With panels on some of the major telecom concerns, NARUC’s upcoming winter committee meetings will offer some robust discussion, commissioners told us in interviews Thursday. The telecom committee panels Feb. 14-17 coincide with some active proceedings at the FCC, as well, NARUC members said, with topics including Lifeline, carrier of last resort (COLR) and enabling competition in a broadband world, the agenda shows. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai is expected to speak at a general session about the commission pre-empting state laws on municipal broadband, net neutrality and inmate calling.

With panels on some of the major telecom concerns, NARUC’s upcoming winter committee meetings will offer some robust discussion, commissioners told us in interviews Thursday. The telecom committee panels Feb. 14-17 coincide with some active proceedings at the FCC, as well, NARUC members said, with topics including Lifeline, carrier of last resort (COLR) and enabling competition in a broadband world, the agenda shows. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai is expected to speak at a general session about the commission pre-empting state laws on municipal broadband, net neutrality and inmate calling.

A court granted the request of Assist Wireless and others to dismiss their challenge to an FCC Oklahoma map decision that will restrict the scope of areas where carriers are eligible for enhanced tribal Lifeline USF support. The brief order Friday of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissing Assist Wireless v. FCC (No. 15-1324) came days after the FCC gave Lifeline providers a 120-day extension -- from Feb. 9 to June 8 -- on implementing the map's tribal-related boundaries (see 1602030027), which itself came days after Assist Wireless filed its dismissal motion (see 1601290066).

House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., wants more action on increasing broadband access, singling out the release of a GAO report she and other lawmakers had requested on high-speed broadband access on tribal lands. “Native Americans are among the most economically distressed groups in America, with many living in poverty,” Eshoo said. “The opportunity a broadband connection brings to individuals -- whether it is access to health care, education or commerce -- holds even more potential for vulnerable and underserved populations. As the GAO report concludes, we can be doing more, and we should be doing more.” GAO interviewed 21 tribes in compiling the 46-page report. “GAO recommends that FCC (1) develop joint training and outreach with USDA [the Department of Agriculture]; (2) develop performance goals and measures for tribal areas for improving broadband availability to households; (3) develop performance goals and measures for improving broadband availability to tribal schools and libraries; and (4) improve the reliability of FCC data related to institutions that receive E-rate funding by defining ‘tribal’ on the program application,” GAO said. “FCC agreed with the recommendations.”

House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., wants more action on increasing broadband access, singling out the release of a GAO report she and other lawmakers had requested on high-speed broadband access on tribal lands. “Native Americans are among the most economically distressed groups in America, with many living in poverty,” Eshoo said. “The opportunity a broadband connection brings to individuals -- whether it is access to health care, education or commerce -- holds even more potential for vulnerable and underserved populations. As the GAO report concludes, we can be doing more, and we should be doing more.” GAO interviewed 21 tribes in compiling the 46-page report. “GAO recommends that FCC (1) develop joint training and outreach with USDA [the Department of Agriculture]; (2) develop performance goals and measures for tribal areas for improving broadband availability to households; (3) develop performance goals and measures for improving broadband availability to tribal schools and libraries; and (4) improve the reliability of FCC data related to institutions that receive E-rate funding by defining ‘tribal’ on the program application,” GAO said. “FCC agreed with the recommendations.”

The FCC gave Lifeline providers 120 more days to transition to an Oklahoma map that limits the scope of enhanced tribal support in the state under the low-income USF program. The Wireline Bureau moved the implementation date to June 8 to address concerns a Feb. 9 deadline would preclude eligible telecom carriers from giving consumers adequate advance notice of the change, said an order in docket 11-42 released Tuesday and listed in Wednesday's Daily Digest. Lifeline providers usually receive $9.25 per low-income subscriber in monthly support, but they receive $34.25 per low-income subscriber under the enhanced tribal monthly support.

