The FCC took USF actions and made proposals intended to help rural telcos provide broadband-oriented service and to improve high-cost subsidy program operations. Dissenting Democrats said their requests for changes to an NPRM went unheeded. Chairman Ajit Pai said the minority members waited too long to make their suggestions, a charge they denied. The commission Friday released two orders and a notice (here) that provide up to $545 million in additional support to rate-of-return carriers, flesh out expense and investment cost-recovery restrictions, and aim to examine the rural USF budget and a possible tribal broadband factor. The item appears largely consistent with a draft (see 1801160040 and 1801170048).
States with laws or executive orders on net neutrality to counter the FCC’s December recision order should expect lawsuits, law experts and others said in interviews. Suits seem more likely to come from industry than the FCC, but industry may wait for the right moment, they said. In two states that passed net neutrality bills, ILEC associations said they won’t sue.
Consolidated Communications and a Vermont agency supported Comcast’s motion for stay of phase two of the Vermont Public Utility Commission’s VoIP regulation proceeding. The second phase asks how Vermont should regulate interconnected VoIP, but Comcast challenged the PUC’s Feb. 7 ruling that interconnected VoIP is a telecom service under federal law (see 1803070060). For “judicial efficiency,” the PUC should “exhaust all process” on its decision on VoIP classification before deciding how to regulate the services, Consolidated said Wednesday in case 18-0443. The Vermont Department of Public Service said it “does not oppose” the stay requested by Comcast, though it supports the PUC's Feb. 7 ruling. The department agreed “with Comcast that it would be appropriate to have a final determination on the Commission's authority to regulate VoIP services before the parties and the Commission expend significant time and resources litigating the manner in which such authority should be exercised.”
The digital divide is the FCC's “top policy priority” and the Connect America Fund reverse auction is “a milestone” in modernizing a key USF program, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told an American Cable Association conference Wednesday. Pai slammed Title II Communications Act regulation of broadband service, which he said was the result of “Silicon Valley giants” claiming small ISPs such as ACA's members “posed a greater threat to a free and open internet” than Google, Facebook and Twitter.
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Wednesday urged the FCC to postpone a vote on wireless infrastructure rules, slated for Thursday. The draft order, developed by Commissioner Brendan Carr, faced criticism from tribal groups concerned about the consultation process and groups representing local governments. With snow still falling in Washington on Wednesday, the FCC said the meeting is to start at 9:30 a.m., unless the Office of Personnel Management delays the opening of the federal government, in which case it will start at 11:30 a.m.
Trump administration officials' repeated citations of the national security implications of maintaining U.S. leadership in 5G innovation are a sign Congress needs to act on broader telecom policy issues that would help sustain that dominance, lawmakers and industry officials told us. The administration mentioned 5G deployment in its December national security strategy (see 1712180071 and 1712270032).
With a lack of electricity and access to funding hampering recovery efforts for communications services in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, some concerns about the FCC USF-based aid proposal have emerged, industry and government officials in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington told us. Some industry officials expressed concern about the proposal's goals and said the plan does nothing for affected broadcasters. A group of Puerto Rico broadcasters pitched a nationwide disaster relief plan for broadcasters to Chairman Ajit Pai during his visit earlier this month. “What happened in Puerto Rico can happen elsewhere in the U.S.,” said Eduardo Rivero of Puerto Rico station owner Media Power Group.
The Federal Election Commission opened public comment on draft rules for online political advertising disclosures. Commissioners approved the draft NPRM on internet disclaimers and definition of “public communication” Wednesday. The agency is seeking comment on two alternative proposals to update regulations for online ads that “contain express advocacy, solicit contributions or are made by political committees.” The FEC scheduled a hearing June 27. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said the "simple and overdue act of strengthening these disclaimer rules” should have been completed, and this solicitation means standards for online political ads remain far behind those for political ads on TV and other media. He noted the delayed reform overlaps with the start of primary season for the upcoming 2018 midterms. Congress must recognize that current laws don't adequately deal with current national security threats, he said, urging action on the Honest Ads Act (S-1989) he introduced with Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John McCain, R-Ariz.
A Tuesday Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on broadband provisions in President Donald Trump's infrastructure legislative proposal discussed how the plan would deal with streamlining broadband-related regulations and funding to encourage deployments. Senators reserved their strongest criticisms for the state of connectivity data collection and mapping. All three issues were among those expected to be covered (see 1803120054). Secretaries of Transportation Elaine Chao, Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Commerce Wilbur Ross are among those expected to testify at a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing that also could involve broadband provisions in Trump's plan.
A federal court set oral arguments for May to consider two FCC cases. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit May 7 will hear Sorenson Communications and Video Relay Services Consumer Association challenges to the commission's 2017 video relay services rate order, said a Friday court order (in Pacer) in Sorenson v. FCC (No. 17-1198) (see 1802200021). The court May 17 will hear PMCM TV's petition seeking restoration of a channel originally assigned to its WJLP Middletown Township, New Jersey, said another order (in Pacer) in PMCM TV v. FCC (No. 17-1209) (see 1803050038).