The FCC should harmonize its 911 outage reporting compliance timeline with its proposed 988 outage reporting timeline to ensure the 988 rules on the agency's July agenda don't take effect before the 911 rules do, USTelecom representatives told aides to the four commissioners, per a docket 23-5 filing posted Friday.
Industry observers expect the FCC's Thursday forum on AI to be mostly an information gathering session as the agency focuses on one of the hot topics of the year but said questions remain about how large a role, or even what role, the FCC could play in rapidly emerging field. The AI forum is the agency's first since 2018 (see 1811300051).
Industry groups supported a March petition by the Competitive Carriers Association seeking tweaks to the FCC’s 911 outage reporting rules, approved 4-0 by commissioners last year (see 2211170051). APCO and the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA) opposed the petition in the initial comment round (see 2306270045). But most groups waited for the reply round to weigh in.
Support continued in comments from industry groups on the use of third-party caller ID authentication and other efforts to address Stir/Shaken implementation (see 2306060073). Some urged the FCC to clarify which levels of attestation should be allowed for authenticating calls. Reply comments were posted through Thursday in docket 17-97.
NTIA announced funding allocations for its broadband, equity, access, and deployment program Monday. All entities will receive a formal notice of their allocations Friday, the agency said. The $42.5 billion program will be used for broadband deployment efforts, adoption and workforce development. Initial proposals may be submitted from July 1 through Dec. 1. States and territories will have access to 20% of their allocated funds once their proposal is approved by NTIA. Texas is receiving by far the largest BEAD award, at more than $3.3 billion.
California local governments removed opposition to a bill meant to streamline broadband infrastructure deployment, they said at a California Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee meeting livestreamed Tuesday. The panel cleared AB-965 and three other broadband bills passed last month by the Assembly. One senator pushed back on AB-1065, which would explicitly authorize wireless broadband providers to get support from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband infrastructure grant and federal funding accounts.
USTelecom "misapplies" the neutrality criteria for industry traceback consortium eligibility and its concern that iconectiv wouldn't be a competent manager "is without merit," the company told the FCC (see 2306120050). Iconectiv said in reply comments posted Friday in docket 20-22 it meets all neutrality requirements as it currently complies with the numbering administrator neutrality requirements. The company said it "has an impeccable reputation and is recognized in the telecommunications industry as a trusted, neutral steward of data." Its "extensive qualifications are well known to the commission" and it "has proven on multiple occasions that it can successfully transition ongoing operations from incumbents using a do-no-harm approach," iconectiv said.
Alaska Communications President-CEO Bill Bishop died Tuesday at his Anchorage home. Cause of death wasn’t provided, but the company said he had taken leave-of-absence to focus on his health. Bishop joined Alaska Communications in August 2004 and filled several roles, including senior vice president-customer and revenue management and chief operations officer before becoming CEO in 2019. Before joining Alaska Communications, he worked for AT&T, McCaw Communications and a federal government logistics contracting company. Bishop was on the USTelecom board and a former chairman of Alaska Business Week, an entrepreneurship training program for high school students. Survivors include his wife, Deena, and three children.
USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group (ITG) "remains the best candidate" for the role of the registered industry consortium for tracebacks, the group told the FCC. Comments posted Friday in docket 20-22 showed support for USTelecom's redesignation as the registered consortium, a designation the group has held since 2020 (see 2007270068). Iconectiv also submitted a letter of intent for designation.
Industry groups urged the FCC to largely continue its current methodology for calculating benchmarks for the urban rates survey (see 2305090068). Comments posted Friday in docket 10-90 sought minor adjustments. The benchmarks "offer high-cost support recipients a simple way to demonstrate that they have satisfied their obligation," said NCTA. The group backed giving the Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics the "flexibility to account for variables that result in irregularities," but said any major modifications should be subject to peer review. "The current methodology for calculating these benchmarks is sufficient and need not be materially changed," said USTelecom. The group sought "a few discrete administrative adjustments," including that providers only be required to report rates for service plans necessary to calculate the benchmarks and non-discounted rates for each service tier within a census tract. WTA said it "strongly supports the continued inclusion of accurate upload speed and capacity allowance variables in the URS and its benchmark calculations," saying capacity allowances and overage charges should be included in the survey data and benchmarks.