The FCC approved the acquisition of Selectel by Compass Capital and Compass Atlantic from Matthew O'Flaherty, Teri O'Flaherty and Stacy Hergenrader. The commission had postponed action on the transaction after the DOJ and FBI, backed by the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, asked in February for a delay while they reviewed the telco deal on national security, law enforcement and public safety grounds, said a Wireline Bureau notice Thursday in docket 15-8. The executive branch departments/agencies notified the FCC Wednesday they had no objection to the application. The bureau thus granted it. Asked about possible new FCC deadlines in reviews involving the executive branch's "Team Telecom," Chairman Tom Wheeler said Wednesday, "After Team Telecom, we normally act -- bam -- like that" (see 1605250070).

The FCC set a pleading cycle for a bid by several small Midwest telcos to transfer assets among them. Comments are due June 8, replies June 15 on the application from Consolidated Communications (CCI), Consolidated Communications of Iowa Co. (formerly known as Heartland Telecommunications Co.), Crystal Communications, Mutual Telephone Co. of Sioux Center, Iowa, d/b/a Premier Communications (Mutual), Premier Communications and Winnebago Cooperative Telecom Association, said a public notice in docket 16-150 in Thursday's Daily Digest. The companies seek FCC approval under Section 214 of the Communications Act to "(1) transfer control of Heartland from CCI to Mutual; (2) transfer certain assets from Heartland to Winnebago; and (3) transfer certain assets from Crystal to Premier and Winnebago," the PN said. A recent PN sought comment on a related waiver petition from Mutual and Winnebago to break off Heartland's Bancroft and Lakota exchanges to form a new study area for Winnebago, with the remaining Heartland exchanges to be owned by Mutual (see 1605230045).

Rural telcos asked the FCC to reconsider parts of its rate-of-return USF order aimed at helping small carriers maintain and expand broadband service in high-cost areas (see 1603300065). The FCC should address issues of "sufficiency and reasonable comparability," a "cost recovery "black hole" and broadband cost "model election budget issues," among other things, said NTCA in its petition Wednesday in docket 10-90. A WTA email said its petition seeks reconsideration in four areas: "the Commission should reconsider and strengthen its requirements for qualifications as 'unsubsidized competitors' to ensure that customers in affected 'competitive' areas do not suffer loss or degradation of service; the Commission should clarify and expand its rules regarding the treatment of transactions after the ACAM [cost model] and Rate of Return paths are implemented; the Order’s build-out obligations do not consider virtually certain price increases and delays regarding fiber optic cable and construction contractors; and the Order’s benchmark and budgetary controls render it unlikely that retail broadband rates can comply with reasonably comparability ceilings." A Madison Telephone Co. petition asked the FCC to eliminate a “parent trap” rule, which governs high-cost USF support when rural exchanges are sold or transferred.

The FCC said streamlined review of a "study area" waiver petition filed by two rural carriers is inappropriate. Comments are due June 22 and replies July 7 on the waiver sought by Mutual Telephone Co. of Sioux Center, Iowa, and Winnebago Cooperative Telecom Association, said a Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 96-45. The petition asks to "redefine the Consolidated Communications of Iowa f/k/a Heartland Telecommunications Company of Iowa (Heartland) study area" by breaking off the Bancroft and Lakota exchanges to form a new study area for Winnebago, with the remaining Heartland exchanges to be owned by Mutual, the PN said. Although the bureau noted petitioners intend to honor broadband-oriented Connect America Fund Phase II buildout commitments and say the study area change won't raise USF burdens, it said the request raises questions that need further evaluation.

The FCC teed up a National Exchange Carrier Association proposal to modify its high-cost loop support for average schedule telcos (see 1605160023). Comments are due June 20 on the NECA proposal to incorporate into its formula the FCC's reduction in the authorized rate of return for rural carriers from 11.25 percent to 11 percent for the second half of 2016, said a Wireline Bureau public notice listed in Friday's Daily Digest.

Several carriers responded quickly to an FCC request Wednesday to affirm if they wanted the Wireline Bureau to continue reviewing their pending Lifeline compliance plans or petitions for designation as a Lifeline-only eligible telecom carrier. In immediate responses Wednesday in docket 09-197, Airvoice Wireless and Budget PrePay said they wanted their ETC petitions reviewed, as did Q Link Wireless on Thursday. Also Thursday, FlaTel Wireless (Zing PCS) said it remains interested in having its Lifeline compliance plan reviewed, but The Telephone Co. withdrew its compliance plan.

The FCC should clarify that video relay service providers can populate the "iTRS database with provider domain names, rather than user IP addresses," the five VRS providers said Thursday in a filing in docket 10-51. ASL Holdings, CSDVRS, Convo Communications, Purple Communications and Sorenson Communications said they have made much progress toward developing "voluntary, consensus-based" Session Initiation Protocol standards, but that in order to implement SIP, providers must publish their domain names in the iTRS database instead of user IP addresses. They said the FCC hadn't yet directed Neustar, which runs the iTRS database, to clarify that the domain name use is permissible despite their request it do so. They said using domain names has several advantages, including that it would enable providers "to switch service centers for maintenance and incident mitigation by changing DNS [domain name system] entries thus increasing VRS service reliability." It also would also allow providers "to more easily identify the provider of a peer-to-peer call to work on interoperability problems," enable "DNS load balancing and advanced routing" and minimize robocall attacks that affect VRS, they said.

A court ordered that challenges to a 2013 FCC inmate calling service order capping interstate rates (Securus Technologies v. FCC, No. 13-1280) continue to be held in abeyance pending resolution of challenges to a 2015 order capping all domestic ICS rates and restricting ancillary service charges (Global Tel*Link v. FCC No. 15-1461). The U.S. Court of Appeals Thursday granted (in Pacer) the unopposed motion filed Tuesday by the FCC (see 1605170072).

A federal court set a briefing schedule on AT&T challenges to two FCC orders from December 2014 and December 2015 on price-cap telco USF duties. In an order (in Pacer) Tuesday in docket 15-1038 and consolidated cases, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said an initial joint brief from petitioners and supporting intervenors is due June 17; the brief from respondents FCC and DOJ is due Aug. 1; a joint reply brief from petitioners and supporting intervenors is due Aug. 31; and final briefs incorporating an appendix are due Sept. 7, with oral argument typically at least 45 days later. AT&T, petitioner/intervenor CenturyLink, intervenor USTelecom and respondents FCC/DOJ had submitted an unopposed joint briefing proposal (in Pacer) Friday. Earlier this year, AT&T asked the court to consolidate its two challenges seeking more relief from USF duties (see 1601110036), which CenturyLink called "an unfunded mandate" (see 1602050029).

The FCC filed an "unopposed" motion for a court to continue to hold in abeyance challenges to a 2013 commission order capping interstate inmate calling service rates (Securus Technologies v. FCC, No. 13-1280) pending court resolution of challenges to a 2015 order capping interstate and intrastate ICS rates and other charges (Global Tel*Link v. FCC, Nos. 15-1461 et al.). In a motion (in Pacer) filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the FCC's counsel said he is "authorized to represent that no party opposes the Motion." The court has issued two stays blocking rate caps and other parts of the 2015 order pending further review on the merits (see 1603070055 and 1603230058)