Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., are joining to introduce the Broadband Connections for Rural Opportunities Program Act. The legislation hasn't been announced or released but will be introduced soon, a Republican Senate staffer told us. Capito launched a Senate Broadband Caucus this summer, which Gillibrand hasn't joined. Neither senator sits on the Commerce Committee but both have eyed broadband policy.

The National Tribal Telecommunications Association gave the FCC more details on two proposals to promote tribal broadband deployment. NTTA has asked the FCC to waive or modify an operations-expense limitation for rural carriers that predominantly serve tribal locations, and adopt a tribal broadband factor that provides more USF support to carriers serving tribal lands. Fourteen carriers would qualify for the opex relief if a predominantly tribal carrier is defined as having more than 75 percent of its served locations on tribal lands, and 19 carriers would be eligible if the FCC required only a majority of locations to be on tribal lands, said an NTTA filing Friday in docket 10-90 that cited analysis Alexicon did for the group. It said the impact on the overall distribution of high-cost rate-of-return USF support would be "negligible," though the impact on the affected carriers would be "significant," allowing them to deploy and maintain their broadband infrastructure. NTTA said 112 carriers would be eligible for a tribal broadband factor (TBF), but it expected the number that would elect to receive the extra support would be lower, given the "very small number" of tribal locations that many serve along with proposed buildout duties and reporting requirements. The filing offered further details on NTTA's proposals, including to cap the tribal broadband factor at $25 million annually, and establish a buildout schedule that would require deployment to at least 50 percent of TBF-targeted locations within five years, increasing by 10 percentage points a year until achieving 100 percent deployment in year 10. Chairman Tom Wheeler said the FCC would deal with tribal broadband issues "by the end of football season" (see 1609150058).

The National Tribal Telecommunications Association gave the FCC more details on two proposals to promote tribal broadband deployment. NTTA has asked the FCC to waive or modify an operations-expense limitation for rural carriers that predominantly serve tribal locations, and adopt a tribal broadband factor that provides more USF support to carriers serving tribal lands. Fourteen carriers would qualify for the opex relief if a predominantly tribal carrier is defined as having more than 75 percent of its served locations on tribal lands, and 19 carriers would be eligible if the FCC required only a majority of locations to be on tribal lands, said an NTTA filing Friday in docket 10-90 that cited analysis Alexicon did for the group. It said the impact on the overall distribution of high-cost rate-of-return USF support would be "negligible," though the impact on the affected carriers would be "significant," allowing them to deploy and maintain their broadband infrastructure. NTTA said 112 carriers would be eligible for a tribal broadband factor (TBF), but it expected the number that would elect to receive the extra support would be lower, given the "very small number" of tribal locations that many serve along with proposed buildout duties and reporting requirements. The filing offered further details on NTTA's proposals, including to cap the tribal broadband factor at $25 million annually, and establish a buildout schedule that would require deployment to at least 50 percent of TBF-targeted locations within five years, increasing by 10 percentage points a year until achieving 100 percent deployment in year 10. Chairman Tom Wheeler said the FCC would deal with tribal broadband issues "by the end of football season" (see 1609150058).

​Social media is increasingly important to public safety agencies, FirstNet said in a Friday blog post. “These days, you probably use social media to update your audience on what you are doing, share an interesting article or two, and catch up on the day’s news,” the authority said. “Government agencies -- federal, tribal, state, and local -- are using social media in many ways to keep the public informed and hopefully safer.” FirstNet cited the use of Twitter by many government agencies. “When a natural disaster such as a tornado, wildfire, or hurricane hits,” the National Weather Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Guard “are among many agencies who are communicating key info to the public on social media platforms,” FirstNet said. “Just check out the hashtags #SMEM, #LESM, etc., and you’ll see,” he said, referring to the hashtags for social media emergency management and law enforcement in social media.

