The Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NNTRC) asked for a 15-day extension, until May 31, to file comments on the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority’s (NTUA’s) application to be designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier providing Lifeline service to people living on Navajo lands. NTUA is proposing to provide service in combination with Commnet Wireless. “The NNTRC is using this docket as an avenue for collecting and reviewing public comment on the NTUA Wireless Petition, rather than hold its own proceeding,” the commission said. “As part of its Reply Comments, the NNTRC will issue its findings and order concerning whether the grant of ETC status to NTUA Wireless on the Navajo Nation is consistent with Navajo law, and is in the best interest of the Navajo people.” NTUA said it plans to offer service in an area covering 27,000 square miles, extending into 13 counties in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. “By leveraging existing NTUA resources and partnering with an established wireless service provider, NTUA Wireless will be uniquely positioned to offer competitive retail wireless telecommunications services to underserved areas of the Navajo Nation,” NTUA said in a March filing. NTUA Wireless will provide jobs for members of the Navajo tribe and utilize its expertise in the utility business “to offer a deeper penetration of retail wireless telecommunications service into the Navajo Nation,” it said.

The FCC should give Alaska a separate “transition path” for Universal Service Fund reform, General Communication said in comments posted to dockets 10-90, 09-51, 07-135, 05-337, 01-92, 96-45 and 03-109. “Alaska’s telecommunications networks are like none other in the country, and face challenges of distance, climate and supporting infrastructure unlike anywhere else in the United States,” General Communication said. Despite the company’s “substantial rural wireless deployments in 2009 and 2010, much of rural Alaska is still waiting to receive the 2G mobile voice services that the rest of the country has enjoyed for over a decade,” General Communication said. The National Broadband Plan recommended that the commission focus on broadband speed of 4 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up, but “those objectives will never be achieved in Alaska without hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investment,” General Communication said. Only “a fraction of Alaska has access to broadband with maximum advertised speeds of 3-6 Mbps for downloads and .786-1.5 Mbps for uploads,” the company said. “At a time when all indications show that achieving the Commission’s broadband objectives in Alaska will require several hundred million dollars in support just for capital investments, let alone operating costs, the interim proposals for both ILEC and CETC support would slash support for Alaskan telecommunications and broadband deployment,” General Communication said. If the FCC adopts all of the proposals for USF reform in its rulemaking notice, Alaska would lose about 75 percent of its universal service support by 2016, General Communication said. “Meanwhile, because of the way that the proposed interim Connect America Fund and Mobility Fund would be structured, virtually no funds from those new mechanisms can be expected to support Alaska telecommunications and broadband deployment services,” General Communication said. “Rural Alaska will never win a nationwide reverse auction pegged at supporting the lowest dollar per user deployments because Rural Alaska is both high cost to serve especially to connect over the middle mile and has extremely small population centers.” The better course is to preserve “existing support” for all eligible telecommunications carriers and high-cost programs on Tribal Lands “during the interim, and then move directly to a long term (not first phase) reformed Connect America Fund ('CAF'), as long as it can be tailored to Alaska’s unique challenges,” General Communication said.

A bill requiring amateur radio studies would cost about $1 million over five years, the Congressional Budget Office said late Tuesday. S-191, sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., would require the Homeland Security Department to study amateur radio uses for emergency and disaster relief communications. The bill would not affect state, local or tribal government budgets, CBO said.

The FCC’s proposal to revamp the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation apparently could benefit some states while hurting others, according to comments in the proceeding. But states in general supported retaining and enhancing a state role in any rewrite. The FCC is expected to complete some of the USF overhaul by late summer (see separate report in this issue).

"Restating” requirements to send back reclaimed broadband stimulus money to the U.S. Treasury “would not affect federal spending or revenues,” said the Congressional Budget Office in an April 14 report released late Friday. And implementing HR-1343 by Rep. Charlie Bass, R-N.H., “would have no significant effect on spending subject to appropriations,” CBO said. It also would not affect state, local or tribal government budgets, it said. The House Commerce Committee unanimously approved the bill earlier this month (CD April 7 p12). But the bill was also referred to the Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development. Before it can move to the House floor, the Agriculture Committee must either approve the bill in markup or discharge it from committee. The committee has not scheduled any hearings or markups on the bill. No similar legislation exists in the Senate.

"Restating” requirements to send back reclaimed broadband stimulus money to the U.S. Treasury “would not affect federal spending or revenues,” said the Congressional Budget Office in an April 14 report released late Friday. And implementing HR-1343 by Rep. Charlie Bass, R-N.H., “would have no significant effect on spending subject to appropriations,” CBO said. It also would not affect state, local or tribal government budgets, it said. The House Commerce Committee unanimously approved the bill earlier this month. But the bill was also referred to the Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development. Before it can move to the House floor, the Agriculture Committee must either approve the bill in markup or discharge it from committee. The committee has not scheduled any hearings or markups on the bill. No similar legislation exists in the Senate.

E-tailers are drawing a line in the sand to oppose Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s planned e-commerce tax legislation. Neither the text of Durbin’s forthcoming bill nor a time line for its introduction have been finalized, but e-commerce companies are already gearing up for the debate. Online retailers said the legislation could have a devastating effect on the growth of small online businesses. But brick and mortar retail associations and tax groups said the legislation would level the playing field for retailers and give state governments much-needed tax revenue.

The Department of Health and Human Services is requesting comments by May 13, 2011, to assist it in developing a preliminary plan to review its existing regulations to determine whether any regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed, pursuant to Executive Order 13563, "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review¹."

A dismal budget climate shouldn’t preclude support for broadband in tribal lands, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday. Inouye, the Appropriations Committee’s chairman, signaled that he would support increased FCC funding for that purpose. Advocates for Native American communities sought additional broadband funding, including through the Universal Service Fund and a new Native Nations Broadband Fund.

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on a rulemaking on various proposals and issues on greater use of communications spectrum on Tribal lands. The FCC approved the NPRM at its March 3 meeting. Comments are due May 19, replies June 30.