Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith approved lifting a stay on a proceeding by inter-exchange carriers on access charges imposed on them by LECs (see 1904050033), said a Friday order (in Pacer), docket 18-10768). The stay was automatic when Windstream filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the telco asked for it to be lifted after a U.S. bankruptcy court's modification of the automatic stay to let the company proceed with the LEC litigation.

The FCC Wireline Bureau is seeking comment on two applications to transfer companies to Macquarie subsidiary MIP IV Midwest Fiber, said a public notice (see 1901150052). One of the deals would transfer fiber network PEG Bandwidth from Uniti Fiber to Midwest, contingent upon a second transfer to Midwest of Missouri Network Alliance (dba Bluebird Network) from MNA Holdings, the PN said. “Because the transactions are more complex than usual, in order to analyze whether the proposed transactions would serve the public interest, these applications will not be streamlined,” the PN said. Comments are due May 17, replies May 24.

The FCC should disregard Sorenson’s rule modification proposals related to equipment for the video relay service, ZVRS filed, posted Monday in docket 10-51. Sorensonwantslanguage that “would collect in one place various disparate statements the Commission has made in TRS orders over the years,” said a filing posted Friday. ZVRS responded that the proposals would negatively affect VRS users and providers and the commission shouldn’t consider them because “stakeholders have had no opportunity to consider and evaluate them” due to the “imminent sunshine period.” Revised VRS rules are to get a vote at Thursday's FCC meeting (see 1904170049).

USTelecom renewed its request the FCC OK the group's unbundled network elements (UNE) request of forbearance from requiring incumbent LECs unbundle and resell access to some of their networks. Commissioners approved parts of the association's petition last month, forbearing from a duplicative pole attachment rule and some long-distance service and other old reporting requirements, a USTelecom blog post noted Monday. In making that 5-0 vote, FCC members sought action on things like the UNE request, which if not acted on by Aug. 2 would be granted (see 1904120058). "Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and tackle the rest of the Petition" rather than requiring ILECs sell access at "below-market rates set by regulators rather than the marketplace," blogged Patrick Halley, USTelecom senior vice president-advocacy and regulatory affairs. "After nearly a year, detractors have been unable to show why one-time 'incumbent' wireline providers, whose market shares have declined precipitously and who lag wireless and cable competitors, should continue to bear the weight of intrusive regulatory mandates that do not apply to their rivals," Halley filed Monday, in docket 18-141. The FCC declined to comment. Some groups have concerns about USTelecom's request (see 1806220027). Incompas called this "a brazen move" by "AT&T and Verizon’s trade association." USTelecom is trying to "revamp its initial filing for a competition cut off that will result in massive price hikes on broadband customers," Incompas said. The FCC should reject this, said Incompas CEO Chip Pickering.

The FCC alerted consumers to reported scam robocalls targeting specific area codes “in bursts, often calling multiple times in the middle of the night.” Friday, the agency warned consumers not to call back these “One Ring” or “Wangiri” calls, as they often result in per minute toll charges. It said recent reports indicate the calls are using the 222 country code for Mauritania.

Groups representing deaf and hard of hearing and Gallaudet University asked the FCC to rethink a videophone provision in the video relay service report and order and Further NPRM set for a vote by commissioners Thursday. Others also made late filings in docket 10-51 posted through Friday. The agency proposes to require VRS providers to obtain, from anyone responsible for ensuring compliant use of a videophone, certification that the responsible individual “will make reasonable efforts to ensure that only registered VRS users are permitted to use the phone for VRS calls,” the filing said: That's likely to result in restricted access to enterprise videophones by deaf and hard of hearing and speech-disabled individuals who may not be registered in the telecom relay services user database. Telecommunications for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the National Association of the Deaf, Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization and Hearing Loss Association of America were among signers. Sorenson asked that the item be revised “to be more explicit with respect to service and non-service related equipment” covered.

Rural rate-of-return carriers have until June 17 to indicate whether they're OK with the revised alternative connect America cost model (A-CAM) support to fund voice- and broadband-capable networks in their service territories, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Thursday. The FCC said those subsidy offers -- approved in December (see 1812120039) -- could fund deployments to 1.13 million homes and businesses over the next decade. It said in return for the revised A-CAM offers, the carriers would be required to deploy at least 25/3 Mbps connectivity on a defined schedule. It said even without accepting those revised A-CAM offers, legacy carriers will be required to deploy 25/3 Mbps to at least 600,000 locations. The bureau said the offer amounts have a funding cap per location of $200 except in tribal lands, where the cap is $213.12. It said carriers have a choice in determining deployment obligation: average cost of 25/3 service based on weighted average cost per loop or revised A-CAM calculation of the cost per location. The FCC said this week additional A-CAM support resulted in carriers committing to expanding their deployment plans to cover an additional 106,000 addresses (see 1904290189). NTCA is "evaluating the details of today’s announcements," said CEO Shirley Bloomfield Thursday. "We hope that the options and measures announced today will give many of our members even more opportunity to bring even better services to rural America."

Frontier Communications stock closed down Wednesday 22 percent at $2.21 after reporting (see 1904300217) Q1 sales and operating income fell from the year-ago period as some customers departed. CEO Dan McCarthy said Tuesday the telco may add customers because of broadband buildouts it's doing, some with government subsidies such as through USF. It has about 30 percent penetration of Connect America Fund households, he told analysts: "We do like it. We think that there is more room to really drive that" trying to get customers "in different ways." The carrier likely will pursue what he called the CAF Phase III program. "We think there are opportunities to work with the" FCC for better targeting of such households and having higher speeds, McCarthy said. "You’ll see us actively participate with industry and industry groups." Frontier "should still be able to grow into that 50-60 percent penetration over time" of such dwellings, the CEO said. A $20-some billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund would repurpose funding from CAF, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. The agency Tuesday assigned a docket to the proceeding (see 1905010029).

The FCC Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau granted a limited waiver extending expiration of an at-home pilot program for video relay service. An order in docket 10-51 also granted limited waivers of at-home call handling rules for Convo, GlobalVRS and Sorenson to participate. The pilot was due to have ended Tuesday. The waiver in Wednesday's Daily Digest extends it through Oct. 19 “or the effective date of a Commission decision regarding at-home call handling, whichever occurs first.”

Though no FCC action on the matter is said imminent, the coming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund got a docket, 19-126. The Wireline Bureau, coordinating with the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force and the Office of Economics and Analytics, opened the docket, captioned “Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.” On April 12, Chairman Ajit Pai announced the coming fund, to make available up to $20.4 billion in support via reverse auction to connect about 4 million rural homes and small businesses to broadband, recapped a public notice in Wednesday's Daily Digest. Agency officials told us Wednesday that no proposal seems imminent, which would accord with stakeholder expectations from when Pai disclosed the fund (see 1904150066). None was circulating, either, at the commission. "We hope to be able to launch that proceeding later this year," Pai told reporters last month. "We have to go through the notice and comment process, but we want to get this program stood up as soon as we can because we recognize the need to close that digital divide in rural America." A spokesperson declined to comment beyond Pai's statement, to which he pointed us.