The Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC) and AT&T remain at odds on the carrier’s proposed discontinuance of its toll-free Megacom service, per filings posted Thursday in FCC docket 23-148. “The consensus among … affected membership is that if AT&T guarantees delivery of alarm traffic solely in G.711 codec and will not do any peering or least cost routing with carriers that cannot provide G.711 service, AT&T’s IP Toll-Free service will be a viable replacement for MEGACOM,” AICC said. “If AT&T cannot guarantee G.711 for alarm traffic, the alarm transmission will be in an unreliable state and prone to failure, putting life safety and property at risk.” AICC asked for guarantees as a condition of the FCC Wireline Bureau approving the AT&T request. AT&T replied its IP toll-free service is “only one of a number of replacement services for Toll-Free MEGACOM that AT&T has cited in support of its application.” Given the availability of replacement services, “including a service that addresses AICC’s stated concern regarding the G.711 codec,” the carrier asked the bureau to keep its discontinuance application “on streamlined processing and not place any conditions” on approval.
Comments are due June 30, replies July 10, on an application by Micronesian Telephone for a five-year FCC renewal of certification for its telecommunications relay service program. The renewal period would start July 26, said a Thursday notice in docket 03-123: “Each state and U.S. territory’s application for certification must demonstrate that its TRS program complies with section 225 of the Communications Act and the Commission’s rules governing the provision of TRS.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by July 10 on proposed revisions to the 2024 annual and quarterly telecom reporting worksheets, said a public notice Thursday in docket 06-122.
Industry groups urged the FCC to largely continue its current methodology for calculating benchmarks for the urban rates survey (see 2305090068). Comments posted Friday in docket 10-90 sought minor adjustments. The benchmarks "offer high-cost support recipients a simple way to demonstrate that they have satisfied their obligation," said NCTA. The group backed giving the Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics the "flexibility to account for variables that result in irregularities," but said any major modifications should be subject to peer review. "The current methodology for calculating these benchmarks is sufficient and need not be materially changed," said USTelecom. The group sought "a few discrete administrative adjustments," including that providers only be required to report rates for service plans necessary to calculate the benchmarks and non-discounted rates for each service tier within a census tract. WTA said it "strongly supports the continued inclusion of accurate upload speed and capacity allowance variables in the URS and its benchmark calculations," saying capacity allowances and overage charges should be included in the survey data and benchmarks.
The FCC issued a cease and desist letter to Avid Telecom Wednesday, saying the company "apparently originated multiple illegal telemarketing robocall campaigns" for health insurance. The letter noted Avid's response to the Industry Traceback Group claimed its customer who initiated the calls had prior consent, but the customer "failed to make adequate disclosures to obtain consent." The investigation "builds off of the work of state Attorneys General who recently filed a lawsuit against Avid Telecom," which found that the company "sent or transmitted more than 7.5 billion calls" to numbers on the Do Not Call Registry.
A coalition of consumer advocacy organizations backed the Communication Service for the Deaf's petition for declaratory ruling that direct video calling services are eligible for Telecom Relay Service Fund support (see 2305050027). Telecom for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the National Association of the Deaf said direct video calling is "uniquely positioned" to fulfill the functionally equivalent requirements for American Sign Language users, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 03-123. It's "an efficient, accurate, and private means of realtime video communication," they said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau extended the deadline for reply comments until June 27 on its incarcerated persons calling services data collection public notice and replies until July 12 on an NPRM on implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, per an order Thursday in docket 12-375. The Wright Petitioners, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Public Knowledge, United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry and Worth Rises filed a joint petition seeking an extension on the NPRM (see 2305240035).
Verizon asked the FCC to extend until Dec. 31 the deadline for providers to implement do-not-originate blocking and Stir/Shaken signatures to unsigned calls from foreign service providers, in a letter posted Thursday in docket 17-59. The carrier filed a petition in December seeking the extension, noting there are "special circumstances confirming the appropriateness of extending the compliance deadline (see 2302020073). Verizon said it found after a "recent week-long study" that "not a single call traversing the legacy gateway infrastructure carried a 'calling party' number on the Industry Traceback Group’s DNO list" and "virtually no illegal robocalls traverse this legacy infrastructure."
The FCC's rules aimed at curbing access stimulation are effective June 30, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register. Commissioners adopted an order in April expanding its rules to traffic that terminates through IP-enabled services providers (see 2304200039).
The Southeastern Rural Broadband Alliance asked the FCC to update the Connect America Fund broadband loop support (CAF BLS) mechanism as it considers modifications to the Alternative Connect America Model program. The group said in a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Wireline Bureau staff that doing so will "harmonize federal funding to achieve the nation’s goal of ensuring universal access to broadband and closing the digital divide in a coordinated fashion," per an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 10-90. The alliance also asked the FCC to consider adopting a "voluntary incentive option" for CAF BLS recipients, saying it would "ensure that all serviceable locations have access to 100/20 Mbps broadband."