The Senate passed several telecom measures Thursday, including the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act (S-151). House Commerce Committee Democratic leaders called the bills part of a series of 2019 tech and telecom successes. They also noted some policy priorities for 2020.

Add a 50/5 Mbps broadband tier and modify service weightings in the upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, telecom companies interested in delivering rural broadband told the FCC, posted Monday in docket 19-126. "To increase the chance of the RDOF reducing the digital divide," add a service tier between 25/3 Mbps and 100/20 Mbps, specifically 50/5, they said. "The proposed RDOF line up of just three tiers with an increased weighting for 25/3 Mbps (from 45 to 50) will make it uneconomic for many providers, both wireline and fixed wireless, to successfully bid." They said even fixed wireless providers that can guarantee 100/20 Mbps "cannot do so in all types of terrain or over vast service areas." Participants included AT&T, Sacred Wind, the Wireless ISP Association, Windstream, USTelecom, Midco and Nextlink. They met Wireline Bureau, Office of Economics and Analytics and Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force staff.

USTelecom and members met with FCC Wireline Bureau and Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force staff last week on "the substantial risk that inaccurate location counts in a ten-year program create for all parties, both if the counts are too high as well as too low," the group posted Monday in docket 19-126. The association suggested a "hold harmless provision" or possibly adjusting location counts later. Representatives from AT&T, CenturyLink, Consolidated, Frontier, Verizon and Windstream attended.

Telecom and mental health interests cheered FCC 5-0 approval Thursday of an NPRM designating 988 for a national three-digit suicide prevention and mental health hotline number. The final version wasn't released.

Mobile service isn't a functional substitute for fixed broadband, at least not yet, the Communications Workers of America answered an FCC notice of inquiry (see 1910230065) for its annual report on deployment of advanced telecom services. Comments posted through Tuesday in docket 19-285. "Mobile broadband cannot deliver performance as consistent as wireline services," said CWA. It said "5G technology has the potential to provide high-speed Internet, [but] it is premature to consider it a full substitute for wired broadband today." Just because some users rely on a mobile device to stream video, do online research or seek employment when no fixed broadband alternative is available "does not mean that mobile and fixed services are now suddenly functional equivalents," the Wireless ISP Association said. USTelecom (here) and NCTA (here) back the FCC proposal to retain 25/3 Mbps for fixed download and uploads. CTA wants "the prompt and dependable expansion of next-generation broadband networks" to support the IoT, and calls for widespread deployment of mobile broadband networks. "The possibility that the FCC may consider mobile internet access as part of meeting universal deployment of advanced telecommunications capability is troubling because the capabilities of mobile service do not yet meet those of wired broadband access and many services are subject to data caps, which disproportionately hurt consumers with lower incomes," said the American Library Association. "The record is clear," Public Knowledge, Common Cause and Next Century Cities said: "Mobile and fixed broadband continue to be complementary services and are not substitutes for each other." PK and co-signers want the benchmark increased to 100 Mbps downstream.

Internecine clashes in the mental health crisis and social service communities over what three digits to use for a nationwide suicide prevention hotline are seemingly over. There's general acceptance -- sometimes grudging -- of 988, experts told us. Many see its selection as inevitable given the support on Capitol Hill and at the FCC. Commissioners vote Thursday on a draft NPRM proposing 988 (see 1911210049).

Eligible telecom carriers must enhance engagement with tribal communities to address challenges deploying broadband there, Gila River Telecommunications Inc. (GRTI) told the FCC. Comments were posted through Friday in docket 10-90. GRTI said "the time for discussing whether broadband will be delivered to Indian Country must end. The next phase of engagement must focus on the development of concrete plans for each tribal community to gain broadband access." It recommends elevating the Office of Native Affairs and Policy to a separate office independent of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau and having it report directly to the chairman and commissioners. GRTI wants ONAP to develop a voluntary process to engage tribal governments and ETCs with service areas including tribal lands that haven't deployed broadband to determine when it makes sense for tribal governments to take an ownership stake in the ETC. The Alaska Rural Coalition asked the FCC to answer its 2011 petition for reconsideration on "unique challenges facing Alaska carriers." It wants the FCC to allow carriers to substitute informal engagement with strategic performance benchmarks, as "formal outreach [hasn't] proven particularly effective." USTelecom has legal concerns about members' First Amendment rights and a current requirement ETCs market their services "in a culturally sensitive manner," which can interfere with effective dialogue. The Oceti Sakowin Tribal Utility Authority said the tribal engagement process "is currently form over substance." The National Tribal Telecommunications Association wants additional enforcement of the tribal engagement rule.

Local government action on net neutrality could pick up next year after relative quiet in the two years since many municipalities protested the FCC's repeal of open-internet rules, said local advisers and others in interviews. Cities have been waiting for state policies and legal resolution. Applying restrictions to broadband public-private partnerships, as done by Tacoma, Washington, could be a model.

Increase penalties for winning bidders that default on broadband deployment obligations in the upcoming FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction, USTelecom recommended, posted Monday in docket 19-126 on meetings Nov. 26 with Wireline Bureau, Office of Economics and Analytics, and Broadband Auctions Task Force members. "That numerous [Connect America Fund] Phase II auction bidders defaulted on their obligations suggests that the penalties for doing so were not substantial enough to dissuade such behavior, ultimately depriving rural Americans broadband." USTelecom and representatives from members AT&T, Consolidated, CenturyLink, Frontier, Verizon and Windstream also noted "the importance of clearly defining transition roles and responsibilities at the outset" as the agency moves away from the CAF II toward RDOF.

FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp, described by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai as an “FCC institution” who has “delivered incalculable value for American consumers over the years,” retiring Jan. 3 after 45 years at the commission (see 1911270046).