Price-cap carriers could be required to build broadband capable of delivering 10 Mbps downstream as part of Phase II of the Connect America Fund, according to a further NPRM on circulation, said agency and industry in interviews Monday. That proposed speed requirement is more than double the 4 Mbps downstream requirement specified in the original 2011 USF/intercarrier compensation order. An order and FNPRM are tentatively scheduled to be voted on at the FCC’s April 23 meeting, the agency said last week (http://fcc.us/1eajJaE).

Satellite broadband could be the solution for building out broadband and IP services to low-density rural areas, satellite providers and others said in interviews. There’s a perception among satellite providers and some others that the technology hasn’t been given the attention it deserves. Satellite tech has advanced tremendously in the past couple of years, proponents said, pointing to higher speeds, lower costs and a stamp of approval from the FCC’s most recent broadband speed measurement report. But satellite broadband wasn’t eligible for Connect America Fund Phase I money, and the FCC hasn’t made any decisions on the Phase II competitive process. The satellite industry wants to be a part of the discussion.

Satellite broadband could be the solution for building out broadband and IP services to low-density rural areas, satellite providers and others said in interviews. There’s a perception among satellite providers and some others that the technology hasn’t been given the attention it deserves. Satellite tech has advanced tremendously in the past couple of years, proponents said, pointing to higher speeds, lower costs and a stamp of approval from the FCC’s most recent broadband speed measurement report. But satellite broadband wasn’t eligible for Connect America Fund Phase I money, and the FCC hasn’t made any decisions on the Phase II competitive process. The satellite industry wants to be a part of the discussion.

The FCC Wireline Bureau announced a new “rate floor” of $20.46 a month Thursday (http://bit.ly/1eWEVvf). It’s part of the agency’s attempts to phase out excessive subsidies for basic phone service, “which allowed some phone companies to charge their customers as little as $5 a month” when the average suburban or urban customer was paying $16, said Chief Julie Veach in a statement (http://fcc.us/Ny4wTU). “The reforms have been gradually eliminating these excessive subsidies to level the playing field for all consumers and contain the cost of the program, which is funded by universal service fees ultimately paid by consumers.” A new rate survey found that the average monthly rate in urban and suburban areas is $20.46, higher than the agency expected, an FCC official told us, so the bureau is seeking comment on extending the phase-in. Comments in docket 10-90 are due March 21, replies March 31. Commissioner Ajit Pai opposes the rate floor, saying in a statement that it’s equivalent to “a rate hike of up to 46 percent in the next few months.” Pai opposed what he called an “FCC-initiated increase” in rural phone bills (http://fcc.us/OFnuJ2): “Why should the FCC saddle rural Americans with rate increases when doing so may not save the Universal Service Fund a dime and may in fact divert scarce funds away from broadband deployment? And why should the FCC override state-set rates to raise costs for consumers?” The economy is good for many in Washington, D.C., but “a recovery hasn’t yet reached much of rural America,” Pai said. “Let’s not add to the challenges our fellow citizens face by increasing their phone bills. Instead, let’s freeze the rate floor indefinitely and reexamine this misguided policy."

The House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology dug into questions of rural broadband deployment Thursday at a field hearing in New York and found grave accuracy problems with broadband mapping, its head lawmaker told us. The hearing was at the Orleans County Legislature in Albion, N.Y. Written testimony released Thursday and interviews revealed plenty of scrutiny about what government problems participants believe may impede industry from deploying broadband infrastructure.

The House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology dug into questions of rural broadband deployment Thursday at a field hearing in New York and found grave accuracy problems with broadband mapping, its head lawmaker told us. The hearing was at the Orleans County Legislature in Albion, N.Y. Written testimony released Thursday and interviews revealed plenty of scrutiny about what government problems participants believe may impede industry from deploying broadband infrastructure.

The FCC should stop leasing Educational Broadband Service spectrum, mostly to Sprint, and auction it instead, using the proceeds to pay for broadband in the schools, said a new paper by the Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology (CBIT). President Barack Obama has set a goal of getting 99 percent of American schools and libraries online at speeds of 100 Mbps within the next five years, said the paper by CBIT Executive Director Fred Campbell, former chief of the FCC Wireless Bureau (http://bit.ly/NuJGVq). “The current level of E-rate funding is far too limited to meet the President’s goal, however, and a substantial increase in universal service funding would threaten the affordability of broadband services in rural areas and to low-income communities,” the paper said. “Strangely, the FCC has ignored an obvious source of at least $11 billion in educational funding for which the FCC already has ultimate authority: The 117.5 MHz of spectrum allocated for the Educational Broadband Service (EBS) in the 2.5 GHz band.” CBIT said an incentive auction, like the pending auction for TV spectrum, would be the perfect tool for selling the EBS spectrum. “A portion of the auction revenues would be used to compensate existing educational licensees for relinquishing their spectrum rights,” CBIT said. “The remaining portion could be used to provide students nationwide with the world-class Internet infrastructure envisioned by the ConnectED initiative on a revenue neutral basis without threatening other universal service policy goals.” All CBIT funding to date comes from nonprofit organizations, Campbell said. Sprint provides some $24 million annually in cost-free wireless services and devices to thousands of elementary and secondary schools across the U.S. each year, a spokesman responded. “Notwithstanding CBIT’s concerns for improving wireless broadband for schools and libraries, we must note that forcing licensees to sell their 2.5 GHz spectrum -- apart from being legally dubious -- wouldn’t come close to generating the revenue needed to sustainably support broadband access for America’s educational institutions,” the spokesman said. “It is also surprising to see an advocacy group like CBIT recommend a public policy which fundamentally contradicts the free market principles it proclaims to support."

Halfway through a daylong FCC rural broadband workshop Wednesday, an audience member stepped up to the mic and asked how much money is available for the rural broadband “experiments,” and how many of the nearly 1,000 expressions of interest received will be granted. “Nothing has been decided,” responded Carol Mattey, deputy Wireline Bureau chief. How best to dole out its limited universal service money is the challenge for FCC officials, who made it clear they are seeking answers.

Halfway through a daylong FCC rural broadband workshop Wednesday, an audience member stepped up to the mic and asked how much money is available for the rural broadband “experiments,” and how many of the nearly 1,000 expressions of interest received will be granted. “Nothing has been decided,” responded Carol Mattey, deputy Wireline Bureau chief. How best to dole out its limited universal service money is the challenge for FCC officials, who made it clear they are seeking answers.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will raise the USF contribution rate and send more money to schools and libraries, if that’s necessary, he told a meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers in Washington Monday. “I will recommend this to my colleagues if warranted,” Wheeler said, according to prepared remarks (http://fcc.us/1qMDLLo) for the event, which was not open to the public. “But my colleagues and I can’t just pour more money into the program as it presently stands,” he said. “The first step in expansion is introspection."