ZP Better Together urged the FCC to act on video relay service reimbursement rates, in separate meetings with Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington, plus aides to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. ZP said the FCC "will need to adopt an order approving new VRS rates on or before June 30" to avoid another rate extension, per an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 03-123.
A coalition of industry groups raised concerns about certain consumer broadband label requirements, in a meeting with FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff. USTelecom, CTIA, ACA Connects, NTCA and NCTA said the requirement that providers display pass-through fees from government agencies is "an unwarranted departure from the commission’s approach in 2016 and adds unnecessary complexity to the label for providers and consumers," per an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 22-2. The groups asked the FCC to grant its petition clarifying that providers can satisfy this requirement by providing an explanatory statement saying such fees may apply. They also asked that providers be allowed to satisfy the requirement that they document instances when a customer is directed to the label at an alternate sales channel by "developing appropriate business practices to promote distribution of the label through alternative sales channels and retaining documentation of these practices and any associated training materials for two years."
An FCC order adopted in January improving the rural healthcare program's funding mechanism is effective April 24, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register (see 2301260041). Rules on the urban rate determination, rural rate determination, and invoicing are delayed indefinitely. The FCC also wants comments by April 24, replies by May 22, in docket 17-310 on the rate determination rules, said a separate notice for Thursday's Federal Register.
The FCC Wireline Bureau dismissed and denied SES Government Solutions' petition for reconsideration of a 2017 order clarifying that the USF's government-only exemption applied only to contractors "providing service directly and exclusively to government and public safety entities and does not apply to subcontractors," in an order on reconsideration Wednesday in docket 06-122. Expanding the exemption "would defeat the narrow purpose of the exemption and be detrimental to the stability of the fund," the order said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of the Managing Director issued guidance Thursday on wind down of the agency's COVID-19 telehealth program. Eligible telehealth expenses for equipment must be delivered and recurring services must be purchased by May 11, said a public notice in docket 20-89. The Oct. 31 deadline for submitting reimbursement requests and the Jan. 31 deadline to submit post-program feedback reports were unaffected.
The FCC committed more than $1.7 million in additional Emergency Connectivity Fund support Wednesday. The new funding will support 15 schools and two libraries, said a news release.
A coalition of consumer advocacy organizations asked the FCC to extend until April 20 the reply comment deadline on an NPRM on digital discrimination (see 2302220045). The coalition, which included Public Knowledge, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Center for Accessible Technology, Communications Workers of America, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press, National Urban League, Next Century Cities, National Digital Inclusion Alliance and The Utility Reform Network, said the additional time is needed to "adequately examine the record and provide responsive replies to the complex issues raised in the record," per a filing posted Tuesday in docket 22-69.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau wants comments by March 29, replies April 10, on Hamilton Relay's amended application for full certification to provide IP captioned telephone services supported by the Telecom Relay Fund, said a public notice Tuesday in docket 03-123.
USTelecom backed the Technology Channel Sales Professionals Association's petition for declaratory ruling on certain rural healthcare program rules. The group sought clarification of the prohibition of the use of consultants or third-party sales agents that have a financial stake in a provider (see 2203030054). Absent the change, USTelecom said its members participating in the program "cannot retain commissioned third-party sales agents for sales and services to health care providers that participate in the RHC program," per a letter posted Monday in docket 17-310.
USTelecom representatives sought clarification on two aspects of the draft Stir/Shaken order, scheduled for a vote at the FCC commissioners’ March 16 meeting (see 2302230059), in calls with the Wireline Bureau and staff for the four commissioners. The draft “recognizes the role that contracts will play in intermediate providers’ compliance with the new signing requirement,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-97: “Consistent with the Draft Order’s rejection of a strict liability standard, the Commission should make explicit that providers are deemed in compliance when they take such steps and have no reason to know, and do not know, that their upstream provider is sending unsigned traffic it originated.” The draft “properly limits mandated disclosures in Robocall Mitigation Plans to ‘formal actions or investigations … with findings of actual or suspected wrongdoing,’” USTelecom said. “To reduce uncertainty regarding the actions and investigations that trigger the requirement, the Commission should make clear that the formal actions and investigations also must be public,” the group said. David Frankel, CEO of conference call provider ZipDX, reported on a call with Wireline Bureau staff. “I did not ask for any new rules,” Frankel said: “Rather, I asked that the Commission take this opportunity to cite for the larger provider community how they might live up to their obligation to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent their networks from being used to facilitate illegal calling.”