Gabriella Novello

Schools and libraries sought millions of dollars in FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund support during the initial application filing window, experts said in recent interviews (see 2106290050). Most applicants prioritized hot spots and connected devices, and some are hopeful for a second round of funding for prospective purchases.

Apollo’s purchase of Lumen’s ILEC assets is likely to close without any major conditions from the FCC, experts said in recent interviews (see 2108030077). Both companies said they expect the $7.5 billion deal to close in the second half of 2022.

Just 30 of 197 providers filed responses to letters from the FCC asking them to review certain census blocks provisionally won during the RDOF Phase I auction and consider withdrawing those bids by its Monday deadline. Most said they're willing to accept the offer if the commission agrees to waive any penalties.

Some winning Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction bidders asked the FCC to waive penalties if they decide to withdraw bids for census blocks that faced questions about whether service is already available. Bidders that won the smallest number of census blocks are among those that responded to the FCC accepting the offer so far.

FCC commissioners approved 4-0 an NPRM on modifying compensation methodology for IP relay service supported by the Telecom Relay Service Fund. It’s the first time in 14 years the commission is considering such new TRS methodology. The current IP relay compensation period ends June 30.

Some FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction bidders that received letters allowing them to withdraw certain bids without penalties said in recent interviews they plan to keep their provisionally won bids (see 2107260044). One big RDOF winner, LTD Broadband, told us it may take up the agency on its request. Experts said RDOF Phase II may not start for months as a result.

Industry and advocates backed restoring reimbursement for Lifeline voice support. Comments posted Tuesday in docket 11-42 on NASUCA’s petition for FCC reconsideration of the 2016 Lifeline order on phasedown of voice-only support. Comments were due Monday (see 2106280011). Voice service is “an essential service and should be fully supported through the Lifeline program,” NASUCA said. "Affordable voice service remains essential for low-income households," said the National Lifeline Association, which CTIA echoed. The California Public Utilities Commission agreed: voice service is "essential" in areas where broadband affordability and access are obstacles. Lifeline users "will be forced to buy broadband bundles, which may be unaffordable to them or unwanted" if voice-only support is no longer available, said NTCA. The Wireline Bureau's recent Lifeline market report (see 2107060056) "confirms our early observation that voice services would continue to be popular with and needed by Lifeline recipients," said Free Press.

Lumen agreed to sell its incumbent LEC business in 20 states to Apollo Global Management for $7.5 billion including debt assumption, the telco announced Tuesday. The carrier would retain its ILEC assets in 16 states, plus its national fiber routes and competitive LEC networks. See our earlier news bulletin about this transaction here.

Providers asked for greater flexibility in notification times and type of information relayed to public safety answering points in response to the FCC’s NPRM to harmonize 911 outage reporting, in comments posted Monday in docket 15-80. Comments were due Friday (see 2106290046). PSAP notifications should be triggered by “reportable outages,” said T-Mobile. It said requiring originating service providers to notify PSAPs about commercial outages would “increase the volume of notifications received by PSAPs significantly” and “not provide information that could be used by PSAPs to mitigate the impact.” T-Mobile said providers should be given more than 30 minutes to send “actionable information." AT&T, Verizon and Lumen agreed. Keep the “as soon as possible” standard to prevent over-notification, AT&T said. The proposed timing “would risk confusion and miscommunication between service providers and PSAPS,” Verizon said. Lumen said the timing should be “more flexible to avoid publicizing unvetted facts that may confuse the public.” The National Emergency Number Association said to prioritize electronic notifications because voice communication “comes with significant limitations surrounding sharing, recording, analysis, and continuity.” ATIS said providers won’t know the root cause or extent of an outage within 30 minutes and “additional burden to the industry and potential confusion would outweigh the benefits.” CTIA said it would be “extremely difficult for that provider to verify the other material information the proposal requests within that timeframe.” The Competitive Carriers Association agreed and said carriers “risk supplying PSAPs with incomplete or inaccurate information.” APCO disagreed and said notifications “should occur as quickly as possible.” Requiring notification no later than 15 minutes from discovery “would provide a stronger incentive for service providers to automate their notifications,” it said. Lumen opposed including geographic information systems data instead of descriptions of areas affected. USTelecom said smaller providers would “have no way of immediately providing this type of information” because they don't collect it in real-time.

Video relay service providers disagree on freezing VRS rates, in comments posted Friday in FCC docket 03-123. Comments on the NPRM proposing a tiered-rate structure were due Thursday. VRS “is now at an inflection point,” said GlobalVRS. Tiered-rate compensation “has proven appropriate for the program,” it said, but the underlying methodology should be changed to consider provider scale and efficiency. Focus on functional equivalency and reject calls to freeze the current rates, said ZVRS (see 2107280044). A rate freeze would “erase much of the recent progress in VRS toward market balance and consumer choice, introduce uncertainty for smaller providers, and benefit only the dominant provider,” it said. GlobalVRS agreed. Rely on 2019 costs as a rate-setting benchmark instead of freezing current rates, said NCTA. Sorenson asked the commission to freeze the current rates for two years to “consider post-COVID VRS rates in light of the actual costs and demand for VRS that will exist in a post-COVID world.” Convo Communications agreed and said the FCC could consider extending the freeze to 2024 “given the current trajectory of the pandemic.”