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)

The National Exchange Carrier Association proposed a modified formula to calculate USF "high-cost loop expense adjustments for average schedule companies" covering the second half of 2016. The proposal includes a reduction in the authorized rate of return for rural carriers from 11.25 percent to 11 percent, said a NECA filing Friday in docket 05-337. The 25 basis points drop is the first in a six-year phasedown to 9.75 percent adopted by the FCC in its March 30 order overhauling rate-of-return USF mechanisms (see 1603300065).

The FCC teed up Onvoy's planned buy of ANPI Business and ANPI, LLC from ANPI Holdings under a streamlined pleading cycle, with initial comments due May 27 and replies June 3, said a public notice in docket 16-144 listed in Monday's Daily Digest. Onvoy provides or is authorized to provide CLEC and/or interexchange service in most of the U.S., while ANPI Business and ANPI, LLC provide interexchange service throughout the country and provide or are authorized to provide CLEC service in various states, the PN said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau admonished Veza Telecom for "failing to comply" with an FCC subpoena to produce information and documents for a slamming and cramming investigation. "VEZA's failure to respond properly to a Commission order exhibits contempt for the Commission’s authority and threatens to compromise the Commission’s ability to investigate violations of law," said a bureau order Monday. "In light of VEZA’s claim that it is no longer in business and that it has surrendered its International Section 214 authorization, however, we take this step of admonishing VEZA rather than imposing a forfeiture." Veza could not be reached for comment.

An FCC draft item that circulated last week would address six RLEC requests for waivers of intercarrier compensation provisions affecting cost recovery under the 2011 USF/ICC Transformation Order, a commission spokesman told us. The spokesman said Monday the rate-of-return rural ILEC requests came from (1) Emery Telcom, (2) IAMO Telephone Co., (3) Laurel Highland Telephone Co. and Yukon-Waltz Telephone Co., (4) Smart City Telecom, (5) West Kentucky and Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative and (6) Yukon-Waltz Telephone Co. The waiver petitions target Section 51.917 of the commission's rules, according to the item on the FCC circulation list, which was updated Friday.