Home, Your Internet pilot programs are due by Monday at 9 p.m. EST.
USTelecom asked Congress to "stay closely engaged" with the Biden administration and states to ensure broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act results in "maximum program effectiveness," in a letter Tuesday. The group is seeking legislation to "help ensure timely infrastructure permitting" and "appropriate oversight" of grant recipients. It also asked that the FCC's affordable connectivity program be made permanent: "While most customers enjoy faster speeds and lower broadband prices, those struggling financially need additional assistance." Congress should work with the FCC to expand the contribution base for the USF, USTelecom added, noting edge providers and platforms are "the greatest beneficiaries of high-speed networks." The group also sought action on public-private cybersecurity partnerships, privacy protections and eliminating the tax on federal broadband grants.
Broadband experts and industry officials encouraged property owners and providers Wednesday to develop partnerships to meet the connectivity needs for residents in multidwelling units. Panelists during a Broadband Breakfast webinar cited challenges of deploying broadband in MDUs, including retrofitting older buildings, and encouraged stakeholders to consider various technological solutions.