The USF contribution factor for Q4 will rise from 24.4 percent to 25.1 percent, the highest in the history of the USF, consultant Billy Jack Gregg emailed Friday. He said the Universal Service Administration Co. projected revenue of $11 billion for the quarter, about $466 million lower than the previous quarter, and the lowest quarterly revenue ever. Quarterly demand was projected at $2 billion. The FCC announced the last quarterly contribution factor in mid-June in docket 96-45 (see 1906130014).
Comments are due Sept. 30, replies Oct. 15 on a National Exchange Carrier Association-proposed USF-related formula on high-cost loop support, said the FCC Wireline Bureau in Friday's Daily Digest and on docket 05-337. The formula helps determine average USF payments, and if OK'd takes effect Jan. 1 for all of 2020. NECA submitted the plan earlier in the week.
Broaden the definition of healthcare providers, allow funding for remote monitoring and medical body area network devices (MBAN), and make the program available in a wide geographic area. Those are among recommendations for the FCC pilot USF pilot to support connected care for the poor and veterans. Comments posted through Friday docket 18-213 for the three-year, $100 million program (see 1907100073).
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner Andrew Place shares stakeholder worries from initial comments to the FCC NPRM on capping the USF at $11.42 billion. The “hard cap” could reduce "needed support for the continuous deployment of broadband access networks and services," he replied in docket 06-122, on his behalf and not the PUC's. It could "create an artificial and unnecessary competition for funding resources between the constituent programs," he said. Place noted the FCC's plan came without "finalizing its long-standing proceeding on the reform of the federal USF contribution base and methodology in conjunction with the corresponding referral to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service." Other replies posted earlier this week raised similar points (see 1908270053).
State regulators found much to like in what little they know about coming FCC Lifeline changes, when we surveyed all NARUC Telecom Committee members this and last week. All respondents are happy their federal counterparts appear poised to clarify states can continue being the ones to decide whether telecom providers can be designated as eligible for the USF program for the poor. Many like the idea of the Universal Service Administrative Co. sharing more information. An FCC "backgrounder" given to news media said that would boost "transparency with states to improve oversight of the Lifeline program, including by directing USAC to share information regarding suspicious activity with state officials."
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants nominations by Oct. 28 to replace six Universal Service Administration Co. board members, it said in docket 97-21 and Wednesday's Daily Digest. Board members will serve a three-year term. Current members are Robert Bocher, consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, representing libraries eligible for USF discounts; Beth Choroser, Comcast vice president-regulatory affairs, representing cable operators; Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, representing schools eligible for USF discounts; Matt Gerst, CTIA director-regulatory affairs, representing commercial radio service providers; former Tennessee Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Kinser, representing state consumer advocates; and Joel Lubin, a consultant for AT&T, representing ILECs.
Byte Networking got 90-day extension to file certain USF requests, after the unexpected death of its owner, per an FCC Wireline Bureau order in docket 02-6 and in Wednesday's Daily Digest. Another order granted waiver and a 90-day extension to Sunesys for a missed E-rate invoice deadline due to extraordinary circumstances.
Several 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls' recent proposals for broadband funding “suggest that [the issue] will be in their 2020 platform, likely as part of a larger infrastructure bill,” said Cowen’s Paul Gallant Wednesday. Seven candidates propose substantial broadband funding plans, ranging from a $20 billion proposal by former Vice President Joe Biden to a $150 billion one from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would require “Big Tech companies to pay into" USF (see 1908220061). “Unlike existing federal subsidies to commercial ISPs, this new funding would only be available to local governments, co-ops and nonprofits,” Gallant emailed investors. The communications sector hoped for more appetite for infrastructure legislation this year because Democrats regained the majority in the House in the 2018 election (see 1811130011). But talks between President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders on a potential infrastructure package broke down in May (see 1905220076). Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg “also say government-funded networks are needed where existing broadband is slow or too expensive,” Gallant said. Enactment of an infrastructure bill with broadband funding “is likely if Democrats control any two of the White House/Senate/House post-2020 election,” the analyst said. Consideration of broadband funding with a majority-Democratic Congress or Democratic president is likely to include a debate over “possible” pre-emption of state-level restrictions on municipal broadband, he said. Warren proposed pre-emption (see 1908090040) along the lines of the FCC's 2015 grant of petitions to overrule North Carolina and Tennessee laws that restrict such projects. The FCC was reversed in court (see 1608290054).
Don’t cap the overall budget for the various USF programs or alter the USF funding mechanism, asked many replies, worried about prioritizing funds over one another. At least one reply favored halting the fund’s growth at 2018 levels. Replies posted through Tuesday in FCC docket 06-122.
2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., proposed $150 billion of grants and “technical assistance” for broadband deployments as part of a larger “Green New Deal” platform his campaign released Thursday. Six other 2020 Democratic candidates have proposed substantial broadband funding plans, including an $85 billion plan from Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (see 1908070070). Washington Gov. Jay Inslee proposed $80 billion in broadband funding and requiring “Big Tech companies to pay into" USF as part of a rural economic policy plan Wednesday (see 1908210055), hours before he said he's suspending his campaign. Sanders said his proposed funding will go to “municipalities and states to build publicly owned and democratically controlled, co-operative, or open access broadband networks. This communications infrastructure will ensure first responders and communities are ready to deal with the worst climate emergencies.” Sanders’ platform also calls for requiring all public housing to include “high-speed” broadband access and for broadband projects to be eligible for an interagency Commerce Department-led “targeted economic development funding to ensure job creation in the same communities that will feel the impact of the [platform] most.”