Maine’s phone number conservation efforts are paying off, the Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday. A North American numbering plan administrator's (NANPA) semi-annual review of area code exhaustion dates showed that the state's single area code (207) added 2.5 years to its expected lifespan, the Maine PUC said. The area code is expected to reach exhaustion in 2036. “The Commission is very active in a number of conservation efforts, working with companies to ensure they get the telephone numbers they need, while asking other companies to return numbers they don’t need,” said Chair Philip Bartlett. The Maine PUC is working with telcos, the FCC, NANPA and the North American Numbering Council “on strategies to extend the entire numbering system, not just Maine,” added Bartlett. It wasn’t the first extension for the Maine area code’s exhaustion date. Back in January 2001, the code was expected to expire in 2024.
GCI Communications filed a redacted letter at the FCC on its pursuit of a plan to pay for 5G deployment in Alaska (see 2407230013). GCI and the Brattle Group are developing a model that estimates the incremental cost of providing mobile broadband service to Alaska residents. “The results of the updated model continue to confirm that deploying 5G to all Broadband Serviceable Locations in Alaska at 35/3 Mbps (average) and 7/1 Mbps (edge) by the end of the Alaska Connect Fund term would require substantially more universal service support,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-238.
Q Link Wireless CEO Issa Asad faces years in prison and a fine of more than $100 million after pleading guilty to fraud tied to the FCC’s Lifeline program. Asad also pleaded guilty to money laundering through the COVID-19-era Paycheck Protection Program. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Wednesday welcomed the guilty pleas. Dania Beach, Florida-based Q Link offers coverage throughout the U.S. Asad and Q Link “engaged in multiple tricks designed to mislead the FCC about how many people were actually using Q Link’s Lifeline phones, and to prevent customers who did not want the phones from ending their relationship with Q Link (which would have prevented Q Link from billing the program for them),” said a DOJ news release: “The Defendants manufactured non-existent cellphone activity and engaged in coercive marketing techniques to get people to remain Q Link customers.” Asad admitted that he received approximately $15 million from Q Link as a result of the fraud. Asad’s plea agreement includes a joint recommendation that he serve the statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison on the fraud charge, the DOJ said. The statutory maximum sentence on the money laundering charge is 10 years. “Asad’s exact sentence will be determined by the Court after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors,” DOJ said. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz set a sentencing hearing for Jan. 15. “Deceptive schemes that exploit at-risk communities and manipulate federal support for phone and broadband services should not go unpunished,” Rosenworcel said. Asad and Q Link “purposefully defrauded two critical federal programs helping individuals and businesses suffering financial hardship, unlawfully taking hundreds of millions of dollars for their own use and profit, while obstructing the United States’ ability to help people who, unlike the Defendants, needed it,” said Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Verizon and Frontier this week filed an application at the FCC that would transfer control of the domestic and international Section 214 authority held by wholly owned subsidiaries of Frontier to the acquiring company. As part of the filing, the companies provided a public interest statement, a key document as regulators plow through details of the proposed transaction. The deal faces potential investor headwinds.
Although the regulatory status of broadband is “in flux,” the U.S. Supreme Court shouldn’t further delay New York state’s enforcement of a 2021 affordable broadband law, the state’s Attorney General Letitia James (D) said Tuesday. James submitted briefs in case 24-161 opposing ISP groups’ petition for a writ of certiorari and application seeking a stay of the New York Affordable Broadband Act (ABA). “The equities and the public interest weigh heavily in favor of allowing the ABA -- duly enacted consumer-protection legislation that aids the State’s most vulnerable residents -- to take effect without further delay,” wrote James.
Industry welcomed an FCC proposal aimed at improving the robocall mitigation database's (RMD) accuracy and potential enforcement measures. Commissioners adopted the NPRM in August (see 2408070047). In comments posted in docket 24-213 through Wednesday, some groups disagreed about whether the FCC should impose a filing fee for new and current RMD registrants.
Don't expect major changes soon in the cable franchise fees regime, former cable lawyer Burt Cohen said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. During the event, localities lawyer Cheryl Leanza of Best Best argued localities still must maintain public infrastructure while revenue from cable franchise fees dries up and thus need to target broadband service. Conversely, Jenner & Block's Jessica Ring Amunson, who has represented NCTA, said the law is clear that those franchise fees can be levied on cable service only. Cohen, now Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel broadband policy coordinator, said that while a collaborative understanding of cable local franchise authority regarding fees is needed, "I'm not sure we are there yet."
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr watched the Sunday launch and landing of SpaceX's Starship heavy launch rocket. "A historic day here in Texas. The most powerful rocket ever built. And an extraordinary booster catch back at the pad. Amazing to see," Carr posted Sunday on X along with short video clips.
With OneWeb backing O3b's proposed short-term non-geostationary orbit satellite interference metric, it's the only short-term metric before the FCC to have support from a third party, O3b officials told the offices of Commissioners Nathan Simington and Anna Gomez, according to a docket 21-456 filing Tuesday. O3b said its approach can provide protection for all established NGSO systems, not just its own. O3b representatives told FCC Space Bureau staffers the company would urge that the FCC seek comment on an appropriate short-term interference metric in a Further NPRM, allowing parties to weigh in on different proposals. O3b said the FCC should defer a decision on the appropriate short-term interference metric as that would allow the agency to ensure an adequate record.