Spectrum Advanced Services notified the FCC of its intent to acquire the customer base of 2125 Cable Co., though Spectrum Advanced said it doesn’t believe the notice is necessary. “The Commission has not determined whether interconnected VoIP services are telecommunications services, nor has it yet ruled that its carrier change rules apply to interconnected VoIP services,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 00-257. Spectrum said it also complied with FCC customer notification rules “out of an abundance of caution.”

The FCC on Friday released an order commissioners approved Thursday expanding the range of accessibility features that must be included in videoconferencing platforms (see 2409260026). The item also includes a Further NPRM. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez issued statements with the order. “We take steps to ensure that people with disabilities are able to access and use video conferencing, a modern communications tool that is critical in connecting for work, education, health, and other fundamental life activities,” the item says.

Sorenson sought "minor changes" to the FCC's draft order and Further NPRM on accessibility in videoconferencing during meetings with aides to all commissioners and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff. Commissioners will consider the item during an agency meeting Thursday (see 2409040053). The provider asked that video interpreters be allowed to change their display name before entering an interoperable videoconferencing service (IVCS) call to maintain some privacy. It also sought clarification that a communications assistant (CA) may satisfy the requirement that they must identify themselves as an interpreter by indicating this in their display name. "To the extent that the current language would require another method, such as requiring the CA to identify herself verbally, that would be intrusive to the call," Sorenson said in an ex parte filing Monday in docket 23-61. Sorenson asked that the commission reconsider its proposed rule to provide a five-minute compensable period for CAs to remain on a call if another video relay service user requests a CA, raising concerns about the potential for duplication of CAs on a call. "We think the better approach is to allow the CA to remain on the call provided there remains someone who is actively using [American Sign Language] and who appears to be deaf," Sorenson said. The provider also asked the FCC to consider moving its decision on the use of specially trained CAs from the draft order to the FNPRM to develop a record on whether "allowing providers to route requests for VRS for IVCS calls to specially trained CAs will provide a more functionally equivalent experience for the users."

Wide Voice meeting with FCC Wireline Bureau staff raised "grave concern" about "imminent" time division multiplexed (TDM) voice service discontinuance. The company said Verizon discontinued live service-affecting TDM services after the meeting, per an ex parte filing Monday in docket 21-17 (see 2010200052). Wide Voice said no alternative options are available from any other provider and local end user calls from incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC) to Wide Voice can be delivered. "All of the major ILECs have made it clear that these circuits are coming down ... with no substitute service in the foreseeable future," the company said. Wide Voice noted that "a solution exists right now to route this traffic to Wide Voice over existing arrangements" and it's "unreasonable" for a provider to "use outdated local/non-local traffic distinctions to allow this traffic to fail."

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by Oct. 21, replies by Nov. 5, in docket 05-337 on the National Exchange Carrier Association's proposed changes to the average schedule Universal Service Fund high cost loop support formula. The proposed formula would take effect Jan. 1, said a public notice Thursday.

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by Oct. 3, replies Oct. 18, on iconectiv's request to become wholly-owned by a "to-be-formed subsidiary" of Koch Equity Development (KED). The bureau sought comment in a public notice Wednesday in docket 95-116 on whether iconectiv will still meet the commission's neutrality requirements for the local number portability administrator (LPNA). The companies also sought approval for the LNPA to be "indirectly acquired by KED" and consent to "terminate the existing Ericsson-FP-Icon Voting Trust" when the transaction closes because "neither Ericsson nor FP-Icon will have any equity interests in iconectiv post-close."

The Association of Late-Deafened Adults and Deaf Seniors of America urged the FCC to "consider certificating new entrants" of IP relay providers. In a letter Wednesday in docket 03-123, the groups backed Nagish's conditional certification, saying the "now-typical two-year conditional certification period will provide valuable information to both the commission and consumers." Nagish received its certification in January (see 2401040069). The groups noted that allowing new entrants to the IP relay marketplace will "advance innovation and functional equivalence" after "a decade of a single provider in the market and only one method" of delivering the service. IP relay is "an especially important service for individuals who are DeafBlind because IP relay is an alternative service for individuals who are unable to benefit from video relay services and IP captioned telephone services," the groups said. Current providers of IP relay and video relay services "provide no choices to users who want to speak on the phone without a human interpreter relaying the call," they said: "New IP relay providers can change this."

Representatives of the Edison Electric Institute met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about the group’s stance on pole attachment rules. “EEI emphasized the need for a flexible approach to timelines for ‘Large Orders,’ as a one-size-fits-all approach would be impractical,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-84: “Any make-ready timeline for Large Orders must account for unpredictable and unavoidable operational issues outside the pole owner’s control.”

The Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition (ARCC) recommended that the FCC reject GCI's proposal that addresses revisions in the Alaska Plan for the Alaska Connect Fund (see 2408140040). In a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, ARCC defended its proposed adjustment factors associated with performance testing results, said an ex parte filing Friday in docket 23-328. "To suggest that no changes should be made to the original Alaska Plan format deviates from the intent of the first paragraph" of the commission's NPRM seeking comment on "innovative solutions" to connect Alaska's communities, the group said. It also urged that the FCC refrain from allowing "constant waivers of its performance testing guidelines with limited consequences," warning that the "regulatory compliance basis" the commission laid out in its plans is "flawed at best."

There's "no viable proposed timeline" for larger make-ready pole orders that account for "the fundamental realities of broadband deployment," USTelecom told the FCC in a letter Friday in docket 17-84. The commission sought comment on the item in a December Further NPRM (see 2312130044). USTelecom noted such orders are "more complicated and time-consuming," making it "impossible" to determine how long an order for more than 3,000 poles will take (see 2408210034). Timelines for larger pole orders must account for "workforce limitations," workflow management, and coordination between pole owners and attachers, USTelecom said, adding it's "impossible to predict solely from the number of poles involved" how long a make-ready request for more than 3,000 poles will take, it said. "That there are real-world obstacles to deployment is a reason to ensure that any timeline includes a robust good faith exception capturing all situations where the pole owner cannot meet the timeline due to circumstances beyond its control," USTelecom said. The group also opposed several proposals from other groups on cost-allocations for pole replacements, one-touch, make-ready mandates and professional engineer certification requirements.