The FCC Office of Native Affairs and Policy and Wireline Bureau will host a virtual listening session on tribal library participation in the E-rate program on Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. EDT, said a public notice posted Friday.
The FCC Wireline Bureau issued a protective order with guidance for submitting confidential robocall mitigation program descriptions to the robocall mitigation database, said a public notice listed in Friday's Daily Digest.
The FCC Wireline Bureau OK'd Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I support for 469 bids, said a public notice in Friday's Daily Digest. Staff granted eligible telecom carrier designations for five winning bidders.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau got consent decrees with eight 911 service providers for failing to timely file annual reliability certifications for either 2019 or 2020, the agency said Thursday. Northeast Missouri Rural Telecom agreed to pay $7,500. Arctic Slope Telephone Association Co-op, Farmers Telephone Co-op, Jackson Energy Authority, Micronesian Telecom, South Central Utah Telephone Association and Sweetser Telephone each agreed to pay $6,000. Hayneville Telephone will pay $3,500. All providers agreed to establish compliance plans to avoid late filings in the future. “This should serve as a very clear reminder that compliance with 911 service rules is required," said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. The providers didn't comment. The deadline for filing 2021 certifications is Friday.
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by Nov. 15, replies Nov. 29, in docket 02-6 on an NPRM clarifying that all tribal libraries are eligible for the E-rate program, said Thursday's Federal Register (see 2110010070).
The North American Numbering Council approved a report and recommendations from its call authentication trust anchor working group during a virtual meeting Wednesday (see 2107290064). Robert Nelson of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and Michigan Citizens Utility Board president voted no because NASUCA wasn't a WG member. "They should have been," Nelson said. The WG found VoIP providers don't face significant barriers to Stir/Shaken implementation because technical solutions are available. It recommended the FCC task the subpanel with further recommending a governance structure for managing the list of call placement services. It also recommended the FCC encourage industry to develop a solution to the session initiation protocol interconnection problem within six to 12 months of the report.
Industry disagrees if the FCC should preempt rights-of-way fees charged Columbia, Missouri, as a violation of Communications Act Section 253, in replies posted Wednesday in docket 21-323 (see 2109230078). Bluebird asked to defer action on its petition "until the legal status of House Bill 271 is settled," which would ban local jurisdictions from charging per linear foot fees, or preempt the city's linear ROW fee if it decides to act. The fees are "excessive, unreasonable, and discriminatory," said Frontier. Granting the petition "will send a strong message to other municipalities," the telco said. Bluebird’s petition is “not a new or novel issue, and the facts as presented, clearly violate Section 253,” said Incompas, saying its members face similar obstacles. The Wireless Infrastructure Association agreed. Commenters showed the monetary amount "is not an isolated problem," said USTelecom, noting the city didn't file an opposition. Localities in Oregon, Washington and California, the League of Minnesota Cities, Metropolitan Area Communications Commission, and ROW Consultants disagreed, saying Congress "did not intend Section 253(d) to authorize the commission to decide local rights of way disputes." The coalition said a public comment process "does not provide an adversarial fact-finding process through which factual issues might be resolved." Localities "should not be forced to come to the FCC to litigate uniquely local issues," said the Communications Workers of America.
Duke Energy Florida asked the FCC to deny AT&T’s application for review of an August Enforcement Bureau granting the telco’s pole attachment complaint, in an opposition posted Wednesday in proceeding 20-276 (see 2108300033). The request "provides further evidence of AT&T’s anti-competitive mindset," Duke said, and its "opposition to negotiating a new reciprocal joint use agreement also undercuts the main thrust AT&T's complaint." The utility also filed a petition for reconsideration (see 2109290080).
Some states are starting reviews of Apollo’s purchase of Lumen’s ILEC assets. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission published a notice in Saturday's Pennsylvania Bulletin setting an Oct. 25 deadline for protests and petitions to intervene in dockets A-2021-3028668 and A-2021-3028669. The Louisiana PSC received the companies’ application last week and will list the docket in Friday’s bulletin, a spokesperson told us. The Virginia State Corporation Commission got a petition Thursday and opened docket PUR-2021-00246. The Illinois Commerce Commission received a petition Sept. 24 and set an Aug. 24, 2022, deadline in docket 21-0710. The ICC Tuesday scheduled a 1:30 p.m. CDT Oct. 26 virtual prehearing conference. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities posted a petition Sept. 24 in docket TM21091142. Apollo/Lumen isn’t expected to face much regulatory resistance (see 2108200035).
FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appointed additional members to the rechartered North American Numbering Council, said a public notice Friday in docket 92-237 (see 2107290064). Rosenworcel also appointed members to the numbering administration oversight and call authentication trust anchor working groups.