The FCC proposed a USF contribution factor for Q2 of 18.4 percent of carrier revenue from interstate and international telecom service end users, said an Office of Managing Director public notice in docket 96-45 in Monday's Daily Digest, as a consultant projected (see 1803020057). The decline from Q1's 19.5 percent will take effect March 23 absent further action.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is back from a four-day visit to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, a spokeswoman confirmed Monday. Pai viewed hurricane damage and recovery efforts (see 1803070054, 1803080048 and 1803090062), and explained his plan to provide USF support for telecom networks (see 1803060039). Pai retweeted (here) FCC tweets on his meetings and visits with officials and people in the Virgin Islands Friday and Saturday. U.S. Virgin Island government officials, Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Homeland Security "and unified telecommunications industry leaders met for two hours and recounted the impacts to the U.S. Virgin Islands infrastructure from the two ... CAT 5 hurricanes, focusing on communications and how government, industry, the private sector and other organizations all worked together to deal with the crisis," emailed U.S. Virgin Islands Public Service Commissioner Johann Clendenin. "From impacts, to response and recovery, the participants related their stories, sharing personal perspectives of the challenges, successes, work arounds, important lessons learned and recommendations for the FCC to shorten recovery and increase infrastructure resiliency in the future." Members of a Hurricane Integrated Telecommunications Team discussed various recommendations with Pai, including "the need for overall unified Telecommunications jurisdiction during Disaster response by States and Territories," which can "support relief ... hot spots, roaming, infrastructure support, debris removal, permits, equipment -- cranes, dozers, etc.," he said.
A federal court rejected a Consolidated Communications challenge to an FCC order denying SureWest Telephone (now a Consolidated unit) a waiver from a federally mandated USF state certification deadline the telco missed in 2012. "Consolidated fails to show that 'special circumstances' required the FCC to grant a waiver here," said a judgment (in Pacer) Friday of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Consolidated Communications v. FCC, No. 16-1431. "SureWest’s mere 'confusion' about its new regulatory classification after the acquisition is insufficient to justify a waiver. ... And the long delay before filing the missing certification -- nearly four months -- further weighs against granting a waiver." The panel rejected other Consolidated arguments and made the decision on the basis of briefs and official documents, without hearing oral argument (see 1801290029). Consolidated didn't comment.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was on his way to the U.S. Virgin Islands Friday after finishing his trip to Puerto Rico (see 1803070054 and 1803080048). "Leaving #PuertoRico grateful to the countless people in the public and private sectors who are doing their best to bring back communications services. @FCC stands ready to work with them in Uniendo a Puerto Rico ! Now on to the U.S. Virgin Islands," he tweeted. Pai was on a four-day swing through the islands to survey hurricane damage and recovery efforts and to explain his plan to send additional USF support to providers for telecom network restoration and improvement efforts (see 1803060039). He was scheduled to conclude the trip Saturday.
About half of South Carolina phone companies said they suspended recovery of state USF fees from customers in December, as directed by the Public Service Commission, South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff reported Wednesday in PSC docket 2017-334-C. ORS requested the suspension “to avoid a situation of over-collection and the subsequent need for repayment,” it said. The staff said 71 companies suspended USF fee recovery, but 61 companies didn’t respond and seven other companies reported collecting the money anyway. The companies that collected fees claimed “there is a lag between the reporting period and the collection period” that “causes companies to under-recover support from their customers,” ORS said. "No data was provided to support this claim.”
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai viewed hurricane damage and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico Thursday, a day after consulting with the island's leadership and outlining his proposal to help the commonwealth and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 1803070054 and 1803060039). On day two of his four-day visit to the islands, Pai had "informative visits in Utuado," a county "hard-hit" by Hurricane Maria with some parts that "still lack connectivity and basic infrastructure. Much work to do," he tweeted. That was one of his many tweets and retweets (here) of his site visits and meetings with Puerto Rican officials, including Gov. Ricardo Rossello (New Progressive Party). At a news conference Wednesday, Pai discussed his plan to provide $954 million in USF support for telecom networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including $256 million in new funding and other "repurposed" funding. The aim would be to give short-term funding to providers to restore networks and longer-term funding "to improve them and hopefully harden them in the case of future disasters," he said. "We want to be able to make the business case as easy as possible, in this case by providing additional federal funding, an increase over what Puerto Rico would have gotten in the absence of the plan." He said his plan's "lead proposal" is to invite companies to submit competitive proposals for a geographic area, with Puerto Rico's 78 or so "municipios" the suggested unit for the commonwealth. "Let's figure out which [proposal] gets us the biggest bang for the buck," he said, noting other alternatives included a subsidy auction. Funding recipients would have to use the money for its intended purpose and meet buildout and reporting requirements, he said. Rossello said his government is taking actions to speed and streamline the permitting process for telecom construction and other efforts. Pai met with broadcasters during his trip to Puerto Rico, an FCC spokeswoman said. Broadcasters aren’t eligible for new USF money targeting carriers affected by the storm but still need assistance, said International Broadcasting Corp. Legal Adviser Jean Paul Vissepo in an interview. Broadcasters need funds to repair damaged stations and equipment, but Puerto Rico’s damaged economy is also affecting them, he said.
Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, led Thursday filing of the Inmate Calling Technical Corrections Act, which would update rules for inmate calling services rate settings and clarify FCC authority to adjust the rules in the future. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, along with Capitol Hill Democrats and others, meanwhile, voiced concerns during a Thursday Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition event about FCC policy direction on ICS, net neutrality and changes to the USF Lifeline program.
The FCC opposed a Blanca Telephone motion for an injunction pending appeal and said the telco's petition for review should be dismissed. The commission noted it found Blanca ineligible for certain USF subsidies ($6.75 million) and ordered repayment. It also noted the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Blanca mandamus petition -- asking judges to prevent the FCC from collecting -- because the telco didn't exhaust alternatives at the agency, leading to a company petition for reconsideration (see 1801020038). While that petition was pending, Blanca filed a petition with the court seeking review, said commission opposition posted Wednesday in Blanca Telephone v. FCC, No. 18-9502. The FCC said the court lacks jurisdiction to consider the petition for review because the recon petition is still pending at the agency, meaning there's no final order to review. The commission said a staff letter didn't constitute a denial of the recon petition, and it also disputed Blanca's arguments on the merits. Blanca's counsel sent us its brief (in Pacer) making detailed arguments for court jurisdiction and concluding: "The FCC failed to follow legal requirements and has acted arbitrarily, capriciously, and abused its discretion."
The FCC updated a court on its USF transition to broadband-oriented subsidies, saying the shift will "ultimately relieve" incumbent telcos "of the federal high-cost voice service obligations at issue" in litigation. The commission declined to relieve AT&T and others of their duty to provide unsubsidized voice service during the transition, in part "because the obligation is temporary," said an agency letter (in Pacer) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday in AT&T v. FCC, No. 15-1038. It noted actions to begin July 24 a Connect America Fund Phase II auction of subsidies for fixed broadband and voice services in high-cost areas traditionally served by price-cap ILECs but where the incumbents declined initial CAF II support offers. In areas where another winning bidder is authorized to provide CAF-backed service, the incumbents will be relieved of their voice duties, it said. Some areas may not receive winnings bids, but they "will be a fraction of the already small fraction of carriers' service areas" at issue in this case, and they "may be eligible for funding in a second auction for 'Remote Areas,'" the letter said. "Although the July auction will not entirely moot this case, it shows that the transition is proceeding apace." AT&T didn't comment Wednesday. At Oct. 26 oral argument, judges questioned the telco's lawyer more extensively than the FCC's about the company's legal challenge (see 1710260054).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai met with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello (New Progressive Party) and other officials Wednesday, his first day of a four-day visit to the commonwealth and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They discussed Puerto Rico's telecom infrastructure and Pai's proposal to provide Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with $954 million in USF support to help restore and upgrade hurricane-damaged communications networks, according to Spanish-language tweets by Rossello and others that Pai retweeted (here, here, here, here). Pai also met with the CEO of Claro, Puerto Rico's largest telecom carrier, a company spokeswoman emailed. Pai's broadband plan would add $256 million in new USF support and repurpose existing funding currently directed at the islands, mostly to expand fixed broadband connectivity over the long term and 4G mobile broadband connectivity in the medium term (see 1803060039). Asked about the repurposed funding, an FCC spokesman emailed that "among other differences, the new program would include buildout obligations as well as a competitive process for awarding support for fixed broadband." Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who arrived in Puerto Rico Monday, tweeted Wednesday about conditions and recovery efforts in the Villa Cama neighborhood (here) and at a school in rural Toa Baja (here). Pai was to have met with broadcasters in the evening, said Jean Paul Vissepo, legal adviser with Puerto Rico’s International Broadcasting Corp. Broadcasters are hoping for FCC assistance with restoring service to the island. Broadcasting was the communications service used to disseminate emergency information on Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and the extensive damage to broadcast facilities has been under-assessed, Vissepo said.