Require that affordable connectivity program providers apply the benefit only to "all plans that are presently offered to potential customers, not grandfathered plans," USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter told FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and his staff, said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-450 (see 2111180067). Spalter said it's not "necessary" for providers to submit details of every plan that will be available and to allow "as much time as necessary" to transition from the emergency broadband benefit program.
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted the State E-rate Coordinators’ Alliance's request for an expedited waiver of the Emergency Connectivity Fund's invoice filing deadline, said an order Thursday in docket 21-93. The waiver applies to applicants that sought funding during either filing window, incorrectly used June 30, 2022, as the service delivery date, and received a funding commitment decision letter or revised letter with an Aug. 29, 2022, invoice filing deadline based on the incorrect delivery date. The bureau directed the Universal Service Administrative Co. to continue using the Aug. 29 filing deadline for affected program participants. It also modified ECF rules to allow applicants to use June 30 as the service delivery date for all funding requests made during each filing window and will take effect after Federal Register publication.
The FCC Wireline Bureau released guidance on the environmental and procedural requirements for the conversational mean opinion score testing of voice service provided over Connect America Fund-supported high-latency networks, said a public notice listed in Wednesday's Daily Digest. Each conversation test and its opinion score must be submitted, it said.
Hamilton Relay sought a six-month extension, until June 30, of its waiver of FCC rules on how fast non-video relay service providers must answer calls, said an ex parte letter posted Wednesday in docket 03-123. Hamilton said a waiver is needed because of the "notable increase in COVID-19 case numbers over the past two weeks" and "uncertainty surrounding recently announced federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates."
Allow tribal households that qualified as Lifeline subscribers for the FCC emergency broadband benefit program to participate in the affordable connectivity program without needing to opt in, Smith Bagley urged Wireline Bureau staff, said an ex parte letter posted Tuesday in docket 21-450. Those households "will see no change in their benefit, nor their service offering, when [EBB] transitions to ACP" and "would find it much more difficult to execute an opt-in requirement than most others in the nation," Smith Bagley said. It also asked that "no fundamental changes" be made to the National Lifeline Accountability Database because providers can adjust discounts within NLAD and remove households that no longer qualify.
The FCC Wireline Bureau completed its initial review of information submitted by Connect America Fund Phase II support recipients participating in the eligible locations adjustment process (ELAP), said a public notice Monday in docket 10-90 (see 1911120061). The bureau received 27 submissions covering 23 states and 36 participant/state combinations. All participants were found to have met their "prima facie evidentiary burden" to continue with the ELAP process, it said. The bureau will release participants’ names, the study area codes of locations, the reported type of locations, geocoordinates of locations, the postal address or physical identification of locations, and the number of separate dwelling units. The Universal Service Administrative Co. will release an interactive map with that information. Prospective stakeholders seeking broadband services are required to start the registration process by completing an online registration form by March 25. The bureau waived the 90-day stakeholder challenge window, citing "unanticipated technical obstacles to simultaneous implementation of both the registration process and stakeholder challenge window." The challenge filing window will be open April 1-June 29.
The FCC Wireline Bureau waived certain emergency broadband benefit program rules requiring an enrollment freeze and consumer notifications as the commission transitions to the affordable connectivity program, said an order posted Friday in docket 20-445 (see 2111230058). The rule, originally intended to "avoid claims volatility and to allow for more certain financial projections in the final months," required a freeze in EBB enrollments once the program's end date was announced. Waiving the rule "maximizes the time period" for enrollment during EBB's final weeks and "avoids unnecessarily limiting participation," the order said. The bureau also waived the 15- and 30-day consumer notice requirement that EBB is ending, given that enrolled households will continue receiving up to $50 monthly broadband subsidies during the 60-day transition to ACP, it said.
Regulatory fees for unlicensed use will stifle innovation and contradict the FCC’s past efforts to increase connectivity, a collection of trade groups representing industries “heavily invested” in the industry, scientific and medical (ISM) unlicensed bands told Wireline Bureau staff in a call Nov. 17, according to an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-190. Representatives of ACT|The App Association, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council and others said in the filing that ISM band equipment is important for precision agriculture, home energy management, and industrial automation. “Restricting innovation by increasing the costs for these services and the underlying research that leads to such innovations, via fees, would contradict the FCC’s investments,” the filing said.
Embarq Florida, now CenturyLink/Lumen, withdrew its petition to discontinue its legacy phone service on Little Gasparilla Island, Florida (see 2110220045). This per a letter posted Tuesday in FCC docket 21-298.
The FCC committed more than $169 million in additional Emergency Connectivity Fund support, bringing the total to more than $3.2 billion so far, said a news release Tuesday. The latest round of funding commitments will support 492 schools, 70 libraries and 10 consortiums to purchase more than 380,000 connected devices and 135,000 broadband services (see 2111080060).