The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau wants comment by Aug. 16, replies Aug. 31 in docket 03-123 on Hamilton Relay's amendment to its application for certification to provide IP captioned phone service supported by the Telecom Relay Services Fund, said a public notice listed in Friday's Daily Digest.
The New York Public Service Commission agreed 6-0 to a $2.7 million Frontier Communications settlement for the carrier’s response to Tropical Storm Isaias, at a Thursday meeting livestreamed from Albany. Members also unanimously cleared a $425 million investment by Searchlight Capital Partners in Consolidated Communications to enhance customer service. The Frontier settlement resolves a notice of apparent liability against the carrier for failing to keep a critical central office operating and not providing timely, accurate notices to the Department of Public Service (see 2102110066). The pact will increase redundancy and ensures continuous 911 service in future severe weather, said DPS Assistant Counsel Nicholas Forst. This includes reporting requirements and a Frontier promise not to pass costs to customers, the official said. PSC Chair John Howard asked if staff is “satisfied that Frontier’s 911 systems are fully operational” and can be relied upon by customers. “We are very confident,” replied Forst, saying redundancies from the pact will “not only provide Frontier benefit but also other 911 service providers.” Commissioners praised the speed of the one-year investigation into energy and communications providers. “Utilities need to know that poor performance will be met with swift and effective regulatory action,” said Howard. Rory Christian, one of three new commissioners at the meeting, applauded getting new infrastructure and resiliency investments amid “increasing severe storms and operating conditions.” The PSC earlier adopted a $72 million settlement with Altice for Isaias response failures (see 2103180022). Frontier didn't comment.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau wants comment by July 30, replies Aug. 9 in docket 03-123 on IP captioned telephone service providers' request to freeze IP CTS rate cuts that took effect on July 1, says Thursday’s Federal Register. Six of seven certified IP CTS providers sought the freeze (see 2105270058).
Optional support use flexibility certifications for competitive eligible telecom carriers receiving legacy high-cost support for mobile services are due Aug. 16, said an FCC public notice Wednesday on docket 20-32.
FCC connected care pilot program rules take effect Aug. 13, says Wednesday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved in June (see 2106170063).
Urban rate surveys are due Aug. 20, said an FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics public notice Monday in docket 10-90. Providers required to complete the online survey, which identifies rates for fixed voice and broadband residential services in urban areas, were to have been notified by email Monday.
The FCC has "ample statutory authority" and its rule on access stimulation is "reasonable," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said Friday, denying Great Lakes Communications’ challenge to barring reciprocal compensation for long-distance and high-volume calls. Differential treatment of competitive carriers and rate-of-return carriers was reasonable because competitive carriers are "much more flexible” in their geographic footprint, Laurence Silberman wrote in per curiam order in case No. 19-1233. Silberman and Judges Robert Wilkins and Neomi Rao heard oral argument in May (see 2105040045). An attorney for Great Lakes didn’t comment.
USTelecom backs the Competitive Carriers Association and Nokia's request to proactively grant six-month extension for providers to “complete remove and replace initiatives,” it said in conversations with aides to FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and other commissioners’ staff, per a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-89 (see 2107070052). USTelecom said a scarcity in communications equipment and resin supply chain delays could slow the process for providers.
The FCC Wireline Bureau denied SpitwSpots' petition to claim emergency broadband benefit program reimbursement for a service that wasn't offered as of Dec. 1, said an order Wednesday in docket 20-445: The Dec. 1 restriction is “a statutory requirement that the commission cannot waive.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comment by Aug. 6, replies by Aug. 23 on whether to extend the letter of credit requirement waiver for Connect America Fund Phase II and rural broadband experiments support recipients beyond Dec. 31, said a public notice Tuesday on docket 10-90 (see 2006260031).