NTIA awarded more than $72 million to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Tuesday through the tribal broadband connectivity program. Funds will support middle mile fiber optic line deployment and wireless telecom tower management across Hawaiian lands and construction of community digital innovation centers. "This award will ensure that Native Hawaiians have the internet connections they need to take advantage of digital opportunities for work, education, health care, and other essential services," said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The National Consumer Law Center and a diverse group, including associations representing banks and credit unions, are asking the FCC to move forward on a draft order on robotexts and robocalls that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel pulled from the agenda for the September open meeting (see 2409240068). The groups reported on meetings with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez. “The Organizations joined together on these meetings because they are united in their commitment to combating criminals who attempt to defraud consumers by impersonating legitimate businesses through illegally spoofed calls and text messages,” said a filing Friday in docket 17-59. “The Organizations affirmed their support for the draft Report and Order.” Groups at the meeting included the American Bankers Association, ACA International, America’s Credit Unions, the Bank Policy Institute and the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Texts that impersonate legitimate businesses harm consumers and undermine those businesses’ ability to communicate with their customers,” they said.

NTIA awarded nearly $23.3 million to Ohio and about $5.6 million to Alaska to implement their digital equity plans, the agency said Thursday. The funding comes from the $1.44 billion state digital equity capacity grant program. Alaska will use its funding to establish statewide digital literacy initiatives and create a device program. Ohio's plans call for creating a digital inclusion grant program, developing a "statewide device ecosystem to increase access to affordable technology," and providing digital skills training to incarcerated people.

Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, along with the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the FCC's order establishing per-minute rate caps for intrastate audio and video communication services for incarcerated people. The order "violates the constitution, is in excess of statutory authority, and is otherwise contrary to law and unsupported by substantial evidence," the states said in a petition for review posted Wednesday (docket 24-60571). The challenge comes after the 1st Circuit was selected to hear multiple pending petitions for review (see 2411010061), including one from 14 other states (see 2411010061).

Network availability remains an issue for many consumers worldwide, with more than 30% of households reporting access issues in a recent Ernst & Young Global (EY) survey. It was the same figure as reported four years earlier, speakers said Wednesday during a Mobile World Live webinar. “Consumers are very alert to service guarantees” and 42% of households think that Wi-Fi performance promises, such as whole-home coverage, are misleading or inaccurate, said Adrian Baschnonga, EY lead analyst-technology, media and telecommunications. Predictable pricing “is very much in focus” and 72% of respondents think carriers should do more when offering pricing guarantees, he said, adding that North American respondents led that sentiment. Brand-trust is playing a bigger role in purchasing decisions for streaming platforms and smart home technology, and is now the top driver for connected-home devices, overtaking attractive pricing, Baschnonga said. For streaming, brand-trust ranks fourth, up from seventh last year, he said. More than half of consumers express concerns that broadband monthly subscription rates will increase and nearly as many believe they pay too much for content they don’t watch. EY found that 44% of households would be willing to pay more for content aggregation services, up from 40% last year, and “a rising proportion would also be willing to pay more for broadband that comes with better customer service or a backup option in case of outages.” EY found that when assessing value consumers get for their money, mobile and broadband connectivity scores best, while smart home technologies “lag.” Consumers are also increasingly willing to stop paying for streaming services, he said.

Revised robocall and robotext rules that FCC commissioners approved 5-0 in February (see 2402160048) took effect Wednesday, with a compliance date of Jan. 27, a notice in Wednesday’s Federal Register said. OMB approved the information collection in the order “requiring that texters and callers obtain a consumer’s prior express written consent to robocall or robotext the consumer soliciting their business,” the notice said.

The USF contribution factor for Q1 2025 will likely rise from 35.8% during Q4 2024 to 38.8%, emailed analyst Billy Jack Gregg on Saturday. Gregg noted that demand will also increase by $124.5 million from the previous quarter. "If revenues for the first quarter of 2025 are the same as revenues for the fourth quarter 2024, the USF assessment factor for the first quarter of 2025 will increase to 38.8%," he said: "However, if the trend of declining quarterly revenues continues, the USF assessment factor for the first quarter will be higher than 38.8%."

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals transferred a coalition of states' challenge of the FCC's incarcerated people's communications services order to the 1st Circuit, said an order Thursday (docket 24-2983). The 14 states challenging the order opposed the transfer (see 2410020039).

Apple will contribute up to $1.1 billion toward Globalstar expanding its mobile satellite service network, Globalstar said in an SEC filing Friday. The expansion includes a satellite constellation and expanded ground infrastructure that Globalstar will own, which will provide expanded services to Apple. Some of those services, delivered to Apple end users, will involve Apple prepaying Globalstar. Apple will be a passive equity holder in Globalstar, with the company making a $400 million equity investment in the satellite firm. Globalstar said it will continue allocating 85% of its network capacity to services for Apple across existing and new satellites, with the remaining capacity servicing other MSS customers. Globalstar and Apple launched direct-to-device SOS emergency messaging capabilities in 2022 (see 2211100005). After paying down debt, the remaining Apple investment could provide 40 to 80 new satellites, depending on capacity, the space and spectrum consultant Tim Farrar posted on X. SEC filing language "suggests it is more than just upgraded replacement satellites," raising questions about what spectrum bands will be employed, he said.

The FCC Communications Equity and Diversity Council will meet in a hybrid setting Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST, said a notice in Friday's Federal Register. The group will hear updates from its working groups and meet the deputy designated federal officer and working group co-chairs for the innovation and access working group.