The FCC Wireline Bureau directed the Universal Service Administrative Co. to fully fund eligible category one and two E-rate requests for funding year 2023. Total demand will be $1.66 billion for category one services and $1.29 billion for category two services, said a public notice Friday in docket 02-6.
No major changes were made to an FCC order, Further NPRM and notice of inquiry expanding call blocking requirements and seeking comment on additional actions the commission could take to block illegal robocalls, according to our comparison with a draft. Commissioners adopted the item Thursday. Some industry-sought questions on call labeling were added to the NOI and rich call data to the FNPRM (see 2305160071).
The FCC Wireline Bureau approved the National Exchange Carrier Association's proposed average schedule interstate settlement disbursements formulas for July 1 through June 30, said an order Thursday in docket 22-427.
Biennial recertifications of study area boundary data are due by June 30, said an FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics public notice Tuesday in docket 10-90. ILECs and state commissions that uploaded and certified new boundaries between Dec. 31, 2022, and March 15 aren't required to recertify their data this year.
The FCC released a broadband funding map Monday, as mandated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The map allows users to "identify, search, and filter federal funding programs" by ISPs receiving funding, the duration, number of locations for a project and speeds, said an Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 19-195. It includes funding summaries of the FCC's Connect America Fund Phase II and Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, NTIA's broadband infrastructure program and tribal broadband connectivity program, the Rural Utilities Service's community connect grant program, ReConnect, and telephone loan program, and the Treasury Department's Capital Projects Fund. The map also includes broadband availability data as of June 30.
The FTC sued XCast Labs for an alleged robocall scheme involving telemarking calls to numbers listed on the do not call registry, saying the VoIP provider "funnel[ed] hundreds of millions of illegal robocalls through its network, even after receiving multiple warnings," the agency said in a Friday news release. XCast Labs "played a key role in helping telemarketers flood homes with unlawful robocalls, including robocalls impersonating the Social Security Administration,” said Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Samuel Levine. The FTC previously sent letters to VoIP providers, including XCast, warning that "assisting and facilitating illegal telemarketing or robocalling was against the law." Many of the calls were "part of organized campaigns designed to generate telemarketing leads," the agency said. Commissioners' 4-0 vote to authorize staff to refer the complaint to DOJ was taken before former Commissioner Christine Wilson's departure from the agency, the FTC said.
Voice service providers must block and cease accepting traffic from One Eye, said an FCC Enforcement Bureau order Thursday. The gateway provider "consistently failed to comply" with call blocking rules and didn't respond to the bureau's notice of suspected illegal traffic, it said (see 2304030066).
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau made certain cost and demand data filed by video relay services providers in 2023 available, subject to record review requests, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 03-123. The worksheets include "historical and projected expenses and demand for the provision of VRS for the years 2021 through 2024," the notice said. The bureau decided not to include the entire appendices filed by providers, saying "we do not believe it is necessary" at this time and any material deemed relevant would be included.
Comments are due by June 8, replies June 23, on modifications to the broadband reasonable comparability benchmark calculations for the urban rate survey, said an FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics public notice Monday in docket 10-90. The bureaus want comments on "methods for calculating benchmarks for a wider spectrum of service speeds as well as other proposed improvements."
Provider commissions to states and the "market power" of incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) are the "two main economic distortions that disadvantage incarcerated individuals," said Georgetown University economist Nathan Miller in a letter to the FCC posted Thursday in docket 23-62. Miller noted eliminating commissions or "introducing new, meaningful competition or capping phone prices well below current levels" would lower prices while allowing IPCS providers to remain profitable. IPCS "can be provided profitably" if offered at lower prices, Miller said. "Obtaining these lower prices likely requires regulation or alternative procurement practices due to the market power" of IPCS providers, he said, citing a report he co-authored with Georgetown University economist Gretchen Sileo and Sciences Po economist Marleen Marra.