​Social media is increasingly important to public safety agencies, FirstNet said in a Friday blog post. “These days, you probably use social media to update your audience on what you are doing, share an interesting article or two, and catch up on the day’s news,” the authority said. “Government agencies -- federal, tribal, state, and local -- are using social media in many ways to keep the public informed and hopefully safer.” FirstNet cited the use of Twitter by many government agencies. “When a natural disaster such as a tornado, wildfire, or hurricane hits,” the National Weather Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Guard “are among many agencies who are communicating key info to the public on social media platforms,” FirstNet said. “Just check out the hashtags #SMEM, #LESM, etc., and you’ll see,” he said, referring to the hashtags for social media emergency management and law enforcement in social media.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler again pressed for action on public safety communications, during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Thursday. He promised many updates on the commission’s broadband and spectrum efforts, noting items to come up in the final months of the Obama administration. "Our work is far from done," Wheeler told senators.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler again pressed for action on public safety communications, during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Thursday. He promised many updates on the commission’s broadband and spectrum efforts, noting items to come up in the final months of the Obama administration. "Our work is far from done," Wheeler told senators.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai sought information on the Lifeline oversight processes of Universal Service Administrative Co. to guard against abuse of the program's enhanced low-income subsidies for tribal consumers. Pai noted Blue Jay Wireless recently settled an Enforcement Bureau investigation by agreeing to take compliance steps and pay back $2 million in "wrongful" tribal support (see 1607150031), which can be up to $25 above the regular Lifeline subsidy of $9.25 per subscriber monthly. Blue Jay didn't verify that its beneficiaries actually lived on tribal lands "even when a subscriber's address made him/her clearly ineligible," Pai said in his latest letter to USAC CEO Chris Henderson. Pai said Hawaii Public Utilities Commission staff discovered the excess payments only when Blue Jay reported more subscribers than the total number of households in the Hawaii home lands. Because Blue Jay's consent decree "suggests that there may be substantial gaps" in federal Lifeline safeguards, he asked Henderson to answer by Sept. 21 a series of detailed questions on USAC's ability to verify eligibility and combat waste and abuse of tribal support.

NTCA said the FCC should approve its petition for reconsideration of a USF overhaul for rate-of-return carriers, given the lack of any opposition to its requests and ITTA's support for some of them. The FCC should admit that its rules will preclude most rural telcos from offering standalone broadband at rates reasonably comparable to urban rates, and either revisit its rate-of-return budget or suspend a requirement that carriers certify they are providing standalone broadband at reasonably comparable rates, said NTCA in reply comments, one of several replies posted Thursday and Friday in docket 10-90. NTCA also said it asked the agency to address concerns its new budget controls and "haircuts" would create an unlawful regulatory "black hole" into which carrier costs disappeared and were never recovered. GVNW Consulting, which works with rural carriers, agreed with NTCA's "black hole" description and proposal to either revisit the budget or suspend the stand-alone broadband certification requirement. GVNW also backed various WTA requests, including for the FCC to alter the definition of a qualifying unsubsidized competitor (which prevents an RLEC from receiving funding) as one that can provide the same broadband speeds as the incumbent, and to give carriers more flexibility on meeting buildout requirements. Custer Telephone Cooperative and other RLECs said there was no opposition to their petition for reconsideration of the agency decision to reduce support and add broadband buildout requirements for rate-of-return carriers remaining on revised legacy support mechanisms while shifting support to carriers electing model-based support. The National Tribal Telecommunications Association agreed with NTCA and WTA concerns about the budget and the need to ensure reasonable comparability, which NTTA believes is particularly appropriate regarding tribal areas. NTTA believes its proposed tribal broadband factor would help rate-of-return carriers provide tribal service. Sacred Wind Communications, which serves the Navajo Nation, agreed with WTA that qualifying competitors should be held to the same broadband speed standards as incumbent rural carriers, and said there should be a streamlined extension process for meeting buildout duties.

NTCA said the FCC should approve its petition for reconsideration of a USF overhaul for rate-of-return carriers, given the lack of any opposition to its requests and ITTA's support for some of them. The FCC should admit that its rules will preclude most rural telcos from offering standalone broadband at rates reasonably comparable to urban rates, and either revisit its rate-of-return budget or suspend a requirement that carriers certify they are providing standalone broadband at reasonably comparable rates, said NTCA in reply comments, one of several replies posted Thursday and Friday in docket 10-90. NTCA also said it asked the agency to address concerns its new budget controls and "haircuts" would create an unlawful regulatory "black hole" into which carrier costs disappeared and were never recovered. GVNW Consulting, which works with rural carriers, agreed with NTCA's "black hole" description and proposal to either revisit the budget or suspend the stand-alone broadband certification requirement. GVNW also backed various WTA requests, including for the FCC to alter the definition of a qualifying unsubsidized competitor (which prevents an RLEC from receiving funding) as one that can provide the same broadband speeds as the incumbent, and to give carriers more flexibility on meeting buildout requirements. Custer Telephone Cooperative and other RLECs said there was no opposition to their petition for reconsideration of the agency decision to reduce support and add broadband buildout requirements for rate-of-return carriers remaining on revised legacy support mechanisms while shifting support to carriers electing model-based support. The National Tribal Telecommunications Association agreed with NTCA and WTA concerns about the budget and the need to ensure reasonable comparability, which NTTA believes is particularly appropriate regarding tribal areas. NTTA believes its proposed tribal broadband factor would help rate-of-return carriers provide tribal service. Sacred Wind Communications, which serves the Navajo Nation, agreed with WTA that qualifying competitors should be held to the same broadband speed standards as incumbent rural carriers, and said there should be a streamlined extension process for meeting buildout duties.