FCC staff granted Alenco Communications' petition to revise its Form 507, said an order in Thursday's Daily Digest. Alenco said it "did not realize" 28 consumer broadband-only loops lines it served Dec. 31, 2019, had to be reported on its March 31, 2020, form. The FCC granted the waiver due to an "administrative error" by the Universal Service Administrative Co.
FCC staff OK'd Cincinnati Bell and Hawaiian Telcom's transfer to Red Fiber and Cincinnati Bell's transfer of control request, said a public notice Wednesday. The buyer must comply with letters of agreement Cincinnati Bell filed as a winning Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction bidder. Staff also granted Red Fiber's petition to allow foreign investment above the 25% benchmark.
Hankins Information Technology seeks waiver of certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction rules to extend the June 7 deadline for an auction winner to certify it's an eligible telecom carrier. The California Public Utilities Commission "has not scheduled a date to consider Hankins' application for ETC designation in time to meet the deadline," said an FCC filing Tuesday in docket 19-126.
The FCC Wireline Bureau OK'd National Exchange Carrier Association-proposed modifications for average schedule interstate settlement disbursements formulas (see 2102120064), said an order Monday. The formulas will be in effect July 1-June 30.
Few changes were made to the FCC order and Further NPRM on inmate calling services rates, we found. The final document included a requirement providers disclose international call termination charges as a separate item on bills and “clearly, accurately, and conspicuously disclose those charges on their websites or in another reasonable manner readily available to consumers,” a change sought by Commissioner Geoffrey Starks (see 2105200044).
Oppositions are due June 4, replies June 14 on USTelecom's petition for reconsideration in docket 17-59 asking the FCC to clarify a notification requirement, said Thursday's Federal Register. USTelecom asked to "confirm that the notification and blocked call list requirements are only required for analytics-based blocking, whether opt-in or opt-out, and not for contexts in which there would not be any reasonable expectation for them."
Geoffrey Starks was the FCC member the National Tribal Telecommunications Association lobbied (see 2105190067).
The National Tribal Telecommunications Association asked staff of FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks for relief from USF's budget control mechanism, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 10-90. “Negative cash flow brought about by the BCM would make it difficult to serve these tribal communities with viable and affordable communications services.” (Correction: A previous version of this item incorrectly reported the commissioner's first name.)
The FTC, Arizona, California, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin sued Frontier for allegedly charging customers for DSL speeds it failed to deliver, said a news release Wednesday. They allege Frontier violated the FTC Act by subscribing customers to and charging them for a “higher and more costly level of internet service than Frontier actually provided or was capable of providing.” This “practice of providing slower-than-purchased DSL speeds” is “not limited to those made at or near the point of sale, but continue,” plaintiffs told the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The telco said the lawsuit is “without merit” and it plans a “vigorous defense” against the “baseless allegations.” The service "in some of the country’s most rural areas that often have challenging terrain, are more sparsely populated and are the most difficult to serve" has "many satisfied customers," it said.
Global Data Systems agreed to pay $180,000 for not meeting FCC filing requirements as a USF contributor, said an Enforcement Bureau consent decree Wednesday. The VoIP provider admitted to failing to timely file certain reporting worksheets, customer proprietary network information certifications and advanced telecom capability data 2011-20. It admitted it failed to respond to a letter of inquiry. Global Data didn't comment.