Granting ViaSat's petition seeking reconsideration of the Connect America Fund performance metrics order requirements about voice testing methodology (see 1809200035) would "undermine the integrity" of the CAF program and its auction process, USTelecom said in a docket 10-90 posting Tuesday. It said ViaSat took part in the CAF Phase II auction despite compliance concerns and the FCC can't change bidding rules now to suit one winner unless it wants to rerun the whole auction. ViaSat outside counsel didn't comment

Industry lined up behind AT&T's BellSouth in a dispute with four Alabama 911 districts over what constitutes interconnected VoIP and whether the FCC should prohibit state and local governments from requiring interconnected VoIP customers pay more in total 911 fees than comparable non-VoIP customers. Madison County, Alabama, warned that requested relief would bring "chaos" to already short 911 funding, in comments posted Friday in docket 19-44. The Wireline Bureau sought comment, citing U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama’s primary jurisdiction referral on a dispute between BellSouth and the Alabama districts (see 1902260072).

Wiley Rein names Kevin Rupy, ex-USTelecom, partner-telecom, media and technology ... TDI Executive Director Claude Stout retiring, effective May 29, 2020 ... Paul Grove, ex-WTCI Chattanooga, returning to WEDU Tampa as president/CEO, replacing interim Jack Conely ... Bahakel Communications taps Mike Costa, ex-Sinclair, as vice president-general manager, Montgomery, Alabama, TV operations.

Noting cybercrimes are expected to cost $6 trillion annually by 2021, USTelecom released its guide to such policy. USTelecom’s commitment is to “take cyberthreats seriously,” it said Wednesday. “We are working across different industries and with government partners (at home and abroad) to bolster our defenses and institute smart cybersecurity policy to protect consumers and businesses.”

USTelecom proposed creating a "Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric" (BSLF) as a "uniform foundation for dramatically more accurate FCC Form 477 reporting" to pinpoint unserved areas, said a filing in docket 11-10 on the mapping initiative it announced with partners Thursday (see 1903210041). "Multiple data sources, scoring routines, and managed visual review are required," including "parcel boundaries, parcel attributes (e.g., land use, assessed value, number of units, etc.)." With CostQuest, USTelecom plans a pilot in Virginia and Missouri lasting four to six months using "open source" and commercial data. Because some data is scarce or conflicting, CostQuest "will use a managed crowdsourcing visual review process to, for example, inspect satellite imagery to align building data with visible structures or to validate an incomplete attribute record," said USTelecom, projecting up to 75,000 such reviews per state. Carriers will provide confidential data on addresses they serve or have served with fixed service, and will be able to compare their lists with the final BSLF, helping them with Form 477 filings, it said. If the FCC agrees results show the methodology is applicable, it could take one to two more years to finish a nationwide fabric costing $10 million to develop and $2.5 million annually to update, the association said. NCTA highlighted its proposal "that can be implemented nationwide very quickly, without any need for a pilot, and would result in the granular data needed to more accurately identify areas ... not served by" fixed broadband. Providers would submit "shapefiles" -- electronic maps showing actual service contours -- that the FCC would compile into a national map, augmented by crowdsourcing.

An FCC order on the upper 37 GHz band, teed up for the April 12 commissioners' meeting, shows the length the agency will go to clear spectrum for 5G, as an ongoing auction tops $1 billion. The FCC proposes rules for coordinating with DOD on future use of the upper 37 GHz band beyond current DOD sites located there. The plan “strikes a reasonable balance,” said the draft order posted Friday. Chairman Ajit Pai unveiled the agenda Thursday (see 1903210062).

A USTelecom initiative aims to improve broadband data and mapping, starting with a pilot in Virginia and Missouri. It will use "modern-data analytics" to develop a "comprehensive database of all broadband serviceable locations in our two pilot states -- and a road map for a collaborative government-led effort to expand the system nationwide," said CEO Jonathan Spalter at an event Thursday. He said ITTA, the Wireless ISP Association, USTelecom members and others will participate. The coalition hopes the mapping effort will be "useful in the FCC’s quest to modernize its broadband data collection process, and supportive of other related federal and state initiatives," he said.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the April 12 commissioners’ meeting will focus on 5G for a second straight month. It includes the public notice for the auction of the 37, 39 and 47 GHz bands and a plan for sharing the 37 GHz band between industry and DOD. 5G is “the next big thing in wireless,” Pai blogged. He plans votes on nixing a rural telco USF rate floor and granting part of a USTelecom forbearance petition seeking ILEC relief from certain structural-separation and reporting duties. And there's a media modernization item, among others in the pipeline (see 1903210072).

Many asked the FCC to delay broadband performance testing by Connect America Fund recipients, scheduled to begin July 1. AT&T, ITTA and the Wireless ISP Association discussed with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai a petition for reconsideration of CAF performance metrics filed by USTelecom, WISPA and ITTA. Despite "productive meetings," the associations remain "concerned by the mismatch between the Order’s treatment of latency vs. speed testing as well as the harsh compliance framework adopted for even minor misses of latency and speed targets," filed AT&T, ITTA and WISPA in docket 10-90 Monday, noting USTelecom agrees. "Given the work still to be done to finalize the performance metric rules, we strongly urged the Commission to delay" testing. The order "adopts a reasonable one-test-per-hour and 80/80 compliance standard for speed testing, but by contrast requires one-test-per-minute for latency and maintains the prematurely adopted 95% compliance standard," they added: Latency doesn't fluctuate "to the degree that requires such granular testing."

CLECs urged the FCC to deny ILECs relief from an "avoided-cost resale requirement," at least for TDM-based phone service over copper loops, as USTelecom requested in a forbearance petition targeting Telecom Act wholesale network-sharing duties. USTelecom hasn't met its burden to demonstrate that the public and competition "will be advantaged by forbearance from that requirement," and a Dec. 28 AT&T letter "provides no basis for the Commission to conclude otherwise," filed Granite Telecommunications, Manhattan Telecommunications and AccessOne, posted Thursday in docket 18-141. They derided "baseless" AT&T arguments attempting "to explain away the inadequacy" of petition information and data by asserting the FCC need not analyze relevant TDM service geographic and product markets, where ILECs have "substantial and persisting market power." WorldNet discussed its opposition to the petition as applied to Puerto Rico, it filed, posted Friday, on meetings CEO David Bogaty and others had with Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Mike O'Rielly, their aides, aides to other commissioners and Wireline Bureau staffers. Incompas said a Feb. 21 AT&T letter and a Feb. 27 USTelecom letter "further demonstrate that USTelecom’s original Petition fails to meet the basic procedural requirement that forbearance petitions must be complete as-filed." The FCC should grant a petition dismissal motion of Incompas and others, filed the CLEC group, posted Thursday. USTelecom and members "discussed publicly available data and data in the record" supporting its "request for a finding that Section 251(c) unbundling and resale mandates are no longer necessary," filed the ILEC group on meeting an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai. The data "demonstrate significant competition for voice and broadband service for consumers and businesses."