CTIA said the FCC is in no position to determine if any telecom companies are a threat to U.S. security, and it should work with the Department of Homeland Security, which has more expertise in the area. Other commenters also urged caution. The Rural Wireless Association said the FCC has already chilled investment in rural networks. Reply comments were posted this week in docket 18-89 on the NPRM approved 5-0 by commissioners in April (see 1804170038).
CTIA said the FCC is in no position to determine if any telecom companies are a threat to U.S. security, and it should work with the Department of Homeland Security, which has more expertise in the area. Other commenters also urged caution. The Rural Wireless Association said the FCC has already chilled investment in rural networks. Reply comments were posted this week in docket 18-89 on the NPRM approved 5-0 by commissioners in April (see 1804170038).
CTIA said the FCC is in no position to determine if any telecom companies are a threat to U.S. security, and it should work with the Department of Homeland Security, which has more expertise in the area. Other commenters also urged caution. The Rural Wireless Association said the FCC has already chilled investment in rural networks. Reply comments were posted this week in docket 18-89 on the NPRM approved 5-0 by commissioners in April (see 1804170038).
The Lifeline national verifier should be rolled out quickly with application programming interfaces sought by carriers, said a NARUC draft resolution released Tuesday. Other proposed telecom resolutions up for votes July 15-18 in Scottsdale, Arizona, relate to separations, IP captioned telephone service (IP CTS) and a precision agriculture bill pending in Congress.
The Lifeline national verifier should be rolled out quickly with application programming interfaces sought by carriers, said a NARUC draft resolution released Tuesday. Other proposed telecom resolutions up for votes July 15-18 in Scottsdale, Arizona, relate to separations, IP captioned telephone service (IP CTS) and a precision agriculture bill pending in Congress.
The FCC said 80 entities had access to Universal Service Administrator Co.'s Mobility Fund Phase II challenge process portal as of June 30, up from 64 on May 31 (see 1806010041). The Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force and Wireless and Wireline bureaus gave their second update Monday. The number of carriers remained 37, joined by 13 state and 14 local government entities, 12 tribal agencies and four classified as “other.” State and local entities drove growth in players with access. Challengers have submitted data including 399,390 speed tests, the FCC said in docket 10-90.
The wireless industry said the FCC should reject some proposed changes sought by other commenters (see 1805210044), in replies on a cell-booster Further NPRM. In March, commissioners approved an order 5-0 lifting the personal use restriction on consumer cell-signal boosters and approved an FNPRM proposing to eliminate the personal use restriction on wideband boosters and to authorize nonsubscribers to operate boosters, plus other potential changes (see 1803220037). Booster companies urged the FCC to further liberalize the rules.
The FCC approved 3-1 an order to further relax telecom service discontinuance duties and related regulatory processes in an effort to remove barriers and encourage the industry shift from legacy wireline to next-generation, IP-based offerings. Commissioners also voted 4-0 to adopt an order to relieve certain rural telcos of USF contribution obligations on their broadband services to equalize their treatment with other carriers and promote affordability. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel largely dissented on the discontinuance order and concurred on the rural telco USF order.
The FCC approved 3-1 an order to further relax telecom service discontinuance duties and related regulatory processes in an effort to remove barriers and encourage the industry shift from legacy wireline to next-generation, IP-based offerings. Commissioners also voted 4-0 to adopt an order to relieve certain rural telcos of USF contribution obligations on their broadband services to equalize their treatment with other carriers and promote affordability. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel largely dissented on the discontinuance order and concurred on the rural telco USF order.
The FCC declared a Connect America Fund Phase I challenge process concluded for 185 previously unidentified census blocks in Virginia served by Consolidated Communications' FairPoint. The commission invited challenges to determine if unsubsidized competitors served any of the 185 census blocks with data speeds of at least 3 Mbps downstream and 768 kbps upstream as of April 27 (see 1804300027). "Having received no challenges, we now conclude this process and direct the Universal Service Administrative Company not to recover the support associated with the previously unidentified census blocks, to the extent that FairPoint has otherwise satisfied its deployment obligations with respect to those blocks," said a Wireline Bureau public notice in Wednesday docket 10-90.