Charter Communications, like Comcast (see 2207280035), saw its broadband growth slow to a halt between Q1 and Q2. Charter ended Q2 with 28.26 million residential broadband subscribers -- up 54,000 year over year but roughly flat from the previous quarter. The sputtering growth had some analysts bearish. The two companies' broadband news "had a decidedly 'end of an era' feel," MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett wrote investors.
The National Lifeline Association condemned a proposed decision by the California Public Utilities Commission to reduce California LifeLine subsidies when total federal monthly support applied to a LifeLine plan is more than $9.25. The CPUC may vote on the proposal at its Aug. 25 meeting (see 2207070048). The CPUC should reject the draft “and instead adopt an order that respects and empowers those needing vital broadband access by enabling them to combine California LifeLine, federal Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) benefits so that they may choose more robust service plans that are only made affordable through the combination of these benefits,” NaLA commented Wednesday in docket R.20-02-008. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires ACP providers to let households apply ACP to any internet service offered by providers, said the association: Under the draft, an ACP discount couldn’t be applied to a wireless service. CalTel and other small RLECs raised concerns that the proposal “overlooks the circumstances of rural providers.” The proposal’s “categorical exclusion of the [specific service amount] from plans that receive $25.48 in federal support is unsupported by the record and contrary to public policy,” they said. The CPUC proposal got support from The Utility Reform Network and Center for Accessible Technology, which jointly commented that the draft “discourages a profit windfall but facilitates robust plans for LifeLine subscribers.” The proposal doesn’t affect providers’ ability to comply with the FCC’s ACP order, the consumer groups said.
The Michigan Public Service Commission is preparing for telcos to opt out of the state Lifeline program later this year due to a 2020 state law. Providers may give customers 90 days' notice starting Aug. 30. “There’s always worries” about customers who may be using the state discount, but the number of customers receiving the discount is “very small and continuing to diminish pretty drastically,” and getting people enrolled in the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (ACP) could have bigger impact, Commissioner Tremaine Phillips told us last week at the NARUC meeting in San Diego.
Industry groups asked the FCC to streamline its rules for its annual data collection of subscription rates and plans offered through the affordable connectivity program (ACP). Some said the FCC should rely on the forthcoming broadband consumer labels and raised privacy concerns if data is collected at the subscriber level in comments posted Tuesday in docket 21-450.
Vice President Kamala Harris praised the FCC’s affordable connectivity program during an event Thursday in Charlotte and urged more people to enroll. NARUC passed a resolution Wednesday seeking more connections between the national verifier and state databases and urging state and federal agencies to collaborate on more outreach (see 2207200008). “We created this program because we know when we connect folks with high-speed internet, it is also a connection to opportunity … to live a healthier, happier and more prosperous life and importantly more affordable lives every month,” Harris said. ACP “saves working families over” $250 million. “About 13 million people are enrolled and these are students who can now study at their kitchen table instead of in the parking lot of a local fast-food restaurant, which is what so many of our students did, especially during the height of the” COVID-19 pandemic," she said: “The people who will benefit include parents who used to rely on their cellphone data plan to connect the whole family, which can be incredibly expensive. And now those families can stream and search and study on Wi-Fi” for free. “We need state and local governments to drive enrollment every way they know how” and “I know that” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) “is already hard at work on this front,” Harris said.
SAN DIEGO -- State utility regulators passed a resolution meant to increase affordable connectivity program (ACP) enrollment. The NARUC board adopted the resolution Wednesday after it cleared the Telecom Committee in a unanimous vote Tuesday at the association’s summer meeting. Intensifying economic factors make programs like ACP critical, said committee Chairman Tremaine Phillips in an interview.
The North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s Broadband Infrastructure Office awarded more than $23.4 million through its Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology program, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced Monday (see 2009140034). Applications were scored based on the number of households and businesses that would be served, a commitment to provide speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps scalable to 100 Mbps symmetrical by the end of 2026, and participation in the FCC's affordable connectivity program. Spectrum, Windstream and Brightspeed were among the winning applicants. The department is awarding the grants "on a rolling basis throughout July and August to expedite the distribution of all these critical funds," said NCDIT Secretary James Weaver.
Minor changes were made to an FCC Further NPRM on curbing access stimulation adopted during the agency's July meeting, according to a comparison with the draft (see 2207140055). The FNPRM seeks comment on USTelecom's request to amend the proposed definition of an IP enabled services provider. No changes were made to a notice of inquiry seeking comment on how to improve access to Lifeline and the affordable connectivity program for survivors of domestic or sexual violence.
SAN DIEGO -- The FCC could open its challenge process for new broadband maps in October, said Consumer and Governmental Affairs Chief Alejandro Roark on a Tuesday panel at NARUC’s summer meeting. Utility commissioners must weigh in on state broadband talks even if they’re led by other agencies, said former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on a Monday panel about NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.
Industry disagreed whether the FCC should consider an Alternative Connect America Cost Model (ACAM) Broadband Coalition proposal to extend the program through increased deployment obligations in exchange for additional funding (see 2205190023). Some sought to expand eligibility to carriers receiving other high-cost USF support, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. Others said the FCC should defer new high-cost support until programs funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are completed.