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).
California lawmakers moved a cavalcade of privacy bills, including several tweaking last year’s California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), in hearings this week. The Assembly Appropriations panel Wednesday unanimously cleared three without discussion. No members voted against five privacy bills, or two other bills on wireless data throttling of public safety users and e-commerce marketplace transparency, at a Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee hearing Tuesday.
An Indiana bill to combat robocalls cleared the legislature unanimously Wednesday. The House voted 97-0 and the Senate 49-0 after a conference committee worked out a final bill that gives exemptions to ISPs and financial institutions (see 1903210010). It goes next to the governor. Several other state legislative chambers passed broadband bills. The Washington state Senate passed SB-5511 to create a state broadband office and grant program, and to expand state USF’s purpose to include broadband. The Senate voted 48-0 Wednesday to concur with House amendments. In Iowa, state senators concurred with a House amendment and voted 50-0 Wednesday to pass broadband grants HF-772. Colorado senators voted 35-0 Wednesday for SB-107 aimed at making it easier for rural electric cooperatives to provide broadband, though co-ops have raised red flags about its restrictions (see 1904150043). SB-107 goes next to the House. The Texas House voted 123-12 the same day for HB-2423 to set up a Public Utility Commission broadband office and establish a grant program (see 1903250062). It goes to the Senate.
Public safety issues rarely dominate the agenda of any FCC chairmen, as in 2004 when one of the biggest focuses of then-Chairman Michael Powell was the 800 MHz rebanding, aimed at protecting safety users from interference. Four years later, then-Chairman Kevin Martin pushed through a failed plan to reallocate the 700 MHz D block for public safety. The main contender, Frontline, dropped its pursuit of the band, which went unsold at auction but now is part of FirstNet. Every chairman since has focused on a few public safety issues.
Public safety issues rarely dominate the agenda of any FCC chairmen, as in 2004 when one of the biggest focuses of then-Chairman Michael Powell was the 800 MHz rebanding, aimed at protecting safety users from interference. Four years later, then-Chairman Kevin Martin pushed through a failed plan to reallocate the 700 MHz D block for public safety. The main contender, Frontline, dropped its pursuit of the band, which went unsold at auction but now is part of FirstNet. Every chairman since has focused on a few public safety issues.
Representatives of New America’s Open Technology Institute met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr about the future of the Lifeline program. “We reiterated OTI’s longstanding support for Lifeline and our concern that a budget cap could cause eligible Americans to lose access to vital communications services and discourage wireless providers from participating in the program,” the group said in docket 17-287. OTI said the FCC should “fully implement” the national verifier before taking on other systemic changes to the program. Last we were told, Carr hadn't yet voted on the USF budget NPRM (see 1904030026), and he declined to comment about the matter to us on April 12.
The record shows the FCC should allow maps for USF support in Alaska using an accuracy standard of 50 meters, the Alaska Telecom Association (ATA) said. In March, FCC staff rejected as "overly broad" an ATA request to waive a requirement that carriers receiving Alaska Plan USF support submit fiber network maps accurate within 7.6 meters (see 1903040026). GCI sought review. “Alaska Plan participants have demonstrated in multiple filings the burden of the 7.6 meter standard,” ATA said. “Applying the 7.6 meter standard imposes tremendous additional burden on Alaska Plan companies, burden which will not increase the utility of the maps.” NCTA and America’s Communications Association also filed in support of GCI: “As GCI makes clear in its application, requiring such a granular level of location information about fiber facilities would be prohibitively expensive and there is no public interest benefit to requiring such a strict definition.” Comments were posted Wednesday in docket 16-271.
The FCC Office of Inspector General issued a general warning against Lifeline fraud Tuesday. OIG said a common scam is to manipulate someone’s name or identity to get extra payments. “OIG has seen thousands of examples of ‘female juniors’ among Lifeline enrollments,” the office said. “Another fraudulent practice involves adding an individual’s middle initials to either the first name or last name fields … to create fraudulent enrollments.” Address manipulation is also common, OIG said: “One vacant lot in Detroit was used by a carrier as the home address of nearly two hundred Lifeline subscribers.” Lifeline abuse won’t be tolerated, the warning said: This advisory is “to alert and educate Lifeline stakeholders and the public about some of the techniques used to perpetrate fraud we have learned about during our investigations. OIG ... will continue to use a full-range of tools to expose and combat fraud, waste, and abuse in USF programs.”
Questions continue about a $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) proposed in a Friday speech at the White House by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1904120065) and whether it will have much effect on closing the digital divide. Pai said the program would connect up to 4 million rural homes and small businesses to high-speed internet. Critics said the FCC appears to be rebranding the Connect America Fund, without any new proposed spending. Some hope the FCC won’t dig into funding for Lifeline and other USF programs.
Officials in President Donald Trump's administration and the FCC spoke optimistically about the U.S. path forward on rural broadband and spectrum policy during a Monday NTCA event, citing 2018 successes and actions slated for this year. The FCC's plans to follow up the USF Connect America Fund with a new $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (see 1904120065) received some attention at the event, but more focus was on upcoming spectrum auctions and ways to increase rural broadband deployments.