The FCC released data detailing $9 billion in Connect America Fund Phase II support accepted by price-cap telcos, a Tuesday commission release said. It contains links to various attachments that detail the carriers' broadband-oriented USF support by state and county that's expected to expand high-speed Internet service to 7.3 million rural customers in 45 states over 2015-2020 (there is also a map). The carriers accepted about $1.5 billion of the $1.675 billion in annual support that was offered by the commission, with CenturyLink and AT&T leading the way with $506 million and $428 million, respectively (see 1508270068).
USTelecom representatives plugged the potential competitive benefits of their forbearance petition and other requests for incumbent telco regulatory relief in a recent meeting with FCC officials. "We discussed how legacy regulatory requirements divert resources from broadband to legacy services, handicapping the ability of USTelecom members to invest in fiber and modern IP services to deliver better and more competitive services to consumers and businesses," said a USTelecom ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-92. The USTelecom officials noted "the large percentage of households" that have switched from traditional voice services to mobile and IP-based services, and "the breadth of cable competition" in both residential and business markets. They also discussed the seven categories of relief sought in their forbearance petition. "Our discussion focused on Category 1 (remaining aspects of sections 271 and 272 obligations, equal access rules and the nondiscrimination and imputation requirements set out in the Section 272 Sunset Order), Category 3 (requirement to provide a 64 kbps voice channel where copper loop has been retired) and Category 7 (rules prohibiting price cap incumbent LECs’ use of contract tariffs for business data services)," the filing said. The USTelecom officials also discussed their petition for a declaratory ruling that ILECs are no longer dominant in the voice market and possible relief from accounting regulations in the commission's proceeding on Part 32 rules.
The FCC understands the promise broadband access offers for low-income households, Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero said in a commission blog Monday. It noted the beginning of Lifeline Awareness Week and commended state regulators for making the program work for low-income users and telecom ratepayers who fund it through USF fees. "Broadband can help families fully engage in civic life and meaningfully access health services, job opportunities, and educational resources," wrote DelNero. "All network users benefit when everyone, regardless of income level, can communicate and innovate through broadband access." DelNero said initial comments (see 1509010073 and 1509040045) on proposals in the Further NPRM to expand Lifeline to broadband and promote program efficiency "reveal the remarkable variety of ways that broadband can enrich and transform lives," including by bringing better communications access to people with disabilities, children doing homework, parents needing information about state programs, and people living on tribal lands. Replies are due Sept. 30.
Many RLECs in the Midwest plan to quit offering video service, which should be additional fuel for the FCC's consideration of changes to the "totality of circumstances" test for good-faith negotiating, NTCA said in a filing posted Monday in docket 10-71. The filing included a summary of a survey of 68 RLECs done by Vantage Point Solutions, submitted to back up NTCA's assertion that such multichannel video programming distributors are finding that marketplace "increasingly difficult for smaller MVPDs in the face of escalating program costs, unreasonable demands with respect to bundling and tiering of content, and 'take-it-or-leave-it' negotiating tactics by content owners," NTCA said. As a result, more than two-thirds of the RLECs surveyed lost money on video services, while 5 percent had profit margins on video products higher than 6 percent, NTIA said. "Particularly given that NTCA members serve areas that, in some cases, may have no access at all to over-the-air signals, such trends and reports are troubling," the group said. According to the survey, taken in December, 88 percent of RLECs surveyed rated frustration with retrans consent negotiations an "8" or higher on a 1-10 scale. Fifty-four percent of respondents saw programming costs go up 100 percent or more after their latest retrans consent negotiations, including 22 percent whose rose more than 200 percent, Vantage Point said. Without changes to the rules on content acquisition, "video competition in rural areas of the country will disappear" because 66 percent of respondents said they wouldn't offer video service in five years if current trends continue, Vantage Point said.
