The FCC wants comments by Jan. 18, replies by Jan. 31, in docket 21-476 on its report to Congress on the future of the USF, said a notice of inquiry listed in Thursday's Daily Digest. The report was mandated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The NOI seeks comment on how the law's new broadband funding impacts existing USF programs and on "improving its effectiveness in achieving the universal service goals for broadband." It also seeks comment on USF's contribution factor and any recommendations the commission should make to Congress for legislative action. Commissioner Brendan Carr was the only commissioner to release a statement, saying USF is "stuck in a death spiral." Carr again said Big Tech should pay into USF (see 2106010041).

California Public Utilities Commissioners voted 5-0 to deny LTD Broadband the application approval it needed to get about $187.5 million in Rural Digital Opportunities Fund (RDOF) support over 10 years. At a virtual meeting Thursday, commissioners also by unanimous consent cleared multiple California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grants that LTD and others said partially overlapped areas where they won RDOF support (see 2112140019, 2112090011 and 2112080046). The CPUC got more comments Wednesday on a plan to shift to connections-based state USF contributions.

Citing a GAO report identifying fraud risks in E-rate's competitive bidding process, FCC commissioners during a meeting Tuesday unanimously approved an NPRM to establish a central online bidding portal and seek comment on requiring additional documentation from applicants (see 2111300047). The NPRM had a tweak that Commissioner Brendan Carr sought. Members also adopted 4-0 an NPRM on revising the commission’s non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) spectrum sharing rules and proposals to improve emergency alert system accessibility.

Top Republicans on the House and Senate Commerce committees pressed the FCC Monday for information on the agency’s response to the Office of Inspector General’s November report that some emergency broadband benefit providers were falsely claiming a child in a household attended a qualifying low-income school (see 2111220058). Commissioner Brendan Carr said he was “kept in the dark” about the OIG’s findings until the report’s public release (see 2111230067). OIG’s recent findings and past federal watchdog reports about “fraud and abuse” in other FCC programs “raise serious questions about” the commission’s “ability to oversee and manage its programs,” Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi, House Commerce ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and the GOP ranking members of the Communications subcommittees wrote FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. They noted a 2020 GAO report that said the FCC’s oversight of its E-rate program was “insufficient … to identify potential fraud risks” (see 2009160081). “The upcoming transition of the EBB” to the $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program enacted via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act “provides further reason for concern,” the GOP lawmakers said. “Unlike other FCC subsidy programs, the ACP will be funded through appropriations, rather than Universal Service Fund contributions. We are concerned that the FCC may proceed with rules for a permanent ACP that do not adequately protect American taxpayers or best serve eligible households.” The lawmakers want Rosenworcel to explain by Jan. 7 when her office became “aware of fraud” in EBB, if the FCC has identified the providers that committed fraud and what actions the agency will take to “confirm the eligibility of current EBB recipients.” They also want to know whether Rosenworcel will seek comment on draft rules for ACP “from other commissioners and the public” and if the FCC will take steps to ensure “future enrollees” are eligible for the revised program. The FCC didn’t comment.

The FCC Wireline Bureau granted Midwest Medical Center's request for review of the Universal Service Administrative Co.'s denial of its FY 2018 funding request, said an order listed in Thursday's Daily Digest. The bureau said MMC's requested wireless equipment is eligible for the healthcare connect fund program. The application for funding was remanded to USAC for further action.

Providers, local governments and advocates welcomed FCC-proposed rules for the $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program, in comments posted Thursday in docket 21-450. Some raised concerns about potential implementation challenges as the agency shifts from the $3.1 billion emergency broadband benefit program and urged the commission to allow flexibility for EBB providers and enrolled households during the transition.

Federal departments are applying lessons learned from NTIA’s broadband technology opportunities program (BTOP) and the Rural Utilities Service’s broadband initiatives program (BIP) to new infrastructure funding, officials said at an FCBA webinar Thursday. Georgia, Virginia and Minnesota broadband officials said they will be ready for NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.

The federal government is increasingly rife with spectrum fiefdoms among agencies, contrary to the FCC's core purpose as a centralized point of spectrum policy decision-making, Commissioner Brendan Carr said Wednesday during the Practicing Law Institute's annual telecom policy and regulation seminar. He said updating memorandums of understanding would help, but ultimately there must be deference to the expert agency making a final decision. Such "devolution" of spectrum policy will be a permanent fixture, but that trend needs some reversing, he said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau granted the State E-rate Coordinators’ Alliance's request for an expedited waiver of the Emergency Connectivity Fund's invoice filing deadline, said an order Thursday in docket 21-93. The waiver applies to applicants that sought funding during either filing window, incorrectly used June 30, 2022, as the service delivery date, and received a funding commitment decision letter or revised letter with an Aug. 29, 2022, invoice filing deadline based on the incorrect delivery date. The bureau directed the Universal Service Administrative Co. to continue using the Aug. 29 filing deadline for affected program participants. It also modified ECF rules to allow applicants to use June 30 as the service delivery date for all funding requests made during each filing window and will take effect after Federal Register publication.

E-rate consultants and advocates are skeptical about a draft FCC NPRM that would establish a central online portal for E-rate's competitive bidding process and seek comment on requiring applicants to submit additional documentation (see 2111230068). Stakeholders told us the draft poses several administrative challenges that may need to be addressed in additional rulemakings. Others questioned whether the move is necessary.