Wireless carriers in comments this week condemned a “dynamic approach” to data and other proposals for California’s low-income program. The California Public Utilities Commission received feedback Wednesday on an Oct. 30 staff proposal for setting California LifeLine specific support amounts (SSA) and minimum service standards (MSS). Some urged the CPUC to tap the brakes, especially with uncertainty about continued funding for the federal affordable connectivity program (ACP).
The FCC will continue updating Congress about the affordable connectivity program's status in hopes of convincing lawmakers for money to keep it running, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told reporters Thursday after the commissioners’ open meeting (see 2401250064). The FCC expects the initiative will exhaust its $14.2 billion allocation in April. The Wireline Bureau said earlier this month it would freeze new enrollments Feb. 8 as part of the program's wind-down process (see 2401110072).
Industry officials are concerned about uncertainty surrounding the FCC's affordable connectivity program following the agency's recent announcement that ACP wind-down procedures were beginning and the ACP Extension Act was introduced (see 2401100056). Some warned about challenges associated with keeping the more than 22 million enrolled households online should the program end before additional funding is available. Even if the ACP Extension Act is successful, some observers predicted recipients may not return owing to reenrollment confusion or other issues.
NTIA is expecting detailed comments from federal agencies this week about the proposed implementation plan for the national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048), Scott Harris, NTIA senior spectrum adviser, said during an FCBA webinar Wednesday. NTIA has shared with the agencies its initial thoughts, he said. Next, it will prepare “a full draft” implementation plan, which it will also share, and “kick off” interagency meetings seeking “government-wide” consensus, Harris added.
CTIA supports the FCC’s draft 70 and 80 GHz band order revising rules for the spectrum, set for a vote at the FCC’s Jan. 25 meeting (see 2401040064), but it opposes some of the changes Aeronet sought (see 2401120048), said a filing Thursday in docket 20-133. The commission “should maintain the protection for existing services from interference caused by new point-to-point links to endpoints in motion communications, as proposed in the Draft Order, and reject Aeronet’s eleventh hour request that non-federal fixed service receivers alone be left without protection,” CTIA said.
Industry lawyers and analysts expect a busy start for the FCC in 2024, with the 3-2 Democratic majority able to approve items without the FCC’s two Republicans, and Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel eager to address priorities before the usual freeze in the months before and after a presidential election.
House Communications Subcommittee members again raised concerns about the impact the FCC Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program’s $3.08 billion funding shortfall is having on removing suspect gear from U.S. networks, as expected (see 2401100072). Their concerns came during a hearing Thursday. In addition, subpanel members offered generally positive reviews of the FCC's voluntary Cyber Trust Mark cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices (see 2308100032), but some GOP leaders were skeptical that it would remain voluntary as advertised.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission should “stand ready to entertain complaints" that ISPs may bring against FirstEnergy for possibly violating commission pole attachment rules, a recent Frontier Communications settlement (see 2306220022) and terms of recently filed amended joint use agreements, the state’s Economic Development Department said Monday. ISPs face problems attaching equipment to FirstEnergy poles amid an influx of federal cash for broadband deployment, the department wrote. “A significant hurdle in implementing most of these projects is developing prompt, orderly, and reasonably priced pole attachment arrangements with the owners of utility poles, which are most often electric utilities,” it said. The volume of pole attachment permit applications has increased due to available federal funding, said the department: As a result, FirstEnergy outsourced its permit review process to third-party engineers and changed its attachment requirements. “These changes have increased costs and turnaround time which have caused significant delays and have negatively impacted lSPs to meet federal funding project deadlines.” ISPs say FirstEnergy "requires pole replacements and pole additions where none is needed,” the department said. “FirstEnergy is imposing the entire cost of pole replacements on lSPs when this expense should be shared among pole users when the existing pole is inadequate or deteriorated.” Also, the utility charges triple what Frontier asks for pole replacements, “appears to be changing its requirements from application to application,” and seems to lack a standardized process, it said. A FirstEnergy spokesperson said the utility has seen a spike in pole attachment requests. It received 1,124 requests monthly on average in 2022, increasing to 2,629 monthly by July 2023, the spokesperson said. “Verifying that the engineering and work associated with broadband attachments meets … stringent safety standards is key to maintaining the integrity of our infrastructure."
Numerous satellite operators welcomed the idea of expanding the range of minor satellite and earth station modifications that can be done without having to first notify the FCC. But support was far more mixed in docket 22-411 filings posted Tuesday when it came to use of deadlines on FCC decisions regarding applications. Commissioners in September by a 4-0 vote adopted a Further NPRM regarding streamlining of satellite and earth station applications (see 2309210055). Reply comments in the docket are due Feb. 6.
“A fluke event outside of Lumen's control” resulted in a nearly statewide 911 outage in Nebraska four months ago, the telecom company’s attorney Katherine McNamara said during a Nebraska Public Service Commission hearing Thursday. During the livestreamed session, Lumen and 911 officials said the outage resulted from contractors' accidental fiber cuts: The first occurred in Minneapolis Aug. 30 and the second in Omaha Aug. 31. The 911 outage lasted from the evening of Aug. 31 until early morning the next day (see 2309010021).