Two telcos didn't meet all deployment requirements for having gotten USF money from the federal government, they reported Thursday. That drew concern from some state officials.
The FCC gave Frontier Communications waiver of rules requiring Connect America Fund phase II recipients to deploy broadband to 80 percent of locations in a winning bid by Dec. 31, 2019, in an order in docket 10-90 and in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The Wireline Bureau found "good cause to waive its interim milestone deadline" and support reductions for missing it. The telco missed deadlines due to a dispute with the Navajo Nation over right-of-way agreements in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. "We expect Frontier will continue to work diligently to reach a resolution on this issue with both [the Bureau of Indian Affairs] and the Navajo Nation and anticipate that the locations in question here will be served" in 2020, staff said.
The FCC gave Frontier Communications waiver of rules requiring Connect America Fund phase II recipients to deploy broadband to 80 percent of locations in a winning bid by Dec. 31, 2019, in an order in docket 10-90 and in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The Wireline Bureau found "good cause to waive its interim milestone deadline" and support reductions for missing it. The telco missed deadlines due to a dispute with the Navajo Nation over right-of-way agreements in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. "We expect Frontier will continue to work diligently to reach a resolution on this issue with both [the Bureau of Indian Affairs] and the Navajo Nation and anticipate that the locations in question here will be served" in 2020, staff said.
Frontier Communications and its Navajo Communications can't negotiate rights-of-way agreements that the Bureau of Indian Affairs told them they need to deploy fiber on Navajo land, the companies petitioned the FCC in docket 10-90, posted Friday. Frontier asks for a waiver of obligations to meet 80 percent broadband deployment obligations for 2019 in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah under the USF Connect American Fund II program. The Navajo Nation didn't comment.
States are still deciding if they should join New York and nine other AGs suing to stop T-Mobile from buying Sprint, AG offices told us this week. Completing the deal could depend on the state case, unless a global settlement satisfies everyone involved, said Pennsylvania State University law professor Susan Beth Farmer. A pre-trial status conference scheduled Friday in New York is expected to be for scheduling purposes, and the court probably won't decide then on a preliminary injunction, said a spokesperson for New York AG Letitia James (D). The lawsuit was filed at U.S. District Court for the Southern District (see 1906140041).
Alaska Communications Systems asked the FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. to fix problems with updating broadband deployment data in USAC's high cost universal broadband (HUBB) system. Noting it discovered inaccurate data it previously certified, ACS said it's now able to more precisely identify the locations to which it has deployed services through Connect America Fund Phase II support. "ACS is unable to modify the location identification coordinates or remove locations in the HUBB -- the system does not permit these updates," filed ACS, posted Monday in docket 10-90, attaching updated location data as part of a certification requirement. "The HUBB system allows manual edits to address locations but not deleting or updating the geo-coding information," the telco said, noting USAC personnel must handle certain edits and some corrections must be uploaded one location at a time. ACS understands other carriers had similar problems. "We are aware of the carrier’s complaints about the HUBB system, and are working to make certain modifications while maintaining the integrity of the data," an FCC spokesperson emailed. Friday, Frontier Communications told the FCC that further review showed the telco was in compliance with a 60 percent CAF II deployment milestone in Nebraska and New Mexico but fell just short in Arizona and Ohio. "Frontier reached more than 57% of its target in both states and thus does not trigger the Commission's non-compliance measures," the company said, noting a rule saying "a shortfall of less than 5% of locations for a given interim milestone should not be a concern warranting additional monitoring."
Alaska Communications Systems asked the FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. to fix problems with updating broadband deployment data in USAC's high cost universal broadband (HUBB) system. Noting it discovered inaccurate data it previously certified, ACS said it's now able to more precisely identify the locations to which it has deployed services through Connect America Fund Phase II support. "ACS is unable to modify the location identification coordinates or remove locations in the HUBB -- the system does not permit these updates," filed ACS, posted Monday in docket 10-90, attaching updated location data as part of a certification requirement. "The HUBB system allows manual edits to address locations but not deleting or updating the geo-coding information," the telco said, noting USAC personnel must handle certain edits and some corrections must be uploaded one location at a time. ACS understands other carriers had similar problems. "We are aware of the carrier’s complaints about the HUBB system, and are working to make certain modifications while maintaining the integrity of the data," an FCC spokesperson emailed. Friday, Frontier Communications told the FCC that further review showed the telco was in compliance with a 60 percent CAF II deployment milestone in Nebraska and New Mexico but fell just short in Arizona and Ohio. "Frontier reached more than 57% of its target in both states and thus does not trigger the Commission's non-compliance measures," the company said, noting a rule saying "a shortfall of less than 5% of locations for a given interim milestone should not be a concern warranting additional monitoring."
BMI appoints Michael Collins, from Mehlman Castagnetti, vice president-government relations ... FirstNet names Flynn Rico-Johnson, ex-office of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to government affairs team ... Disney promotes Russell Wolff to executive vice president-general manager of its ESPN Plus direct-to-consumer video service ... Cinedigm names Bill Sondheim president-worldwide distribution; he remains president, Cinedigm Entertainment Group.
BMI appoints Michael Collins, from Mehlman Castagnetti, vice president-government relations ... Buchanan & Edwards taps Cal Shintani, ex-HighPoint Global, as chief growth officer ... Disney promotes Russell Wolff to executive vice president-general manager of its ESPN Plus direct-to-consumer video service ... Cinedigm names Bill Sondheim president-worldwide distribution; he remains president, Cinedigm Entertainment Group ... President Donald Trump to nominate Joseph Cuffari, office of Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), as homeland security inspector general.
Frontier is ahead of schedule deploying rural broadband in eight more states, the carrier said in a Monday news release. Frontier said it exceeded the FCC Connect America Fund requirement to deploy to 40 percent of eligible locations by year-end 2017 in Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Earlier this year, Frontier reached 40 percent in Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington and West Virginia, it said.