Customers expect that carriers use the same kinds of technologies for robocalls and robotexts that are used to filter suspected scam and spam emails, Microsoft told the FCC in a filing posted Monday in docket 23-362. “Recent advances” in AI and large-language models “create the opportunity to combat fraudulent communications based on content analysis, and with the right guardrails in place, this analysis can be done at scale while preserving the privacy of the communications,” Microsoft said. The FCC should make clear that “when communications service providers choose to offer AI-enabled fraud detection features with sufficient safeguards in place, those tools are considered a necessary incident to the provision of voice communications,” the company said. Microsoft representatives spoke with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr and Anna Gomez and Consumer and with Governmental Affairs Bureau staff.

DOJ and the FCC praised a Montana judge Friday for imposing a $9.9 million forfeiture penalty against defendant Scott Rhodes for initiating nearly 5,000 illegally spoofed calls across the U.S., in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Truth in Caller ID Act. “Virtually every Montanan has been the subject of unwanted and harassing robocalls, and the person responsible for such calls usually escapes accountability," said U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for Montana said in a joint statement with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. "But not this time. In placing thousands of harassing and malicious spoofing calls to consumers across the country, Rhodes showed a blatant disregard to caller ID and telephone consumer protection laws designed to prevent this sort of conduct.” When persistent and malicious robocallers break the law, “it takes strong partnerships like this one to bring them to justice,” said Rosenworcel. “I thank the Justice Department team, in conjunction with FCC lawyers, for vigorously pursuing this penalty.” There’s “no genuine dispute” that the forfeiture penalty of $9.9 million imposed by the FCC against Rhodes, a resident of Idaho and Montana, in its January 2021 order “is reasonable and consistent with the relevant statutory and regulatory guidelines,” said U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen for Montana in Missoula in his March 19 order. The judge denied Rhodes’ motions for reconsideration of the summary judgment order in the government’s favor and to have Christensen disqualified for bias against the defendant.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau fined Vero Broadband $48,000 Friday for violating commission rules on unauthorized transfers. Vero acquired Communications Act Section 214 authorizations and wireless licenses from San Isabel Telecom, Forethought.net, Brainstorm and Peak Internet without prior FCC approval, a notice of apparent liability said.

Generative and predictive AI have experienced a “huge surge” in interest and discussion, but telecom carriers are mostly taking a cautious approach, recognizing the need for “guardrails” and a phased transition, Ruth Brown, Heavy Reading principal analyst-mobile networks and 5G, said during an Informa Tech webinar Thursday. For example, some carrier executives question whether machines can replace humans in making key decisions, she said. AI-assisted analytics will help providers “pinpoint and rectify faults and security” and assist in “scaling resources” to meet demand, she said. “Understanding this transition is going to be really important … along with ethics around using AI,” she said. For Terje Jensen, senior vice president-network and cloud technology strategy at Norway-based provider Telenor, whether providers will use AI is no longer a debate. Instead, the question is how they will “master” it in a way that’s responsible. Carriers offer “critical infrastructure” and must protect the data and privacy of their customers, he said: “We have to take care on that part.” Providers need to “address the competency and understanding” of staff responsible for AI, he said. For years, Telenor automated many of its operations and is "gradually introducing more AI,” bringing operations “to the next level,” he said. This is a “rather fundamental shift” in how carriers operate, he said. Jensen also said Telenor recognizes the importance of industry standards and collaboration with customers and suppliers. As networks become increasingly complex, operators must manage them with the same staff size, which is “becoming more and more difficult,” said David Allabaugh, Fujitsu software solutions architect. “Full autonomy is a fairly aggressive goal -- we see this as a journey and not a near-term destination,” he said.

A new study by the Phoenix Center found "no material change" in broadband availability under the FCC's updated 100/20 Mbps speed threshold. The study, released Thursday, estimated a decrease of "no more than about 3%" in availability. In addition, it found that providers were most likely to be affected, with an estimated 11% decrease in the number of fixed providers that can meet the new threshold. Availability rates would remain "somewhat stable, as cable and fiber are widely deployed and easily meet the new 100/20 Mbps threshold in nearly all cases," the study said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau wants comments by May 1 on the state of private-led robocall traceback efforts in 2023, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 20-195. The commission needs feedback for an annual report to Congress as required under the Traced Act.

Vexus Fiber will pay $100,000 for violating the FCC's affordable connectivity program rules. An Enforcement Bureau order Friday said Vexus admitted it violated the program's rule prohibiting downselling broadband services to ACP-eligible households by "preventing customers from applying the ACP benefit to any residential broadband internet access service plan they selected."

The FCC's Q2 USF contribution factor will be 32.8%, said an Office of Managing Director public notice Thursday in docket 96-45. That's a decrease from Q1, which was 34.6%.

After five years of growth, “the pendulum swung rapidly towards the negative” in the second half of 2023 in the worldwide telecom equipment market, Dell’Oro Group’s Stefan Pongratz said Wednesday in a blog post. Revenue decreased across the six telecom programs tracked -- broadband access, microwave and optical transport, mobile core network, radio access network, and service provider router and switch -- with overall performance worse than expected. “There are multiple forces at play,” Pongratz wrote: “First and foremost, challenging comparisons in some of the advanced 5G markets with higher 5G population coverage taken together with the slow transition towards 5G [stand alone] helped to partially explain steep declines in wireless-based investments.” The aggregate telecom equipment fell by roughly a fifth in the North America region, “underpinned by weak activity in both RAN and Broadband Access.” Market conditions “are expected to remain challenging in 2024, though the decline is projected to be less severe than in 2023,” he said.

NTIA accepted digital equity plans for South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, the agency said Friday (see 2402290071). South Dakota received about $527,000 through the state digital equity planning grant program. Wisconsin received roughly $952,000. Wyoming received about $530,000. The three states created plans to address "disparities in digital access, skills and affordability."