AT&T said Tuesday it’s using AI to optimize its network, help call takers serve customers and in other ways that customers may not notice, but it's also working to ensure its use of the technology is safe. “We’ve worked with Microsoft to make Ask AT&T secure and safe for our employees and our corporate data,” AT&T said: “It runs in an AT&T-dedicated Azure tenant that’s been pressure tested for leakage. AT&T employees can bring company data and information into Ask AT&T without worrying about that material leaking into the public domain.” AT&T is guarding against hackers and “external misuse” of generative AI, the company said. “Generative AI tools are great and getting better quickly, but they’re not magic or infallible,” AT&T said. Ask AT&T users are responsible for checking that results are “accurate and appropriate.” AT&T's AI policy and operating guidelines "ground our employees in both our overall AI strategy and the concrete do’s-and-don’t’s for creating, deploying and executing AI at AT&T," the company said.

The FCC updated its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform to incorporate maternal health data, the agency announced Tuesday. The interactive map includes "publicly available data on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity" and "highlights the areas where critical telehealth resources are most needed," said a news release. Users can generate custom maps to "view the intersection of broadband connectivity, maternal health outcomes, and selected risk factors," the agency said. “This country’s rising maternal mortality rate demands every possible solution, and access to maternal care through telehealth is an important piece of that puzzle,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: “The FCC is playing an increasingly greater role in advancing connected health and our latest effort to explore the ways in which broadband access can have an impact on the health and wellness of moms and moms-to-be is crucial work." The agency encouraged comments and suggestions about the map by contacting engageC2H@fcc.gov, with “Mapping” in the subject line.

The FCC Precision Ag Task Force will meet July 11 at 11 a.m. at FCC headquarters and virtually. The task force will hear working group reports. The current and future connectivity demand WG was aiming to present a draft report to the full task force by that date (see 2303280055). “The Task Force will discuss executive summary details, provide updates on the progress of their respective reports, and continue to discuss strategies to advance broadband deployment on agricultural land and promote precision agriculture,” the FCC said.

NTIA awarded the U.S. Virgin Islands more than $1.2 million in planning grant support for the broadband, equity, access and deployment program, said a news release Monday. The agency said all states and territories have received their BEAD and Digital Equity Act planning grant funding. "As we expand and enhance our broadband access throughout the Territory, we have put the USVI on an equal playing field with the global economy, to help our business community," said Gov. Albert Bryan (D). The latest funding "will allow us to reach some of the more isolated areas of our islands and give as many Virgin Islanders as possible affordable broadband access and all the benefits that access brings," Bryan said.

USDA awarded $714 million in its fourth round of ReConnect program support to 19 states, the agency said Monday (see 2210270060). NTCA said its members received more than $530 million in this latest round. “I am thrilled that so many of our members have once again received awards through the ReConnect program, and I am grateful that USDA continues to recognize their commitment and capabilities," said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield.

Companies “believe in the power of the metaverse,” with only 2% of respondents to a recent poll considering it a buzzword or a fad, says a new report by Nokia and Ernst & Young released Monday. Telcos were seen as key players in the metaverse by 52% of respondents, while network and networking equipment providers were seen as key players by 48%. The U.S. and the U.K. are leading the charge, the study found -- in the U.S. 65% of respondents and in the U.K. 64% had a pilot or had fully deployed at least one industrial or enterprise metaverse use case. “On average, 80% of those who have already implemented metaverse use cases believe they will have a significant or transformational impact on the way they do business,” said a news release: “Nearly all (94%) of those who have yet to begin their metaverse journey plan to do so in the next two years.” The report was based on responses from 860 business leaders in six countries.

The FCC reminded recipients in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program of their obligation to file status reports every 90 days with the FCC. The last was due April 11, the next July 10, said a Monday Wireline Bureau notice.

The FCC released a small entity compliance guide Monday on revised 911 outage reporting rules approved by commissioners 4-0 in November (see 2211170051). Section 1 of the Communications Act charges the FCC with “promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communications,” the guide says: The rules “impose more stringent reporting requirements” on covered 911 service providers “in terms of notification content, timing, means, and frequency.”

Slower M&A activity in the U.S. communications market over the past 12 months hasn't notably affected valuations for private communications companies, CoBank said Monday. It said the slowdown stems from concerns about the overall economy, rising interest rates and supply chain delays, and a big drop in deals for fiber transport likely has more to do with the lack of networks available for sale. It said private market valuations are often performing better than their publicly traded counterparts -- often because smaller rural providers are in less competitive markets. Private communications providers also benefit from having growth opportunities via unserved and underserved markets, it said, while fiber overbuilders benefit from having no linear video assets to manage as they target high-growth vulnerable markets. It said M&A activity should pick up once a corner is turned on economics.

An FCC Wireline Bureau order extending the service and equipment delivery deadlines for Emergency Connectivity Fund recipients is effective Monday, said a notice for that day's Federal Register. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and the Consortium for School Networking's joint petition on the issue in May (see 2305120061).