Republicans appear poised to comfort broadband providers at the expense of local authorities and their communities, under broadband infrastructure rulemakings up for vote at this week’s FCC meeting, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Tuesday. In a live-streamed keynote at the New Century Cities Digital Southwest event, Clyburn also urged majority commissioners not to punish the poor as they seek to rework Lifeline and promote zero rated and sponsored data plans.
Sandwich Isles Communications objected to disclosure of any information it filed with the FCC or Universal Service Administrative Co. on a USAC audit until SIC's pending request to revise a protective order is resolved (see 1703220043) and a "legally-compliant protective order" is in place. SIC didn't object to the intent of the existing protective order or the inclusion of many documents in the record, but had concerns about the scope of the safeguards and the process for handling objections to the disclosure of particular documents, said a filing posted Friday in docket 10-90. The carrier said AT&T, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, National Exchange Carrier Association and Hawaiian Telcom made filings acknowledging the confidentiality protections under the order, but only the DHHL is a "legitimate interested party." SIC said it gave counsel for DHHL and AT&T unredacted copies of the May 13, 2016, USAC audit report and the firm's response subject to the terms of the protective order despite its "fatal problems." The FCC in December hit SIC with $77 million in repayment duties and proposed fines for violations and apparently violation of the USF high-cost program (see 1612060032). In February, the agency sought comment on why it shouldn't move to revoke the carrier's authorizations (see 1702140063).
It’s unfair to charge voice customers for broadband networks, but not guarantee voice services will be provided, said Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Crystal Rhoades Wednesday. On a webinar hosted by the National Regulatory Research Institute, Rhoades urged a revamp of USF contribution that includes broadband assessments. “We have to stop pretending that voice and broadband are separate things,” she said. “Ignoring the fact that we cannot build the network that we need without the inclusion of an assessment on broadband is almost delusional.” Competitive Carriers Association General Counsel Rebecca Thompson and NTCA Senior Vice President-Policy Mike Romano agreed. Not including broadband in the contribution base is “a disaster waiting to happen,” Romano said. The FCC has been mulling a contribution overhaul for more than 15 years, but politics remains a barrier to action, said ex-Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey, now a consultant. Congress must be convinced it’s not taxing the internet to assess contributions on broadband, she said. But USTelecom Senior Vice President-Law and Policy Jonathan Banks said it’s forward-looking to fund broadband networks rather than voice lines. It’s important to take another look at USF contribution, but first there’s more work to do on the Connect America Fund, he said: “It’s important to keep our eye on the ball of getting current stuff done.”
Qualifying USF rural healthcare demand of $275 million exceeded available funding of $254 million for the filing window of Sept. 1-Nov. 30, said a Universal Service Administrative Co. release Monday. Recipients will thus receive a pro-rata percentage of 92.5 percent of their qualifying requests. The FCC capped the rural healthcare annual budget at $400 million, and qualified recipients got $133 million in a previous window for funding year 2016 (there is also about $13 million in administrative expenses). The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition "appreciates the difficult position" USAC faced because "for the first time, demand for RHC program funding" exceeded the cap, said John Windhausen, SHLB executive director, in a statement. "Unfortunately, this will mean that many rural health centers will be forced to pay more to maintain their existing telemedicine connections, and some of these clinics may be forced off the network altogether, which jeopardizes the quality of health care delivered to rural America. This funding crisis points to the need for comprehensive reform of the RHC program, which the SHLB Coalition requested in its Petition for Rulemaking filed in December 2015," he said, citing RHC as the only USF program that "has not been fully reformed."
