The FCC's broadband data task force opened its third data collection filing window for facilities-based providers Monday, per a public notice in docket 11-10. Providers have until Sept. 1 to submit their availability data as of June 30. Also Monday, the task force released the latest version of the broadband serviceable location fabric. Bulk challenges are due by Sept. 8 to ensure challenges are considered in time for the next iteration of the broadband maps that will be released in December.
Oppositions to Viya's petition for partial reconsideration of the transitional support period for fixed network support in the U.S. Virgin Islands through the Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund and Connect USVI Fund are due by July 17 in docket 18-143, said a notice in Friday's Federal Register. Replies to opposition are due by July 27.
All IP-based voice service provider networks must have implemented Stir/Shaken by Friday, said an FCC news release. "While there is no single cure-all when it comes to robocalls, having this technology in our networks is real progress and we will continue to push forward with this and every other tool we have to fight these junk calls," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Facilities-based small voice service providers and gateway providers "not subject to an extension" are now required to implement the caller ID authentication framework in the IP portion of their networks after having a two-year extension to do so.
A coalition of electric utility companies raised concerns about make-ready pole replacement cost allocations and refund rules, in separate meetings with the FCC Wireline Bureau and aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Electric utilities "do not benefit" from make-ready pole replacements, the companies said, adding it's "unjust and unreasonable to shift any portion of the cost" to them, per an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-84. The coalition -- which included Southern Co., Oncor Electric Delivery, Entergy, Duke Energy, American Electric Power Service and Ameren Services -- said in a meeting with Rosenworcel aides the current refund rule "creates a significant accounting problem for electric utilities," citing the FCC's lack of jurisdiction over rates paid to ILECs by electric utilities.
A coalition of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction winners met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about a June letter from Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; JD Vance, R-Ohio; and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., on supplemental funding for winning bidders, per an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-126. The providers, which included Aristotle Unified Communications and TekWav, sought "assistance for relief that is available under its existing and already funded RDOF program" to address "huge cost increases" that "could never have been anticipated by the commission and RDOF winners" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Supplemental funds "should not be limited to those RDOF winners with less than 250,000 current broadband subscribers" because cost increases "impacted all RDOF winners," the providers said.
An FCC order expanding Stir/Shaken authentication to non-gateway intermediate providers takes effect Aug. 21, said a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register. Commissioners adopted the item in March (see 2303170056).
USTelecom "misapplies" the neutrality criteria for industry traceback consortium eligibility and its concern that iconectiv wouldn't be a competent manager "is without merit," the company told the FCC (see 2306120050). Iconectiv said in reply comments posted Friday in docket 20-22 it meets all neutrality requirements as it currently complies with the numbering administrator neutrality requirements. The company said it "has an impeccable reputation and is recognized in the telecommunications industry as a trusted, neutral steward of data." Its "extensive qualifications are well known to the commission" and it "has proven on multiple occasions that it can successfully transition ongoing operations from incumbents using a do-no-harm approach," iconectiv said.
The FCC will host an in-person workshop July 12-13 in Washington state for tribal governments, employees, and members, said a public notice Friday. The event will "provide information that will help tribal nations identify and evaluate opportunities to develop more robust broadband infrastructure and services in tribal communities."
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated an order Friday that would create an Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (ACAM) program, said a news release. The item would require participating providers to deploy 100/20 Mbps or faster service to all locations in return for an extension of the program and an "incremental increase in support for expensive-to-serve areas." Rosenworcel also circulated a rulemaking and notice of inquiry that would seek comment on "further reforms to the legacy rate-of-return system and methods" for modifying the program to "support ongoing expenses for broadband networks." The high-cost programs "have a track record of supporting networks that connect remote communities across the country,” Rosenworcel said, but "to keep pace with the demand for reliable broadband and meet the needs of consumers today and into the future, we need to optimize these programs to bring higher speeds and greater bandwidth to consumers.”
Dominion Energy told FCC Wireline Bureau staff the cost apportionment framework for pole attachments in current FCC rules is “equitable, economically efficient, and ideally-suited to promote broadband deployment in the same way it has promoted investment in communications infrastructure for nearly thirty years.” Contrary to claims by NCTA and others “the pole replacement data collected by Dominion Energy over the past four years demonstrates that less than 3% of pole replacements in its service area have been performed at the cost of third-party attachers,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-84: “In the case of wireline attachments … less than 1% of pole replacements have been performed at the cost of third-party attachers.”