LTD Broadband urged the FCC Thursday to act on its application for review of its denied Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction long-form application. The company noted in a letter to the agency that it filed its request six months ago and there has been no indication whether the FCC "plans to establish a process seeking public comment on this matter." LTD said it's "harmed by being in limbo, unable to move forward with its plans to complete additional financing arrangements and promptly commence build out or, alternatively, to seek judicial relief" from the Wireline Bureau’s "unwarranted rejection" of its application. The company previously submitted a redacted version of its application and asked the commission to make it "immediately available to the public" for further action (see 2302130050).
The FCC Wireline Bureau extended until Feb. 28 the deadline for certain providers to submit their annual Form 555, in an order Monday in docket 11-42. Lumen sought a waiver, citing an issue with the Universal Service Administrative Co.'s bulk upload process. The bureau extended the waiver to other similarly affected filers.
The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and Next Century Cities asked the FCC to reconsider its decision to collect affordable connectivity program data on an aggregate basis rather than at the subscriber level (see 2301120056). The decision "falls short" of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's requirements and "undermines the overall integrity of the program," said a petition for reconsideration posted Monday in docket 21-450. The groups said subscriber-level data is "critical for informing efforts by federal and state agencies, public interest groups, and non-profit organizations to target public awareness and enrollment support strategies," adding the deferment of when the data collection will start is "arbitrary."
Google Fiber will expand into Westminster, Colorado, and Chandler, Arizona, Google said Friday. The ISP is working on engineering and planning for the Westminster network, it said. The Chandler City Council approved a license agreement with Google Fiber Thursday, the company said. Google Fiber expects to start construction later this year and launch service in early 2024 for both cities, it said.
Representatives of the Alternative Connect America Cost Model (ACAM) Broadband Coalition urged aides to FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks to take immediate action “updating and enhancing” the current ACAM I and ACAM II programs, said a filing posted Friday in docket 10-90. The group earlier met with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2302060067).
Incompas CEO Chip Pickering and others from the group laid out their policy priorities in a meeting with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, said a filing posted Friday in 17-84 and other dockets. “The Commission can further promote competition in the broadband market by implementing a series of targeted reforms to its pole attachment and replacement rules that ensures a fair and equitable allocation of replacement costs between pole owners and new Attachers,” Incompas said: “Our members’ deployments continue to be stymied by pole owners’ unreasonable pole attachment and replacement practices, including denials and excessive delays for pole access and the imposition of unsubstantiated costs for pole replacements.” On spectrum, the group urged action on 12 GHz. “This band has no federal encumbrances, does not require an auction, and can be put to immediate use once the Commission updates its rules,” Incompas said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau concluded its Connect America Fund Phase II eligible locations adjustment process (ELAP) and adopted new deployment obligations Thursday (see 2203220045). Support recipients "submitted evidence that makes it more likely than not that it has identified every eligible location within its study area and that such efforts have resulted in a reliable and accurate count of all qualifying locations," said an order in docket 10-90. The bureau also adopted new deployment obligations and reduced each participants' authorized support "on a pro rata basis." It denied a petition by Douglas Services for a waiver of the ELAP filing deadline.
The FCC granted three E-rate applicants' petitions for reconsideration for additional time to file appeals with the Universal Service Administrative Co. Little Falls Township School District, New Jersey; Putnam County School District, Cookeville, Tennessee; and Rio Bravo-Greeley Union ESD, Bakersfield, California, "mistakenly filed" their appeals with the commission instead of USAC, the Wednesday order said, and the Wireline Bureau dismissed the filings after the deadline for each applicant to timely refile with USAC. Each applicant has 60 days to refile its appeal.
The FCC wants comments opposing several petitions on inmate calling service rates by Feb. 23, replies by March 5, in docket 12-375, said a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register. Petitions for reconsideration were filed by United Church of Christ and Public Knowledge, NCIC Inmate Communications, a coalition of accessibility advocacy organizations and Hamilton Relay (see 2108300062).
The Alternative Connect America Cost Model (ACAM) Broadband Coalition "urged immediate adoption" of its proposed changes to the ACAM program, in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2207190056). Consumers "continue to wait for higher speed broadband and the longer the Commission takes to adopt and implement the enhanced ACAM program the longer it will be before customers can receive broadband at higher speeds," the group said, per an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 10-90. The group also said delaying implementation of the proposed enhanced program would cause more work to be redone to meet "revised deployment requirements."