The FCC Wireline Bureau partially granted the Northern Arapaho Tribal Industries a waiver of certain Connect America Fund Phase II auction rules, said an order Tuesday in docket 10-90. NATI sought a temporary waiver of the requirement that it increase the value of its letter of credit for the auction. The bureau let NATI keep its current value until the Universal Service Administrative Co. "completes its verification process for the locations to which NATI has certified deployment."
Alaska’s U.S. senators sounded the alarm over federal maps that will be used for determining funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. The Republicans’ remarks Tuesday at a livestreamed Alaska Broadband Summit followed state officials raising concerns about holes in the FCC’s broadband serviceable location fabric to be used in upcoming maps (see 2208080056). State, local, tribal and federal officials stressed the need for engagement and collaboration to ensure funding goes where it’s needed.
NTIA awarded more than $50 million in additional tribal broadband connectivity program grants Monday, totaling more than $143 million so far, to Doyon, the Alaska Native corporation for interior Alaska, and the Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission. The new funding will support broadband deployment and adoption efforts, said a news release. “It is humbling to see first-hand how these grants will positively impact the daily lives of Alaskan Natives who have been disconnected for far too long,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson, who traveled to Alaska to "see firsthand the unique challenges and opportunities Alaska faces in implementing high-speed internet service expansion."
With more than 13 million households now enrolled in the FCC’s affordable connectivity program, commissioners approved an order Friday establishing an outreach grant program to further boost participation (see 2207150063). Commissioners at the monthly meeting also adopted an order establishing a one-year pilot program to increase ACP enrollment among households receiving federal housing assistance and a notice of inquiry seeking comment on space innovation and operations.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., filed the Proper Leadership to Align Networks (Plan) for Broadband Act Thursday to require the Biden administration to develop a national broadband strategy the GAO recommended in late May. Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., filed the House companion. The GAO believes a national strategy is needed because 15 federal agencies administer more than 100 broadband connectivity programs, causing some overlap (see 2206010068). The bill says the national strategy must “support better management of Federal broadband programs to deliver on the goal of providing high speed, affordable broadband” to everyone in the U.S., “synchronize interagency coordination among” federal broadband programs, coordinate on approving grants “of an easement, right of way, or lease to, in, over, or on a building or any other property owned by the Federal Government for the right to install, construct, modify, or maintain” broadband infrastructure and “reduce barriers, lower costs, and ease administrative burdens for State, local, and Tribal governments to participate in Federal broadband programs.” The strategy would be due within one year of the measure’s enactment, with the White House submitting an implementation plan 120 days after the strategy’s release. “A national broadband strategy will ensure our agencies are synchronized and manage these programs effectively to make sure that more Americans gain access to high-speed broadband," Wicker said. The bill “will help improve coordination between federal agencies and local and Tribal governments to deliver on the funding we made available to build high speed, affordable broadband,” Lujan said. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr praised lawmakers for filing the legislation. “This is a vital bill that would fill a key gap in the federal government’s approach to broadband infrastructure spending,” he said. "The lack of a national coordinating strategy coupled with the absence of performance and accountability measures will result in wasted dollars and families stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide."
Industry sought improved coordination and transparency through the FCC, USDA and NTIA’s interagency agreement established under the Broadband Interagency Coordination Act of 2020. Some asked the agencies to make the shared information available publicly and to increase reliance on the FCC’s maps when coordinating broadband programs, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 22-251.
