ASPEN, Colo. -- The FCC broadband equity, access and deployment program’s spending will have a “huge stimulative effect” on private investments in network infrastructure over the next decade, said New Street Research’s Jonathan Chaplin Tuesday. BEAD will drive a lot of buildout by mobile carriers and wireless ISPs, said Will Adams, T-Mobile vice president-strategic policy and planning, at the Technology Policy Institute's Aspen Forum. FCC Chief of Staff Narda Jones said robocalls will remain a consumer issue focus for the agency. Panels also discussed online platform content moderation controversies (see 2308220048) and broadband deployment in Mexico and Canada.

The FCC Wireline Bureau extended until Oct. 30 the invoice filing deadline for emergency connectivity fund applicants and providers with deadlines occurring before that date, it said in an order posted Tuesday in docket 21-93. T-Mobile sought a waiver in June, citing the "complexities in the emergency program related to the invoicing process." The bureau also modified its rules to allow invoices to be submitted within 60 days from the date that the Universal Service Administrative Co. issues a notification that a refund request has been processed.

NTCA and the Rural Wireless Association warned of looming costs for smaller carriers if the FCC approves rules to facilitate a move to next-generation 911, in comments on a June NPRM (see 2306080043). The FCC’s proposed approach got general support from the National Association of State 911 Administrators, the National Emergency Number Association and other public safety commenters (see 2308090036), but industry is raising concerns. Comments were due at the FCC Wednesday in docket 21-479 and were still being posted Thursday.

Free market-oriented groups filed an amicus brief in support of Consumers' Research's challenge of the FCC's method for funding the USF, the subject of an upcoming en banc rehearing of the group’s challenge of the USF and how it’s funded by the FCC (see 2306290074). “Only Congress has the power to lay and to collect taxes for the universal welfare of all Americans. Regardless of the public policy that it seeks to advance, Congress cannot delegate this power to the FCC or any other executive branch agency,” said an amicus brief by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Free State Foundation and former Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, among others. Consumers’ Research argued the statutory framework for the fund unconstitutionally delegates legislative or taxing authority, and the FCC’s use of the Universal Service Administrative Co. is an impermissible delegation of regulatory authority to a private company. A three-judge panel ruled against Consumers' Research in March (see 2303240049). Said the filing Friday in case 22-60008: “The Constitution does not permit Congress to circumvent the legislative process by allowing an independent agency (guided by a private company owned by an industry trade group) to raise and to spend however much money it wants every quarter for ‘universal service’ at the expense of every American who pays a monthly phone bill. Elected representatives of the people, not the [FCC], must be responsible for making the difficult decisions to raise the revenue that funds this program.”

Free market-oriented groups filed an amicus brief in support of Consumers' Research's challenge of the FCC's method for funding the USF, the subject of an upcoming en banc rehearing of the group’s challenge of the USF and how it’s funded by the FCC (see 2306290074). “Only Congress has the power to lay and to collect taxes for the universal welfare of all Americans. Regardless of the public policy that it seeks to advance, Congress cannot delegate this power to the FCC or any other executive branch agency,” said an amicus brief by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Free State Foundation and former Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, among others. Consumers’ Research argued the statutory framework for the fund unconstitutionally delegates legislative or taxing authority, and the FCC’s use of the Universal Service Administrative Co. is an impermissible delegation of regulatory authority to a private company. A three-judge panel ruled against Consumers' Research in March (see 2303240049). Said the filing Friday in case 22-60008: “The Constitution does not permit Congress to circumvent the legislative process by allowing an independent agency (guided by a private company owned by an industry trade group) to raise and to spend however much money it wants every quarter for ‘universal service’ at the expense of every American who pays a monthly phone bill. Elected representatives of the people, not the [FCC], must be responsible for making the difficult decisions to raise the revenue that funds this program.”

Geography and topography could be a big hurdle for states in NTIA's broadband equity, deployment and access (BEAD) program. In draft five-year action plans, many states cited terrain as a chief challenge for getting service to high-cost areas, with several looking at options including satellite broadband and fixed wireless to serve high-cost areas. Numerous states also cited challenges such as labor shortages and affordability, longer supply chain lead times and regulatory hurdles, according to our review of draft plans made public so far.

Mark Walters, nationally syndicated talk show host of Armed American Radio, "fails to establish the basic elements of a defamation claim" when he alleges OpenAI’s ChatGPT service defamed him to a reporter, said OpenAI’s motion to dismiss Friday (docket 1:23-cv-03122) in U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta. OpenAI removed Walters’ June 2 defamation complaint to federal court July 14 from Gwinnett County Superior Court, and it’s basing its defense on disclosures to ChatGPT users that AI-generated content is “not always factual.”

The FCC and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are partnering on a trial of georouting calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the commission said Thursday as commissioners approved 988 outage reporting requirements 4-0, as expected (see 2307130010). Commissioners also unanimously approved an order allowing 14 FM6 stations to broadcast analog signals as an ancillary service and an order giving tribal libraries and other E-rate participants greater access to funding.

AUSTIN -- New NARUC Telecom Committee Chair Tim Schram praised NTIA efforts making broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) allocations, in a Wednesday interview. Also, Schram and another Republican committee member, South Dakota Commissioner Chris Nelson, told us they’re glad the FCC may soon finally have all five seats filled.

AUSTIN – State commissioners softened a draft resolution meant to discipline telecom providers still using network equipment that might pose a national security risk. At NARUC’s conference here Tuesday, the Telecom Committee unanimously supported a measure that would recommend lower scoring for grant applications by providers with equipment on the FCC’s covered list.