Texas telcos asked the FCC for a rulemaking to update competitive bidding requirements for the E-rate program to discourage overbuilding of existing federally supported fiber networks (see 1903190014). The filing posted Wednesday from Central Texas Telephone Cooperative, Peoples Telephone Cooperative and Totelcom Communications petitions to modernize Part 54 rules to prevent waste. The FCC should require E-rate applicants to confirm that no fiber facilities exist at the schools and libraries in question and allow a 60-day period during which an existing provider, as well as state and local officials, could challenge the assessment. "Overbuilding an existing USF-supported fiber network is likely not the most cost-efficient method to acquire service," the so-called Texas Carriers said, adding that such overbuilding "reduces the pool of funds available to rural schools and libraries that actually need fiber broadband connection." Exceptions may be considered when existing fiber network owners are unwilling to negotiate in good faith to lease the fiber at reasonable market-based prices, the Texas Carriers suggested. The telcos raised concerns about region-based consortiums in Texas that have submitted E-rate requests for proposals to construct wide-area networks to provide broadband to every school in a region, regardless of whether they are served by fiber.

The FCC Wireline Bureau approved a refund plan South Dakota Network submitted last month related to overcharges for its interstate switched access service paid by affected carriers, said an order in Wednesday's Daily Digest in docket 18-100. The telco will issue a credit on future invoices sent to the affected carriers. The agency had sought comment on the refund plan, and noted no objections were raised (see 1904230046).

The FCC should increase its Rural Health Care program budget, Alaska Communications representatives said last week when they met with Wireline Bureau staff, recounted a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-130. Late last year, the company asked the FCC to increase the budget to $1 billion for 2019, up from $581 million in 2018 (see 1812190057). Now, Alaska Communications released a report evaluating increased demand for rural telehealth. Rural telcos need more money to support telehealth services, it said, because of inflation, demand for higher-speed broadband capacity, the need for more sophisticated services, new regulatory requirements for healthcare providers and evolving telehealth technologies. The company asked the agency to direct the USF administrator to extend the funding year filing deadline for the RHC program by 30 days to all applicants, not just those affected by a change to a multiyear funding rule (see 1905200050).

The FCC should clarify that an LEC cannot bill its tariffed end office switched access rates when routing over-the-top VoIP traffic, Verizon asked the FCC, posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. "LECs and their over-the-top VoIP partners do not perform the functional equivalent of end office switching because they do not perform the actual connection of lines and trunks," Verizon responded to recent ex parte filings from CenturyLink on its direct interconnection and VoIP symmetry proposals (see 1903200056). "CenturyLink has traveled far afield from the question presented by its Petition for Declaratory Ruling and the D.C. Circuit’s remand in AT&T Corp. v. FCC: whether a LEC and its VoIP partner together perform the functional equivalent of end office switching when they route over-the-top VoIP traffic to or from the VoIP provider’s end-user customer." CenturyLink didn't comment Wednesday.

The Small Company Coalition is calling FCC broadband testing protocols "unfeasible at best and harmful at worst." In a filing posted Wednesday in docket 10-90, the group joined others raising concerns about the testing for Connect America Fund recipients (see 1905150018) and calling for the testing's delay (see 1903180061). The SCC wants better safeguards against failed tests. It argued that reducing funding to carriers that underperform on broadband speed tests should be a last recourse, as it goes against the principles of extending broadband deployment to remote areas. The group asked that the FCC find a way to reimburse any funds withheld once a rural provider meets its performance thresholds.

Under forbearance from network unbundling and ILEC-specific resale requirements USTelecom seeks for its members (see 1905130050), pricing for access to an ILEC's network facility could change to "reflect market realities and not an artificial regulatory construct," the association said in a Wednesday filing in FCC docket 18-141. Along with some of the group's members, USTelecom Senior Vice President-Advocacy and Regulatory Affairs Patrick Halley met Monday with Chairman Ajit Pai's Senior Counsel Nicholas Degani and Wireline Adviser Nirali Patel. USTelecom said consumers won't lose access to voice or broadband services if the FCC grants the forbearance. It noted member telcos have committed to making available replacement services for locations now served by an unbundled network element and to keeping current UNE agreements in place until Feb. 4, 2021. It added that the only places where a UNE wouldn't be available would be in areas with a facilities-based competitor that could deploy voice and broadband without the need for a UNE. "There is no need for a 'bridge to broadband' when the bridge has already been built," USTelecom said. CLECs oppose the forbearance petition. Reply comments are due May 28 (see 1905150007).

FCC one touch, make ready pole attachment rules approved last year took effect Monday, said a Wireline Bureau public notice. The rules permit new attachers to use a streamlined process, the PN said. The OTMR rules were approved 3-1 in August (see 1808020034).

The FCC asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to consolidate three petitions for review arising from the agency's investigation of a tariff rate dispute between Iowa Network Services (Aureon) and AT&T (see 1904180053), in a Friday motion (in Pacer). The cases involve petitions in FCC docket 17-56. The agency also wants to hold the court cases, docketed 19-1087, 18-1258 and 19-1014, in abeyance until the agency can "complete its ongoing tariff investigation" to avoid piecemeal litigation of the issues, the FCC and AT&T said in a joint Wednesday filing. An issue central to Aureon's complaint is whether the telco is subject to dual regulation by FCC under both CLEC and dominant carrier rules. The D.C. Circuit should move forward with consolidated complaint-related case numbers 18-1007, 18-1257 and 19-1013, the FCC and AT&T also said. Resolution of the dual regulation issue in those cases could remove the need to litigate it in the tariff-related cases, they said. Aureon didn't join the FCC/AT&T motions but filed its own motion to consolidate all six cases named above.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted an FCC motion by dismissing (in Pacer) an appeal by Sandwich Isles Communications in a dispute over the amount of improper USF payments that the telco must return to the agency (see 1903280036). SIC missed its filing deadline by one day, the D.C. Circuit said, so the court lacks jurisdiction over an appeal. Early this year, the FCC issued a public notice that the government shutdown wouldn't impact any effective dates for actions related to the agency, the one-page court order noted. "The notice also explicitly stated that it did not affect the effective date of the Commission’s actions or dates for filing with entities other than the Commission." The carrier didn't comment.

S&P changed its outlook to “negative” for GCI Liberty following a weaker than expected Q1. Last fall, the FCC told GCI it would reduce its Rural Health Care payments from the USF for the 2017 funding year by 26 percent. The carrier has appealed (see 1811130040). If the agency's decision stands, the same cost methodology will apply to the RHC funding in subsequent years, the telco said in a May 9 earnings report. S&P Wednesday downgraded to ‘B-‘ GCI’s issuer credit rating. The cable and telco provider didn't comment Thursday.