Rescind recent guidance that "expresses a clear preference for networks built by municipalities, non-profits and electric co-ops," said USTelecom in a letter to federal, state, local, and tribal leaders Thursday on the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act. The Treasury Department and USDA's rules favoring these entities are "concerning" given their "well-documented propensity to fail at building and maintaining complex networks over time." Funding decisions "should be based solely on how best to connect unserved and underserved" areas, USTelecom said, "not on a provider's status as a public or private entity." States should also "think holistically" about their broadband plans and use the FCC's forthcoming maps "to ensure deployment funds go to their intended use," it said. Don't regulate broadband as a Title II utility, the group said, saying net neutrality and consumer privacy laws should "apply equitably across the internet ecosystem."

AT&T agreed to use Inteliquent's IP voice traffic exchange services, the companies announced Thursday. The agreement will allow AT&T to "exchange end-to-end IP voice traffic" with other U.S. providers on Inteliquent's internetwork packet exchange (IPX). IP service providers will also be able to use Inteliquent's IPX to "exchange Stir/Shaken compliant traffic" with AT&T. “This effort will allow small and mid-size carriers an easy, efficient and economical way to interconnect with AT&T via IP to exchange voice traffic," said John Nolan, AT&T vice president-global connections and alliance management.

Mobi Telecom and its owner Davinder Singh "purposefully allow robocallers to use their service" to place illegal robocalls by using "ruses to appear on recipients’ telephones as coming from U.S. and even local phone numbers," Frontier and its subsidiaries, Southern New England Telephone Company and SNET America, told the U.S. District Court of Connecticut in a complaint filed Tuesday in case 3:22-cv-00218. Frontier alleged the Wyoming VoIP provider is using its services to place spoofed calls to Frontier's landline consumers in Connecticut and has "never implemented the robocaller mitigation program it publicly committed to implement, and the FCC has noted that Mobi Telecom, LLC has been non-responsive." Singh's company is "so far divorced from the norm and what is required under the law and FCC regulations" that it's "clear that they are intentionally and recklessly ratifying the illegal conduct of robocallers in an attempt to compete unfairly, interfere with other voice service providers’ contracts, facilitate violations of the law, including those related to unfair and deceptive trade practices and consumer protection," the complaint said. Frontier said "hundreds" of its customers have terminated their landline service "in part because of harassment from robocallers," and sought a jury trial. Mobi couldn't be reached for comment.

Telecom industry M&A activity had a big bounce in 2021, with deal value up 48% from the year before, Bain & Co. said Tuesday. Scale deals, such as in-country consolidation, were the bulk of telecom M&A, it said, noting Rogers Communications' $21 billion acquisition of Shaw Communications. Infrastructure M&A, especially of tower and fiber assets, "is skyrocketing," it said. It predicted ongoing scale deals in Latin America and Asia-Pacific and particularly growth in Europe. It said a "potential hot area" for scale acquisitions is maturing fiber alternative network assets. It said there could be a wave of fiber altnet consolidation "reminiscent of the cable roll-ups" popular 20 years ago, due to abundant capital, overbuilds and incumbents wanting growth.

NTIA will host a virtual listening session Wednesday, 2:30 to 4 p.m. EST, on the middle-mile program funded through the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (see 2202070053). The agency will hear feedback on what requirements it should impose on projects, including placement of and access to splice points, how the program can leverage existing infrastructure and capabilities owned by traditional and nontraditional providers, and what scalability requirements should be placed on grant recipients. A virtual listening session on the agency's digital equity programs will take place Feb. 23 at 2:30 EST.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel unveiled an agencywide task force Tuesday that will "focus on creating rules and policies to combat digital discrimination" and "promote equal access to broadband," said a news release. Headed by Office of Workplace Diversity Director D'wana Terry, the group will "oversee the development of model policies and best practices" for states and local governments to "ensure ISPs do not engage in digital discrimination." The Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act directed the FCC to adopt rules combating digital discrimination and promoting equal access to broadband. The agency will also "revise its public complaint process" for consumers that may be facing digital discrimination, the release said. The steps must be completed by November 2023.

The FCC committed an additional $126 million in Emergency Connectivity Fund support Tuesday, totaling more than $4.5 billion so far, said a news release. The new funding will support 340 schools, 20 libraries and 6 consortiums to buy more than 330,000 connected devices and 39,000 broadband connections.

Comments are due March 9, replies March 24, in docket 22-2 on an FCC NPRM proposing to adopt consumer broadband labels, says Monday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved the item in January (see 2201280038).

For easier C-band accelerated clearing in Phase II, the FCC should issue an updated incumbent earth station list at least a month before the end of each quarter, SES said. In a docket 18-122 filing Thursday recapping a meeting with Wireless and International Bureau and Office of General Counsel staff, SES representatives said the updated earth station list would help satellite operators in providing updates to transition plans. SES said the agency should treat satellite operators' September 2021 transition plans as preliminary for Phase II and allow amendments in 2023. SES said the FCC should put out Phase II certification procedures in Q2 2023, and it would be premature for it to validate any satellite operator's Phase II completion certification until all incumbent earth stations have been visited and the relocation coordinator has done final accounting of each operator's antennas and feeds. SES said that process likely can't be completed until Q3 2023.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will chair the renewed cybersecurity forum for independent and executive branch regulators, said a Thursday news release. The group "shares information and expertise" to enhance cybersecurity of "critical infrastructure" and is "working to set priorities and establish the framework for forum activities," the release said. The FCC "will serve as [the forum's] convenor," Rosenworcel said, saying objectives will be to "enhance communication, share lessons learned, and develop a common understanding of cybersecurity activities through the sharing of best practices." Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Executive Director Brandon Wales on Wednesday briefed the group, which included representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, FTC and National Institute of Standards and Technology.