USTelecom and NCTA want the FCC to abandon its proposal to reclassify broadband as a Communications Act Title II telecom service, the organizations said in a joint letter posted Monday in docket 23-320 (see 2401180042). "Regulating usage-based billing is unnecessary and would only serve to eliminate options for consumers," they said. USTelecom and NCTA said regulation is "unnecessary" because there is "no evidence that network operators exercise market power in negotiating interconnection agreements." The proposed bill-and-keep model would also be "affirmatively harmful" to consumers because "forbidding ISPs from charging for interconnection would exert upward pressure on consumer broadband prices," they said.
NARUC’s Telecom Committee approved a proposed resolution Monday aimed at forestalling U.S. phone number exhaustion. Also during state utility regulators’ meeting in Washington, telecom industry officials urged state commissioners to join them in calling on Congress to renew funding for the affordable connectivity program (ACP). Another panel flagged pole attachment issues remaining after a December FCC order (see 2312130044).
U.S. manufacturers will make almost 90% of the equipment purchased through NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program, the agency said Friday as it announced its final build America, buy America (BABA) waiver for the program (see 2308220081). "If it can be made in America, it should be made in America," said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson in a post on X. The waiver is "tough and pragmatic," he said.
Industry associations called for a voluntary cyber trust mark program during a meeting with aides to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Commissioners are set to vote on a cyber mark program March 14 (see 2402210057). “There is broad support in the record for the idea that flexible, voluntary, risk-based best practices are the hallmarks of IoT security as it exists today and as it is being developed and iterated upon around the world,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-239. Groups at the meeting were CTA, the Connectivity Standards Alliance, CTIA, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, USTelecom and the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
USTelecom appoints Ainslie Lane, from the International Organization for Migration, as manager-government affairs … Talkdesk cloud contractor hires Zscaler’s Albert Caravelli as senior vice president-alliances and partners ... Aqua Comms, provider of global subsea connectivity services, announces immediate departure of CEO Jim Fagan, and names Chief Network Officer Andy Hudson as his acting replacement ... Jonathan Adelstein, ex-Digital Bridge and former CEO-Wireless Infrastructure Association, says he has joined Vertical Bridge, tower and wireless infrastructure provider, as senior adviser.
Mitigating practices that could speed the country toward phone number exhaustion is a priority item for state officials ahead of NARUC’s Feb. 25-28 meeting in Washington, commission officials told us. The state utility regulator association is planning a vote during the meeting on a proposed resolution from Telecom Committee Chair Tim Schram. It urges the FCC “to provide updated guidance on how states should bring forward cases of telephone number resource mismanagement or suspected robocalling using rented telephone numbers to the Commission using the audit process” from Section 52.15(k) of the Telecom Act.
USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter urged the Senate Wednesday to pass the House-approved Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (HR-7024). The act includes language that extends a tax statute allowing businesses to fully deduct the purchase price of eligible assets. Some other communications industry groups are urging Senate leaders to attach language from the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (HR-889/S-341) to HR-7024 (see 2401260073). First filed in 2022 (see 2209290067), HR-889/S-341 would amend the Internal Revenue Code, allowing broadband grants enacted via either statute not to be counted as gross income. “This is a crucial time for the broadband sector as we work alongside NTIA and state broadband offices as they allocate $42 billion in [broadband equity, access and deployment] funding toward projects aimed at ensuring every American has access to modern broadband service,” Spalter said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and ranking member Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. “While BEAD funding will help offset the high cost of many broadband projects that could not otherwise be built, providers will be required to invest substantial private capital to see these projects completed. Fully expensing capital equipment in the year it is purchased will free-up the essential additional resources needed to deploy fiber in rural and hard to reach areas.”
Utility companies, ISPs and advocacy groups sparred over the FCC's proposed revisions to its pole attachment and replacement rules, in comments posted Wednesday in docket 17-84. The FCC should abandon its Further NPRM, adopted in December with a related order and declaratory ruling and instead encourage greater communication between pole owners and attackers, some said (see 2312130044). Others sought greater oversight of the process and urged quick action.
Public interest and consumer groups urged the FCC take a more aggressive stance on a November Further NPRM about protecting consumers from SIM swapping and port-out fraud (see 2311150042). CTIA said the commission should “pursue a flexible and risk-based approach” toward customer account security and fraud deterrence. Reply comments were due this week in docket 21-341, and they largely mirror initial comments (see 2401180053).
The FCC's affordable connectivity program is a "true unicorn among public policies," USTelecom President-CEO Jonathan Spalter wrote in a Tuesday blog (see 2402120068). Spalter urged that policymakers consider "rolling the ACP into the Universal Service Fund." This would "bring greater accountability to Big Tech" and "create a stable, permanent source of funding." ACP's future "offers a telling gut check on whether our nation remains committed to our shared goal of connectivity," Spalter said: "Congress abandoning ACP funding a mere two years into its existence would be profoundly disruptive to the country’s digital affordability and equity goals."