Sorenson and CaptionCall urged the FCC to ensure IP-captioned telephone service providers are compensated to support communications assistant-based and automatic speech recognition-based services (see 2407110029). The companies said in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington that a $1.67 per minute rate with "a rate floor no lower than $1 for ASR would result in savings to the TRS Fund," according to an ex parte filing Wednesday in docket 03-123. The FCC should also "consider the costs of reaching hard-of-hearing Americans who need IP CTS but are unaware of it, and the needs of elderly consumers for support in their homes with installation of purpose-built phones," Sorenson and CaptionCall said.
Hamilton Relay urged the FCC to preserve adequate rate caps that IP captioned telephone service (IP CTS) providers may recover for the cost of providing services with a communications assistant (CA), according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 03-123. The company said in separate meetings with aides to Commissioners Nathan Simington and Anna Gomez that CA’s are needed for about 25% of all IP CTS (see 2406180063). “A failure to preserve CA’s is a failure to preserve functional equivalency,” Hamilton said.
The FCC wants comments by Aug. 19, replies Sept. 3, in docket 80-286 on whether it should extend by six years its freeze on federal-state jurisdictional separations of telecom costs and revenue, said a public notice Monday. Commissioners approved the NPRM earlier this month (see 2407020017).
The Armstrong Group agreed to pay $6.5 million for violating the FCC's rules on the USF high-cost program, DOJ announced Friday. The company admitted to "submitting improper costs in order to inflate the subsidies it received," a news release said. An investigation found that five incumbent local exchange carriers the Armstrong Group owns failed to comply with FCC rules between 2008 and 2023. A whistleblower will receive about $1.2 million "as his share of the recovery," DOJ said. “When providers like the Armstrong Group fail to follow federal law and FCC regulations, they jeopardize not only critical government programs but also consumers’ ability to access a modern lifeline," Eric Olshan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said.
ClearCaptions urged the FCC to provide "at least two years of rate stability" in a new rate plan adopted for IP-captioned telephone services using automatic speech recognition (ASR). There are "no additional efficiency gains expected" in ASR costs in the medium term, it said during a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr (see 2309250056). An ex parte filing was posted Thursday in docket 22-408. Raising concerns about further rate cuts, ClearCaptions said continuous rate cuts would "signal to banks and other investors that there could be no end in sight for rate reductions."
CaptionCall will pay a nearly $35 million fine and implement a compliance plan following an FCC Enforcement Bureau investigation about data privacy for consumers with disabilities, according to a consent decree Tuesday. The bureau found that the company unlawfully retained call content beyond the duration of a call and submitted inaccurate information to the Telecom Relay Service Fund administrator. The investigation found that CaptionCall retained some call content of TRS users for three years before the issue was discovered. TRS providers must "take additional precautions given their unique access to the content of their customers' calls," Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued an initial determination order against Veriwave Telco Monday for failing to comply with the commission's call blocking rules for providers suspected of carrying illegal traffic. The bureau ordered the company to respond to its order within 14 days, otherwise other providers must block Veriwave's voice traffic. An investigation found suspected illegal traffic originated at Veriwave earlier this year. "Providers must do their part to prevent these junk calls from getting to consumers," Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a news release. If they don't, "they will face significant consequences," she added.
The FCC is seeking comment on NPRMs dealing with updates for letter of credit (LOC) rules, the commission said Wednesday (see 2406060028) in a notice for Monday's Federal Register. The NPRMs include modifying LOC rules for the FCC's USF high-cost programs in rural communities, for Connect America Fund Phase II support recipients, and for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support recipients. Specifically, the FCC wants comments on changing the rules governing which U.S. banks can issue LOCs and potentially allowing certain RDOF recipients to lower the value of their LOC. Comments are due Aug. 5, replies Aug. 19.
Eligible telecom carriers (ETC) may file their Form 481 submissions until July 10, an FCC Wireline Bureau order Friday in docket 14-58 said. In extending the deadline from July 1, the bureau cited technical difficulties in the Universal Service Administrative Co.'s filing portal in its waiver of the program year 2025 filing deadline.
The FCC's Emergency Connectivity Fund was to sunset on Sunday, the agency said in a public notice Friday in docket 21-93. All purchases needed to be made by then to be eligible for reimbursement; funding requests with a June 30 service delivery date need an Aug. 29 invoicing filing deadline.