Sprint shouldn't be allowed to discontinue domestic wireline long-distance service until it satisfies certain duties regarding the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, said the Oglala Sioux Tribe Utility Commission in South Dakota in comments to the FCC in docket 15-186. The OSTUC said Sprint hasn't provided information the tribal commission needs to take a position on the carrier's planned service discontinuation (see 1506190036). To satisfy the FCC public interest standard, Sprint must meet all applicable requirements to discontinue service, including on the PRIR, the OSTUC said. "Sprint has refused to recognize the jurisdiction and authority of the OSTUC," which regulates telecom and other utility services on the PRIR, leading to litigation between the parties, the tribal commission said. A federal court recently denied a Sprint request to block the tribe from exercising jurisdiction over Sprint's telecom service on the PRIR, the OSTUC said. Sprint hadn't met tribal consumer protection duties or provided the OSTUC with any information about its planned service discontinuance on the PRIR, the tribal commission said. "Until Sprint demonstrates that it has met its obligations to 'inform customers prior to termination of service that they may file a complaint with the Commission' and comply with other applicable requirements on the PRIR, the FCC should not allow Sprint's planned termination of service on the PRIR to go into effect." The OSTUC said that Sprint had said consumers could buy alternative long-distance service from wireless carriers such as itself, but the tribal commission said it doesn't believe Sprint provides wireless service on the PRIR and there may not be other alternatives on the reservation. The OSTUC comments were dated Sept. 1, and posted on the FCC electronic filing system Monday. Sprint had no comment, but plans to file a response soon, a company spokesman told us Monday.
The FCC's proposed USF industry contribution factor for 4Q is 16.7 percent of international and interstate telecom revenue -- as expected by an industry consultant, down from 17.1 percent this quarter (see 1509020052) -- the Office of Managing Director said in a public notice in docket 96-45. If the commission takes no further action within 14 days, the proposed contribution factor will take effect.
The FCC gave Northeast Rural Services and First Step Internet about $1.3 million combined to do rural broadband experiments. Northeast Rural Services got money for four rural broadband experiments in Oklahoma, and First Step money to do such experiments in Idaho and Washington state, the Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Friday in docket 10-90.
Several broadband providers and industry associations urged the FCC to permanently adopt its temporary small business exemption from enhanced transparency requirements, in comments posted Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in docket 14-28. Most commenters also asked the commission to expand its current definition under the exemption of a small broadband provider -- 100,000 or fewer broadband connections -- to the definition established by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) of 500,000 connections or fewer. In a comment posted in the docket Wednesday by the SBA's Office of Advocacy, the agency encouraged the FCC to continue the exemption and to use the SBA's existing size standards to determine the appropriate small business threshold. The agency said the enhanced requirements "are not feasible for small broadband providers, particularly small rural providers, and may ultimately degrade the quality of service that consumers receive." SBA also said in its comments that small businesses are typically unable to absorb increased operating costs to the same extent as larger businesses, and before the FCC requires small providers to comply with the new rules, "it should first attempt to mitigate the cost of compliance for small entities and determine whether such costs are justified in light of consumer benefits." The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA), along with the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) also urged the FCC to make permanent the exemption, and to raise its small business threshold. WISPA said making the exemption permanent has "unanimous" support. "It is rare for the record in any commission proceeding to reflect unanimous support for a regulatory position, but that is the case here," the group said. CCA echoed WISPA's position, and urged the commission to modify the exemption requirements to apply to providers with either 1,500 or fewer employees or those with 500,000 or fewer broadband connections. The Alaska Telephone Association, American Cable Association and small broadband provider SouthernLINC joined WISPA, CCA and the SBA in submitting comments in favor of the exemption.
Seventy-six consortia are participating in the FCC healthcare connect fund, with rural participation in the consortia standing at 79.9 percent (the agency's rules require at least 50 percent for each consortium), the Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Friday. The bureau issued a separate public notice addressing funding year 2014 annual reporting requirements.
A federal court suspended its review of an AT&T challenge to a December FCC order on price-cap telco USF obligations. The commission had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to hold the AT&T case in abeyance while the agency considers related issues in a USTelecom forbearance petition and two other proceedings, which could render moot or alter the case (see 1507270038). In a brief order on Thursday granting the FCC request pending further order of the court, Judges David Tatel and Cornelia Pillard asked the parties to file motions on future proceedings within 14 days of an FCC decision addressing AT&T's issues in either the USTelecom forbearance proceeding or the two parallel rulemakings, or by Jan. 18, whichever comes first.