No major changes were made to the FCC's final NPRM on expanding the contribution base for internet-based telecommunications relay service, we found in our comparison to the draft. Commissioners voted to include video relay service and IP relay service during their meeting last week and said they intend to revisit funding arrangements in the future because VRS is now the second-largest TRS program (see 2011180058).

The full FCC ruled for Verizon, saying rates that Potomac Edison charges the telco for attachments to its utility poles are “unjust and unreasonable." The commission cited Section 224 of the Communications Act in Tuesday's Daily Digest. Commissioners said Potomac Edison violated its joint use agreement with Verizon by charging higher rates than other cable providers attached to the same poles. The commission set the maximum rate Verizon may be charged for pole attachments at $12.12 yearly and directed Potomac Edison to issue a refund. A spokesperson for Potomac Edison said it's “reviewing the order.”

Comments are due Dec. 4, replies Dec. 11, on Midwest Fiber's Everstream Solutions seeking FCC approval to take over the common carrier fixed point-to-point licenses of Uniti Fiber as part of its buy of Uniti's fiber and microwave assets (see 2011030001), said an FCC Wireline and International Bureau public notice in Monday's Daily Digest.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau reminded telcos serving the incarcerated of their obligations under federal inmate calling service rules. “Failure to comply ... may subject providers to enforcement action, including monetary forfeitures,” the bureau advised Friday.

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment Thursday on Sorenson and CaptionCall’s application for certification to provide IP captioned telephone service supported by the TRS Fund. Comments are due Dec. 21, replies Jan. 5 in docket 03-123.

Comments are due Dec. 21, replies Jan. 11 on feasibility and cost of including an automatic dispatchable location that would be conveyed with calls to the 988 suicide prevention hotline, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice Thursday. The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 requires a report to Congress on location identification, the bureau said. The PN said the July 2022 implementation date for 988 is unchanged, but the Oct. 16, 2020, effective date of 988's designation as the three-digit hotline number was superseded by the effective date set by the Suicide Hotline Act -- Oct. 17, 2021.

The exemption for voice service providers found to meet certain implementation benchmarks from the June 30 caller ID authentication implementation deadline is effective Nov. 17, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The exemption was part of the caller ID authentication order adopted Sept. 29 (see 2009290052).

Citing the need to extend online connectivity in Montana's Blackfeet Reservation, the FCC Wireline Bureau signed off on a 3 Rivers Telephone Cooperative/Siyeh Communications petition for a waiver of FCC rules to apportion 3 Rivers' current Connect America Fund intercarrier compensation base period revenue between 3 Rivers and SiyCom. The order in Tuesday's Daily Digest also initialized SiyCom’s tariffed rates at 3 Rivers’ current rates and let SiyCom immediately join the National Exchange Carrier Association and NECA’s traffic-sensitive tariff. The waivers will let SlyCom go through with its 3 Rivers purchase without putting more burdens on the USF or raising rates, it said.

ITalk Global Communications CEO Jack Zhao of Potomac, Maryland, and a former Harvard College fencing coach face charges of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery for an alleged scheme to get Zhao's sons admitted to the school as fencing team recruits in exchange for $1.5 million in bribes, DOJ said Monday. Virginia-based iTalk didn't comment.

All eligible price cap carriers currently getting Connect America Fund Phase II support based on the Connect America cost model have opted for an additional seventh year of such support, as was allowed in February's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund order (see 2002070031), the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Monday. It said the Universal Service Administrative Co. now must disburse USF amounts to carriers starting in January.