FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction recipients will undergo more scrutiny in 2022 with increased audits and verifications as part of the agency's "rural broadband accountability plan," said a news release Friday. It's "part of an ongoing effort to increase accountability and to build upon existing audit and verification processes performed by the Universal Service Administrative Co.," said a fact sheet. The FCC also announced that more than $1.2 billion in RDOF support is ready to be authorized for 23 providers, as expected (see 2201270030).

Total demand for USF programs topped $9 billion in 2021, reported the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service on Friday. About $5 billion in high-cost support was claimed in 2020, with FCC staff estimating a similar amount claimed in 2021. Demand for low-income programs in 2021 was more than $1 billion. More than 7 million consumers participated in Lifeline in 2020, with 7,000 tribal subscribers participating in Link Up. More than $1 billion of the $2.4 billion committed to E-rate in 2021 was disbursed. Total rural healthcare funding disbursed was $49 million as of June 30. The USF Q4 2021 contribution factor was 29.1%, down from 31.8% in Q3.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will vote “later this week” on draft affordable connectivity program rules, funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, he said during an Information Technology Industry Council webinar Tuesday. “I expect a lot from this program going forward” (see 2201070060). ACP rules must be finalized within 60 days of the law's enactment, which is Friday.

A draft FCC NPRM would require ISPs to disclose certain information to consumers through a broadband label, if approved during the agency's January meeting, said a fact sheet Thursday (see 2201050057). Other drafts include an order updating the E-rate program's rules to ensure tribal libraries' access to the program, an order updating political programming rules, an NPRM updating equipment authorization rules, and an order resolving "pending issues" on white space spectrum.

The FCC Wireline Bureau granted five of seven waiver requests on the Emergency Connectivity Fund's $400 cap for connected devices, said an order Tuesday in docket 21-93. All the petitioners serve students and staff with disabilities. St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf, Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, and NYSARC-New York City Chapter, AHRC New York City were granted a waiver. Fresno Unified School District's two waiver requests were granted. The Bay Area Technology School was denied a waiver to buy equipment accessories and more than one connected device per student. Health Science High & Middle College in San Diego was denied a waiver to purchase connected devices "compatible with software used in a specialty academic program focused on career preparation." The bureau directed the Universal Service Administrative Co. to complete its review of the seven funding requests within 60 days.

Alternative connect America cost model I (A-CAM), rural broadband experiment, and Alaska plan support recipients may continue pretesting 70% of Universal Service Administrative Co.-selected samples for the first two quarters of 2022, said an FCC Wireline Bureau order Monday in docket 10-90 granting in part NTCA’s request for an extension of a similar waiver (see 2012210050). It on its own extended similar relief to A-CAM II, Connect America Fund broadband loop support and CAF II auction recipients. The bureau "[agreed] that the global semiconductor shortage has caused delays in both the manufacture and the delivery of equipment,” encouraging carriers to "move as swiftly as possible to test their full sample size." The bureau granted REV Broadband's request to waive pretesting requirements for its subsidiaries receiving CAF broadband support loop support for Q1, citing the "lingering effects of Hurricane Ida." It denied NTCA's request to adopt a "simplified waiver process" and extend the pretesting period for A-CAM, rural broadband experiment, and Alaska plan carriers.

CTIA asked a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel to reconsider a Kentucky 911 case. Earlier this month, the 6th Circuit said the U.S. District Court of Eastern Kentucky erred in concluding that a Kentucky 911 law conflicts with and is preempted by the 2018 federal Wireless Telecom Tax and Fee Collection Fairness Act (see 2112030060). The wireless association asked the original 6th Circuit panel Friday to rehear or, “at minimum,” vacate the district court opinion, “decline to definitively address these questions of law, and permit the district court on remand to address these issues in the first instance.” The appeals judges “took too narrow a view of the federal interests that would be obstructed should Kentucky be permitted to impose these special burdens on Lifeline participation,” CTIA wrote. “The panel left unaddressed a few key arguments CTIA made that illuminate the ‘full purposes’ of Congress under the Communications Act” and the wireless tax fairness law “to safeguard federal universal service funds,” it said.

The FCC wants comments by Jan. 18, replies by Jan. 31, in docket 21-476 on its report to Congress on the future of the USF, said a notice of inquiry listed in Thursday's Daily Digest. The report was mandated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The NOI seeks comment on how the law's new broadband funding impacts existing USF programs and on "improving its effectiveness in achieving the universal service goals for broadband." It also seeks comment on USF's contribution factor and any recommendations the commission should make to Congress for legislative action. Commissioner Brendan Carr was the only commissioner to release a statement, saying USF is "stuck in a death spiral." Carr again said Big Tech should pay into USF (see 2106010041).

California Public Utilities Commissioners voted 5-0 to deny LTD Broadband the application approval it needed to get about $187.5 million in Rural Digital Opportunities Fund (RDOF) support over 10 years. At a virtual meeting Thursday, commissioners also by unanimous consent cleared multiple California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grants that LTD and others said partially overlapped areas where they won RDOF support (see 2112140019, 2112090011 and 2112080046). The CPUC got more comments Wednesday on a plan to shift to connections-based state USF contributions.

Citing a GAO report identifying fraud risks in E-rate's competitive bidding process, FCC commissioners during a meeting Tuesday unanimously approved an NPRM to establish a central online bidding portal and seek comment on requiring additional documentation from applicants (see 2111300047). The NPRM had a tweak that Commissioner Brendan Carr sought. Members also adopted 4-0 an NPRM on revising the commission’s non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) spectrum sharing rules and proposals to improve emergency alert system accessibility.