Connectivity difficulties for households trying to apply online during the initial FCC emergency broadband benefit rollout could discourage people from returning to the website to try again, some working to encourage EBB enrollment said in interviews. Users reported initial delays (see 2105130063). The FCC posted an alert May 13, the day after the program began, warning online applicants they could have had connectivity issues in applying online. The alert cited high demand. The Universal Service Administrative Co. posted the same.
A Further NPRM proposing to tighten secure telephone identity revisited and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens rules is expected to be approved 4-0 by commissioners Thursday. Commissioner aides got little public feedback after the Stir/Shaken item circulated. The consensus is smaller providers likely pose a robocall problem and the FCC should investigate, agency officials said. A few changes, none major, are expected.
ATIS hires Glenn Reynolds from iconectiv as vice president-technology policy and government relations ... VMware directors promote Raghu Raghuram to CEO and board member, effective June 1; Sumit Dhawan becomes president; Chief Operating Officer-Customer Operations Sanjay Poonen decides to leave the company; Zane Rowe has been interim CEO and continues as chief financial officer ... MediaKind taps Hulu/Disney’s Mark Ramberg as group vice president-products and Jeff Sherwin from Comcast as executive vice president-technology strategy and operations, both newly created roles.
The Senate confirmed Don Graves Thursday as deputy commerce secretary 89-7, drawing USTelecom praise. Graves during his March Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing cited the department’s broadband and spectrum policymaking roles as a priority (see 2103100065).
ISPs and Vermont agreed to keep net neutrality litigation on ice. The challenge to Vermont's law and executive order by ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom at U.S. District Court in Vermont (case 2:18-cv-00167-CR) has been on hold pending resolution of the same associations' challenge to California’s law. That freeze would continue until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resolves industry’s appeal of U.S. District Court in Sacramento denying their preliminary injunction in February (see 2104130072), said Friday's stipulation (in Pacer). The pact would let Vermont require ISPs to adhere to net neutrality in contracts after April 22, though it wouldn’t be enforceable during the stay.
As the FCC considers tougher secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) rules (see 2104290082), major carriers said they’re protecting customers from unwanted calls, in filings mostly posted Monday in docket 17-59. Banking and other groups warned that rules should ensure calls customers want still get through, in response to the Governmental Affairs Bureau request for input for its second call blocking report. "Customers are harmed when their banks’ outbound calling numbers are mislabeled, or calls from those numbers are blocked, because they may not receive lawful calls affecting their financial health,” the American Banking Association said: “It is critical for customers that these calls be completed without delay.” Incompas heard reports that call blocking is being used “on a more regular basis to block or divert legitimate traffic,” and said it “repeatedly raised concerns that call blocking could be used to erect barriers to competition and discriminate against competitive providers and their legitimate use cases.” Industry is “making great progress protecting consumers from unwanted robocalls” but “robocallers continuously deploy new tactics,” Verizon said: The company is seeing “a concerning increase in a new ‘dual seizure’ technique that bad actors use to efficiently insert millions of messages daily into nonconsenting consumers’ voice mailboxes without the calls ever causing the consumers’ devices to ring.” T-Mobile had a drop in robocalls a year ago, possibly because the pandemic closed some call centers. “Once calls resumed, new scams targeting subscribers purporting to relate to COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, unemployment insurance and stimulus checks arose,” T-Mobile said, noting its call blocking tools help. FCC efforts “have empowered AT&T to better protect its network and customers from illegal and unwanted robocalls,” the company said: “AT&T blocks illegal robocalls consistent with the Commission’s orders and has integrated the STIR/SHAKEN verification results into its call blocking analysis.” NCTA noted major cable operators adopted Stir/Shaken. “Policy advancements, industry investments in call authentication, blocking and labeling, and traceback, and aggressive law enforcement collectively are impacting the landscape,” said USTelecom: “No single initiative alone will solve the problem of illegal and unwanted robocalls, but each step makes an incremental difference.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) vowed to fight six telecom associations challenging the state for requiring all ISPs to sell a $15 monthly internet plan to low-income households. Claiming the program is preempted rate regulation, the New York State Telecommunications Association, CTIA, ACA Connects, USTelecom, NTCA and Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association sued Friday in the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York (case 21-cv-2389). Industry is “turning a blind eye to the needs of its most vulnerable customers once again,” said New York Public Utility Law Project (PULP) Executive Director Richard Berkley.
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced four tech and telecom bills (see 2104230076) and NASA administrator nominee Bill Nelson Wednesday on voice votes. The committee also advanced deputy commerce secretary nominee Don Graves on a 25-3 vote. Senate Commerce earlier pulled from consideration the Endless Frontier Act (S-1260) after lawmakers filed more than 230 amendments to the measure (see 2104270045).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau wants letters of intent by May 27 from entities interested in coordinating industry-led efforts to trace the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls, a public notice said Monday in docket 20-22. USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group was put in charge of the consortium last year (see 2007270068). EB will pick the next consortium by Aug. 25.
Education advocates and industry groups disagreed whether the FCC should allow retroactive reimbursements and set technology standards for schools and libraries in the $7.1 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund (see 2104140041). Replies were due Friday in docket 21-93. Schools that "made the decision earlier on to invest in connectivity for remote learning" should be reimbursed for purchases since the pandemic's onset, said Incompas. AT&T said retroactive payments would put schools that couldn't afford that at the "back of the line," a view echoed by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Prioritizing retroactive reimbursements would help "most likely more well-off schools and libraries," said ACA Connects (see 2104120052): It "should only be allowed for eligible purchases that have not been funded by any other source." USTelecom and NTCA agreed. Reject calls to allow ECF funding for self-provisioning, said Verizon: "Because self-provisioning requires large upfront expenditures, the schools receiving" that support "would consume a disproportionate share of the ECF and leave too little support for other schools." WTA agreed: This would lead to "substantial delays in the availability of eligible services that are needed immediately." Self-provisioned networks are the "most cost-effective" for students without residential broadband, said groups including New America’s Open Technology Institute, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Center for Rural Strategies and Public Knowledge. Avoid minimum service standards because "there is no consensus on the appropriate capacity needed for remote learning," said the Wireless ISP Association: "To narrow the fund’s scope to include only those services offering certain broadband speeds could have the unintended consequence of penalizing students who live in areas" with slower speeds. NCTA and GCI Communication agreed. CTIA said questions about "adequacy of mobile broadband for remote learning are unsupported by the record and flatly contrary to the experience of millions of students during the pandemic." The Competitive Carriers Association, T-Mobile and UScellular said similar. Defining "connected device" should be done in a "flexible, technologically neutral way," said Apple.