The FCC Wireline Bureau waived until March 12, 2025, sua sponte, certain letter of credit rules for Connect America Fund II and Rural Digital Opportunity Fund recipients, according to an order Tuesday in docket 10-90. The bureau waived its requirement that a bank issuing a letter of credit to a support recipient maintain at least a B- Weiss bank safety rating (see 2311140077). "Recent submissions from banking institutions indicate that a majority of United States banks are no longer eligible to issue LOCs to auction recipients because they have a safety rating less than a B-," the order said, noting that more than 1,600 banks are no longer able to issue the LOCs since 2022. The waiver applies "only to auction support recipients that wish to retain, renew, or reestablish their LOCs with banks that previously had Weiss ratings at or above a B- but have since seen that rating fall below B-," the order said. It doesn't let support recipients obtain an LOC from a new bank that did not already provide one from a bank with a Weiss safety rating below a B-.

The FCC Wireline Bureau denied two petitions from Colo Telephone and South Canaan Telephone seeking waivers to revise their Connect America Fund broadband loop support filings. Both companies sought a waiver of the Dec. 31 deadline to file data needed to calculate a carrier's CAF BLS amount. The order, posted Tuesday in docket 10-90, said both companies "failed to demonstrate good cause." The bureau found that the telcos' arguments on the "significance of the support amount" to their broadband operations compared with the "insignificance of the amount to the total amount of BLS payments" were "equally unpersuasive."

The major questions doctrine "is not applicable" to reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service, Public Knowledge told FCC Wireline Bureau, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and Office of General Counsel staff. The group said in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-320 that the commission "would need to claim a new power or reverse a long-standing interpretation of a statute" for the doctrine to be considered. The FCC "does not need evidence of new harms to justify its reversal" to "the status quo ante," the group said, adding the commission "only needs to assert that the 2018 reversal does not comport with the FCC’s mandate to ensure universal service and promote public safety." Public Knowledge also asked the FCC not to forbear providers from Section 254(d) rules governing USF contributions, noting any contribution requirements would require the commission to first establish a specific mechanism (see 2403080055).

Incompas is urging the FCC to adopt its proposed changes to pole attachment rules (see 2402140048). Its members "continue to experience significant barriers when seeking to attach to utility poles," citing "unreasonable delays in the application and make-ready process" and "unsubstantiated and unreasonable fees for engineering and survey work," the group said in separate meetings with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Wireline Bureau staff. As such, Incompas is seeking "specific timeframes for make-ready for large pole orders" and backs NCTA's proposal requiring that pole owners notify a requesting attacher within 15 days after receiving their application if the owner can't conduct a survey within the required 45-day period, the group said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 17-84. The group also opposed the Edison Electric Institute and Coalition of Concerned Utilities' petitions about the commission's current rules (see 2402260073).

The Affordable Broadband Campaign urged the FCC not to immediately grant broadband providers forbearance from Communications Act Section 254(d) requirements in its net neutrality proceeding. The group's chair, Vernonburg Group Chief Policy Officer Greg Guice, said granting forbearance of Section 254(d), which governs USF contributions, is "unnecessary and not supported by the record," per an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 23-320 (see 2310190020). The group urged the FCC to start a proceeding "focused on whether and how the contribution obligation would be undertaken." The group met with Wireline Bureau staff.

NTCA raised concerns about a recent petition seeking amnesty for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund or Connect America Fund II recipients (see 2402280078). In a Friday letter to the FCC, the group warned that granting amnesty "without any conditions or consequences would put at risk what the auction programs could still achieve, result in an inefficient allocation of valuable broadband funding resources, and create perverse incentives that reward gaming in the form of attempts to 'hop' between funding programs." NTCA suggested the commission instead grant a waiver for RDOF or CAF II recipients that pay an "early buyout" of "default liability for the abandoned locations" and bar the recipient and "its affiliates or subsidiaries seeking grant funding thereafter to serve those same locations." The letter was posted in docket 10-90.

USTelecom asked the FCC to grant broadband providers forbearance from Communications Act Section 214 requirements if it reclassifies broadband as a Title II service, meeting separately with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Nathan Simington and Brendan Carr. Imposing Section 214 requirements on broadband providers would "undermine innovation and investment in the broadband marketplace," the group said in an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 23-320. While USTelecom continued opposing the commission's proceeding on Title II reclassification, it also asked that the FCC limit any obligations to "requiring broadband providers to have an international Section 214 authorization to enter the marketplace" (see 2310190020). Verizon raised similar concerns in a meeting with staff of the Wireline Bureau, Wireless Bureau, Office of International Affairs, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and Office of General Counsel.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated an NPRM Tuesday proposing a ban on bulk billing arrangements in apartments, condos, public housing and other multi-tenant buildings, said a news release. The proposal would prevent tenants from a requirement that they purchase service from a specific provider. Moreover, the proposal "boosts competition and consumer choice and builds on our ongoing efforts to improve broadband transparency," said Rosenworcel. The announcement builds on the commission's 2022 rule banning certain revenue-sharing arrangements in multi-tenant environments (see 2202150047).

The FCC released additional guidance Monday for affordable connectivity program providers as it continues winding down the program. "Absent additional funding from Congress, the ACP can only provide a partial reimbursement for May 2024," said a public notice docket 21-450. ACP providers "have the option to claim and pass on that partial reimbursement amount to enrolled households," it said: "After May 2024, the ACP will no longer support any benefits to enrolled households." Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel urged lawmakers to fully fund the program, saying many enrolled households have contacted the commission with concerns about losing service.

Incompas urged the FCC to "reinstate its oversight authority over" broadband internet access service providers’ interconnection agreements (see 2402080082). "Net neutrality is competition policy as it brings more choices and opportunities for consumers and small businesses," the group said in a filing posted Friday in docket 23-320 on separate meetings with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez. Incompas also warned the commission against taking a "regulatory drift into areas of internet regulation," noting that content delivery networks and virtual private networks are "areas in which the FCC has not traditionally had a role."