Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told us he had a phone call set for later Wednesday or Thursday with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on his concerns about FCC handling of the USF Rural Health Care (RHC) Program that led Sullivan to place a hold on Commissioner Brendan Carr’s reconfirmation to a full five-year term ending in 2023 (see 1809120056). Sullivan worries the FCC's handling of RHC negatively affected Alaska constituents, and says Pai didn't adequately respond (see 1809130059). Sullivan is maintaining his hold but “certainly would hope” the call with Pai results in progress. “I've only been talking to these guys about [RHC] for seven months now,” Sullivan said. The Senate Commerce Committee's August FCC oversight hearing showed the commission is “running a really important program in a haphazard way that nobody seems to understand,” Sullivan said in a late September interview. The FCC didn't comment. Confirmation of Carr and FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks has stalled repeatedly since Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., first tried to fast-track the two in June (see 1808230040).
AT&T and cable providers raised doubts about Oregon Public Utility Commission authority to make interconnected VoIP providers pay into the state USF. The PUC at a teleconferenced workshop Wednesday took feedback on a preliminary proposal in docket AR-615 to require VoIP contribution. The agency is exploring the idea despite a recent 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling -- contested by states -- that VoIP is an information service (see 1809280057). A few other states are also weighing changes.
The Trump administration is exploring ways to restart its infrastructure legislative push after the next Congress begins in January, and the proposal's contours will depend substantially on November's election outcome, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. A shift to a Democratic majority in either chamber would increase pressure on administration officials to include at least some elements of that caucus' infrastructure proposals, most notably dedicated broadband funding, industry officials said. The White House faces potential hurdles, including Democratic resistance to giving Donald Trump a bipartisan legislative win ahead of the 2020 presidential election and GOP appropriations woes.
A coming FCC draft order would extend operations expense relief to more tribal carriers, including Mescalero Apache Telecom and Sacred Wind Communications, said Chairman Ajit Pai. He responded to Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who wrote to support the two carriers' petitions to reconsider (see 1805310032) an April order that allowed tribal-oriented carriers to recover higher opex costs from USF but excluded carriers that had deployed 10/1 Mbps broadband to 90 percent or more of locations (see 1804050028). Pai agrees the relief "did not go far enough" and believes "it was inappropriate to exclude carriers" such as Mescalero and Sacred Wind, which argue their actual deployment levels are below the threshold. "I have directed staff to circulate an order in the near future to fix this mistake," he wrote, hoping colleagues will be supportive. "The letter is very encouraging" because the two carriers "need this relief" and "the sooner the better," emailed consultant Randy Tyree Friday. Tyree, who represents Mescalero and the National Tribal Telecommunications Association, said the entire New Mexico congressional delegation is supportive.
Some parties object to the FCC's plan to require use of a Lifeline national verifier in six states without ensuring an electronic interface for carriers and database access to determine low-income consumer eligibility. Lifeline providers and a NARUC official said the NV's lack of an application programming interface and automated access to key databases will complicate eligibility verification, increasing administrative costs, burdening consumers and undermining enrollment.
Wireless carriers rejected legislative changes to Idaho USF, while rural LECs supported action but asked for more data on possible costs. The Idaho Public Utilities Commission asked in docket GNR-T-17-05 for recommendations for a possible legislative fix for state USF to present to the legislature next year (see 1808240017). Carriers disagree "with the premise that there is any need for changes to the funding mechanism for the IUSF in order to maintain the solvency,” said CTIA Director-State Regulatory Affairs Benjamin Aron in a Thursday letter: "Given the modest levels of the current surcharges there is considerable room to increase surcharge levels to offset the diminishing IUSF contribution base.” If the PUC must recommend legislative changes, it should either follow Washington state and support USF exclusively through general revenue using taxpayer funds, or Montana's “model of trusting the sufficiency of federal universal service support and declining to provide additional state funding,” Aron said. The Idaho Telecom Alliance wants legislative changes but said the state should first convene workshops and PUC staff should estimate costs of implementing various models used by neighboring states. Any device or service that connects to the public switched telephone network should be assessed a USF charge, and any carrier of last resort should be supported, the RLEC group said.
Bipartisan interest in federal broadband funding mechanisms and criticism of FCC coverage data collection practices dominated Thursday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on rural broadband, as expected (see 1810030055). The panel also became a forum for Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and other committee members to tout broadband-related legislation eyed for potential combination into a package bill (see 1807250056).
Alaska’s revenue-based USF surcharge factor would drop 4.5 points to 14.5 percent under a proposal by Alaska Universal Service Administrative Co., the Regulatory Commission of Alaska said Tuesday. It would be effective Jan. 1, on intrastate telecom services, RCA said. “The surcharge is calculated to allow sufficient funding for the AUSF, including carrier of last resort support, carrier common line support, support for local exchange company switching equipment, state Lifeline support, public interest pay telephone support, and AUSAC’s 2019 operating budget.” The commission sought comment by Nov. 1.
Senate Indian Affairs Committee members focused on what they see as deficiencies in FCC practices for determining broadband coverage on tribal lands, during a Wednesday hearing. The hearing examined a September GAO report that said the FCC overstates broadband availability on tribal lands because it considers service available in a census block if a provider can serve at least one location (see 1809100041). A Thursday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on progress in rural broadband deployments is likely to also touch on tribal governments' concerns. But the panel will largely be an overview of the chamber's work in this Congress on encouraging broadband projects in rural areas and is likely to frame Senate Commerce's approach to that issue in 2019, lawmakers and lobbyists told us.
Rep. David Young, R-Iowa, and the three other members of the state's House delegation urged the FCC Monday to increase funding for the USF high-cost program amid concerns it remains “underfunded” in FY 2019. The FCC committed in March to a $540 million infusion to “help address the funding shortfall” in the program, but there remains a need to “set the budget to meet current demand levels and keep pace with inflation going forward” given the high-cost program's funding has remained level since 2011, the House members wrote Pai: “This lack of funding could lead to a shortfall of nearly $11 million” in Iowa, which “will require providers to postpone or cancel broadband investments, reduce the availability of rural broadband and threaten to increase consumer rates on rural areas.” Pai "received the letter and is reviewing it," an FCC spokesman said.