Alaska Communications asked the FCC to increase a USF rural healthcare budget to between $800 million and $1 billion for funding year 2019 (up from $581 million), with inflation increases thereafter. "Uncertainty of support under the Telecom Program in [FY] 2016, 2017, and now 2018, has driven healthcare providers out of the program, and wreaked havoc on service providers, all to the detriment of Americans that rely on the program in rural areas," the company told Wireline Bureau staffers, posted Tuesday in docket 17-310. "Demand will soon outstrip the current budget."
Windstream sold Minnesota fiber assets to the Arvig telco for $49.5 million cash, and agreed to sell Nebraska fiber to the company for $11 million, Windstream said Tuesday. Arvig will own the fiber, but Windstream will continue to sell services in the two states, Windstream said. “These transactions monetize latent dark fiber assets in Minnesota and Nebraska, lower capital requirements in each state and allow us to focus on our core network offerings with minimal change to our operations,” said Windstream Chief Financial Officer Bob Gunderman.
E-rate advocates asked FCC staff to make Universal Service Administrative Co. clarify product demos aren't considered banned gifts under commission rules. In spring, USAC "abruptly" changed its guidance to ban loans of products including on-site demos, wrote the Consortium for School Networking; Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition; and State E-rate Coordinators’ Alliance Thursday in docket 02-6. An August USAC webinar told stakeholders such demos aren't OK during competitive bidding, though that guidance isn't on its website, the advocates said. Their "members have been told that there is no 'safe harbor' period" for applicants to test products, the groups recounted. These "inconsistent interpretations of the gift rule constitute interpretations of the Commission’s rules and are therefore outside of USAC’s authority," and no abuses have been alleged, they wrote. Friday, USAC declined to comment.
CSDVRS (ZVRS) and Purple Communications asked the FCC to waive a rule requiring communications assistants handling calls through an at-home video relay service pilot program to have a least three years of CA experience at a call center. It's "artificially restricting the already short supply of qualified interpreters to those who have already worked in, and live in close proximity to, call centers for three years, discriminating against many qualified interpreters," said their petition posted Wednesday in docket 10-51. "VRS call volumes outpace the pool of qualified interpreters that live near call centers."
The FCC proposed a USF contribution factor for Q1 of 20 percent of U.S. interstate and international telecom end-user revenue, said a public notice in Thursday's Daily Digest and docket 96-45. That's down from Q4's 20.1 percent, as expected (see 1812030036). The Wednesday proposal is deemed approved if the commission takes no further action within 14 days.
The Lifeline national verifier fully launches next month in Hawaii, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Guam, the FCC Wireline Bureau said Thursday. A soft launch in those states began Oct. 15. Starting Jan. 15, eligible telecom carriers will be required to use the national verifier for eligibility determinations and consumers may check their status at CheckLifeline.org, the bureau said. Reverification of existing subscribers, started during the soft launch, will continue after Jan. 15, and annual recertification is happening now, it said.
The FCC eased Telapex and Venture Communications Cooperative plans to each combine its own wholly owned subsidiaries with separate rate-of-return study areas. "The merging subsidiaries of each company currently charge one or more different switched access rates," said a Wireline Bureau order in Wednesday's Daily Digest and docket 10-90. "To facilitate the mergers, we waive our rules to the extent necessary to allow the merged entities to charge uniform adjusted switched access rates and to combine the Base Period Revenue amounts of the merging entities." The bureau said the waivers were unopposed and the decision was consistent with precedent.
Verizon said some 10,400 of its 152,300 employees were accepted in a voluntary program to leave, following realignment of the company for 5G. “This is a moment in time, given our financial and operational strength, to begin to better serve customers with more agility, speed and flexibility,” said CEO Hans Vestberg Monday. Workers get up to 60 weeks of salary, bonus and benefits.
FCC simplification of Part 36 rules on telco jurisdictional separations takes effect Jan. 1, says a rule for Tuesday's Federal Register. It noted an order harmonized the Part 36 rules with changes the commission adopted in 2017 to Part 32 telco accounting rules. The Oct. 17 order lets all telecom carriers use simpler processes previously reserved for smaller carriers (see 1810170074). A pending draft order would extend for 15 years the freeze on federal-state jurisdictional separations of telcos costs and revenue; NARUC believes such a decision would be illegal absent a joint board recommended decision (see 1811140033).
Local United Way organizations are pushing for the UW-run 211 community information and referral service centers having a proposed national suicide hotline (see 1808140037), said nearly identical docket 18-336 postings Thursday by those from Philadelphia and southern New Jersey; Laredo, Texas; and Ventura County, California (see here, here and here). "Another three-digit code may erode the simplicity of a single point of access for community help," multiple UWs said.