The FCC’s 2.5 GHz auction started slower than other recent 5G auctions and had little upward movement Monday, after three rounds. The auction hit $115.3 million Monday, after opening Friday at $103.5 million (see 2207290045). “Demand at the start of this auction is very tepid, with excess demand as a percentage of aggregate demand starting at roughly 37%, which puts this auction at the low end of prior auction starts,” blogged Sasha Javid, BitPath chief operating officer, about the start of the auction. “Perhaps this slow start is not surprising,” he said. “This 2.5 GHz auction is far from a typical spectrum auction.” The FCC is selling overlay licenses, which means many winners will have to negotiate with educational broadband service incumbents “if they want to use their entire license,” Javid said: “By my estimate over 80% of the MHz-POPs in these overlay licenses are encumbered (including both incumbents and all pending tribal licenses). This could explain why both Los Angeles and Cook County (Chicago), the two most populated counties in the country have demand below supply at the county level.” Another factor, some 27.5% of the U.S. doesn’t have any licenses available for sale, he said. “This is because the FCC decided against selling overlay licenses in any county where every category of license was fully-encumbered when measured by area,” he said. T-Mobile holds long-term leases with most incumbents EBS licensees and “has an information asymmetry advantage over other auction participants. … Because these leases are confidential, other bidders will not know how long they may be precluded from accessing or re-leasing parts of their licenses currently encumbered by these T-Mobile leases.” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin predicted in a weekend note to investors the auction will likely hit $3.4 billion, less if Congresses approves a 15% book alternative minimum tax on spectrum licenses (see 2204050083). He predicted the auction will likely end in September. “We have a long way to go,” Chaplin said: “The spectrum is useless to Verizon, AT&T and Dish [Network]; their only interest in the auction is pushing up the cost for T-Mobile. Smaller carriers and [wireless ISPs] may actually have a use for some of the licenses, but these companies won’t have the resources to outbid T-Mobile for any licenses that T-Mobile views as important." But Digital Progress Institute President Joel Thayer noted widespread interest in bidding. “It's a credit to the FCC's ability in shepherding this proceeding along and I'm glad to see that we are going to unleash 2.5 GHz,” Thayer emailed: “This auction is particularly going to be helpful for T-Mobile to be an even stronger alternative to the ‘big two,’ which is great for consumers.” Thayer sees Verizon and AT&T as potentially more interested in 12 GHz, a band being looked at for 5G. Two more rounds are on tap Tuesday.
NTIA awarded the Ione Band of Miwok Indians $459,000 through the tribal broadband connectivity program, said a news release Friday (see 2206240068). The funding will be used to develop a "comprehensive high-speed internet infrastructure deployment plan" for tribal lands in rural Amador County, California. “The Ione Band of Miwok Indians’ plan to connect their critical wellness, housing, and community centers is a testament to how high-speed internet service can uplift entire communities," said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. The agency has granted 44 awards totaling more than $91 million to date. Awards will continue to be announced on a rolling basis, NTIA said.
California Assemblymember Jim Wood (D) wondered if environmental review hurdles to building the state’s middle-mile network might warrant legislative attention. At a California Middle-Mile Advisory Committee virtual meeting Friday, Wood said he doesn’t understand why placing conduit along a highway would require California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other reviews. “Highway projects already are massively invasive on the environment and there have to have been cultural studies in these highway projects at some point in the past as well,” he said. “Why do we have to repeat things? How much more of an environmental impact could the trenching or the placement of conduit have than building the original highways?” A presentation by California Department of Transportation Division Chief-Design Janice Benton estimated 30 months for permitting, including a 17-month CEQA review. Wood worries about the state finishing projects before it must return federal funding, he said. “If there’s something we need to do more as a legislature to give you more tools to move this thing along, please tell us.” Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D) agreed with the need for urgency. “The frustration … or fear is that we’re going to run out of time.” Earlier at the meeting, Quirk-Silva praised progress made and a California budget signed June 30 that included another $550 million for the middle-mile project over the next two fiscal years. It brings total funding to $3.8 billion, “which will be vital in helping the state address the cost increases for the project,” said Mark Monroe, California Technology Department Broadband Middle-Mile Initiative deputy director. The California Public Utilities Commission will start taking applications Aug. 1 for the state’s new $50 million local and tribal technical assistance fund, CPUC program manager Jonathan Lakritz told the committee. On July 1, the CPUC received 99 project applications seeking about $28.6 million total for broadband adoption and digital equity grants, plus 19 applications seeking about $1.4 million in grants for public housing and low-income community projects, he said.
All companies should receive Oregon USF support “at similar levels based not on the size of the company, but on the characteristics of the areas they serve,” Lumen commented Tuesday in the Oregon Public Utility Commission’s OUSF update docket (AR 649). “Absent a rational basis for any differentiation, there is a risk the rules would be discriminatory under state and federal law.” At least maintain current funding levels if telecom companies “are to continue to offer service to all customers in their territories as carriers of last resort,” Lumen said. The Oregon Telecommunications Association “still has serious reservations” about using a CostQuest model to determine OUSF size, said OTA. Tribal provider Warm Springs Telecommunications (WST) said it tentatively supports the proposed rule but warned a "significant reduction in OUSF would put into jeopardy the efforts the [Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs], through WST, has undertaken to provide quality and affordable services to its Native American population.” The PUC is scheduled to adopt rules at a July 26 meeting.