Comments are due Dec. 14, replies Dec. 21 on Mitel's emergency petition to streamline processing of its application for direct access to numbering resources, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice Wednesday on docket 20-149.
Schools and libraries in the E-rate program can't use funds to buy equipment or services from companies the FCC designates a national security threat, said a Wireline Bureau order in Tuesday's Daily Digest. Eligibility for broadband services will be subject to district and library budgets. The list of eligible services wasn't changed.
Logix agreed to pay a $64,000 fine after not reporting a Jan. 5 network outage that potentially affected at least 900,000 user minutes. The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a consent decree Monday, requiring the company to designate a senior corporate manager as a compliance officer to oversee a compliance plan. Logix must establish a compliance manual and training program and file regular reports for 36 months. Noncompliance must be reported to the bureau within 15 days of discovery.
The FCC Wireline Bureau Monday released its annual telecom revenue reporting worksheet for 2021, with instructions for form 499-A and quarterly form 499-Q.
Public interest groups and prison communications providers disagreed on the FCC Further NPRM to lower the cap on interstate and international inmate calling service rates (see 2008060053). Advocates said the new rate caps were a step in the right direction, while providers said the commission relied on misleading data. Filings were posted Tuesday in docket 12-375. Existing rates have been "unjust and unreasonable, with substantial and damaging social consequences," said the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, arguing the "need for reform is acute and compelling." Verizon, which no longer provides ICS, backed the proposed rate caps, saying changes are "long overdue." But "more work is needed" to calculate appropriate rate caps, said Pay Tel Communications, because the methodology for the proposed rates "reflects a false assumption that location costs are far more homogenous than they actually are." Pay Tel said the proposed rates are "legally unsuitable for adoption." Civil rights and faith organizations led by MediaJustice and United Church of Christ said the rates should be as low as 5 cents per minute. The Financial Justice Project in the Treasurer and Tax Collector’s Office of San Francisco proposed the FCC consider contracts on a per-device model, rather than per-minute. Securus supported the commission's effort but raised concerns the new interstate limits "may be insufficient to permit providers to recover all reasonable costs." Securus asked to consider the impact of site commissions. Inmates with communication disabilities "remain cruelly isolated from outside contact," said disability-rights groups, and the commission must do more to end "unjust and illegal practices," particularly amid the pandemic. Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf said it's an "absolute travesty" incarcerated people with disabilities lack "even have the most basic access to" telecom.
Revised rules on access charges for 8YY calls adopted by the FCC 5-0 in October (see 2010090047) take effect Dec. 28, says Friday's Federal Register.
No major changes were made to the FCC's final NPRM on expanding the contribution base for internet-based telecommunications relay service, we found in our comparison to the draft. Commissioners voted to include video relay service and IP relay service during their meeting last week and said they intend to revisit funding arrangements in the future because VRS is now the second-largest TRS program (see 2011180058).
Global telco cloud revenue will grow to $29.3 billion by 2025, primarily driven by investments in virtual network functions, management and network orchestration, as well as cloud native functions, ABI Research reported Tuesday. 5G network slicing is positioned to create $8.9 billion by 2026, a "drop in the bucket" for communication service provider service revenue, said analyst Don Alusha. "The jury is still out who captures what parts of the bigger emerging 5G edge and network slicing ecosystem."
The full FCC ruled for Verizon, saying rates that Potomac Edison charges the telco for attachments to its utility poles are “unjust and unreasonable." The commission cited Section 224 of the Communications Act in Tuesday's Daily Digest. Commissioners said Potomac Edison violated its joint use agreement with Verizon by charging higher rates than other cable providers attached to the same poles. The commission set the maximum rate Verizon may be charged for pole attachments at $12.12 yearly and directed Potomac Edison to issue a refund. A spokesperson for Potomac Edison said it's “reviewing the order.”
Comments are due Dec. 4, replies Dec. 11, on Midwest Fiber's Everstream Solutions seeking FCC approval to take over the common carrier fixed point-to-point licenses of Uniti Fiber as part of its buy of Uniti's fiber and microwave assets (see 2011030001), said an FCC Wireline and International Bureau public notice in Monday's Daily Digest.