An NPRM on curbing 911 fee diversion (see 2101270060) is likely to receive unanimous support during Wednesday's meeting, FCC officials told us. Congress in December passed the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act, which required the commission to issue rules defining what constitutes a 911 fee or diversion.
Gabriella Novello
Gabriella Novello, Assistant Editor, is a journalist for Communications Daily covering telecommunications and the Federal Communications Commission. She joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2020, after covering election integrity and the 2020 presidential election at WhoWhatWhy. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism with a minor in health promotion at American University. You can follow Novello on Instagram and Twitter: @NOVELLOGAB.
Act quickly to set up the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program, panelists told FCC commissioners during a roundtable Friday (see 2101070052). Several said it’s also important to prioritize transparency so providers and consumers are kept in the loop as the funds wind down.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks' top priority for the next few weeks is ensuring as many people as possible can access the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program. He told Incompas Tuesday it could reach more low-income households and communities of color than any other program to help close the digital divide (see 2102090079). It's important to broadly publicize the program and encourage ISPs to participate, he added.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and others cited the 25th anniversary Monday of the Telecom Act’s signing as a jumping-off point for a range of communications and tech policy proposals for this year, including the need for more broadband funding in coming legislation. Some noted the importance of the ongoing debate over revamping Communications Decency Act Section 230, enacted as part of the 1996 law.
Establish a new information portal for reporting suspected illegal robocalls, USTelecom commented Tuesday in FCC docket 20-374 (see 2012080065). The portal should be "distinct from the existing informal complaint process for consumers, and should instead be available principally for private organizations and others that intend to report broader patterns of suspected" violations, USTelecom said. It should be voluntary and monitored to ensure consumer complaints don't inadvertently appear, and it should direct consumers to the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau instead, CTIA said. Twilio disagreed: Two portals would be "likely to create confusion and could lead to duplicative reporting." Commenters agreed private entities should work with the Traceback Consortium before submitting information through the portal. Safe Credit Union asked for clarification on the "escalation and reporting process to a business or service provider when reviewing information submitted by private entities."
The North American Numbering Council met Thursday to discuss costs, feasibility and consumer privacy issues of the 988 suicide prevention hotline that goes live in July 2022. Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel thanked NANC for its work on this front: “I’m glad the FCC has been working on it for years and glad for the work my predecessor has done on it as well.” The commission is required to submit a report to Congress by April that includes 988 geolocation (see 2101130051). NANC members largely agreed that additional discussion is needed about the technological challenges, policy issues and potential costs before making a recommendation. Wireline voice service providers have a “significant history” of providing location information for a 911 call, but “it’s not just as easy as leveraging that system and flipping a switch” for the hotline, said Kristine Hackman, USTelecom vice president-policy and advocacy. Privacy concerns about automatic location information “warrant further consideration” by the commission, said Matt Gerst, CTIA vice president-regulatory affairs. “There are privacy questions and a lot of folks saying people in a mental health crisis want to maintain their privacy,” Gerst said: “It’s not the same as a 911 call.” Time can be “critically of the essence” for a call placed to a crisis center, said James Wright, acting deputy director of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Crisis Line, and at times, there can be a “significant challenge” in trying to identify a caller's location. Operational questions must be answered on how a 988 call affects callers because it's a “highly complex issue,” said Comcast's Tim Kagele, co-chair of the North American Portability Management (see 2101110055). He cited call routing. It’s important to understand what's necessary to facilitate a call and how it’s used appropriately, said Philip Linse, Lumen director-public policy. Call centers might need the ability to transfer a call placed to 911 that involves a mental health crisis, Linse said. Glenn Clepper, Charter director-regulatory, said the FCC should have industry experts to identify operational requirements. The commission could consider using a general fund to cover operational costs instead of applying fees to telecom services or on access lines or channels rather than phone numbers and capping the total number of lines per customer in which a state should impose fees, Clepper said.
As more people use telehealth amid the pandemic (see 2101250026), hearing-impaired patients face obstacles communicating with their doctors, experts said in recent interviews.
Don't compel voice service providers to adopt FCC Hospital Robocall Protection Group best practices (see 2012140035) because “substantial ongoing efforts on multiple fronts” are ongoing to stop illegal robocalls, Lumen said in docket 21-7: The group’s recommendations on preventing and mitigating robocalls could be applied more broadly. USTelecom backed Lumen’s recommendations and supported the HRPG's report. Promote the transition to IP-to-IP voice interconnection, NCTA said, "especially given that the full potential” of the secure telephone identity revisited and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens “framework will only be realized when the IP transition is complete." Ribbon Communications, which recently combined with ECI Telecom Group, recommended providers route potential robocalls to a “voice captcha” or indicate a call is “potential spam” so the called party can decide whether to answer. Let hospitals adopt cloud-based mitigation services, “whereby the hospital takes ownership and control over the prevention and mitigation of robocalls and fraud attempts,” Ribbon said.
The USF contribution factor continues to shatter records. Universal Service Administrative Co. released its quarterly demand projections Friday, and the contribution factor will increase from 31.8% in Q1 to a historic 32.7% for Q2, said analyst Billy Jack Gregg. It raises several questions about the fund’s sustainability (see 2012310027). Even if demand stays at the current level, the factor will continue to rise because the contribution base continues to decline, Gregg said.
Stakeholders praised acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworce's release of drafts three weeks before FCC members vote on them at their monthly now-virtual meeting (see 2101270060), a practice started by former Chairman Ajit Pai in 2017. Nathan Leamer, Pai's former policy adviser, is excited Rosenworcel will "continue this comment to agency openness." The decision was "encouraging" and a "key reform from the Pai-era" that "should be standard practice for the FCC," Charles Koch Institute's Jesse Blumenthal tweeted, which Pai retweeted. Robert Weller, NAB vice president-spectrum policy, suggested the practice be codified. It's encouraging to see this practice continue, said NTCA Senior Vice President-industry Affairs Michael Romano in an emailed statement. "Particularly when it comes to highly technical or complex matters, the opportunity to review the text in advance is helpful, even just to catch where things might need to be stated somewhat differently or more precisely to ensure that the intent of an order is fulfilled." The acting chairwoman is "deeply committed to transparency and plans to continue this practice," emailed an FCC spokesperson.