States that spent time and money challenging carrier coverage maps submitted for Mobility Fund Phase II are frustrated the FCC said Wednesday it will terminate it (see 1912040027). They asked in interviews last week what a $9 billion replacement for rural 5G will mean for areas that never had any wireless. Small rural carriers that challenged larger national competitors through speed tests on foot, horseback and all-terrain vehicles wonder if there's any way to recoup those funds.

Three Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls proposed or restated plans Friday to guarantee universal broadband access and other tech and telecom priorities. Many of the leading Democratic candidates have proposed multibillion-dollar funding for broadband deployments, with a special focus on increasing service to rural consumers (see 1909040061). Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wants to ensure “every American household will have affordable, high-speed internet by the end of his first term” if he's elected president. “Our tax dollars built the internet and access to it should be a public good for all, not another price gouging profit machine for Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon,” he said in the plan. He would “instruct the FCC to regulate broadband internet rates” and “work with Congress to codify net neutrality protections into law to prevent a future FCC from repealing them once again” as it did in rescission of 2015 rules. Sanders committed to “appoint members of the FCC who will use [Communications Act] Title II authority to promote competition, choice, and affordability for broadband service.” He would establish “a dedicated, accelerated last-mile fund through the Department of Agriculture’s [Rural Utilities Service] to provide capital funding to connect all remote rural households and businesses and upgrade outdated technology and infrastructure, prioritizing funding for existing co-ops and small rural utilities.” Sanders also wants to pre-empt all state-level laws “that limit or bar” municipal broadband. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., “will work to codify strong net neutrality principles and make immediate progress in her first 100 days by using federal contracting requirements to encourage broadband providers to honor net neutrality principles and promote a free and open internet,” her campaign blogged. Klobuchar would also “push for” legislation similar to her Social Media Privacy and Consumer Rights Act (S-189) “to require companies to notify users within 72 hours when their data has been breached and offer meaningful remedies for people whose data has been compromised.” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also wants to “guarantee access to broadband.” He would “close the digital divide once and for all by making unprecedented federal investment for broadband in rural areas and Indian Country, updating and increasing flexibility in existing federal programs to better serve rural needs, automatically enrolling low-income families into the FCC Lifeline program, investing in rural cooperatives, and passing his Community Broadband Act to push back on efforts by [ISPs] to restrict or prohibit municipal and cooperatively-owned broadband that could lower costs and improve access” (see 1703280022). Free Press Policy Manager Dana Floberg lauded the Sanders and Klobuchar plans.

Commissioner Brendan Carr spent nearly two weeks during Q1 outside the Washington area and away from the FCC, logging more time out of town than any of the other commissioners. That's according to analysis of travel receipts and commissioner calendars Communications Daily obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request, and of commissioners' Twitter accounts. The FCC FY 2020 budget estimate included roughly $1.9 million in travel line items, including $304,239 for the chairman’s and commissioners’ offices.

Refocus FCC efforts on shoring up Lifeline affordability and reaching out to all eligible consumers instead of setting up new barriers, stakeholders recommended in interviews this week and last. The FCC last week 3-2 denied a pause on a $2 monthly decrease in support for voice-only, while raising by 50 percent a monthly minimum for broadband to 3 GB (see 1911200015). The previous week, the agency issued a 3-2 order that would curb fraud and abuse, and a Further NPRM asks whether to ban free handsets with new signups (see 1911140064).

Refocus FCC efforts on shoring up Lifeline affordability and reaching out to all eligible consumers instead of setting up new barriers, stakeholders recommended in interviews this week and last. The FCC last week 3-2 denied a pause on a $2 monthly decrease in support for voice-only, while raising by 50 percent a monthly minimum for broadband to 3 GB (see 1911200015). The previous week, the agency issued a 3-2 order that would curb fraud and abuse, and a Further NPRM asks whether to ban free handsets with new signups (see 1911140064).

The Federal Communications Commission approved national security supply chain rules on Nov. 22, barring equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from networks funded by the Universal Service Fund and establishing rules that could block other providers (see 1910300036). “Both Huawei and ZTE have close ties to the Chinese government and military apparatus and are subject to Chinese laws requiring them to assist with espionage, a threat recognized by other federal agencies and the governments of other nations,” an FCC news release said: “The public funds in the FCC’s USF … must not endanger national security through the purchase of equipment from companies posing a national security risk.”

