Gabriella Novello

A draft FCC NPRM on broadband consumer labels like those recommended in 2016 may get pushback from ISPs because the labels would be mandatory for all providers, experts told us (see 2201060057). Consumer advocates said the move is a good starting point and will boost pricing transparency.

The FCC precision agriculture task force's previous report to the FCC and USDA should be considered a "launching pad" to "give better insights [and] better recommendations" in its next report, Chair Teddy Bekele told the group during its virtual first meeting Thursday since being rechartered (see 2111100062). The panel has a “big task of helping rural America become more part of the internet and having connectivity,” said Vice Chair Michael Adelaine, South Dakota State University vice president-technology and security. She said all working group members should be involved and engaged in their group's discussions. Bekele is also Land O'Lakes chief technology officer.

FCC draft rules for the $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program were widely welcomed as more consumer protection provisions were included and several ACP changes were made to reflect challenges seen during the emergency broadband benefit program, industry and advocacy groups told us. Some sought minor changes to rules governing participating providers and connected devices. Rules must be finalized by Friday as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will vote “later this week” on draft affordable connectivity program rules, funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, he said during an Information Technology Industry Council webinar Tuesday. “I expect a lot from this program going forward” (see 2201070060). ACP rules must be finalized within 60 days of the law's enactment, which is Friday.

Telecom relay service providers disagreed about Sorenson Communications’ petition for declaratory ruling that video relay service providers be allowed to recover the cost of service-related tasks, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 10-51. IP captioned telephone service provider Hamilton backed the petition and asked that it be extended to IP CTS providers. All "costs associated with an installation/training/registration visit should be reimbursable from the TRS Fund," said IP CTS provider ClearCaptions. VRS providers Convo Communications and GlobalVRS opposed the petition. Sorenson's request "constitutes a thinly veiled effort to increase its revenues while retaining its market dominance and captive users through continued leveraging of its proprietary equipment," GlobalVRS said. Convo asked the FCC to consider waiting to decide until at least "after it determines Ariel’s application to acquire control of Sorenson" (see 2112200045).

Some disagreement continued on an FCC Further NPRM aimed at gateway providers and curbing illegal robocalls, in replies Tuesday in docket 17-59 (see 2112130046). Gateway providers should be required to implement Stir/Shaken technology and robocall mitigation, said the National Association of Attorneys General. Extend the requirement to all providers and "enhance [the FCC’s] existing regime,” said USTelecom, which NCTA echoed. Verizon backed requiring all providers to certify a robocall mitigation plan and said the FCC shouldn't "mandate a burdensome stir/shaken obligation for intermediate providers." AGs backed a shorter implementation compliance deadline of within 30 days of Federal Register publication. The Voice on the Net Coalition backed Twilio's suggestion that providers blocking calls "should be subject to transparency and redress requirements." Impose a "know or should have known standard" on providers that may be trafficking in illegal calls, said the Electronic Privacy Information Center and National Consumer Law Center. Consider a "performance-based safe harbor" for providers that "meet or exceed a high standard of compliance," said YouMail. There are still some "misgivings about various aspects of this approach” because “we already have difficulty knowing who is an originator vs. an intermediate provider vs. a caller,” said ZipDX. Limit "any and all obligations” adopted in this proceeding to “foreign calls using U.S. numbers," said iBasis.

Securus' subscription plans for inmate calling services "benefit incarcerated persons and their loved ones, as feedback on the pilot programs confirms," it said in comments Monday in docket 12-375 on a petition for waiver of FCC rules requiring interstate and indeterminate calls to be charged at per-minute rates (see 2111220049). Others sought additional information and asked the FCC to require that the plans be offered on a per-minute basis.

An FCC report showing a bump in 911 fee diversion in 2020 frustrated former Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). The agency reported that some states diverted more than $207 million in 2020. Don’t adopt a safe harbor or grace period to comply with the fee diversion order, said CTIA in comments posted Friday in docket 20-291 (see 2112210037). CTIA opposed petitions for reconsideration from Colorado’s Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority and City of Aurora 911 Authority, saying the requests would “undermine Congress’s intent.”

A draft FCC NPRM would require ISPs to disclose certain information to consumers through a broadband label, if approved during the agency's January meeting, said a fact sheet Thursday (see 2201050057). Other drafts include an order updating the E-rate program's rules to ensure tribal libraries' access to the program, an order updating political programming rules, an NPRM updating equipment authorization rules, and an order resolving "pending issues" on white space spectrum.

The FCC has a "robust agenda" for the agency's January meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel blogged Wednesday. This year is "going to be a busy and productive year at the FCC," she wrote. On tap is a proposal to establish "simple-to-understand broadband labels," an order addressing E-rate for tribal libraries, and updates on political programming, white space spectrum and equipment authorization rules.