Archtop Fiber closed on its buy of Hancock Telephone, a family-owned telco in New York's Southern Tier region, Archtop said Monday. It said the deal will have it providing telecom services in part of the Southern Tier and northeastern Pennsylvania. The transaction was announced early this year (see 2301050025). The Hancock deal follows Archtop's buy of GTel in New York's Hudson Valley, and Archtop's purchase of Warwick Valley Telephone in New York state is pending regulatory approval.
The FCC approved a new compensation formula for video relay services funded by the Telecom Relay Services Fund Thursday (see 2308310049). VRS is "a vital communications tool that we must support with top-quality interpreting and technology," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The new formula will increase support for services under a two-tier rate structure. Large VRS providers will be compensated $6.27 per minute for the first 1 million minutes handled and $3.92 per minute for any additional minutes. Smaller providers with up to 1 million monthly minutes will be paid $7.77 per minute. Providers using a specialized service for users who are deafblind will be paid an additional 19 cents per minute when that service is used. An accompanying Further NPRM seeks comment on other situations that may warrant additional compensation.
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted Stealth Communications' petition to extend its removal, replacement, and disposal term under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, in an order Friday in docket 18-89. The bureau approved extending Stealth's deadline from Sept. 29 to March 29. Stealth cited supply chain issues in its petition, leaving the company "unable to take specific necessary actions" to complete its process.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau closed its proceeding on AT&T and Verizon's complaint against Wide Voice about access stimulation violations (see 2303090073). The carriers settled their disputes with Wide Voice and informed the commission they don't plan to file supplemental complaints for damages, said a letter posted Friday in docket 20-362.
Don't ban lead generation or take retroactive action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment (REACH) said in a meeting with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks (see 2305180036). The group said the commission's proposal to ban lead generation by "preventing third-parties from obtaining consent for sellers and/or limiting consent forms to a 'one to one' consent model would be devastating to industry." Retroactive liability "for conduct that was legal at the time it was taken would be a disaster," REACH said, per an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 02-278. The group warned "tens of thousands of small businesses would be instantly out of business" if the commission takes such an approach.
OMB approved for three years information collection associated with the FCC's 2023 mandatory data collection for incarcerated people's communications services, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register. Responses to the data collection are still due Oct. 31 (see 2309130056).
Sorenson is negotiating an agreement with GlobalVRS to transfer its remaining default video relay service customers as GlobalVRS exits the VRS market, the company told the FCC in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 03-123. Sorenson sought a waiver of the requirement that it provide a 30-day notice to customers still using GlobalVRS as their default provider, saying GlobalVRS "provided multiple notices to its remaining customers" and strict compliance with this rule could cause a gap in service for some users. The provider also noted it filed a second petition seeking a four-month waiver of the "first come, first served" rule so DeafBlind VRS users' calls can be routed to "the next available video interpreter who has the required equipment and is qualified and ready to offer DeafBlind VRS."
NTCA asked the FCC to reconsider parts of its July order establishing an enhanced alternative connect America cost model (ACAM) program, saying "greater clarity and resolution" would "help promote informed election of the offers by a greater number of potential recipients" (see 2307240064). The group asked in a petition for reconsideration Monday that the commission reconsider how it validates information in the broadband data collection and broadband availability map when "determining whether a given entity in fact qualifies as an unsubsidized competitor." It also asked that enhanced ACAM recipients be given a "limited opportunity to rescind its election" if its support amount "drops by a material amount due to subsequent findings" and to align deployment time frames with NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program.
Iconectiv told the FCC it "remains neutral" since its parent company Ericsson acquired Vonage last year. The company, which is currently the local number portability administrator (LNPA), said it was also "prepared to discuss enhanced requirements that could be put in place" should the commission determine "additional reassurance" was necessary in a meeting with Wireline Bureau and Office of General Counsel staff, per an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 95-116. Somos asked the FCC to refer iconectiv's request to confirm it still meets LNPA neutrality requirements last year (see 2202080085).
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Wednesday denied a petition from a coalition of providers seeking a waiver of rules requiring facilities-based small voice service to fully implement Stir/Shaken in the IP portions of their networks. The providers sought various extensions from 30 to 60 days. All IP-based providers were required to comply with the rule by June 30 (see 2306300041). Petitioners didn't show there were "insufficient periods of time to complete the necessary tasks or that the reasons they cite for failing to timely comply were unique or unforeseeable," the bureau said in an order in docket 17-97.