An order and Further NPRM on improving how Stir/Shaken works as a tool against unwanted and illegal robocalls is expected to be approved by FCC commissioners Thursday, potentially with a few tweaks addressing the handful of concerns raised by industry, industry officials said.

USTelecom backed the Technology Channel Sales Professionals Association's petition for declaratory ruling on certain rural healthcare program rules. The group sought clarification of the prohibition of the use of consultants or third-party sales agents that have a financial stake in a provider (see 2203030054). Absent the change, USTelecom said its members participating in the program "cannot retain commissioned third-party sales agents for sales and services to health care providers that participate in the RHC program," per a letter posted Monday in docket 17-310.

USTelecom representatives sought clarification on two aspects of the draft Stir/Shaken order, scheduled for a vote at the FCC commissioners’ March 16 meeting (see 2302230059), in calls with the Wireline Bureau and staff for the four commissioners. The draft “recognizes the role that contracts will play in intermediate providers’ compliance with the new signing requirement,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-97: “Consistent with the Draft Order’s rejection of a strict liability standard, the Commission should make explicit that providers are deemed in compliance when they take such steps and have no reason to know, and do not know, that their upstream provider is sending unsigned traffic it originated.” The draft “properly limits mandated disclosures in Robocall Mitigation Plans to ‘formal actions or investigations … with findings of actual or suspected wrongdoing,’” USTelecom said. “To reduce uncertainty regarding the actions and investigations that trigger the requirement, the Commission should make clear that the formal actions and investigations also must be public,” the group said. David Frankel, CEO of conference call provider ZipDX, reported on a call with Wireline Bureau staff. “I did not ask for any new rules,” Frankel said: “Rather, I asked that the Commission take this opportunity to cite for the larger provider community how they might live up to their obligation to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent their networks from being used to facilitate illegal calling.”

Unsolicited auto warranty robocalls "virtually disappeared" after action by the FCC and states, and the commission's targeting of student loan robocalls led to "an estimated over eight figure drop in monthly robocalls," said a report by USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group Thursday. The report said 95% of completed tracebacks resulted in "nearly 70% ending with the caller terminated or warned." ITG also responded to 150 subpoenas last year and the partnership between industry and law enforcement "made great progress disrupting and holding illegal robocallers accountable." Industry traceback "fueled by the specter of enforcement by federal and state authorities has been a gamechanger," said ITG Executive Director Josh Bercu in a blog post.

Industry groups urged the FCC not to revisit its current rules for the affordable connectivity program's annual data collection, in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 21-450 (see 2301120056). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required the commission to collect data on prices and subscription rates offered by participating providers. Consumer advocacy organizations disagreed and continued to back subscriber-level data collection with additional data points.

The National Wireless Communications Council (NWCC) urged the FCC to act on a June 2020 petition by CTIA and USTelecom seeking regulatory relief on pro forma filings (see 2006050039). NWCC considers this a “common-sense proposal that will reduce regulatory burdens on FCC staff and licensees while complying fully with the directives of the Communications Act,” said a Thursday filing in docket 20-186. Recent analysis by AT&T showed “only a very small fraction” of pro forma assignments or transfers appear to involve major carriers, NWCC said: “The great majority were filed by licensees of private systems, many of them NWCC constituents, that do not provide a commercial communications service to the public, are not subject to foreign ownership limitations, and are not reviewed for purposes of avoiding undue concentration in the telecommunications arena.”

Consumer advocacy groups and industry disagreed about whether the FCC should adopt additional requirements for its new broadband labels as the latest version is currently being implemented (see 2211180077). Some industry groups urged the commission to wait until the new labels are being used and can be evaluated for effectiveness before making any revisions. Comments were posted through Friday in docket 22-2.

Senate Public Works Committee ranking member Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., refiled the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-275) Wednesday to change FCC vetting rules for participants in USF high-cost programs. S-275, first filed last year (see 2205030031), would require the FCC to launch a rulemaking to "establish a vetting process” for USF high-cost applicant ISPs, including requiring them to provide “sufficient detail and documentation for the Commission to ascertain that the applicant possesses the technical capability, and has a reasonable plan, to deploy the proposed network.” The FCC would be required to evaluate new applications based on “reasonable and well-established technical standards,” including those the commission adopted for its Form 477 Data Program “for purposes of entities that must report broadband availability coverage.” The legislation “expands on my broadband efforts, and is a product of many discussions I’ve had with small rural service providers and local leaders in my state,” Capito said. “These discussions made it abundantly clear the FCC needs congressional direction to ensure taxpayer money is being used properly to fund broadband deployment in rural areas.” In 2023 “we should be able to bring high-speed internet to every community in our country, regardless of their zip code,” Klobuchar said: “This bipartisan legislation will help Americans connect to work, school, health care and business opportunities by ensuring the companies that apply for federal funding to build out broadband infrastructure can get the job done.” Capito’s office cited support from NTCA and USTelecom.

Commissioner Chris Nelson isn’t convinced eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation is no longer necessary, the South Dakota Republican said at NARUC’s winter conference Tuesday. Telecom association officials on Nelson’s panel said Congress sees that the ETC process has run its course. Nelson and a District of Columbia consumer advocate raised concerns about possible impacts to service quality as telcos abandon state-regulated copper networks.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and House Ways and Means Tax Subcommittee Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., led refiling Thursday of the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act in a bid to ensure broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act, American Rescue Plan Act and Tribal Broadband Connectivity Fund doesn’t count as taxable income. The measure, first filed last year (see 2209290067), would amend the Internal Revenue Code to say broadband grants enacted via either statute don’t count as “gross income.” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., are lead co-sponsors. There have been “significant strides to ensure that access to high-speed internet is available to more Americans than ever,” Warner said. “But taxing broadband investment awards diminishes our efforts. This legislation ensures that individuals and businesses are able to reap the benefits of every dollar set aside for broadband expansion and deployment so that we can accomplish our goal of bringing reliable broadband to every corner of Virginia.” The measure “ensures federal grant dollars, especially those made available to local governments through pandemic relief funding, will give constituents the best return on their investment,” Kelly said. Warner’s office noted several telecom industry groups back the measure, including the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, Incompas, NTCA and USTelecom, the Wireless ISP Association and WTA.