Companies have questions about a Maine plan to combine Consolidated Communications rate centers statewide. The Maine Public Utilities Commission received comments last week in an investigation (docket 2023-00009) of the feasibility of large-scale rate center consolidation in the 207 area code so as to more efficiently distribute phone numbers. Consolidated explained in a July 7 filing how it might combine all its Maine rate centers into one, which the company acknowledged hasn’t been done before. More study is needed, the Telecommunications Association of Maine (TAM) commented Friday. TAM fears a large scale rate center consolidation could affect its 14 RLEC members' toll and local service plans and rate structures, possibly confusing customers and increasing RLECs' costs and rates. Rate center consolidation might be a good idea, but more information is needed, said Charter Communications. The PUC should hold more workshops to better vet the plan, said Comcast. “Consolidated’s proposal is an industry-impacting event in Maine." The proposal raises many questions and concerns, said GoNetSpeed. “The plan has the potential to significantly impact all voice service providers, particularly the small, legacy ILEC companies who have existing contractual agreements with Consolidated to exchange network traffic." It "would need to be undertaken carefully," but rate center consolidation may be "a viable approach to help Maine extend the life of the single 207 area code,” said CTIA. But it's too soon to say what implementation timeline is reasonable, it said. The PUC should assess financial and public safety impacts and consider whether LECs besides Consolidated would also merge rate centers, said CTIA: The commission “should ensure that any plan considers and mitigates any unintended consequences that would result from having one consolidated LEC and other LECs that have not made the same changes to their operations.” Maine’s public advocate said it “would like to see a qualitative and quantitative description … of the operational efficiencies and long-term operational cost savings that Consolidated anticipates, and how it plans to recover the costs for the work it intends to do.”
LTD Broadband still hasn’t shown it can serve rural Minnesota, said state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D), industry and public interest groups in comments at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. They urged the PUC to lift a stay on a proceeding to consider revoking the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winner’s expanded eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation -- and to suspend the certificate while docket 22-221 remains open. Inaction could stop areas from receiving support from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, said the commenters.
DENVER -- More companies will likely join Nokia onshoring equipment for high-speed internet infrastructure, broadband officials predicted Wednesday at Mountain Connect here. In an interview, Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton said NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program is the best internet infrastructure program he has ever seen, though challenges ahead include workforce shortages and possible permitting delays.
DENVER -- The state with the biggest allocation from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) will probably need more money to connect everyone, a Texas broadband official said on a Wednesday panel at Mountain Connect here. Other states also said they don’t have enough money to connect everyone, though some said alternative technologies like fixed wireless could be used.
DENVER -- Sen. John Hickenlooper sees no hurdles to broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program success, the Colorado Democrat said Tuesday. At the Mountain Connect conference, Hickenlooper, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) and multiple states' broadband officials largely sounded upbeat on achieving universal access within a decade. Also, Hickenlooper expects “tremendous pressure” to reup the affordable connectivity program (ACP), but said debt concerns might limit how much funding it receives from Congress.
T-Mobile’s MetroPCS won judgment Friday against the California Public Utilities Commission in a dispute about USF surcharges (case 3:17-cv-05959-JD). "The Court concludes that the CPUC’s 2017 and 2018 resolutions are preempted as applied to MetroPCS because they would impose surcharges on revenues from services that are not subject to surcharge, in violation of federal law,” Judge James Donato of the U.S. District Court for Northern California wrote.
Nebraska Public Service Commission staff recommend changes to state USF reverse auctions to “better incentive participation,” said Telecom Director Cullen Robbins at a partially virtual PSC hearing Wednesday (docket NUSF-131). The commission had a sound framework for conducting the first reverse auction in August 2022, said Robbins. But it makes sense to raise starting reserve prices next time, he said. “Afterall, it is a reverse auction [and] the main goal of the reserve price is to incentivize bidding -- ideally, by multiple parties -- so that the price can be lowered in successive rounds.” Staff recommends setting the reserve price two to three times higher than the model price, Robbins said. Also, the commission should reconfigure the units up for bid, said Robbins. “Since the bidding units in the last auction were census block groups, sometimes the blocks that made up the group were scattered and not contiguous,” which may have ballooned possible project costs, he said. Staff recommends allowing participation by the originally assigned price-cap carriers that returned USF funding or were withheld support, said Robbins: They might want to bid since they could get more money than they would have under the previous USF distribution mechanism, especially with the proposed higher reserve prices and smaller bidding units. Such companies are also likely to have the closest facilities and may be able to provide service for the least cost, he said. Also, staff recommends all participants have eligible telecom carrier designations to participate, which would allow carrier of last resort obligations and ongoing support to be transferred to the winning bidders, said Robbins: Bidders should commit to taking those obligations. Commissioner Tim Schram (R) suggested the Nebraska PSC at least ask applicants to say whether they will connect all the way to a customer’s location, such as in a situation where the customer has a half-mile-long driveway. Also, Schram wants to make sure winning bidders will connect customers to the state’s nearly complete next-generation 911 network. “We've spent millions ... to modernize that network and I just want to make sure that consumers have the ability to connect to it." Fixed wireless can participate if they can meet the program’s requirements for 100 Mbps symmetrical broadband, Robbins answered Commissioner Kevin Stocker (R). “I believe they can meet the speed requirements according to what I’ve seen them claim in the past.”
The Wyoming Public Service Commission won't vote at Thursday’s meeting on a staff proposal to grant a Dish Wireless application for eligible telecom carrier designation. The application in docket 60061-6-RA-23 was on the consent agenda, but Commissioner Chris Petrie said he has questions for Dish and asked to table the item until the Aug. 8 meeting at 1:30 p.m. MDT. Dish seeks “limited designation to provide Lifeline service to qualifying Wyoming consumers, including those customers residing on federally recognized Tribal lands,” said a July 24 staff memo. The company doesn’t seek access to USF high-cost support. The Utah PSC last month set a Nov. 28 hearing on a similar Dish petition (see 2307240029).
Geography and topography could be a big hurdle for states in NTIA's broadband equity, deployment and access (BEAD) program. In draft five-year action plans, many states cited terrain as a chief challenge for getting service to high-cost areas, with several looking at options including satellite broadband and fixed wireless to serve high-cost areas. Numerous states also cited challenges such as labor shortages and affordability, longer supply chain lead times and regulatory hurdles, according to our review of draft plans made public so far.
Verizon renewed a request for leeway to migrate many California Tracfone customers despite getting rejected last month by the California Public Utilities Commission’s executive director. Taking a fresh procedural tack, Verizon petitioned Thursday to modify the CPUC’s 2021 Verizon/Tracfone conditional OK to remove a two-year deadline and eliminate penalties (docket A.20-11-001). The carrier pledged to keep serving unmigrated customers “for an indefinite time period that will last at least through 2025.”