The Fiber Broadband Association scheduled its 2021 Fiber Connect conference July 25-28 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, the group announced Wednesday. It's the first time FBA announced that the event will be in person, and there won't be any virtual aspect, a spokesperson told us. Registration opens March 10.
The North American Numbering Council meets virtually April 15 at 9:30 a.m. EDT, said the FCC Tuesday. NANC will hear status reports from North American portability management, secure telephone identity governance authority, and numbering administration oversight working group.
Reject Peerless Network's lone opposition to USTelecom's petition for reconsideration of the FCC 8YY access charge order, providers replied, posted Tuesday in docket 18-156 (see 2102010071). Peerless urged, "Reset the rates for 8YY originating switched access to the regime and levels that pre-existed." Peerless' opposition "exceeds the scope" of what's allowed in oppositions, with no "substantive basis" for denying the petition, said USTelecom, which Lumen and Consolidated Communications echoed. "The vast majority of the Peerless opposition serves not so much as a rebuttal to the narrow USTelecom petition but as a petition for reconsideration in its own right of the entire order," USTelecom argued. Frontier said Peerless "fails in any way to actually address (much less meaningfully counter) the issues raised in USTelecom’s petition." Peerless didn't comment.
Form 477 data from Dec. 31 is due by March 15, an FCC public notice said Monday. The deadline was extended due to "significant" technical issues last week (see 2102230060).
The California Public Utilities Commission scheduled late April hearings to collect feedback on inmate calling services' intrastate rates (see 2011100033). Securus, Global Tel*Link and other ICS providers must give advance notice of the hearings “via several communication channels,” Administrative Law Judge Cathleen Fogel ruled Friday in docket R.20-10-002. The hearings are April 28 at 1:30 p.m. PDT and April 29 at 6:30 p.m. PDT.
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted Fusion's request for transfer of control as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, a public notice said Thursday (see 2102230053). The exercise of special warrants and issuance of new common stock in exchange will result in the voting and equity interests of Fusion's subsidiary Telecom Holdings decreasing to non-controlling levels. Fusion will be "widely held by numerous stockholders, nearly all of whom will hold non-disclosable interests," staff noted.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed fining six ISPs for either filing late or failing to file their Form 477 data. The bureau proposed $20,000 fines Thursday against Willits Online, Slopeside and Root Automation, and $10,000 fines against Western Iowa Wireless, MidwayNet and SandyNet.
The Department of Agriculture announced a $42.3 million investment in telehealth and remote learning grants to benefit 5 million rural residents, with $24 million provided through the Cares Act, a news release said Thursday. The University of Maine received the largest amount, $1 million to install "interactive video-teleconferencing equipment" at 42 locations and expand educational opportunities at remote rural centers and campuses. Other big recipients include West Virginia's Morgan County Board of Education, $999,999; Georgia's Morehouse School of Medicine, $997,194; Mississippi's Delta Regional Medical Center, $995,958; New Hampshire's Fall Mountain Regional School District, $995,158; and Vermont's North Country Hospital Health Center, $994,326.
Industry groups clashed with consumer advocates and wireless providers whether E-rate should be used for self-provisioning services to students, in replies posted Wednesday in docket 21-31 on a Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition's petition to temporarily support remote learning (see 2101260055). That would raise "practical, financial, and legal issues that are too complex," and funding should be used to support existing services, said Verizon. USTelecom, NTCA and NCTA agreed. ACA Connects said its members "readily install wireline service within days of getting an order," and it "exceeds the performance of mobile wireless service." A coalition of advocacy groups, including New America, Public Knowledge, Consumers Reports, Common Sense, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and Access Humboldt, disagreed: Verizon's argument is "self-serving" and "willfully ignores the Herculean efforts many school districts have already undertaken" to connect students during the pandemic. Schools should be given the flexibility to "use hybrid approaches tailored to local circumstances," like fixed wireless services that "authenticate students directly to the school's network," the groups said. Approve the use of fixed wireless services because they can be deployed "very quickly," the Wireless ISP Association urged. Incompas agreed: Allow "hotspots, mobile wireless towers, or equipment that can reasonably be expected to support remote learning." UScellular and the National School Boards Association echoed that. "Setting aside support for any technology should be rejected in favor of permitting people to choose services that best suit their educational needs," said UScellular. Allow E-rate funds to be used for remote learning beyond the pandemic because "not all students will be able to reenter the classroom when doors reopen on day one," said Zoom.
The FCC Office of Economics and Analytics extended the March 1 filing deadline for Form 477 data due to "significant unanticipated technical issues that have required the site to be inaccessible," a public notice said Tuesday. A new deadline will be announced once the issues are resolved, it said.