Chairman Ajit Pai said when people call 911, they need to be able to get through and the FCC will do what it must to guarantee that occurs. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC must do a complete report on hurricanes Harvey and Irma and communications failures seen in both storms. Both spoke Monday as the FCC marked the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with a workshop on improving situational awareness during 911 outages. It took place as Irma battered parts of the Southeast and as Florida started to deal with the damage inflicted by the massive storm. Public safety answering points and communications towers took a big hit, the FCC reported.
Citing Hurricane Irma, the FCC quickly granted Telrite a temporary Lifeline wavier from the USF program's nonusage and recertification rules for low-income consumers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which felt the effects of the storm this week. Waived for 90 days are sections 54.405(e)(3), 54.405(e)(4), 54.407(c)(2), and 54.410(f) of rules for eligible telecom carriers serving Lifeline subscribers in those areas, said a Wireline Bureau order Thursday in docket 11-42 that partially granted Telrite's emergency petition Wednesday. "Strict compliance with these rules would be impracticable and would risk de-enrollment of Lifeline subscribers in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma." The bureau declined Telrite's request for an indefinite waiver, absent further commission action. On its own motion, the bureau temporarily granted a waiver of number-assignment rules to allow service providers in Florida, Puerto Rico, USVI and any states where states of emergency are declared due to Irma, said an order in docket 95-116 in Thursday's Daily Digest. Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler tweeted, "Hurricane Harvey shows it is time for FCC to improve emergency alerts http://brook.gs/2gKlnYi," linking to a Brookings Institution piece he wrote.
With Utah on the cusp of a state USF overhaul, the Public Service Commission sought comment on how to handle assessment of prepaid wireless services. In a Tuesday request in docket 17-R360-01, the PSC asked which prepaid services are assessable and which should be exempted in the commission’s proposed connections-based USF contribution mechanism. Comments are due Oct. 4. Also, the PSC asked for reply comments by Oct. 17 on possible rule language for Utah USF assessment of prepaid wireless. If the PSC makes a rule, it will file a proposed rule Nov. 1 with the state Division of Administrative Rules to be published Nov. 15 in the Utah State Bulletin, the PSC said. Comments would be due a month later and the rule could take effect Dec. 22, it said.
The FCC invited input on National Exchange Carrier Association-proposed changes to its rural carrier "average schedule" USF high-cost loop support mechanism. Comments are due Oct. 5, replies Oct. 20 on NECA's proposed formula, which if approved would cover 2018, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Tuesday in docket 05-337.
An FCC regulatory fee order includes a hike on direct broadcast satellite providers from 27 cents per subscriber to 38 cents per subscriber this year, as proposed in an NPRM, despite opposition from AT&T's DirecTV and Dish Network (see 1708230015 and 1706230027). The commission said it agreed with cable industry arguments that DBS providers occupy Media Bureau resources "similar" to those used by cable (including IPTV), while it noted a disparity in regulatory fee assessments. The DBS increase is "an effort to bring the regulatory fee closer" to the cable fee, which is now 95 cents per subscriber, said the order and Further NPRM in docket 17-134 released Tuesday to collect $356.7 million in regulatory fees in FY 2017 (see 1709050081). The FCC projected about $22 million (6.2 percent of the allocation) in fees from International Bureau regulatees; $89 million (24.9 percent) in fees from Wireless Bureau regulatees; $116 million (32.4 percent) from Wireline Bureau regulatees; and $130 million (36.5 percent) from Media Bureau regulatees. Industry regulatory fee payments are due Sept. 26, said a public notice. The FCC failed to justify a decision to reassign 38 staff full-time equivalents for non-high-cost USF regulatory activities from the Wireline Bureau to an "indirect" category, "meaning that the cost of these programs will be borne by all Commission licensees," said Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, who partially dissented from the order. He also cited a lack of support for AM/FM changes that reduced fees for small broadcasters, but he "hesitantly" backed the DBS fee increase. The FNPRM sought further comment on the appropriate tiers for calculating terrestrial and satellite international bearer circuit fees raised in the 2016 and 2017 NPRMs, and on the methodology for calculating cable-TV subscribers in multiple dwelling units raised in the 2008 NPRM. Attorneys from law firms blogged on details of the actions, including Davis Wright, Fletcher Heald and Wilkinson Barker.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and other committee members told us Wednesday they Are receptive to calls to delay discussions about a replacement or major overhaul of the Lifeline USF program until the national verifier program instituted in the FCC's 2016 Lifeline overhaul order fully rolls out in 2019. Most witnesses at Commerce's Wednesday Lifeline hearing said Congress should give the FCC a chance to fully implement the 2016 order's provisions. Thune and other committee Republicans also signaled interest in working with Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., on a Lifeline bill if offered.
USF contributions are projected to spike in Q4, from 17.1 percent to 18.8 percent -- a new high -- of carriers' U.S. interstate and international telecom end-user revenue, said industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg in a Friday email. He said the contribution factor hike is due to Universal Service Administrative Co.'s projected drop in the USF revenue base to $13.02 billion -- down $85 million from Q3 and the lowest ever -- combined with a previous projection that USF quarterly demand will be $2.04 billion. The USF revenue base for all of 2017 is projected to be $53.7 billion, down 30 percent since its 2008 peak, and annual USF demand is projected to be $7.9 billion, $848 million lower than in 2016, Gregg wrote. The contribution factor has been trending higher over time.
Supporters and critics of the Lifeline USF program will closely follow a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on issues identified in a critical May GAO report on the program for signs of whether the Senate has a sufficient appetite to pursue legislation to revamp parts of the program, lawyers and lobbyists said in interviews. The hearing and a Sept. 14 Senate Homeland Security Committee one will examine the GAO report, which said the Lifeline program’s management remains deficient despite FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. efforts to improve controls over finances and enrollment by low-income consumers (see 1706290037).
The Senate Homeland Security Committee will hold a Sept. 14 hearing on issues identified in a May GAO report on continued “weaknesses" in the Lifeline USF program's management, as expected (see 1708300051), a committee spokeswoman confirmed Thursday. That will follow a planned Sept. 6 Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the Lifeline issues. GAO said the Lifeline program’s management remains deficient despite FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. efforts to improve controls over finances and enrollment by low-income consumers. The report also identified broader problems in USF contribution system oversight, among other issues (see 1706290037). Senate Homeland Security leaders urged the GAO last month to refer its report to the FCC Enforcement Bureau and Office of Inspector General “for further investigation and possible enforcement action” (see 1708150023). FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has reportedly been invited to testify at the Senate Homeland Security hearing. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 342 Dirksen, the committee said.
Comments and petitions on Cincinnati Bell buying Hawaiian Telcom are due Sept. 28, replies and oppositions to petitions Oct. 13, said the International, Wireless and Wireline bureaus in a public notice in Wednesday's Daily Digest in docket 17-207. "Together with HTI, Cincinnati Bell plans to expand the combined company’s fiber network to both urban and non-urban areas in Hawaii" and they "affirm that HTI will 'continue its progress in deploying broadband in census blocks where HTI receives Connect America Fund Phase II USF support,'" said the PN. Cincinnati Bell last month unveiled plans to buy Hawaiian Telcom and OnX Enterprise Solutions for about $851 million (see 1707100051).