Inteliquent's challenge to the FCC's 8YY access reform order "rests upon weak data and an outdated approach to price regulation," wrote U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg in an order Friday denying its petition in case 20-1471 (see 2111010049). Ginsburg said Inteliquent failed to show the rate cap was "below cost for itself or for any other provider," noting that USTeleccom's suggested cap was "reasonable and would not set prices below providers’ costs." The "decision to uphold the FCC’s order on 8YY access charges is a big win in support of the commission’s continued efforts to rationally reform the intercarrier compensation system and eliminate wasteful arbitrage schemes," said USTelecom Senior Vice President-Policy and Advocacy Patrick Halley. An attorney for Inteliquent declined to comment.
The National Tribal Telecommunications Association and WTA backed NTCA's request to waive FCC rules regarding the affordable connectivity program's uniform 30-day non-usage tracking requirement for small providers offering fully subsidized plans to households on tribal lands. It's "expensive for small service providers on a per-customer basis, and discourages small provider participation," said WTA, in comments posted Friday in docket 21-450 (see 2205180062). The rule may also harm consumers who were "away from their homes for extended periods" due to "innocent and legitimate causes," the group said. NTTA said its members' ability to track usage this way "does not currently exist outside of a labor-intensive, manual process." It supported a "billing month basis" instead. NTTA also backed delaying the rule's implementation until Sept. 15.
The FCC is ready to authorize 88 winning bids from Cyber Broadband North Texas Fiber in its latest round of the Rural Digital Opportunity Phase I auction, said a public notice listed in Thursday's Daily Digest (see 2205030052). Letters of credit and bankruptcy code opinion letters are due by June 9 at 6 p.m. EDT. Cyber Broadband received a waiver of the June 7, 2021, deadline to obtain eligible telecom carrier designation. The FCC also identified Farmers Mutual Cooperative Telco, GigaBeam Networks, Newport Utilities, Terral Telco, Trailwave Fiber and Windstream with bids in default.
National Lifeline Association asked the FCC to reform the Lifeline program before affordable connectivity program funding runs out, in separate meetings with Wireline Bureau Chief Trent Harkrader and aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, said an ex parte posted Wednesday in docket 11-42 (see 2203180062). The group asked that minimum service standards be eliminated "in favor of opening up competition," eligibility be expanded and "reasonable benefit transfer" limits be adopted. NaLa also asked the FCC to adopt an eligible telecom carrier "safe harbor for reasonable reliance on eligibility determinations" through the National Verifier and National Lifeline Accountability Database. Lifeline "must be ready to support low-income households' broadband needs," NaLa said, adding that it backed a partial-month reimbursement.
The FCC received more than $2.8 billion in funding requests during the third and final round of Emergency Connectivity Fund support, said a news release Wednesday (see 2203240054). More than 7,000 schools, 628 libraries and 133 consortiums sought funding for more than 5 million devices and more than 4 million broadband connections. The FCC expects to fund "many" of the requests, adding it will prioritize applicants "with the greatest need" and those located in rural areas first. “The continued interest in the [ECF] demonstrates ... far too many kids across the country need off-campus support to get online and keep up with their schoolwork," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
Aventiv Technologies asked the FCC to grant its subsidiary Securus' petition to waive FCC rules on inmate calling services requiring interstate and intermediate calls to be charged at a per-minute rate in a meeting with Commissioner Brendan Carr, said an ex parte posted Tuesday in docket 12-375 (see 2201100037). Securus sought a waiver to continue a subscription plan pilot program. The pilot "demonstrated an increase in the communication time between incarcerated persons and their loved ones at lower cost than the commission’s interim rate caps and below the facilities’ existing rates on average," Aventiv said. "Many family members" of incarcerated individuals have asked that the program be restarted.
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by May 31, replies by June 7, on Blue Casa Telephone's request for a waiver of a biennial audit as a Lifeline eligible telecom carrier, said a public notice Monday in docket 11-42. Blue Casa said in its petition that it was selected to undergo an audit for the 2019 calendar year but is "subject to stringent regulation and supervision" by the California Public Utilities Commission and its designated third-party administrator regarding "eligibility determinations and claim submission." The carrier has "neither the means nor the opportunity to engage in activities that could result in waste or fraud," it said, and the "external cost of undergoing an audit ... would significantly exceed Blue Casa's monthly Lifeline reimbursement from the federal program."
Some changes were made to a draft FCC order and Further NPRM targeting gateway providers and foreign-originated robocalls, in the version adopted by commissioners Thursday, as expected, according to our comparison from the draft (see 2205190023). The order maintained the requirement that gateway providers implement a Stir/Shaken C-level attestation, saying "the benefits will be significant, and the sooner we act, the sooner the public will obtain these benefits." The FNPRM included a TransNexus-sought question about whether to allow third-party Stir/Shaken authentication. An NPRM seeking comment on an Alternative Connect America Cost Model Broadband Coalition proposal to extend the program also included some changes. The notice included a question about whether participating providers should be required to participate in the affordable connectivity program. It also seeks comment on "how to address intergovernmental coordination and eligibility for locations on tribal lands."
FCC Connected Care Pilot program participants must end their projects by Dec. 31, 2025, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Friday in docket 18-213 (see 2203160031). The bureau said strict compliance of the requirement that projects end within three years of receiving service will "prevent some program participants from conducting a full three year pilot project" if they don't start until the fall. Requests for services are due by Aug. 18 and funding requests are due by Sept. 16, the notice said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted Elite Program Specialists a waiver on behalf of 14 members and 68 member sites in the Louisiana Independent Hospital Network Coalition of rural healthcare program rules to file late funding year 2021 funding requests, said an order Thursday in docket 02-60. The bureau cited "federally declared natural disasters resulting from severe weather conditions" that prevented the providers from timely filing their funding requests. The bureau on its own also waived its competitive bidding rules.