A coalition of industry groups proposed allowing providers participating in the FCC's affordable connectivity program the option to provide an "average net rate charged" to households for each tier of supported services in each five-digit ZIP code as part of the program's mandatory data collection. It would allow the commission to determine "at a geographically granular level" how many households are receiving service "with no out-of-pocket expense" and the average price for households that are "subscribing to broadband services that are not fully covered by the ACP benefit," said the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 21-450. The mandatory collection could include a monthly rate for "each ACP-supported service tier" and the number of subscribers in a ZIP code, they said. The groups asked the FCC to disclose its data "on an aggregate basis" and within ranges for speeds or monthly data allowance to maintain providers' and consumer privacy. The groups also asked that data be aggregated to a higher geographic level if fewer than three providers are "in a geographic unit."
The Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA and four other groups urged leaders of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees to pass the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (S-5021), which would amend the Internal Revenue Code to say broadband grants enacted via either statute don’t count as “gross income” (see 2209290067). “The 117th Congress made historic investments in broadband infrastructure by allocating billions to programs” via the American Rescue Plan Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but “if Congress fails to act, grant recipients will be required to return as much as 21 percent of the broadband grants to the federal government in the form of taxes,” the groups wrote Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., and their Republican ranking members, in a letter released Friday. That would leave “millions of Americans without access to the broadband they were promised. In addition to extending the expiring 100 percent expensing benefit, which would have a broader overall impact, Congress should exempt broadband grants from taxation as consistent with the ubiquitous deployment goals reflected in” ARPA and IIJA. The IRS previously “had the flexibility to act unilaterally to exempt some broadband grants from taxation,” including the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, the groups said: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act “changed the statute, declaring that all federal grants, including broadband grants, are taxable as income. With this change in statute, it is now incumbent upon Congress to act to free the ARPA and IIJA broadband grants from taxation and ensure all of the broadband grants awarded will be used to reach Americans with connectivity needs.” The other signers were NTCA, TIA, USTelecom and the Wireless Infrastructure Association.
New York legislators could double down on a court-blocked state law that sought to require $15 monthly plans for low-income households. Assemblymember Brian Cunningham (D) plans to reintroduce his 2022 bill AB-10690 this January to require $5 monthly internet for low-income consumers, the Democrat said in an interview this week. Three ISP associations that sued New York over its previous affordability bill condemned the fresh attempt to lower broadband prices.
The FCC will vote Nov. 17 on rules aimed at improving the delivery of outage information to public safety answering points by requiring operating service providers (OSPs) and covered 911 providers to “utilize special diligence to obtain and maintain up-to-date contact information for each 911 special facility they serve,” said a draft report and order released Thursday. The FCC also announced that it won't be pursuing an inquiry into the agency's reliance on Nielsen ratings in a draft broadcast order on updating the publication used to determine broadcast DMAs (see 2210260081).
Industry groups asked the FCC to ensure the affordable connectivity program's annual data collection is "streamlined and efficient for the benefit of consumers and providers," per an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 21-450 (see 2207260070). NTCA, USTelecom, CTIA, NCTA and ACA Connects met with Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staffers. The groups said a subscriber-level collection "would run afoul" of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and be "difficult, if not impossible" to define the requirement. It would also "have a chilling effect among subscribers who do not wish to turn over their personal data," the groups said, suggesting the FCC collect aggregated data at the state level on price and subscription rates of ACP service offerings.
The California Public Utilities Commission risks litigation if it exerts too much authority over VoIP, warned industry in comments received by the agency Monday. Commissioners voted 5-0 Aug. 26 to open a rulemaking (docket R.22-08-008) on changes to licensing requirements and other obligations for internet-based voice (see 2208250029 and 2208190030). Consumer advocates and small businesses supported state VoIP requirements.
The FCC's 2020 order on unbundled network elements (UNEs) rules "has had a chilling effect" on fiber to the home deployment, said Sonic Telecom in reply to comments opposing its 2021 petition for reconsideration of portions of the order Monday in docket 19-308 (see 2209160070). Sonic sought reconsideration of the order's findings that there's "no impairment and grant of forbearance for unbundled DS0 Loops and unbundled dark fiber." USTelecom continued to express opposition, but consumer advocacy groups and CLECs urged the commission to grant the petition to promote competition.
USTelecom names Nirali Patel, from Comcast, senior vice president-policy and advocacy, effective Oct. 24 … Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) appoints Bree Maki, from office of Sen. Tina Smith (D), as director-Office of Broadband Development … Newly hired as senior operating partners at Francisco Partners, global investment firm specializing in tech businesses: Paul Cormier, chairman of Red Hat, who continues in that role; Matt Dircks, former BeyondTrust CEO; Joe Kim, former Citrix chief product and technical officer; and Ford Tamer, ex-Inphi president-CEO ... Baffle cloud data protection company names Joe Dillon, ex-Code42, executive vice president-sales … Xerox promotes Fred Beljaars to executive vice president-chief delivery and supply chain officer, filling role vacated with departure of Mary McHugh.
The Wireless Infrastructure Association is continuing its push, started under former President Jonathan Adelstein (see 2204180045), to ensure that wireless has a big role to play as the federal government awards more than $48 billion in connectivity money through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, new President Patrick Halley said in an interview. WIA was among the groups that raised concerns NTIA is putting too much emphasis on fiber, in contravention of the direction from Congress when it created the broadband, equity, access and deployment program (see 2205130054).
Industry asked the FCC to encourage all voice service providers to implement Stir/Shaken on the IP interconnection portions of their networks, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 17-97 (see 2208050055). Some companies urged the commission not to further extend the Stir/Shaken implementation beyond the June deadline for small providers.