The FCC should take five new steps to manage fraud risks in its USF programs supporting broadband deployment in high-cost rural areas, said a GAO report released Monday. It recommended the FCC: (1) ensure it follows leading practices from a GAO fraud risk framework; (2) plan regular fraud-risk assessments tailored to the high-cost program and assess those risks; (3) design and implement an anti-fraud strategy for the high-cost program with specific control activities based upon the results of the fraud-risk assessment and a corresponding fraud risk profile; (4) assess the model-based support mechanism to determine how well it produces reliable cost estimates; and (5) consider whether to mandate the use of the model-based support mechanism depending on the results of the assessment. "Given the continuing importance of deploying telecommunications services in difficult-to-serve areas, effective oversight for rate-of-return carriers is an important component for helping ensure that the high-cost program's finite funds are used properly to meet the intent of the program," GAO said. House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he “requested this report because it was clear FCC was failing to adequately protect the high-cost program against flagrant waste, fraud and abuse of federal funds by some rate-of-return carriers.” The GAO “agrees” with that view and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai “must heed GAO’s recommendations and implement an antifraud strategy for the program,” Pallone said. In comments attached to the public report, FCC Managing Director Mark Stephens and Wireline Bureau Chief Kris Monteith said the agency remains "committed to our statutory obligation to close the digital divide, while preventing waste, fraud, and abuse of universal service funding." They noted the FCC gave small, rural carriers the opportunity to elect model-based high-cost support "in exchange for robust broadband deployment" to help advance its objective to protect USF from waste, fraud and abuse. The FCC said it will implement the GAO's recommendations through the Office of the Managing Director.

Minimizing confusion for E-rate applications among participants can reduce administrative burdens on the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Co., said NCTA in reply comments posted to docket 13-184 through Monday. That's because applicants will be less likely to make the kinds of mistakes that lead to funding denials and appeals that could be prevented if drop-down menus on form 470s were clearer, it said. The group asked the FCC to change the description of minimum and maximum service levels to minimum needs to allow growth over the full term of the form 470 funding. NTCA endorsed a proposal to create a tab for selecting specific entities and locations where service is requested (see 1911010024). CenturyLink asked the FCC to ensure the form 470 provides "appropriate specificity" about the level of bandwidth that individual institutions need to enable interested providers to "submit responsive bids." AT&T said it "agrees that applicants need to account for growth in their form 470 to avoid funding denials in the future, but the growth estimates cannot be limitless." That's because "E-rate rules do not permit service providers to submit an 'estimated' bid for service," AT&T said. The American Library Association said schools and libraries that already have fiber connectivity should be able to indicate that in the application process, so they don't later waste the time of non-fiber service providers that put in competitive bids. ALA said "leased lit fiber and non-fiber services should be two separate transport service drop-down options."

The FCC should take five new steps to manage fraud risks in its USF programs supporting broadband deployment in high-cost rural areas, said a GAO report released Monday. It recommended the FCC: (1) ensure it follows leading practices from a GAO fraud risk framework; (2) plan regular fraud-risk assessments tailored to the high-cost program and assess those risks; (3) design and implement an anti-fraud strategy for the high-cost program with specific control activities based upon the results of the fraud-risk assessment and a corresponding fraud risk profile; (4) assess the model-based support mechanism to determine how well it produces reliable cost estimates; and (5) consider whether to mandate the use of the model-based support mechanism depending on the results of the assessment. "Given the continuing importance of deploying telecommunications services in difficult-to-serve areas, effective oversight for rate-of-return carriers is an important component for helping ensure that the high-cost program's finite funds are used properly to meet the intent of the program," GAO said. House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he “requested this report because it was clear FCC was failing to adequately protect the high-cost program against flagrant waste, fraud and abuse of federal funds by some rate-of-return carriers.” The GAO “agrees” with that view and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai “must heed GAO’s recommendations and implement an antifraud strategy for the program,” Pallone said. In comments attached to the public report, FCC Managing Director Mark Stephens and Wireline Bureau Chief Kris Monteith said the agency remains "committed to our statutory obligation to close the digital divide, while preventing waste, fraud, and abuse of universal service funding." They noted the FCC gave small, rural carriers the opportunity to elect model-based high-cost support "in exchange for robust broadband deployment" to help advance its objective to protect USF from waste, fraud and abuse. The FCC said it will implement the GAO's recommendations through the Office of the Managing Director.

Minimizing confusion for E-rate applications among participants can reduce administrative burdens on the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Co., said NCTA in reply comments posted to docket 13-184 through Monday. That's because applicants will be less likely to make the kinds of mistakes that lead to funding denials and appeals that could be prevented if drop-down menus on form 470s were clearer, it said. The group asked the FCC to change the description of minimum and maximum service levels to minimum needs to allow growth over the full term of the form 470 funding. NTCA endorsed a proposal to create a tab for selecting specific entities and locations where service is requested (see 1911010024). CenturyLink asked the FCC to ensure the form 470 provides "appropriate specificity" about the level of bandwidth that individual institutions need to enable interested providers to "submit responsive bids." AT&T said it "agrees that applicants need to account for growth in their form 470 to avoid funding denials in the future, but the growth estimates cannot be limitless." That's because "E-rate rules do not permit service providers to submit an 'estimated' bid for service," AT&T said. The American Library Association said schools and libraries that already have fiber connectivity should be able to indicate that in the application process, so they don't later waste the time of non-fiber service providers that put in competitive bids. ALA said "leased lit fiber and non-fiber services should be two separate transport service drop-down options."