The FCC Wireline Bureau denied a request Monday from CLEC Aventure Communication Technology to review a Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) decision that Aventure incorrectly reported lines associated with calls to conference operators on its network as being eligible for high-cost support. USAC found Aventure needed to reimburse the high-cost support it received between 2007 and 2011 for several free service conference carrier (FCSC) lines. Aventure argued in its appeal that USAC had acted outside the scope of its authority and that USAC couldn’t recover support because its action occurred after the one-year statute of limitations. The FCC said in its decision Monday that USAC’s ruling was correct, saying Aventure’s FCSC lines were ineligible to receive high-cost support because they weren’t used for telecom services. Aventure can receive high-cost support only for services it provides “for a fee,” meaning FCSCs aren’t eligible, the FCC said. The commission also said Aventure’s claim that USAC’s action occurred past the statute of limitations was “unfounded.” The statute of limitations applies only to forfeitures or penalties, not to the support recovery USAC is seeking in this case, the FCC said (http://bit.ly/1mDi8IW).

The FCC Wireline Bureau dismissed a petition Monday from the American Cable Association (ACA) and NCTA requesting reconsideration of the bureau’s Connect America Fund Phase II challenge process guidance public notice, saying the petition was untimely (http://bit.ly/1vz8jFa). ACA and NCTA had been opposed to the bureau’s decision to require that parties present evidence of current or former customers in a census block in order to challenge the determination that the block is unserved (CD Aug 5 p5). ACA and NCTA filed the petition July 22, one day after the 30-day window for filing a petition had elapsed, the bureau said. Had the groups filed the petition on time, the arguments they presented still don’t warrant reconsideration, the bureau said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau should amend the FCC’s new Connect America Fund requirement that a provider show it has current or past customers in a census block to certify it serves the block, said NCTA in a reply comment (http://bit.ly/1skgUJF) posted Thursday in docket 10-90. NCTA had filed a petition for reconsideration (CD Aug 5 p6) saying cable operators in some cases can’t come up with a customer record in areas they serve. A company may be serving a new subdivision, for instance, where no one has yet moved in, it has said. The requirement would mean “areas where unsubsidized providers already offer broadband services will be erroneously treated as if they are unserved -- an outcome that is flatly inconsistent with the Commission’s determination that broadband subsidies should be precluded in areas where unsubsidized competitors offer service,” NCTA said in Thursday’s reply. Incumbent LECs that opposed the petition to reconsider are wrong to argue that the agency had discretion to authorize subsidized overbuilding with CAF Phase II funding and that overbuilding is a necessary outgrowth of the FCC’s goal of expanding broadband availability in price cap territories, NCTA said. The American Cable Association also petitioned for reconsideration of the requirement.

The reply deadline for the North American Numbering Council’s recommendation of Telcordia as the next local number portability administrator was extended until Aug. 22, said a public notice (http://bit.ly/1yehR4t) Friday, hours before the comment period was to have ended. The deadline is extended to allow parties to address issues “more thoroughly,” the notice said.

The FCC should clarify that the elimination of support in areas covered 100 percent by an unsubsidized competitor does not apply to price cap areas, USTelecom said in a petition (http://bit.ly/1oqU2pk) for reconsideration or clarification posted Friday in docket 10-90. If the elimination is intended to apply to price cap carriers, the agency should reconsider the provision, the petition said. Price cap carriers received no notice of the potential application of this rule to them, the petition said. The discussion in the USF/ICC Transformation Order was eliminating support in those situations to rate-of-return carriers, the petition said.

USF contribution reform “should not be seen as a backdoor way of increasing the size of the universal service fund or imposing new fees on the Internet,” FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said in a statement. The agency asked the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service Thursday to recommend how to modify contribution methodology (CD Aug. 7 p5). The commission approved the referral (http://bit.ly/1oh17cQ) unanimously. It referred the joint board to the commission’s 2012 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the issue, and asked for recommendations “with a particular focus on how any modifications to the contribution system would impact achievement of the statutory principle that there be state as well as federal mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service.” Network convergence and technological innovation “have transformed the telecommunications industry, and the contribution system has become increasingly complex and difficult to administer,” said the order, which asked for the recommendations by April 7. “The Joint Board process ensures that the agency will receive expert recommendations from the States officials closest to the consumers affected by changes to the Universal Service program,” said NARUC Telecommunications Chairman Chris Nelson in a statement. Nelson, vice chairman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, is on the state board.

The FCC’s Notice of Inquiry on increasing the benchmarks to assess broadband deployment could enhance the FCC’s case for new regulations on cable broadband speeds, Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant said in a Wednesday research note. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in April implied cable operators could potentially face broadband regulation if they failed to continue increasing speeds (CD May 1 p1), Gallant said. But new regulations of cable broadband are unlikely given announcements by companies about providing gigabit speeds, he said. Broadband redefinition could potentially be a concern for CenturyLink, Frontier and Windstream if it dissuades them from accepting the FCC’s future Connect America Fund (CAF) payments, the note said, but Gallant believes the agency is “sensitive to this risk and is likely to explore adjustments to other buildout factors that should make it economically attractive for telcos to accept the CAF amounts offered.” Redefining broadband as 10 Mbps or higher could increase the percentage of homes where Comcast/Time Warner Cable would be the sole provider of “true ‘broadband,'” Gallant said, adding it’s unlikely to affect the deal because it would affect only a small percentage of the Comcast/TWC footprint and likely wouldn’t occur until January, after the FCC has already gathered much of the key data for assessing the deal.

Gigabit broadband expanding in three cities that get the service from CenturyLink, which added it in 13 other cities, the company said Tuesday. The high-speed fiber network, using fiber-to-the-premises technology, is being expanded in Las Vegas, Omaha and Salt Lake City, said the telco in a news release (http://bit.ly/1sqvkWd). The 13 additional cities include Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, where the service is being made available for residential customers. It’s being added for business customers in six cities, including Albuquerque, Phoenix and Tucson, said CenturyLink. The expansion began Monday, a company spokeswoman said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment on a draft eligible services list for schools and libraries under the E-rate program, said a public notice Monday (http://fcc.us/1o7auMh). Commenters should highlight whether the draft manifests the E-rate modernization order, and the extent to which additional changes are necessary, said the PN. Comments are due in docket 13-184 Sept. 3, replies Sept. 18. The FCC recently approved changes to E-rate.

FairPoint Communications’ contract with 1,700 of its 2,550 workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont expired Saturday amid continued negotiations over a new deal. The two unions representing the 1,700 workers -- the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) chapters in the three states -- had “dug in on almost all of their current benefits under contracts from a bygone era,” a FairPoint spokeswoman said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1sn1ceh). Points of contention include pensions, retiree medical benefits or changes in union involvement in subcontracting, FairPoint said. CWA and the local IBEW contractors said in a joint statement that they would continue to negotiate “until we reach a fair and equitable contract.” The 1,700 workers will continue to work under most terms of the expired contract. FairPoint said it has a plan in place to maintain its infrastructure in the three states if the workers strike.