U.S. schools need 100 Mbps or more of Internet access today, and 1 Gbps by 2017, dozens of CEOs and heads of educational technology companies said in a letter sent to the FCC chairman and every commissioner posted Thursday in docket 13-184 (http://bit.ly/1uH5gVG). A revamped E-rate program would focus on broadband connectivity and infrastructure, invest in more upgrades to connect every school to fiber and every classroom to Wi-Fi, and improve broadband affordability by maximizing competition, the letter said. A revamp should also increase transparency and accountability to reduce costs by releasing more data on existing network infrastructure and the price paid by schools for E-rate services, the letter said. “Nowhere is the opportunity so vast, the need so urgent, and the policy so vital for advancing a brighter, more connected educational future.” Commissioner Ajit Pai said Wednesday he won’t vote to approve any E-rate revamp that increases its budget (CD June 19 p1). The CEOs writing the FCC were from Channel One, Girls Who Code, Kickboard and other entities.

Neustar objects to an FCC “second level protection order” in the Local Number Portability Administrator vendor context, it told Wireline Bureau and Office of General Counsel officials Monday, said an ex parte filing posted in docket 09-109 Thursday (http://bit.ly/1qwx3dG). That order assumes the “most important documents and information in the record” are “highly confidential,” and places the burden of proof on parties who wish the information to be made public, said the company. “Full transparency is required to produce the kind of record that will support notice and comment rulemaking, which is required in this proceeding.” The FCC is seeking comment on an advisory group’s recommendation that Telcordia get the LNPA vendor job, a contract Neustar has that’s up for renewal (CD June 11 p16).

If the FCC increases from 4 Mbps to 10 Mbps the minimum broadband speeds for recipients of high-cost USF funds, 4.7 million locations would be eligible for support, said the Wireline Bureau in a public notice Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1sogvXp). That’s an increase from the 4.25 million locations eligible under the lower speed threshold, the bureau said. Some 3.6 million locations would count as “unserved” by 10 Mbps/768 kbps, compared with 2.7 million unserved by 3 Mbps/768 kbps, it said. The results were produced using version 4.1.1 of the Connect America Cost Model. Detailed results and a list of eligible census blocks are at http://fcc.us/18RrTfQ. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has circulated a notice of inquiry asking about increasing the minimum download speeds to 10 Mbps, for purposes of determining whether ISP services are broadband (CD June 4 p1).

Inmate calling services (ICS) data will be due July 17, the FCC said Tuesday in a public notice in docket 12-375 (http://bit.ly/1r33IFr). A template form and related instructions for ICS providers are available at http://fcc.us/1r33SMZ, the notice said. The Office of Management and Budget approved the FCC’s one-time mandatory data collection of inmate calling rates June 2 (CD June 13 p11).

Level 3 Communications could face competition in its bid to buy tw telecom, but it is tw telecom’s “natural merger partner” because the two have “similar and yet complementary” assets, said Canaccord Genuity analyst Greg Miller in an emailed report. Level 3 said Monday it plans to buy tw telecom for $7.3 billion, including debt (CD June 17 p7). CenturyLink had been seen as close to buying tw telecom in 2012, Miller said. CenturyLink did not comment.

Comporium said it “lit up” its Zipstream 1 Gbps fiber network in downtown Rock Hill, South Carolina. Comporium affiliate Home Telecom previously began providing Zipstream service to MeadWestvaco’s Nexton community in Summerville, South Carolina, in mid May. Comporium announced development of the Zipstream network in February, saying it would cost $99 per month for consumers and $299 monthly for companies (CD Feb 13 p15).

The Office of Management and Budget approved the FCC’s one-time mandatory data collection of inmate calling rates (CD Aug 12 p1), said a notice in Thursday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1hMVOzG). OMB approved the collection June 2, and so the information collection requirement is effective immediately, the notice said. All inmate calling service (ICS) providers must submit data on the costs of providing interstate, intrastate toll and local ICS. Submitted data should provide the costs of telecom service, interconnection fees, equipment investment, installation and maintenance, security, ancillary service and other costs, the notice said. Providers will also be required to provide certain related rate, demand and forecast data, the notice said. Confidential treatment for proprietary information is available through a protective order in dockets 12-375 and 13-113. The FCC estimated the time per response at 90 hours, the notice said. Major ICS providers had challenged the data collection, calling the FCC’s response time estimate “laughably” low (CD March 28 p3).

AT&T plans several consumer outreach events in its proposed IP transition trial cities, it told FCC Wireline Bureau officials May 27, according to an ex parte notice posted June 10 (http://bit.ly/1n497cE). Over the next 60 days, AT&T plans three “senior tech training” sections in West Delray Beach, Florida, and three informational sessions and one city council briefing in Carbon Hill, Alabama. AT&T again said it would not seek approval to withdraw TDM services in the trial wire centers “any earlier than the second half of 2015” (CD May 29 p2).

Comments are due June 25 in docket 14-89 on an AT&T Communications Act Section 214 petition to discontinue business directory assistance service. The services have been offered to business with PBX phone systems as a means to provide phone listings through the businesses’ phone systems, said an FCC public notice (http://bit.ly/1n489x1). AT&T plans to discontinue these services around July 1, and notified its customers of the proposed discontinuances by U.S. mail on April 10, it told the FCC. “AT&T maintains that the public convenience and necessity will not be impaired by the proposed discontinuance because there are alternative services available and customers will be able to reprogram their PBX and continue to have access to directory assistance services by dialing 411,” the notice said.

An FCC switched access decision in favor of AT&T will stand, the agency said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1n47k7m). AT&T filed a complaint in 2010 against various telcos for charging for services they did not provide. The agency found the telcos to be “sham” CLECs created to “capture access revenues that could not otherwise be obtained by lawful tariffs.” All American Telephone, e-Pinnacle Communications and ChaseCom violated Communications Act sections 201(b) and 203 by engaging in “unjust and unreasonable” practices and by billing for services they did not provide, said the original order. Tuesday, the agency denied a petition for reconsideration by the defendants. Defendants’ petition and reply “repeat many arguments that the Commission has already fully considered and rejected,” said the denial.