NTCA asked FCC Wireline Bureau staff to reconsider the affordable connectivity program's non-usage rules or grant additional time for companies serving tribal consumers, said an ex parte posted Wednesday in docket 21-450 (see 2204150057). Some of the group's smaller members "will have substantial difficulty with" the rules, Vice President-Federal Regulatory Brian Ford told staff, noting at least one member company serving customers on tribal lands with fully subsidized plans would need to use an automated process for tracking usage because doing so manually "would be nearly impossible." Tribal areas "pose unique challenges," Ford said, and it's "important to reconcile reasonably the prospect of a new program intended to increase broadband adoption in these areas and a non-usage provision that applied too strictly could undermine the success of these efforts."

The FCC announced it's ready to authorize nearly $200 million in its latest round of the Rural Digital Opportunity Phase I auction, said a Tuesday news release (see 2203250062). The FCC has committed more than $5.2 billion so far. Cable One VoIP, Conexon and Mercury Wireless were among the winning bidders ready to be authorized for support. Letters of credit and bankruptcy code opinion letters are due by May 17 at 6 p.m. EDT.

The FCC North American Numbering Council meets virtually June 14 and Aug. 15 at 2 p.m. EDT, said a public notice Friday in docket 92-237. The group will vote on the numbering administration oversight working group's recommendations for reviewing and updating the statement of work and billing and collection agent requirements for the North American numbering plan's billing and collection agent in June. It will vote on the working group's recommendations on the "feasibility of individual telephone number pooling trials" in August.

ClearCaptions CEO Michael Strecker and others from the company asked for a freeze of IP captioned telephone service rates through June 30, 2023, speaking with aides to all FCC commissioners except Brendan Carr. Because ClearCaptions was the only provider to implement automatic speech recognition-only IP CTS “at scale for a portion of 2021, and pandemic volume fluctuations and inflation make it difficult to project costs, the Commission does not have sufficient stable cost information to set new IP CTS rates,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 13-24. The company urged the FCC to “maintain a technology-neutral reimbursement rate” and “reconsider whether allowable IP CTS costs should include the manufacturing, installation, and support costs for custom-built hardware that delivers captions to seniors who as a group face many barriers to using IP CTS on a smartphone app.”

USTelecom told FCC Wireline Bureau staff it backs NTCA's request for the FCC to extend its waiver of the budget control mechanism for rural cost-based Connect America Fund broadband loop support and high-cost loop support recipients, said an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 10-90 (see 2204110062). The group said it anticipates universal service support for "several hundred small rural companies and cooperatives over the next twelve-month period will be reduced significantly" once the Universal Service Administrative Co. completes its "recalculation of the impact estimate on the high cost budget."

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by May 13 on Aureon's proposed tariff refund plan, said a public notice Thursday in docket 18-60. Commissioners approved an order in February requiring the company to submit certain data needed to calculate refunds to customers (see 2202180054).

Comments are due by June 27, replies July 27, on the FCC's Further NPRM on pole replacement and attachment disputes, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved the item in March (see 2203180074).

Incompas asked FCC Wireline Bureau and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff to "consider a minor change" to the proposed definition of a gateway provider in the FCC's NPRM aimed at curbing illegal robocalls, said an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-59 (see 2112130046). The group proposed defining gateway providers as "the first intermediate provider in the call path of a foreign-originated call that receives traffic at its U.S.-based facilities before transmitting the call directly to another intermediate provider or a terminating voice service provider in the U.S." Require gateway providers to comply with requirements that other intermediate providers follow instead of "obligations the commission has not assigned to other classes of voice service providers," Incompas said. It also asked the FCC to "preserve providers' call blocking flexibility" to prevent over or under blocking.

Organizations for the deaf and hard of hearing told an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that the commission should "move quickly" on its pending video relay service rates proceeding, said an ex parte posted Monday in docket 03-123 (see 2107300056). Telecom for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the National Association of the Deaf, Hearing Loss Association of America, American Council of the Blind, Gallaudet University's Technology Access Program, Communications Services for the Deaf, and the Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic at Colorado Law met with David Strickland, Rosenworcel's acting legal adviser. The groups cited several priorities, including adopting "long-overdue" IP captioned telephone services metrics and standards, "equitable access to contemporary forms" of telecom relay services for incarcerated individuals, and implementing the disability advisory committee's recommendations on real-time text and videoconferencing accessibility. They also sought rules on "ensuring the accessibility and usability of closed captioning display settings."

Lumen's dispute with Aureon on tariff refunds "has been ongoing" in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, the ISP told FCC Wireline Bureau staff, said an ex parte posted Friday in docket 18-60 (see 2203240058). Lumen disputed Aureon's claim that it "had reached a settlement agreement" and "the refund proceeding would not impact its financial obligations to Lumen." The ISP said it plans to file comments "at the appropriate time."