The Universal Service Administration Co. has enough funding to meet estimated demand from E-rate category one and two applicants for the 2019 funding year, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Wednesday. The funding cap for the E-rate program this year, adjusted for inflation, is $4.15 billion (see 1903080060), but an additional $1 billion is available in unused funds from the previous year. USAC estimates demand for the funding year is $2.896 billion, including an estimated $1.191 billion for category one services and $985 million devoted to category two spending (see 1906240027).

The Universal Service Administration Co. has enough funding to meet estimated demand from E-rate category one and two applicants for the 2019 funding year, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Wednesday. The funding cap for the E-rate program this year, adjusted for inflation, is $4.15 billion (see 1903080060), but an additional $1 billion is available in unused funds from the previous year. USAC estimates demand for the funding year is $2.896 billion, including an estimated $1.191 billion for category one services and $985 million devoted to category two spending (see 1906240027).

State commissioners hope the FCC takes note of coming NARUC resolutions (see 1907100028) on delaying some further changes to a billion dollar federal subsidy for poor people to get phone and broadband services. In interviews before their Sunday-Wednesday meeting to consider two such draft proposals, some expressed optimism the federal regulator might make changes midway through program revisions begun under the last presidential administration. Another telecom resolution, advocating no overall USF budget, lacks a sponsor and won't move forward unless it adds one, stakeholders noted this week.

The FCC’s Aug. 1 commissioners’ meeting will be headlined by proposed rulemakings on robocalls and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, per the tentative agenda and drafts released Thursday late afternoon. Members will vote on an NPRM on low-power FM technical rules, orders on 911 location and small satellites, plus items on a toll-free number auction and local franchising authority over cable.

Requiring Lifeline providers to use a federal database to check if consumers are eligible for government-subsidized, carrier-provided phone and broadband services is causing more concerns from states, as they lose the ability to run their own checks. NARUC members will vote at their July 21- 24 meeting on asking the FCC to halt activation of the national verifier (NV) in any more states this year, and separately on recommending the agency not cap the overall USF. NV rollout prompted concerns subscribers are being dropped from carriers' customer rolls over difficultly verifying eligibility even though they may indeed be eligible (see 1907080009).

Chairman Ajit Pai is “optimistic” the FCC “will have results to show” on the C band in the fall, he told a 5G workshop at the Congreso Latinoamericano De Telecomunicaciones Thursday. Last week, the agency got more comments on the C band (see 1907050035). The FCC also continues its work on making the 3.1-3.55 GHz band available for commercial use. Pai defended a draft order on the educational broadband service band, set for a vote Wednesday (see 1907050034). EBS rules “date back decades,” Pai said: “At that time, it was envisioned that this spectrum would be used for educational TV. But today, this band is dramatically underused, with much of this spectrum lying fallow. That’s unacceptable.” Pai also stressed the importance of 5G security. “5G will affect our militaries, our industries, our critical infrastructure, and much more,” he said: “The procurement and deployment decisions made now will have a generational impact on our security, economy, and society.” The world can’t make “risky choices and just hope for the best,” he said: “We must see clearly the threats to the security of our networks and act to address them. And the more that the United States and our regional allies can work together and make security decisions based on shared principles, the safer that our 5G networks will be.” Pai said he strongly supports the principles approved in May by the Prague 5G Security Conference (see 1905030052). In another speech at a universal service workshop at the congress, Pai said the FCC is rejiggering the USF program to make it more effective through reverse auctions. Pai said he has seen firsthand how well that approach works. An auction last year provided $1.5 billion to connect more than 713,000 unserved homes and businesses nationwide, saving $3.5 billion from estimated costs of those connections, he said. “Later this year, we will start the process of setting up a $20.4 billion broadband expansion program called the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund,” Pai said: “Applying lessons learned from the recent reverse auction, this program will spur the deployment of high-speed broadband networks across more of rural America over the next decade.” Other work continues, he said: “We’ve increased subsidies for small, rural carriers, while giving them more aggressive buildout requirements. We’ve increased the budget for our rural healthcare program and are designing a connected care pilot program to realize the potential of telehealth solutions outside the hospital.” Commissioners will also vote Wednesday on an NPRM for a three-year, $100 million USF telehealth pilot program (see 1906180053).

