Universal Service Administrative Co. sees “good momentum” on the Lifeline national verifier, after a rocky start that state regulators criticized last year, USAC Vice President-Lifeline Michelle Garber told NARUC. The Telecom Committee where she spoke cleared a proposed resolution later Tuesday seeking accurate broadband maps and an unserved focus for the FCC’s forthcoming 5G fund. The committee agreed to an amendment deleting a phrase prescribing the mechanism the FCC should use to ensure maps are accurate, as expected. Both votes were unanimous. The resolution needs NARUC board OK. One year ago, state commissioners grilled USAC officials on high rates of users failing the automated check due to the NV not accessing all databases relevant to determining eligibility. “It was tough,” Garber said now. “There were a lot of things we were saying were coming, but it was hard to see them coming, like a carrier” application programming interface or connection to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services database, she said. “There wasn’t enough communication and transparency.” A "lot changed in the past year,” Garber said. “When we said we wanted to get better, people trusted us and engaged with us to help us do that.” South Dakota Commissioner Chris Nelson, who accused USAC last year of a "bait and switch," this time thanked the administrator for its cooperation. His state's databases remain unconnected, but it's the fault of South Dakota agencies, he said.
Universal Service Administrative Co. sees “good momentum” on the Lifeline national verifier after a rocky start that state regulators criticized last year, USAC Vice President-Lifeline Michelle Garber told NARUC. Garber told Telecom Committee members about progress connecting state databases and refining enrollment and reverification processes.
Communities unserved by broadband often overlap with those at risk of losing their jobs to displacement by new technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence, panelists told FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks at an event he hosted. Earlier Tuesday, AT&T showcased how U.S. industries will adopt 5G and IoT technologies to increase productivity.
Communities unserved by broadband often overlap with those at risk of losing their jobs to displacement by new technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence, panelists told FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks at an event he hosted. Earlier Tuesday, AT&T showcased how U.S. industries will adopt 5G and IoT technologies to increase productivity.
The FCC will take $31 million from TeleQuality Communications in repayments and forfeitures of USF payment claims to settle violations of competitive bidding and rate rules and for overbilling the rural healthcare program, the agency said Wednesday. Education Networks of America acquired the company in 2018. The Enforcement Bureau consent decree requires TeleQuality designate a compliance officer and file regular compliance reports for five years: The company admitted to giving improper incentives to healthcare providers to encourage them to award contracts to TeleQuality. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks called this "one of the most egregious" violations of USF he can recall. He said the FCC should have taken stronger enforcement action because "the company will simply repay a portion of its ill-gotten gains. In cases of fraud on the Universal Service Fund, it is imperative that the fund be made whole." He suggested the company should be debarred from further RHC participation. "According to the FCC, there were activities from 2015-2017 that were in non-compliance with rules," a TeleQuality spokesperson emailed. "TeleQuality was acquired in January 2018. The new ownership and management ran an internal review and found non-compliance in procedures, which were proactively reported to the FCC. The matter has been settled with the FCC through a consent decree, and TeleQuality looks forward to providing excellent customer service under new ownership."
The FCC got some industry support for new supply chain rules designed to protect U.S. networks. But groups representing rural carriers raised concerns, and Huawei said the proposals aren't legal. Commissioners approved rules 5-0 in November barring equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in networks funded by the USF, and sought comment on whether to expand the prohibition (see 1911220033). Commenters urged coordination, especially with the Department of Homeland Security, and regulatory humility. Comments were posted Monday and Tuesday in docket 18-89.
The FCC got some industry support for new supply chain rules designed to protect U.S. networks. But groups representing rural carriers raised concerns, and Huawei said the proposals aren't legal. Commissioners approved rules 5-0 in November barring equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in networks funded by the USF, and sought comment on whether to expand the prohibition (see 1911220033). Commenters urged coordination, especially with the Department of Homeland Security, and regulatory humility. Comments were posted Monday and Tuesday in docket 18-89.
States with their own broadband subsidy programs or partnered with federal programs could face reduced funding opportunities through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, after language was added to an order Wednesday, Democratic commissioners told reporters Thursday. Commissioners voted along party lines to approve the order for the $20.4 billion program. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks approved in part and dissented in part.
TRENTON -- A state senator wants to amend New Jersey’s constitution to stop about 90 percent of 911 fee revenue from being used for unrelated purposes. "It's high time that we say enough is enough,” said Sen. Michael Testa (R) alongside county and wireless officials at a Friday news conference.
"Categorical exclusion of all New York areas" from the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is "premature and imprudent given that certain areas of the state still lack broadband services," the New York State Broadband Program Office said in a phone call last week with Preston Wise, rural broadband adviser to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The state said FCC delays approving program awardees and complications arising from such conditions slowed deployment. Exclusion of New York from RDOF "could preclude the deployment of much-needed broadband services in the state, which would be especially inequitable given that New York has dedicated more funding than any other state in an effort to achieve universal availability," it said. The New York State Telecommunications Association said "citizens should not effectively be penalized due to the state's efforts to support broadband deployment," also posted in docket 19-126 Wednesday. It supported a Friday letter to Pai from 22 New York members of the U.S. House and a letter from the state's U.S. senators. Hudson Valley Wireless asked the FCC "to remove categorical exclusions and allow providers in New York to participate" in RDOF. New York and Alaska are excluded from the first phase of the $20 billion program, said the draft order up for a commissioners' vote Jan. 30 (see 2001140028). Broadband funding in New York comes from the New NY Broadband Program (see 1908120013), and in Alaska from the Alaska Plan (see 1912130039). The FCC voted to provide up to $170 million from the Connect America Fund to expand broadband deployment in unserved rural areas of New York in the first item the commission adopted under Pai’s leadership, a spokesperson emailed now: The state "combined this money with state funding and private investment to jump-start broadband deployment and close the digital divide across New York more quickly." The commission's "current estimate is that no areas in New York would be eligible for Phase I of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund," the spokesperson said. Phase 1 eligibility is limited to census block groups unserved by broadband.