The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment Friday on a joint petition by Northwest Communications Co-op (NCC) and Midstate Telephone for a waiver of the definition of “study area.” The two said the waiver would “permit Midstate to remove the Portal exchange, and associated customer base, from its North Dakota study area and for NCC to expand its study area to incorporate the exchange as a new exchange in its study area,” the bureau said. Comments are due Jan. 9, replies Jan. 16, in docket 96-45.
Wall Street is mixed on how much a threat to cable comes from AT&T's joint venture with Blackrock to create an open access commercial fiber platform that would run outside AT&T's 21-state wireline footprint. The JV "poses a competitive challenge to cable providers and regional fiber providers, whose broadband reaches are geographically restricted, though those carriers could possibly become tenants on the open access Gigapower platform to extend their own footprints," GlobalData analyst Tammy Power said Friday. New Street Research said in a note to investors the effects on cable are likely negligible, and small on other telcos, "though this will depend on where exactly AT&T and Blackrock plan to build." Announcing the JV Friday, AT&T said it will use its nationwide wireless sales network to sell fiber to customers in Gigapower territories. BlackRock said AT&T -- along with being part owner and operator -- will be a wholesale tenant of the network. AT&T said Gigapower's initial deployment will be to 15 million customer locations nationwide using a commercial open access platform and will be in addition to AT&T's goal of hitting more than 30 million fiber locations by the end of 2025 in its 21-state wireline footprint. GlobalData's Parker said the open access network extends the carrier's influence without it assuming all the risk by itself. Gigapower also lets AT&T market fixed/mobile service bundles outside that 21-state footprint. And it will give AT&T more ammunition to compete against fixed wireless access services, she said.
The National Exchange Carrier Association proposed to the FCC modifications to current interstate average schedule formulas, scheduled to be effective July 1-June 30, 2024. NECA proposes “formula changes that would result in a 0.3% overall increase in settlements at constant demand,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 22-427: “Actual settlements are expected to increase by 1.8% due to projected increase in [customer broadband only] lines and be offset by the effects of losses in access lines and reductions in demand for special access services. Impacts of the proposed formula changes on individual average schedule companies will vary depending on each company’s size, demand trends, and other characteristics.”
A coalition of business organizations asked the FCC to "act quickly to address and correct barriers to broadband deployment," in a letter Wednesday. The commission should "ensure fair allocation of costs between pole owners and attachers," said the National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, the Latino Coalition, U.S. Black Chambers and U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. They asked that utility pole access "does not become a bottleneck to delivering much needed broadband to households and businesses with the greatest need." The groups also sought more efforts to increase adoption "for families and small businesses to thrive in today’s economy."
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau wants comments by Jan. 9, replies Feb. 6, in docket 03-123 on an NPRM on video relay service rules for communications assistants and international calling, said a public notice Tuesday (see 2206300058). Commissioners adopted the item in June.
The FCC committed more than $65 million in additional Emergency Connectivity Fund support Monday. The new funding will support more than 200 schools, 20 libraries and two consortia from the third application filing window, said a news release. "With this new round of funding, more kids will have the digital tools they need to connect with teachers and online assignments after school,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
The FCC said it's ready to authorize an additional 1,764 winning Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction bids. Letters of credit and bankruptcy code opinion letters are due by Jan. 9, said a public notice Friday in docket 19-126. Hughes Network Systems and Resound Networks' bids were ready to be authorized. The FCC also listed one bid from Resound and several bids from Xiber in default.
The FCC authorized Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction support for GigaBeam Networks and Pear Networks' winning bids, said a public notice Thursday in docket 19-126 (see 2210120043).
No major changes were made to the E-rate program's final eligible services list for FY 2023, said an FCC Wireline Bureau order Wednesday in docket 13-184. The bureau clarified that fixed wireless services are eligible for category one support. It declined to add specific software products to the eligible services list, but noted Extreme Networks' request that its specific software is eligible for support. Also Wednesday, the bureau sought comments on requests that E-rate funding be used to "support advanced or next-generation firewalls and services, as well as other network security services," said a public notice. Comments are due by Feb. 13, replies by March 30.
The Southeastern Rural Broadband Alliance asked the FCC to reform the Connect America Fund-Broadband Loop Support. The group backed proposals that would give CAF BLS recipients the option to commit to 100% deployment at 100/20 Mbps in exchange for a five-year waiver of the budget control mechanism, per an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 10-90 (see 2210280060). "Under this approach, carriers would be permitted to use alternative technologies to reach the most expensive locations above a certain threshold," the group told Wireline Bureau staff. It also asked the FCC to permanently update the high cost support budget "to its current level" instead of evaluating the budget control mechanism waivers on an annual basis.