Chairman Ajit Pai is “optimistic” the FCC “will have results to show” on the C band in the fall, he told a 5G workshop at the Congreso Latinoamericano De Telecomunicaciones Thursday. Last week, the agency got more comments on the C band (see 1907050035). The FCC also continues its work on making the 3.1-3.55 GHz band available for commercial use. Pai defended a draft order on the educational broadband service band, set for a vote Wednesday (see 1907050034). EBS rules “date back decades,” Pai said: “At that time, it was envisioned that this spectrum would be used for educational TV. But today, this band is dramatically underused, with much of this spectrum lying fallow. That’s unacceptable.” Pai also stressed the importance of 5G security. “5G will affect our militaries, our industries, our critical infrastructure, and much more,” he said: “The procurement and deployment decisions made now will have a generational impact on our security, economy, and society.” The world can’t make “risky choices and just hope for the best,” he said: “We must see clearly the threats to the security of our networks and act to address them. And the more that the United States and our regional allies can work together and make security decisions based on shared principles, the safer that our 5G networks will be.” Pai said he strongly supports the principles approved in May by the Prague 5G Security Conference (see 1905030052). In another speech at a universal service workshop at the congress, Pai said the FCC is rejiggering the USF program to make it more effective through reverse auctions. Pai said he has seen firsthand how well that approach works. An auction last year provided $1.5 billion to connect more than 713,000 unserved homes and businesses nationwide, saving $3.5 billion from estimated costs of those connections, he said. “Later this year, we will start the process of setting up a $20.4 billion broadband expansion program called the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund,” Pai said: “Applying lessons learned from the recent reverse auction, this program will spur the deployment of high-speed broadband networks across more of rural America over the next decade.” Other work continues, he said: “We’ve increased subsidies for small, rural carriers, while giving them more aggressive buildout requirements. We’ve increased the budget for our rural healthcare program and are designing a connected care pilot program to realize the potential of telehealth solutions outside the hospital.” Commissioners will also vote Wednesday on an NPRM for a three-year, $100 million USF telehealth pilot program (see 1906180053).

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly is open to contribution overhaul to support the USF but doesn't support adding a usage fee for broadband services, he said Tuesday in conversation with former Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. Adding a fee to broadband could tip the price of the service beyond the reach of some consumers, O'Rielly said. "Raising the cost could change adoption rates. It does matter." O'Rielly spoke about capping universal broadband funds at the Hudson Institute, where Furchtgott-Roth is director of Center for the Economics of the Internet. The FCC is taking comment through July 15 on an NPRM that would set a universal budget cap for the USF program and a joint subcap for the E-rate and rural healthcare programs. The lack of contribution change isn't due to lack of interest among industry and other stakeholders, O'Rielly said. Some state commissioners want to put a fee on broadband, but there hasn't been a meeting of the minds between the FCC and the states. O'Rielly remains opposed to that and is challenged to find new answers. "Please come to us" with new ideas, he told telecom executives Tuesday. He's open to debating fees for services that are "telecom-like," he told us, such as for conference calling. Perhaps unlike other commissioners in his party, O'Rielly said, he doesn't want to shrink the Lifeline program, but said it's necessary to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse to protect it.

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly is open to contribution overhaul to support the USF but doesn't support adding a usage fee for broadband services, he said Tuesday in conversation with former Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. Adding a fee to broadband could tip the price of the service beyond the reach of some consumers, O'Rielly said. "Raising the cost could change adoption rates. It does matter." O'Rielly spoke about capping universal broadband funds at the Hudson Institute where Furchtgott-Roth is director of Center for the Economics of the Internet.

NTCA said models used to develop buildout obligations for high-cost universal service funds often render counts of locations that don't resemble “facts on the ground” in rural areas, talking with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. That gap is particularly pronounced when measured on a more granular basis for compliance with deployment duties under the Connect America Fund Phase II auction and the alternative cost America model, it said. NTCA said that mismatch could turn providers off from ACAM support. It said the agency should do a "forensic investigation" into the models and direct Universal Service Administrative Co. to give a more reasonable interpretation of what's a home-based business. The group said for improved broadband mapping, there needs to be more detailed standardization of availability reporting requirements upfront, including a definition of assumed network capabilities and propagation characteristics. Without those details, more granular reporting would still be of marginal value when establishing more accurate maps, it said. There's need for a validation and challenge process to ensure accuracy, it said, per a docket 10-90 posting Thursday.