The FCC Wireline Bureau directed Universal Service Administrative Co. to review and process during the second filing window those Emergency Connectivity Fund applicants that certified and submitted their application after the initial filing window's Oct. 13 deadline, said a public notice Tuesday. These applicants aren't required to resubmit their applications or file a request for waiver of the initial deadline. The bureau doesn't expect to grant waivers of the second deadline "absent a showing of extraordinary circumstances."
An FCC draft NPRM on expanding eligibility for E-rate to tribal libraries is expected to be unanimously approved during commissioners' Sept. 30 meeting, experts said in recent interviews. Library groups and tribal leaders welcomed the move, saying more libraries may be likely to consider applying.
The FCC has the authority to include broadband services revenue in the USF contribution base but would need to establish a comment period before making any changes, industry groups said in recent interviews. A new report suggests adding broadband providers could drop the contribution factor to as low as 4% and avoid facing direct congressional appropriations (see 2109130053).
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell of Washington and other chamber Democratic leaders told us they haven’t signed off on the House Commerce Committee’s portion of the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package because of what they consider an underwhelming amount of money for broadband. Senate Republicans we spoke with appeared unified with their House colleagues in opposition to the language.
Alaska telecom associations submitted state USF update proposals with a connections-based contribution method to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in docket R-21-001. The Matanuska Telecom Association submitted its proposal for a flat-rate surcharge Wednesday after previewing it at an RCA meeting last month (see 2108110059). The revenue-based fee went as high as 19% in 2018 before the RCA capped it at 10%, MTA said. The RCA would require the new method and let the Alaska USF administrator set the monthly per line fee, the group proposed: No distribution changes are necessary. The Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition filed a plan for a new “Remote Alaska Fund” with a connections-based method that at first would support voice and later broadband. The RCA should set the AUSF at $30 million yearly, split evenly between small and large carriers, it said. GCI neither supports nor opposes any reform plan, and “is ambivalent about a connections-based funding mechanism,” the carrier commented. “Such a charge is certainly not a magic bullet that will solve the funding issue; the source of funding would continue to remain with ratepayers.” It could mean $2 per line monthly for every Alaska phone customer, and the RCA should consider how that “charge itself harms the goal of universal service,” GCI said. Alaska Communications suggested splitting the proceeding into two phases, the first to decide whether to continue the fund and any contribution changes, the second to tackle distribution changes.
More than 5 million households have enrolled to date in the FCC emergency broadband benefit program, the agency said Friday. Experts welcomed the more granular data about enrollment figures that accompanied the announcement and said the program may last 18 months.
The FCC Wireline Bureau approved the Universal Service Administrative Co.'s FY 2021 funding request review procedure for the Rural Health Care Program's telecommunications program June 23, said a letter posted Monday in docket 02-60. The approval is subject to further commission modifications.
Some winning Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction bidders asked the FCC to waive penalties if they decide to withdraw bids for census blocks that faced questions about whether service is already available. Bidders that won the smallest number of census blocks are among those that responded to the FCC accepting the offer so far.
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska should propose connections-based contribution for state USF, said Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA) representatives in a presentation at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s virtual Wednesday meeting. Adopting a flat surcharge of about $2.20 monthly per voice connection would stabilize the fund and generate about $25 million in funding, said consultant and former FCC Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey. Nebraska, New Mexico, Maine and Utah previously took that approach, she said. The proposed change should bring in enough money to restore Alaska USF distributions to frozen 2016 levels, said Kemppel Huffman’s Dean Thompson. MTA recommends independent governance of the state fund by either issuing a request for proposals to find a third-party auditor or restructuring the Alaska Universal Service Administrative Co. board to have independent members rather than telecom industry members as it does now, said Mattey. Allowing companies that contribute to and receive money from the fund to also administer it is unique to Alaska, she said. MTA plans to formally submit its proposal by Sept. 1, said Director-Legal, Regulatory and Government Affairs Ryan Ponder. RCA Chairman Bob Pickett said he wants to resolve AUSF changes well before the fund sunsets June 30, 2023, and expects an active fall in the AUSF docket (R-21-001). The Oklahoma Corporation Commission last week adopted connections-based contribution on an interim basis (see 2108050049).
A sudden transition in New York governors could affect how the state spends federal infrastructure and pandemic rescue dollars tagged for broadband, said state observers after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced his resignation Tuesday, effective in two weeks. With Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) succeeding him, some predicted a change in style from a governor who they said had outsize influence over the New York Public Service Commission.