House Communications Subcommittee members made the future of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program a major focus of its Wednesday commission oversight hearing, as expected (see 2306200075), but the panel didn’t result in a clear sense of whether Commerce Committee GOP leaders will back additional funding for the initiative. Subpanel Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and others haven’t committed themselves as either for or against further ACP funding (see 2305100073). Democrats strongly defended the program and urged its extension.

Senate Commerce Committee Republicans are likely to barrage FCC nominee Anna Gomez with questions during a Thursday confirmation hearing to pinpoint her positions on communications policies the commission might act on under a 3-2 Democratic majority, but won’t go as negative as during ex-candidate Gigi Sohn’s February panel (see 2302140077), lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. Gomez will get a far friendlier reception from Senate Commerce’s Democratic majority, but officials say they will be eyeing questions from three caucus members who were undecided on Sohn in the weeks before her March withdrawal (see 2303070082).

Requiring Grande Communications Networks to post a bond pending its appeal of a copyright infringement lawsuit is a “punitive measure that would serve only to enrich the company that issues the bond,” said its reply (docket 1:17-cv-00365) Wednesday in support of its motion to stay executive of judgment and for a bond waiver in U.S. District Court for Western Texas in Austin.

The California Public Utilities Commission authorized pilot programs to allow low-income consumers to stack state and federal benefits to pay for wireline and wireless broadband services. At a virtual meeting Thursday, commissioners voted 5-0 for a revised draft (see 2306060048) in docket R.20-02-008. Meanwhile, a consumer group is raising concerns about Verizon’s Friday letter to the commission on its struggles to migrate TracFone California customers to its network. Ensuring those customers weren’t abandoned was a “central issue” in the state commission’s merger review two years ago, Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) legal counsel Paul Goodman said in an interview.

Making content providers pay telcos to carry traffic may not be a good idea, several speakers said Thursday at a streamed Information Technology & Innovation Foundation event on the future of the internet in Europe. The European Commission has been consulting on the future of e-communications in the bloc, and one aspect of the inquiry is "fair compensation" for ISPs that carry traffic of major content producers (see Ref: 2303220017]). One question is whether this is even a problem, and whether regulation could have unintended consequences, said Analysys Mason Manager-TMT Strategy Shahan Osman.

The Southeastern Rural Broadband Alliance asked the FCC to update the Connect America Fund broadband loop support (CAF BLS) mechanism as it considers modifications to the Alternative Connect America Model program. The group said in a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Wireline Bureau staff that doing so will "harmonize federal funding to achieve the nation’s goal of ensuring universal access to broadband and closing the digital divide in a coordinated fashion," per an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 10-90. The alliance also asked the FCC to consider adopting a "voluntary incentive option" for CAF BLS recipients, saying it would "ensure that all serviceable locations have access to 100/20 Mbps broadband."

The FCC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) shares “many of the same concerns” top Republican leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees voiced in early May about the commission's management of broadband money it received for the affordable connectivity program (ACP) during the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2305080067), acting IG Sharon Diskin told the GOP leaders Tuesday in a letter we obtained. House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, sought information from the FCC OIG about ACP’s administration, citing ongoing debate about extending its life.

T-Mobile would upend the 1996 Telecom Act principle of cooperative federalism if courts stopped California from moving to a connections-based USF contribution mechanism, argued the California Public Utilities Commission. In an answering brief Tuesday at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the CPUC also disagreed that a flat-fee surcharge discriminates against federal affordable connectivity program (ACP) participants.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $1.4 million fine against PayG for failing to timely file telecom reporting worksheets with the Universal Service Administrative Co. between 2018 and 2021, said a notice of apparent liability Tuesday. The notice said PayG failed to file and pay on time for the USF, Telecom Relay Service Fund, North American numbering plan and federal regulatory fees.

Rural healthcare program (RHC) participants and industry continued to back the FCC's efforts to modify the program's rate methodologies, in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 17-310 (see 2304250074). Some urged the FCC to facilitate competitive bidding and a copayment structure in the telecom program and Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) rather than revert to the commission's previous rates database.