A revised draft for the FCC order redefining access stimulation could give incumbent rural LECs a special carve-out in response to a joint ex parte recommendation Friday from NTCA and AT&T in docket 18-155, several FCC officials said Wednesday. The commissioners are expected to vote on the order designed to combat access arbitrage at Thursday's meeting (see 1909190035). NTCA and AT&T discussed giving rural rate-of-return carriers a higher threshold to meet before triggering the access stimulation designation, which, under the draft order, carries significant financial repercussions.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) should disavow diversion of state 911 fees, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in a Thursday letter to the governor. Nevada quadrupled 911 fees to recoup costs for police body cameras, effectively a “clandestine, backdoor tax,” O’Rielly said. “While you were not governor when Nevada authorized this diversion, it is a current and ongoing problem,” the commissioner said. “You have the opportunity and responsibility to rectify the situation.” Sisolak didn’t comment Friday.

Settlement talks began or are starting soon at three state commissions reviewing the proposed sale of Frontier Communications wireline, video and long-distance operations to Northwest Fiber in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington state (see 1908160033), the companies told the FCC, posted Wednesday in docket 19-188. In Washington, parties convened for an initial settlement conference Aug. 28 and talks continue, with more discovery and testimony “expected in the months ahead,” Frontier and Northwest said. In Oregon, the initial conference was scheduled for Wednesday, and in Montana, all parties plan to meet Oct. 7. They're working with 40 local franchising authorities in Washington and Oregon where Frontier has cable franchises. Within 18 months of closing, Northwest plans to provide fiber-to-the-premises to at least 250,000 new locations, and in five years, bring fiber to at least 65 percent of remaining locations in the current footprint. For households that already have fiber, Northwest plans to upgrade download speeds to up to 1 Gbps within one year.

The FCC should alter the performance tiers, weights and latency in its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) NPRM to increase the point spread between the gigabit tier and the above baseline tier, Bek Communications CEO Derrick Bulawa told Chairman Ajit Pai “in conjunction” with a roundtable Monday hosted by Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, per a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-126. The modifications would increase the effectiveness of RDOF support, Bek said. Pai has been touring the Midwest (see 1909160003).

The FCC is taking opposing comments through Sept. 27 on a Bureau of Labor Statistics plan to use FCC Form 499-A data in revising for wired telecom carriers the producer price index, which measures monthly changes in price for residential and business wired telecom services, said a public notice Tuesday in docket 06-122. BLS will use the form's revenue data and publicly available data on companies to collect sample data proportionate to economic size, the PN said. The FCC collects revenue data to determine how much providers must contribute to the USF. BLS said it will maintain confidentiality.

The FCC asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss a petition for review of an FCC order updating copper retirement requirements, saying a recent supplemental filing "fails to correct the deficiencies related to standing of the petitioners' earlier pleadings." The agency's response posted Monday (on Pacer) in Greenlining Institute v. FCC, No. 17-73283 (see 1909060038). Public Knowledge and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) sent a new submission after the court questioned whether they showed standing (see 1908270026). The FCC said petitioners had to establish that TURN or its identified member has standing in the four aspects of the order under review but failed to show any actual, concrete injury. Asserting TURN members will eventually lose legacy copper phone service as it's retired at an unknown future time "will not do," the agency said.

The FCC should let phone providers eliminate the line-item fee on USF contributions for inmate calling service customers making interstate and international calls, said comments posted through Tuesday in docket 19-232. Network Communications International last month petitioned for forbearance from the fees (see 1908160040). The Human Rights Defense Center said "excessive fees collected under the pretense of USF contribution requirements must be overturned to facilitate fair and equitable jail and prison telephone access." Wright Petitioners said it's "fundamentally unfair and a violation of the FCC's Universal Service directives to require ICS customers to contribute" to the USF "when a significant portion of these very same ICS customers actually receive assistance from the programs supported and maintained" through that fund. The Prison Policy Initiative said exempting ICS carriers from USF contributions "would be a tremendous savings to the low-income users of these services" without a material effect on USF operations. Securus said "the unique hardship that incarceration imposes on both inmates and their family members, who are often the ones actually paying for ICS calls, creates a strong basis for distinguishing between ICS and other telecommunications services." It said the benefits of forbearance outweigh the slightly increased contribution burden to users of other telecom services. The ICS provider said if the FCC grants the petition, it should update the language in Form 499-A instructions to include a reference to "assessable U.S. telecommunications services for which the contribution obligation has been forborne." The USF contribution factor rises to 25 percent for Q4 under a recent proposal (see 1909130003). Absent forbearance, the increasingly high fees subject vulnerable populations to costs they struggle to afford, said Pay Tel Communications. Worth Rises said the FCC should require correctional telecom providers to pay USF fees but prohibit them from passing those fees to their customers. Inmate Calling Solutions entirely backs the NCIC petition.

The Open Technology Institute asked the FCC to reject an NTCA petition for waiver of increased Lifeline fixed wireline minimum broadband performance standards set to take effect Dec. 1 (see 1907300076). Posted Monday in docket 10-90, OTI said NTCA failed to answer critical questions about its ability to meet the new service standards raised when the trade group petitioned for similar standards waivers in recent years. OTI, however, credited NTCA for raising an "important new issue regarding the voice phase-down" in USF support for Lifeline. "The potential reduction in subsidy could affect affordability of fixed wireline plans," OTI agreed. It asked the FCC to "delay the phase-down or abandon it altogether." In reply comments due Friday in docket 11-42, NTCA said it received universal support for its petition in the initial round.

The FCC Wireline Bureau OK'd limited waiver to the Florida Public Service Commission, extends till Oct. 11 to certify USF eligible telecom carriers (ETCs) through a Universal Service Administrative Co. database, said an order Monday on docket 10-90. The bureau granted the waiver on its own motion after the FPSC postponed a meeting to vote on certification for 11 ETCs due to last month's Hurricane Dorian.

Telecom experts lack standing to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review an FCC order that extended a freeze on rules allocating most regulated telecom costs to intrastate rather than interstate services if the group didn't first present its arguments to the commission, said the agency and DOD briefing in case 19-1085 Irregulators v. FCC (in Pacer) Thursday. They said petitioners didn't explain how letting such a freeze lapse and allowing "outdated rules take full effect" would help consumers or show how the FCC acted irrationally in extending the freeze. Final briefs are due Oct. 31 (see 1908020002).