The FCC Wireline Bureau is stopping archiving industry work products sent to a secure data enclave for its business data services (see 1906190044) and USTelecom forbearance (see 1908050009) proceedings and will destroy it, said a public notice Monday. It's effective Friday.

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on a recent CTIA and USTelecom petition seeking regulatory relief on pro forma filings (see 2006050039). Comments are due July 24, replies Aug. 10 in docket 20-186, said Thursday’s Daily Digest.

Rollout of a nationwide three-digit suicide prevention hotline will be given two years, not 18 months, under a draft order to be on the FCC's July 16agenda, it said Tuesday. The longer timeframe is getting acceptance from the mental health community. Some telecom interests argued the 18-month implementation in the NPRM was too short a time frame (see 2002180021) and see two years as still problematic.

Give voice providers more call blocking authority and more liability protection, industry asked the FCC in comments posted through Monday in docket 20-93. Don't limit a safe harbor to one-ring scams because doing so wouldn't "provide the certainty against all illegal robocalls as new scams arise," USTelecom said. "T-Mobile and other carriers will be hesitant to take advantage of opt-out call blocking without a safe harbor," it said. The safe harbor should also "protect providers from liability due to inadvertent mislabeling or misidentification of a call’s level of trust," said CTIA. Avoid "prescriptive requirements governing how providers communicate with their subscribers -- for instance, call labeling requirements or a requirement to notify subscribers dialing international toll-generating numbers of the cost before connecting the call, the latter of which could be a complex and expensive undertaking," said NCTA. Incompas said a new rule for international gateway providers to verify "the nature and purpose of foreign originators would be unnecessary and overly burdensome." AT&T said FCC should require as "baseline best practices for robocall mitigation" that providers have "the capability to monitor traffic patterns that would flag suspect calling campaigns, and then robust application of the provider’s terms of service to eliminate problem customers."

NTCA and USTelecom seek reimbursement for carriers that must replace Huawei and ZTE equipment, in comments on an NTIA letter. The FCC designated the two businesses as the first covered companies in last year’s supply chain order (see 1911220033), while Congress addressed the issue in the Secure Networks Act, enacted in March (see 2003120061). “Eligible telecommunications carriers risk being unable to upgrade or even maintain covered equipment if replacement funding is not in place prior to the Commission issuing a final designation that prohibits the use of USF support to procure or otherwise support equipment provided by a covered entity,” NTCA said. The FCC should promptly seek funding from Congress, USTelecom asked: “While carriers replacing wireless equipment should be able to upgrade to 5G, the carrier should be responsible for paying the delta between the cost of replacing the equipment and the cost of the upgrade so as not to disadvantage those who made the more costly decisions to enhance national security by avoiding Huawei at the outset.” Huawei said under the networks act, the FCC “is required to designate certain ‘communications equipment and services,’ not companies, to be covered by the law.” The act “confirms” the commission lacked “authority to promulgate the prohibition … and certainly lacks authority to make designations under the rule now,” Huawei said. Comments were posted Monday in docket 19-351.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi and two other committee Republicans filed the Accelerating Broadband Connectivity (ABC) Act Monday in a bid to accelerate broadband deployments by Rural Digital Opportunity Fund recipients (see 2006170018). The measure would allocate $6 billion to an FCC-run Accelerating Broadband Connectivity Fund that would provide money to RDOF phases I and II awardees that commit to begin construction within 180 days of receiving the money and make broadband service available using the infrastructure within one year. It would require an “expedited” rulemaking to set up the incentive fund. “One of my top priorities is expanding access to broadband for communities of all sizes,” Wicker said. “The coronavirus pandemic has further underscored this pressing need.” The bill's co-sponsors are Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. NTCA, USTelecom and the Wireless ISP Association backed the legislation.

Utilities Technology Council board promotes Sheryl Riggs to president-CEO, from interim since January; directors extend officers' terms for another year due to postponement of UTC’s annual conference, which will now be held virtually ... Lerman Senter promotes David Burns to member and hires Art Harding, ex-Foster Garvey, as counsel ... FeganScott adds Melissa Ryan Clark, ex-Tadler Law and a lawyer with experience with privacy and data breaches, as of counsel.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and top lawmakers weighed in Thursday and Friday with additional broadband legislative proposals aimed at tying into COVID-19 aid legislation and broader infrastructure measures. House Democratic leaders announced plans Thursday to merge existing proposals into a $1.5 trillion Moving Forward Act infrastructure measure that would include $100 billion for broadband (see 2006180062). President Donald Trump’s administration is believed to be preparing a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that will have funding for 5G infrastructure and rural broadband deployments (see 2006160049).

There’s “emerging consensus” the next Senate-side COVID-19 aid bill will include funding to bolster E-rate and other broadband initiatives, Incompas CEO Chip Pickering said Thursday. Some GOP lawmakers voiced growing interest in including broadband funding in coming pandemic legislation since House passage last month of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act. HR-6800’s broadband funding includes an $8.8 billion Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund and $5 billion for E-rate (see 2005130059). President Donald Trump’s administration recently narrowed the scope of their desires for a fourth major aid measure (see 2006050058).

Some 800 ISPs suspended broadband data caps during the FCC's Keep Americans Connected pledge. In many cases, they'll be back after KAC expires at month's end, experts said in interviews. Data caps aren't directly part of the commitment. The agency did urge ISPs to "relax" them. Providers including AT&T and Comcast opted to provide unlimited data through the pledge. Asked what happens after June 30, they and numerous other major providers, plus the FCC, didn't comment Thursday.