The Oklahoma Corporation Commission could vote March 21 at 1:30 p.m. CDT on a state USF rulemaking opened Tuesday. Commissioners voted 3-0 at a livestreamed meeting to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (docket RM2023-000006) to consider amending Oklahoma Chapter 59 rules on Oklahoma USF and Lifeline programs. The notice schedules technical conferences 1:30 p.m. CST Feb. 21 and 1:30 p.m. CDT March 13. Comments will be due Feb. 24; replies March 13. Commissioners also voted 3-0 to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking with the same dates for a rulemaking to amend Oklahoma’s Chapter 55 telecom rules (docket RM2023-000005). Commissioners raised concerns about Oklahoma USF stability while voting 2-1 in November to increase the connections-based surcharge to $1.85 from $1.14 monthly (see 2211290052).
Arizona Corporation Commission staff recommended delay considering repeal or changes to Arizona USF (AUSF). Commissioners could consider staff’s recommendation at its Feb. 22-23 meeting. Comments are due Feb. 17 in docket T-00000A-20-0336. "Amendment, modification, or repeal of the AUSF High Cost Rules may be appropriate at some time in the future,” staff said. But since Frontier, the sole recipient of the support, must file a rate case by Aug. 30 and "there may be several potential outcomes" to that filing, staff thinks it's premature to consider changing or killing AUSF. If commissioners decide at the end of the rate case that Frontier should stop getting support, they should direct staff to start the AUSF rulemaking, said the recommendation. Also, staff noted Solix remains under contract to distribute E-rate broadband special construction projects, which are expected to be completed by June 2024. Any commission action on USF would need to take into account that program’s status, it said.
Satellite-provided emergency SOS messaging is just the starting point for satellite operators looking to provide direct-to-handset service, but it won't be the business plan for anyone, said Iridium Director-Legal and Regulatory Coral Faradjian Tuesday in a Smallsat Symposium panel. She said the real revenue, and business plans, seamless transitions between terrestrial mobile and satellite-enabled services.
The USF contribution factor will likely decrease to 29.1% during Q2 2022 from 32.6% during Q1 2023, emailed analyst Billy Jack Gregg Saturday. Gregg noted the Universal Service Administrative Co. hasn't released its report and appendices on projected demand.
T-Mobile will take California regulators to federal court over a decision to switch state USF contribution to a connections-based mechanism. In a complaint Wednesday against the California Public Utilities Commission (case 3:23-cv-00483), T-Mobile and subsidiaries urged the U.S. District Court of Northern California to preliminarily enjoin a $1.11 monthly per-line fee from taking effect April 1. The CPUC in October required carriers to count access lines to determine contributions to California public purpose programs including state USF (see 2210200073). The per-line fee will replace a revenue-based assessment. A handful of other states previously switched to a flat fee, including Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah.
Broadband industry officials Wednesday stressed the need for Congress to take an active role in broadband deployment and adoption efforts, before NTIA's broadband, equity, access, and deployment program and other recent federal investments. Some during a Broadband Breakfast webinar emphasized the role of fiber as states consider their plans and proper vetting of the FCC's new broadband maps.
Legislators in two western states weighed extensions Tuesday to state telecom subsidies. Small rural telcos testified at livestreamed hearings that high-cost support provided by the Colorado and Washington state programs remains vital. Meanwhile, an Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) state USF rulemaking could be imminent.
Executives at Liberty Mobile in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands spoke with all four FCC commissioners to oppose proposals in an FCC Further NPRM on extending USF support to eligible mobile and fixed carriers in both territories (see 2210270046). In recent comments, industry raised similar concerns (see 2212120053). A proposed 75% reduction in Stage 2 support “would undermine the Commission’s goals of universal service and competition,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-143. “The Liberty representatives discussed the Unique Characteristics of Puerto Rico and USVI … which increase the cost of their mobile networks.”
The Rural Wireless Association urged the FCC to explore “potential alternatives” to a 5G Fund for rural areas, in a meeting with Wireline Bureau and Office of Economic and Analytics staff. “RWA described how its members have deployed and are operating mobile networks in areas not served by the nationwide providers, providing needed connectivity to their customers and the public generally,” RWA said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-32. “In many cases, this could not have been done without the Universal Service Fund support the carriers receive through the Mobility Fund, and now those carriers are using their USF support to upgrade to 5G coverage,” the filing said: “RWA explained that the current 5G Fund framework risks undermining this progress, stranding those networks, and wasting current USF support because it lacks a reasonable transition between the legacy support mechanism and a future 5G Fund.” Broadband data collection maps “appear to contain significant overstatement of coverage in rural areas, as was the case with prior mapping efforts,” the group said.
Nebraska legislators may consider allowing municipal broadband. Sen. Justin Wayne (D) introduced a bill (LB-26) Thursday that would allow municipal broadband on a retail or wholesale basis within its own jurisdiction if located in an underserved or unserved area. “A municipality may initiate the process of developing a broadband network by conducting a feasibility study and ordering the preparation of a resolution of intent to develop such broadband network … by a vote of the majority of the members of the governing body of the municipality,” it said. Under a separate state bill (LB-63) introduced Thursday by Sen. Eliot Bostar (D), Nebraska would withhold state USF support from any telecom company using equipment or services deemed to pose a national security threat. The proposed law would rely on a list published by the FCC Public Safety Bureau. Another Nebraska bill introduced Thursday would authorize licensing of dark fiber by any state agency or political subdivision. LB-61 by Sen. Tom Brandt (R) would also eliminate Nebraska Public Service Commission jurisdiction over certain violations and appeals.