Citing USF funding issues, 56 senators urged the FCC to "consider any changes" needed to ensure affordable broadband is made available in high-cost rural areas. "We are still hearing frustration about the prices for and the availability of standalone broadband," said a letter Tuesday to commissioners, spearheaded by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Millions of rural Americans still don't have affordable stand-alone broadband "due to insufficient USF support," despite 2016 FCC changes, they wrote. "[T]he limited USF budget also reduced the amount of funding available to carriers electing new 'model-based' USF support, resulting in tens of thousands of rural consumers receiving slower broadband speeds than intended by the model or not gaining access to broadband at all. We are concerned that the lack of sufficient resources in the reformed High-Cost mechanism may be undermining the desired effect of the reforms and falling short of the statutory mandate that reasonably comparable services at reasonably comparable rates be available to rural and urban Americans alike." NTCA commended the senators, in a release. “We are deeply grateful to Senators Fischer and Klobuchar, and the many other members of the Senate representing more than half of the chamber, for their leadership in encouraging the FCC to ensure this program continues to be an effective linchpin of our country’s efforts to deploy and sustain advanced, affordable communications in rural communities,” NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said. “This letter demonstrates a consistent and enduring commitment on the part of Congress to make sure that ongoing reforms to the USF are done right.”
The FCC asked a court to resume its review of AT&T and CenturyLink challenges to 2014 and 2015 orders granting ILECs only partial forbearance from telecom regulations that left them subject to unsubsidized USF voice obligations. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Feb. 7 granted an FCC request to hold the case in abeyance while the agency's new leadership considered its course (see 1702070026). "The Commission has now decided to proceed with this litigation. The FCC therefore respectfully moves the Court to remove these cases from abeyance, and to proceed with scheduling argument at the Court’s convenience," said an FCC motion (in Pacer) to the court Friday in AT&T; CenturyLink v. FCC (No. 15-1038).
President Donald Trump’s “bold, broad view of infrastructure” includes broadband, a White House spokesman told us Thursday. The official declined to say whether any broadband funding in Trump’s much-discussed $1 trillion infrastructure plan would be funneled to FCC USF or other programs. The White House previously said it was considering broadband for its infrastructure package (see 1702230059), and bicameral and bipartisan congressional pressure all year pushed the White House to make broadband a priority.
Broadband infrastructure legislation has strong prospects, with the 2018 election conducive to passage, said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield in an interview for C-SPAN's The Communicators to be televised soon (here). Recognizing that securing additional rural USF support from the FCC is difficult, she said she remains hopeful and believes broadband infrastructure legislation could help fill the funding need. She said the broadband net neutrality dispute gives lawmakers a hook to pursue a Communications Act rewrite but it's a heavy lift.
FCC staff denied Critical Alert Systems' request to review an audit decision by the Universal Service Administrative Co. that said CAS didn't accurately report certain revenue on its 2009 Form 499-A filing. USAC said CAS didn't provide "sufficient documentation or any other information to support the allocation of its interstate paging revenues for universal service contribution purposes," said a Wireline Bureau order Monday in docket 06-122. CAS, formerly NEP, reported interstate telecom revenue well below a "safe harbor percentage" exempting paging providers from making USF contributions, but a USAC audit determined in 2012 the company didn't provide enough support for its revenue claims, and the bureau upheld that decision. A CAS spokesman said the company recently sold its paging assets to American Messaging Services. We couldn't reach AMS for comment.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced a Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force to spearhead implementation of two planned reverse auctions of USF subsidies that were the subject of orders adopted Feb. 23 (see 1702230019 and 1702230042). The Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF II) auction will offer almost $2 billion in support for fixed broadband providers to connect customers, and the Mobility Fund II (MF-II) auction will offer $4.5 billion to expand 4G LTE mobile coverage -- both over 10 years -- said a commission release Monday. Pai named from within the agency Chelsea Fallon task force director, and Michael Janson and Kirk Burgee deputy directors. Thom Parisi will be chief of staff of the task force, which will draw on senior staffers from across the commission. The FCC is moving "aggressively to close the digital divide" and the task force "will help ensure that taxpayer funds are allocated efficiently for rural broadband deployment and that all Americans who want Internet access are able to get it," said Pai. Beginning the auctions "as soon as possible is a top priority," he added.