The FCC is ready to authorize Connect America Fund commitments for 611 winning bids in the program's phase II auction, said a public notice Friday. Ten-year support is subject to credit and legal review of paperwork due June 21 (see 1905140073). The agency noted several bidders won't pursue some of their winning bids and as such are subject to forfeiture fines.
The FCC OK'd Macquarie's MIP IV Midwest Fiber's buying control of fiber network operators PEG Bandwidth, itself owned by Uniti Fiber, and Bluebird Network (see 1905060023). A request from national security agencies to delay action (see 1905080034) was withdrawn the next day, May 8, a Wireline Bureau public notice said in docket 19-50 and in Friday's Daily Digest.
Comments on an FCC NPRM for communications assistants to handle video relay service calls and for VRS providers to serve new users for two weeks while a database administrator verifies and registers the user information are due Aug. 5 in docket 10-51, replies Sept. 4, said a Federal Register notice Thursday.
Procedures for a telecom relay service numbering directory to help validate TRS users and require that video relay service providers promote their services only to people with disabilities, are effective July 8, the FCC says for Thursday's Federal Register. Stakeholders fear such rules could restrict access (see 1905030029).
Despite recent pushback from advocacy groups against Friday's FCC NPRM to place an overall budget cap on USF programs (see 1906030059), arguments can be made in its defense, blogged American Enterprise Institute visiting scholar Mark Jamison Wednesday. Though caps exist on individual USF programs, "having an overall cap would force the agency to explicitly examine the tradeoffs." For example, if benefits to low-income students from having broadband access at school are unequal to those of having broadband at home, he suggested "there are good arguments for reallocating monies towards programs that give more bang for the buck."
Chief Economist Babette Boliek and Chief Technology Officer Eric Burger explained why FCC commissioners plan to vote Thursday on a declaratory ruling allowing carriers to block unwanted calls to their customers “by default.” The proposal has been controversial (see 1905310061). “Inertia is an obstacle for many consumers who otherwise would take part in a call-blocking program,” the officials blogged Wednesday: “Smaller service providers have told us that convincing consumers to affirmatively sign up for a call-blocking program, rather than offering it as the default, can be costly and ineffective.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed a petition for review by pro se petitioner Warren Havens because he also petitioned for reconsideration of the same FCC decision upholding an administrative law judge order dismissing his companies from a maritime/land mobile ALJ proceeding. “A party may not simultaneously seek agency reconsideration and judicial review of the same agency order,” said a per curiam order (in Pacer) Tuesday from the court. “Warren Havens’s requests for agency review render his petition for review and notice of appeal incurably premature.” The court also denied a request by Havens to transfer the matter to the district court, since it lacks authority over the FCC.
The deadline is July 1 for states and providers of interstate telecommunications relay services (TRS) to submit their annual consumer complaint log summaries for the June 1, 2018-May 31 period, reminded an FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice in Monday's Daily Digest and on docket 03-123. Complaint log summaries must include total number of interstate relay calls by type of TRS, the number of complaints alleging a violation of federal TRS mandatory minimum standards, complaint date and nature, date of the complaint’s resolution and an explanation of that resolution, it said.
The State E-rate Coordinators Alliance urged the FCC to develop plain-language changes to drop-down menu choices on forms 470 and 471 used in a competitive bidding program for USF-supported internet upgrades (see 1809190046). Filing in docket 13-184, posted Friday, SECA said the confusion puts at risk funding to 700 applicants, many from "small schools and libraries that lack the resources to understand all nuances of E-rate compliance." It sought relief to any applicants affected for funding years 2019 and 2020, and to work with stakeholders to implement a solution before bidding opens for funding year 2021.
The Association of American Railroads objected to language in the state model code for accelerating broadband infrastructure deployment and investment adopted by the FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. AAR officials met with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-83. Article 5 “was drafted and approved without meaningful consultation from the railroad industry, the Surface Transportation Board, or the Federal Railroad Administration,” AAR said: “Article 5 also threatens safe railroad operations and forces the railroad industry into commercial arrangements that effectively subsidize broadband and other utility companies. …. No showing has been made that these invasive measures concerning the railroads’ private property are necessary to accelerate broadband deployment.” Article 5 in the model code, approved by BDAC in December, addresses special provisions for railroad crossings.