FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel now expects a final estimate of demands for money from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to repay U.S. carriers for removing from their networks equipment made by companies deemed a national security risk to be ready on or soon after July 15. The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee, meanwhile, advanced by voice vote Thursday its FY 2023 bill with FCC and FTC funding mirroring what President Joe Biden is seeking for the agencies (see 2203280069). The Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee advanced by voice its FY23 bill Thursday with funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency well above what Biden sought.
Alaska’s attorney general supported connections-based contribution and assessing broadband services for Alaska USF. Assessing fees by connection is more sustainable, the AG’s Regulatory Affairs and Public Advocacy (RAPA) division said in comments received Monday by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). “It is fair and reasonable to require broadband Internet connections to support the network that allows carriers to provide that specific service,” RAPA said in the RCA's USF review in docket R-21-001 (see 2205160022). Associations that filed competing AUSF revamp plans supported connections-based contribution. Matanuska Telecom Association (MTA) called its plan a “simple and immediate solution,” while “time is simply running out for the Commission to vet and implement the complicated, still conceptual proposals” from staff and the Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition. ARCC said the MTA proposal “makes only minor changes to the status quo and thus ignores the greatest need" in Alaska, "the off-road network remote villages.” ARCC agreed the RCA should adopt a connections-based method and supported assessing broadband. Federal infrastructure dollars are meant to supplement but not replace state funding, ARCC said. Alaska Communications supported a voice connections-based method. GCI isn’t sure what to do about AUSF, it said. “While GCI is very much open to continuation of an appropriate AUSF, GCI does not believe that a record has yet been developed to support any specific proposal. With federal funding on the way, “now is not a prudent time for the Commission to expand or repurpose the AUSF for broadband,” said CTIA: Changing to connections-based contribution “would worsen, not improve, the impact of the economic burden on hardworking Alaskans by making the assessment more regressive, hitting low-income and low-volume users hardest, and shifting the overall burden away from business customers and towards residential users."
California could make jail and prison calls free under a bill cleared Tuesday by the Assembly Public Safety Committee. San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto disagreed with other county sheriff departments that opposed SB-1008. Meanwhile, at a Senate hearing, ISP associations and Republicans opposed a bill to restrict state contracts only to ISPs that offer affordable internet services.
Top members of the House and Senate Commerce committees are having varying levels of success in moving forward in the coming weeks on spectrum legislation. The House Communications Subcommittee plans to mark up a revised version of the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) Wednesday along with other legislation, subpanel Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said in an interview. Senate Commerce leaders, meanwhile, told us they're still grappling with how to move forward on the Improving Spectrum Coordination Act (S-1472) after an amendment fight prompted them to remove it from a markup last month (see 2205250063).
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission should consider revoking LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation, said the state Commerce Department in Wednesday reply comments in docket M-21-133. ETC designation is needed for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support. Minnesota Commerce, which didn’t make a recommendation in initial comments last week (see 2206020046), said now that the “collective concerns raised by the petitioners, rural organizations, counties, and townships … provide compelling reasons for the Commission to open an investigation.” The PUC should launch an expedited proceeding that includes discovery and cross-examination of expert witnesses, the department said. The Minnesota attorney general’s office said it continues to recommend a proceeding. LTD disagreed, saying "It would be unfair, and violate the principle of competitive neutrality, if the expanded ETC designation granted to [LTD] last year is singled out for re-examination or revocation when other Minnesota RDOF ETCs, who made the same commitments as LTD, are not subject to the same scrutiny.” Any compliance or oversight requirements “should apply to all ETCs” and should be addressed in the PUC’s docket CI-21-86 on ETC designation authority “on a timeline and in a manner that does not jeopardize LTD’s eligibility for RDOF funding,” it said. Initial comments showed widespread, deep concerns, which are "fully justified,” replied the Minnesota Telecom Alliance and Minnesota Rural Electric Association, which originally asked for the proceeding. “Unless LTD delivers on its promises, over 160,000 Minnesota residents could be denied the benefit of federal support for broadband deployment." Chippewa County wants an expedited proceeding because it has been unable to communicate with LTD Broadband and "its residents have lost faith” that LTD can fulfill its promises, the county said. "The RDOF Award and LTD's ETC designation puts Chippewa County at a significant disadvantage for economic growth and vitality."
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi and other panel Republicans criticized NTIA’s plans for rolling out its $48 billion share of broadband money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during a Thursday hearing with agency Administrator Alan Davidson, as expected (see 2206020070). Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and other panel Democrats delivered more positive, but not universally complimentary, reviews of NTIA’s work. There was significantly less focus on the agency’s government spectrum coordination role.
Minnesota’s attorney general supported revisiting LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation. So did some local governments and consumer and municipal broadband advocates, in comments due Wednesday in docket M-21-133 at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. LTD urged the PUC to reject the request by Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) and Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA) to revoke the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winner’s ETC status (see 2205170058).
The Supreme Court’s slim margin blocking Texas from enforcing a social media law surprised some court watchers. The action via a 5-4 emergency ruling Tuesday in NetChoice v. Paxton barred the law from being enforced while under consideration by the lower courts. Questions remain about where justices would stand in a case on the law’s merits, with Tuesday’s opinion shedding light only on three dissenting members’ views, said observers in interviews.
The California Public Utilities Commission will accept applications for various broadband funding programs starting in the next two months, said Commissioner Darcie Houck at a partially virtual California Broadband Council meeting Wednesday. The CPUC expects to accept grant applications for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) adoption, consortiums and housing accounts and the $50 million Local Agency Technical Assistance program in June or July, said Houck. The CPUC expects to accept proposals for the $2 billion last-mile federal funding account in July, she said. The agency aims to release a straw proposal for the $750 million Loan Loss Reserve Fund in August, with comments and workshops to follow, the commissioner said. The CPUC plans to release a proposal to update CASF infrastructure account rules by the end of Q2 this year, she said. Houck is “very aware” $2 billion won’t be enough for the last-mile program but hopes the state will soon get much more from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, she said. The CPUC is developing a framework to define essential broadband service affordability standards, said Communications Division Director Rob Osborn: Expect a proposed decision coming in June or July. More granular broadband data, based on location rather than census block, is due June 1 and the commission hopes to publish it by year-end, he said. California’s State Transportation Agency and Transportation Department (CalTrans) aim by Dec. 31 to complete a dig smart policy that would allow for collocation of underground conduits, said CalTrans Broadband Coordinator Elizabeth Dooher.
Disability rights advocates and digital navigators on Wednesday urged the FCC to emphasize accessibility in its forthcoming consumer broadband labels. Several panelists at the commission’s third public hearing on the labels highlighted the need for multiple languages and alternative formats for individuals who may not understand technical language (see 2204080027).