“Broadband" differs from "advanced telecommunications capability" but is key to an ATC statutory mandate, the FCC said in a Broadband Progress Report it released Friday after approving it Thursday (see 1601280064). The report said for simplicity’s sake, the commission sometimes used the term “broadband” to refer to “advanced telecommunications capability” in past inquiries on whether ATC was being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion to all Americans pursuant to Section 706 of the 1996 Telecom Act. But it said “advanced telecommunications capability” is a statutorily defined term that differs from “broadband” as it’s used in other contexts. “Thus, in this Inquiry, we do not equate the term 'broadband' with the statutory term 'advanced telecommunications capability,' but we do necessarily consider the availability of various broadband services that contribute to advanced telecommunications capability in our analysis under the statute,” it said. The report cited various data for why the FCC said ATC isn’t being deployed “broadly enough and quickly enough” to meet the Section 706 mandate. It said one in 10 Americans lacks 25/3 Mbps (download/upload) broadband availability, and ATC deployment disparities persist between urban areas and rural and tribal areas. It elaborated on why the FCC believes both mobile and fixed broadband availability are necessary under the statutory mandate. It said there are various marketing, usage and adoption differences that dispel the notion that current fixed and mobile broadband services give consumers the same or substitutable services. “On the contrary, they are distinct services with complementary strengths and weaknesses, distinguishable in capability, pricing, and in the utility they provide consumers,” it said. The report said the FCC couldn’t yet define adequate mobile broadband speed or service standards, and it noted the FCC may consider different mobile and fixed speed benchmarks. The report said there are “many and varied” barriers to ATC deployment, and cited past and ongoing FCC efforts on rural broadband, E-rate and Lifeline USF modernization, and other matters. It said if consumers’ personal information can be protected, that could spur broadband service, investment and deployment, consistent with the 1996 act’s goals. Consumer groups are pushing the FCC to issue an NPRM opening a broadband privacy rulemaking (see 1601190077).

“Broadband" differs from "advanced telecommunications capability" but is key to an ATC statutory mandate, the FCC said in a Broadband Progress Report it released Friday after approving it Thursday (see 1601280064). The report said for simplicity’s sake, the commission sometimes used the term “broadband” to refer to “advanced telecommunications capability” in past inquiries on whether ATC was being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion to all Americans pursuant to Section 706 of the 1996 Telecom Act. But it said “advanced telecommunications capability” is a statutorily defined term that differs from “broadband” as it’s used in other contexts. “Thus, in this Inquiry, we do not equate the term 'broadband' with the statutory term 'advanced telecommunications capability,' but we do necessarily consider the availability of various broadband services that contribute to advanced telecommunications capability in our analysis under the statute,” it said. The report cited various data for why the FCC said ATC isn’t being deployed “broadly enough and quickly enough” to meet the Section 706 mandate. It said one in 10 Americans lacks 25/3 Mbps (download/upload) broadband availability, and ATC deployment disparities persist between urban areas and rural and tribal areas. It elaborated on why the FCC believes both mobile and fixed broadband availability are necessary under the statutory mandate. It said there are various marketing, usage and adoption differences that dispel the notion that current fixed and mobile broadband services give consumers the same or substitutable services. “On the contrary, they are distinct services with complementary strengths and weaknesses, distinguishable in capability, pricing, and in the utility they provide consumers,” it said. The report said the FCC couldn’t yet define adequate mobile broadband speed or service standards, and it noted the FCC may consider different mobile and fixed speed benchmarks. The report said there are “many and varied” barriers to ATC deployment, and cited past and ongoing FCC efforts on rural broadband, E-rate and Lifeline USF modernization, and other matters. It said if consumers’ personal information can be protected, that could spur broadband service, investment and deployment, consistent with the 1996 act’s goals. Consumer groups are pushing the FCC to issue an NPRM opening a broadband privacy rulemaking (see 1601190077).

Assist Wireless and others asked a court to dismiss their challenge to an FCC decision regarding use of an Oklahoma Historical Map to restrict Lifeline tribal coverage in the state, according to a motion filed Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit they said was unopposed (Assist Wireless v. FCC, No. 15-1324). The companies are backing an Oklahoma Corporation Commission request to delay the Feb. 9 implementation of the new map, and seeking 180 more days (see 1601190044).

The FCC approved a report saying broadband isn't being rolled out broadly enough or quickly enough to meet a statutory deployment mandate. The commission action at its Thursday meeting wasn't a surprise after Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a draft report with a negative finding (see 1601070059). Democratic colleagues supported the report and its conclusion, with one backing an even higher broadband standard, but one Republican dissented and the other concurred while faulting the FCC for failing to bring about more broadband deployment. Key House Republicans and major wireline and wireless telco groups were among those criticizing the report, with USTelecom calling it “not believable.”