The U.S. Department of Agriculture was asked to be more flexible on ReConnect, during a virtual listening session Tuesday. Consider changing more program loans to grants, said Yurok Tribe Council member Lana McCovey. "The repayment process would be hard to do." Akiak Technology CEO Kevin Hamer agreed: "The only way that we're going to get access as an unserved area is through infrastructure grants, not loans." Exclude low earth orbit satellites, Hamer said. Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government Project Manager Dylan Conduzzi asked for reconsideration of satellite technology: "There are no other back-haul options available to us." Allow more flexibility in the grant application process, said Raymond Concho, Acoma Pueblo transportation planner. "We just don't have the matching funds, especially after the past year." Guiding principles from tribal leaders in recent months included requiring tribal government resolutions of support for broadband applicants, increasing flexibility for applicants, enabling tribal governments to serve their own lands, allowing tribes to certify whether they're served or underserved, and requiring compliance with tribal government regulations for all broadband recipients serving tribal lands, USDA staff said. Comments on eligibility requirements are due April 27 (see 2102260044).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture was asked to be more flexible on ReConnect, during a virtual listening session Tuesday. Consider changing more program loans to grants, said Yurok Tribe Council member Lana McCovey. "The repayment process would be hard to do." Akiak Technology CEO Kevin Hamer agreed: "The only way that we're going to get access as an unserved area is through infrastructure grants, not loans." Exclude low earth orbit satellites, Hamer said. Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government Project Manager Dylan Conduzzi asked for reconsideration of satellite technology: "There are no other back-haul options available to us." Allow more flexibility in the grant application process, said Raymond Concho, Acoma Pueblo transportation planner. "We just don't have the matching funds, especially after the past year." Guiding principles from tribal leaders in recent months included requiring tribal government resolutions of support for broadband applicants, increasing flexibility for applicants, enabling tribal governments to serve their own lands, allowing tribes to certify whether they're served or underserved, and requiring compliance with tribal government regulations for all broadband recipients serving tribal lands, USDA staff said. Comments on eligibility requirements are due April 27 (see 2102260044).
NTIA changed some dates for its webinars on three new broadband grant programs, says Monday's Federal Register (see 2103180027). Webinars on the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program will start April 21; on the Broadband Infrastructure Program April 28; and on the Connecting Minority Communities Program May 5. All webinars start at 2:30 p.m. EDT and run through July.
The FCC Wireless Bureau said Thursday that 50 more tribal applications to use the 2.5 GHz band for broadband passed initial review and are accepted for filing. So far, the FCC has granted 216 licenses. The tribal window to apply for licenses closed Sept. 2 with more than 400 applications (see 2009030012).
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved waivers sought by the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians and the Lower Sioux Indian Community General Council, allowing them to use 2.5 GHz spectrum under the FCC’s tribal window. The Paskenta Band in California got a waiver for a parcel “previously owned in fee by the Tribe and placed into trust in October 2018,” and the Lower Sioux in Minnesota for “small areas of off-reservation trust lands.” Trust lands aren't otherwise eligible under the FCC’s rules. Both orders were in Wednesday’s Daily Digest.
Localities and NATOA fired back at objections by the Wireless Infrastructure Association to NATOA's petition for reconsideration of the FCC compound expansion order, approved 3-2 last year over dissents by Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks (see 2006090060). “The Order applied the wrong legal standard as articulated by the dissenting Commissioners and failed to address other legal and practical implications raised in the record,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-250: “Reconsideration is not only appropriate, it is necessary to ensure the Commission fully addresses the significant implications of the new rules.” CTIA defended WIA. “These rule changes foster collocations on existing facilities that are critical to bridging the digital divide,” the group said: “The rules also preserve the core right of localities to manage local land use, consistent with the Commission’s priority to ‘find common ground with our state, local, and Tribal partners.’” WIA “stands by” its opposition to the petition and “looks forward to working with the commission and any interested stakeholders in promoting broadband deployment to underserved communities across the U.S.,” a spokesperson said.
President Joe Biden’s administration proposed $100 billion in broadband spending Wednesday as part of the $2 trillion American Jobs Plan infrastructure proposal. That level of spending and Biden’s calls for legislation to improve broadband pricing transparency and affordability mirror Democratic lawmakers' Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR-1783/S-745) and Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act (HR-1848), as expected (see 2103160001). Reaction to the plan divided along party lines.
President Joe Biden’s administration proposed $100 billion in broadband spending Wednesday as part of the $2 trillion American Jobs Plan infrastructure proposal. That level of spending and Biden’s calls for legislation to improve broadband pricing transparency and affordability mirror Democratic lawmakers' Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR-1783/S-745) and Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act (HR-1848), as expected (see 2103160001). Reaction to the plan divided along party lines.
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver for Maine’s Passamaquoddy Tribe to use 2.5 GHz spectrum for wireless connections on 94,000 acres of trust lands. “According to the Tribe, most of the trust lands are in areas lacking state municipal governments and where ‘there is a general lack of basic infrastructure, and there is simply no telecommunications infrastructure like cell phone or radio towers,’” said Tuesday's order. The rules exclude trust lands, but “strictly applying" that "would be inconsistent with the Tribal Window’s purpose of providing wireless communications services in rural Tribal areas,” the bureau said. Staff also OK'd a waiver sought by the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California for several parcels of fee lands owned by the tribe adjacent to or near their reservation.
Commissioners OK'd rules 4-0 for round two of the COVID-19 telehealth program, the FCC announced Tuesday. They denied an American Hospital Association petition for reconsideration to include for-profit hospitals as eligible providers. Nearly $250 million will be awarded during the second round. The commission created an application filing window rather than a rolling basis for accepting applications because "smaller providers with more limited resources may have faced difficulties quickly compiling their applications." The filing window is expected to open within 30 days. The FCC will announce this start date "very shortly," said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Round one applicants that didn't receive funding must submit a new application for round two and "will receive an increase in points in Round 2 which are not available to other Round 2 applicants," the order said. Universal Service Administrative Co. will administer funds again, prioritizing applications from the hardest-hit and low-income areas, unfunded round one applicants, tribal communities, critical access hospitals, federally qualified health centers, healthcare provider shortage areas, new round two applicants and rural counties. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said the rules give "significant weight to applications proposing to serve low-income communities" and included some of his proposed edits. Rules "strike the right balance between ensuring a wide and equitable distribution of funding and promoting the widest possible participation of health care providers," said Commissioner Brendan Carr. Commissioner Nathan Simington didn't release a statement. The FCC extended from six to 12 months the time applicants may receive funding, saying "providers will likely continue to rely on telehealth and connected care services as a critical means of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic through at least a good portion of 2022." Funds will be awarded in two phases, as expected (see 2103170047). The first $150 million goes to highest-scoring applicants. After a 10-day period, USAC will re-rank the remaining applicants and disburse the remaining funds. The commission kept in place eligibility requirements for providers from round one, and applicants needing to obtain approved eligibility determination must do so only for the "lead health care provider" listed on the application. If an applicant has multiple sites on their application, they must certify only that all sites listed are eligible. The order said its eligible services list is broad enough to provide "the flexibility needed to respond to rapidly evolving situations" and includes guidance on ineligible services.