The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction was the "obvious result and culmination of Chairman [Ajit] Pai's flawed processes and ideology," Free Press told staff to Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, it said in docket 20-34 Wednesday. The group found "irregularities," including "massive giveaways" to incumbents for buildouts in served areas (see 2012210026). Free Press intends "to explore remedies for the apparent waste uncovered to this point and still coming to light," urging the commission consider using C-band auction proceeds to support USF.
Public interest groups and service providers clashed in replies posted Tuesday on the FCC Further NPRM to lower the cap on interstate and international inmate calling service rates (see 2011250048). A "one-size-fits all approach" is "not workable," said GlobalTel*Link in docket 12-375. GTL suggested continuing using backstop per-minute rate caps for interstate calls. Worth Rises said GTL was "the clearest example that the industry expects the commission to set rate caps in a manner that would allow correctional agencies to rely on families with incarcerated loved ones to fund their basic operations." NCIC Inmate Communications raised concerns about whether a site commission of 2 cents per minute will "adequately reimburse correctional authorities for the cost of making ICS available to inmates" and urged the commission not to eliminate site commissions. The National Sheriffs' Association said the proposed 2-cent rate is "not sufficient for jails and, in particular, smaller jails." Advocacy groups led by the Wright Petitioners said there's a "reasonable basis" to exclude site commissions from the rate analysis because they're "not directly related to the provision of communications services." Until a decision is made on whether to eliminate it, the groups asked that site commission rates be lowered to 1 cent per minute. Pay Tel Communications raised the need to clarify and modify terms and instructions to improve data collection, noting that all commenters who analyzed existing data agree it's "inherently flawed."
The FCC Wireline Bureau OK'd NDS Technologies' transferring control of Baltimore-Washington Telephone to Voxology Group, effective Jan. 17, said a public notice in Tuesday's Daily Digest (see 2012170056).
The FCC clarified Tuesday that charging the entire cost of a pole replacement to a requesting attacher when it isn't the sole cause of the replacement is "unreasonable and inconsistent" with the Communications Act Section 224. The commission issued its declaratory ruling in lieu of acting on NCTA's petition for clarification on pole replacements in unserved areas (see 2007170023). ACA Connects CEO Matthew Polka said it's one of a "series of recent decisions by the FCC to rein in investor-owned utilities' pole access practices that violate the statute and undermine broadband deployment."
Specifications for voice service providers submitting data containing information about disconnected numbers to the FCC's reassigned numbers database are now available, said a public notice in Friday's Daily Digest. The Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau "expects to announce soon" when providers must start reporting disconnection data.
The FCC awarded $26.6 million of the $100 million Connected Care pilot to 14 projects Friday, serving 150 treatment sites in 11 states. The most, about $5.8 million, goes to Ochin, a consortium of 44 providers in Ohio, Oregon and Washington state. Temple University Hospital got $4 million for telehealth in the Philadelphia area. The University of Mississippi Medical Center will receive about $2.4 million to provide broadband access to patients to enable remote monitoring and telehealth. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement the funding "lays the groundwork for this connected care future as these projects will help us better understand how telehealth can reduce costs and increase the quality of care."
Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction winners must submit their letter of credit commitment letters and detailed technology and system design descriptions by 6 p.m. EST Feb. 16, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice Wednesday (see 2101130033).
Comments are due Jan. 25, replies Jan. 29, to a Verizon request for an extension of a waiver of the 180-day reserve number rule, said an FCC public notice Thursday in docket 99-200. Verizon asked that numbers placed into reserved status April 22, 2020-June 30, 2021, be eligible for a 360-day reserved period.
Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction winners must submit their letter of credit commitment letters and detailed technology and system design descriptions by 6 p.m. EST Feb. 16, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice Wednesday. Educational materials on the technology and system design descriptions that must be filed are here.
Comments opposing a petition for reconsideration of portions of the FCC's call authentication trust anchor second report and order by CTIA and Voice on the Net are due by Jan. 29, replies Feb. 8, in docket 17-97, says Thursday's Federal Register. CTIA and VON asked to eliminate the prohibition on voice service providers accepting calls from foreign voice providers that use North American numbering plan resources and aren't listed in the robocall mitigation database.