South Dakota Network (SDN) asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a filing (in Pacer) Tuesday to move forward with its review of an FCC investigation into several tariff rate disputes despite an agency request for consolidation of several of the cases and to put some of those on hold (see 1905200010). Earlier this year, the FCC asked Iowa Network Services (Aureon) to change its rate tariff for interstate switched transport in its centralized equal access (CEA) service delivering long-distance traffic to small telcos, and separately found SDN's revised rate tariff for the CEA service unlawful (see 1903010004). SDN wants the abeyance lifted on both the Aureon referral cases and the tariff review orders. SDN said it expects its own review proceeding to follow the Aureon cases, and it plans to file a motion with the appeals court for case 19-1094 "shortly."

To help inform FCC's Rural Health Care Telecommunications Program, GCI Communication sent a report to the agency Friday on promoting telehealth and telemedicine in rural America. The report, penned by The Brattle Group and posted Tuesday in docket 17-130, raises concerns that a benchmark discount paid to telecommunications providers working with rural healthcare providers would likely misrepresent market prices if they attempt to value rural services the same as they would in competitive markets. "Broadband products have become more nuanced and differentiated," the report said. "This makes 'apples to apples' pricing comparisons a challenging exercise." Differences in bandwidth, reliability and contractual terms among different telehealth services and providers add layers of complexity, the report stated. That makes it difficult for telcos to provide the market-comparable data needed to meet certain FCC bidding requirements under the program, it said. Rural telehealth interests want more certainty and better funding from the FCC (see 1901310041).

USTelecom continues to argue that a regulatory forbearance it seeks from the FCC meets the public interest test and would "restore incentives for all providers to invest in next-generation network facilities." In a May 24 letter posted Tuesday to docket 18-141, the group said granting ILECs forbearance from requirements to sell transport services as an unbundled network element to CLECs would restore competitive neutrality and eliminate market distortions. CLEC interests oppose the USTelecom petition (see 1905140012).

The FCC announced Connect America Fund Phase II support for eight winning bidders to help expand broadband access in New York state. The Wireline Bureau said in a docket 10-90 filing Tuesday the winning bidders are Armstrong Telecommunications, DTC Cable, GTel Teleconnections, Haefele TV, MTC Cable, Otsego Electric Cooperative, Slic Network Solutions and Verizon Communications. The FCC and Congress are looking at ways in addition to CAF (see 1808280035) to fund broadband infrastructure nationally (see 1905210064). The awards announced Tuesday are subject to a credit review and submission of required documentation, the agency said.

The FCC said it authorized Totah Communications to receive additional alternative Connect America Cost Model support to expand rural broadband (see Ref:1905020056)], said a public notice in Tuesday's Daily Digest. The telco was omitted from an April 29 authorization public notice on the A-CAM support, the Wireline Bureau said Friday.

The FCC should give VoIP providers at least two years to implement new 911 obligations, plus limitations on liability like other voice providers get, the Voice on the Net Coalition said. The VON Coalition and members Microsoft and RingCentral met May 22 with the Public Safety Bureau and an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, said an ex parte posting Tuesday in docket 18-261. Technical limitations restrict nomadic, interconnected VoIP providers ability to provide dispatchable location, the coalition said. The FCC needn’t require that of fixed VoIP providers, either, because “in most cases that information is already collected and provided,” it said. Don’t make 911 rules for one-way, outbound-only VoIP services “because it would impose costs on what is typically a free service and there is no evidence that users of these service expect they can be used for 911 calls,” the group said.

NTCA reported on a series of meetings at the FCC on the draft robocall item slated for a June 6 vote by commissioners (see 1905150041). NTCA filed on meetings with aides to all commissioners except Geoffrey Starks, in docket 17-97. “NTCA noted its members’ commitment to combating the scourge of unwanted or illegal robocalls and suggested specific edits to the Draft Declaratory Ruling to enable all providers to do so while protecting rural consumers’ from ‘false positives’ that may inadvertently limit their ability to place or receive calls,” said a Thursday filing. “Absent strong and clear ‘guardrails’ to ensure that rural consumers’ calls will not be blocked solely based on the lack of caller-ID authentication and that only unwanted and illegal calls are blocked by terminating service providers -- particularly as the availability of call authentication technology trickles down to small, rural operators -- rural consumers could be thrust into a ‘reverse call completion’ scenario that will threaten the concept of universal service and connectivity.”

CenturyLink again asked the FCC to rule over-the-top VoIP providers and LEC partners "perform the functional equivalent of end office switching and, accordingly, may collect end office local switching access reciprocal compensation." Its filing Thursday in dockets including 10-90 backs an FCC framework that encompasses both fixed, facilities-based service and nomadic, OTT VoIP (see 1807050040). Larger telcos want FCC to distinguish between the two types of VoIP traffic and clarify that LECs cannot bill their tariffed end-office switched access rates when routing OTT VoIP calls. Verizon took aim at CenturyLink's arguments (see 1905210040). CenturyLink responded that it's AT&T and Verizon that are wrong.

Windstream told the FCC Verizon mischaracterized Windstream's position regarding the telco's transition agreement with USTelecom in docket 18-141 on the association's forbearance petition. The telco group wants relief from a requirement that ILECs unbundle and resell access to some of their networks to CLECs (see 1905060025). Windstream previously withdrew an earlier objection to the forbearance petition, it noted, posted Friday, but it "never suggested that our agreement is tantamount to concurrence that competition is robust, or even present" in markets where Windstream purchases unbundled network elements. Replies on the petition are due Tuesday (see 1905150007). Verizon didn't comment right away.

Iowa Network Services (Aureon) wants users of access stimulating services to bear the access costs of completing their calls, it told the FCC Thursday in a filing in docket 18-155. If the agency doesn't adopt a new rule directly prohibiting wasteful arbitrage, it should "correct the false 'free' price signals received by users of access stimulating services, which will allow free market forces to stop wasteful arbitrage without new regulations," it said. Earlier this year, AT&T asked the FCC to eliminate incentives for intercarrier-compensation arbitrage (see 1903080011). The companies have been in a tariff rates dispute (see 1905200010).