Adam Bender

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska got wide industry support for making permanent its recently adopted emergency regulations for Alaska USF. Making them permanent would extend the AUSF sunset through June 30, 2026. The RCA received supportive comments in docket R-21-001 this week from Alaska Communications, Alaska Telecom Association (ATA), Alaska Remote Carriers Coalition, GCI, Ketchikan Public Utilities (KPU) and Matanuska Telecom Association. ATA said the RCA's actions to continue AUSF “are crucial in ensuring the provision of essential telecommunications services to rural areas in Alaska.” The RCA should adopt a change proposed by the Alaska Universal Service Administrative Company (AUSAC), some industry groups said. AUSAC urged the RCA July 13 to reinstate a reporting and remittance exception for de minimis carriers, which pay up to $100 annually. "Without the de minimis exception, additional time will be spent on processing paper reports and remittances from de minimis carriers as electronic payments are cost prohibitive for a carrier to remit $8 or less,” the administrator said. “AUSAC has had past experiences with carriers, who were unaware of the de minimis exception, taping coins to mailed remittance reports." KPU supported that proposed change unless it "would create unnecessary delay in adoption or otherwise risk disapproval by the Department of Law.”

AUSTIN -- New NARUC Telecom Committee Chair Tim Schram praised NTIA efforts making broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) allocations, in a Wednesday interview. Also, Schram and another Republican committee member, South Dakota Commissioner Chris Nelson, told us they’re glad the FCC may soon finally have all five seats filled.

AUSTIN – NARUC's Telecom Committee supported permanent annual funding for the affordable connectivity program (ACP) in a nearly unanimous vote at the association’s conference Tuesday. Congress will fear ending ACP if enough people sign up, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council CEO Robert Branson told state commissioners on a diversity panel Monday. Panelists said it’s important for digital equity efforts to keep the program that’s meant to help low-income communities afford broadband.

AUSTIN – State commissioners softened a draft resolution meant to discipline telecom providers still using network equipment that might pose a national security risk. At NARUC’s conference here Tuesday, the Telecom Committee unanimously supported a measure that would recommend lower scoring for grant applications by providers with equipment on the FCC’s covered list.

The California Public Utilities Commission denied Verizon an extension to migrate TracFone customers to its network, the carrier told the service list for docket A.20-11-001 Thursday. CPUC Executive Director Rachel Peterson denied Verizon’s June 2 request for a one-year extension, in a letter to carrier Wednesday. It’s a good decision, albeit somewhat generous to Verizon, Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) Legal Counsel Paul Goodman said in an interview.

Assessing a 5% fee on streaming TV gross annual revenue is necessary to keep community media thriving, Massachusetts state Rep. Joan Meschino (D) said Thursday at a Joint Advanced Information Technology Committee livestreamed hearing. The committee heard testimony on Meschino’s H-74 and the similar S-34. Community TV officials supported the bill, saying the fee is necessary to restore lost funding from declining cable franchise revenue. The committee’s House Chair Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D) agreed with the goal of saving community media and local news but said she sees “a lot of work to do” to decide how to do it. Senate Chair Michael Moore (D) asked if the proposed law is preempted by an FCC August 2019 order restricting local franchise regulation of non-cable services being delivered by cable networks. Mass Access President Dave Gauthier said it wouldn’t be preempted. Rep. Jeffrey Turco (D) questioned if adding a tax to consumers' streaming bills would be good policy since many people cut cable to save money. Taxing streaming companies through the bills might violate the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, said TechNet Executive Director-Northeast Christopher Gilrein. “Beyond being an ill-timed burden on your constituents, this new tax would be duplicative and administratively burdensome.” Also at the hearing, the committee weighed a bill (H-82) by Rep. Michael Soter (R) to ban TikTok on government devices. If the federal government thinks TikTok is risky, Massachusetts should take the issue seriously, he said. New England Cable and Telecommunications Association President Tim Wilkerson raised concerns that the committee is considering several bills to expand communications regulation. He urged the state legislators to take note that the FCC should soon have five commissioners and is the body that should decide whether to make new rules.

The Maryland Supreme Court couldn't allow Comcast and Verizon to circumvent state legislative intent to resolve tax disputes through the administrative remedy process, Chief Justice Matthew Fader said Wednesday on the ISPs' challenge to the state's digital ad tax. The state’s high court released an opinion explaining its May 9 decision to overturn a Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County ruling that the tax is unconstitutional. The companies should have challenged the tax in the Maryland Tax Court, an expert administrative agency, before seeking judicial review, Fader said.

Another possible increase to the Oklahoma USF surcharge shows the state’s 2021 switch to connections-based contribution was a “total failure,” CTIA claimed Monday. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission at a livestreamed meeting Tuesday considered increasing the Oklahoma USF (OUSF) surcharge to $2.02 per connection. OUSF Administrator Mark Argenbright disagreed with CTIA that the connections-based method is anticompetitive.

Expect a California administrative law judge to schedule an initial hearing on AT&T’s request for carrier of last resort (COLR) relief “in the coming weeks,” said a California Public Utilities Commission spokesperson: Expect a prehearing conference in Q3 this year, with a scoping ruling to follow. California consumer and county groups protested AT&T’s June 30 request to shed COLR obligations for most of the state (see 2307070040). AT&T responded Monday that “the world has moved on” from copper networks required by COLR. “The historical regulatory compact is broken, as the Commission’s COLR obligation persists in treating AT&T California as though it were still a monopolist and saddles AT&T alone with the obligation to provide a tariffed standalone voice service to any requesting customer within its service area.” AT&T seeks “tailored relief from this anachronistic barrier to broadband investment and competition,” it said. Protesters’ "arguments are grounded in outdated policies and would slow California’s progress toward universal broadband.”

California consumer and county groups protested an AT&T request for carrier of last resort (COLR) relief in most of the state. The California Public Utilities Commission is reviewing the carrier’s amended application after an administrative law judge found an initial request lacked specificity. Plain old telephone service (POTS) remains a lifeline for many rural residents, especially in disaster-prone areas, said officials from Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and the CPUC’s independent Public Advocates Office (PAO) in interviews Friday.