A new study by the Phoenix Center found "no material change" in broadband availability under the FCC's updated 100/20 Mbps speed threshold. The study, released Thursday, estimated a decrease of "no more than about 3%" in availability. In addition, it found that providers were most likely to be affected, with an estimated 11% decrease in the number of fixed providers that can meet the new threshold. Availability rates would remain "somewhat stable, as cable and fiber are widely deployed and easily meet the new 100/20 Mbps threshold in nearly all cases," the study said.

Generative and predictive AI have experienced a “huge surge” in interest and discussion, but telecom carriers are mostly taking a cautious approach, recognizing the need for “guardrails” and a phased transition, Ruth Brown, Heavy Reading principal analyst-mobile networks and 5G, said during an Informa Tech webinar Thursday. For example, some carrier executives question whether machines can replace humans in making key decisions, she said. AI-assisted analytics will help providers “pinpoint and rectify faults and security” and assist in “scaling resources” to meet demand, she said. “Understanding this transition is going to be really important … along with ethics around using AI,” she said. For Terje Jensen, senior vice president-network and cloud technology strategy at Norway-based provider Telenor, whether providers will use AI is no longer a debate. Instead, the question is how they will “master” it in a way that’s responsible. Carriers offer “critical infrastructure” and must protect the data and privacy of their customers, he said: “We have to take care on that part.” Providers need to “address the competency and understanding” of staff responsible for AI, he said. For years, Telenor automated many of its operations and is "gradually introducing more AI,” bringing operations “to the next level,” he said. This is a “rather fundamental shift” in how carriers operate, he said. Jensen also said Telenor recognizes the importance of industry standards and collaboration with customers and suppliers. As networks become increasingly complex, operators must manage them with the same staff size, which is “becoming more and more difficult,” said David Allabaugh, Fujitsu software solutions architect. “Full autonomy is a fairly aggressive goal -- we see this as a journey and not a near-term destination,” he said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau wants comments by May 1 on the state of private-led robocall traceback efforts in 2023, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 20-195. The commission needs feedback for an annual report to Congress as required under the Traced Act.

The FCC's Q2 USF contribution factor will be 32.8%, said an Office of Managing Director public notice Thursday in docket 96-45. That's a decrease from Q1, which was 34.6%.

Vexus Fiber will pay $100,000 for violating the FCC's affordable connectivity program rules. An Enforcement Bureau order Friday said Vexus admitted it violated the program's rule prohibiting downselling broadband services to ACP-eligible households by "preventing customers from applying the ACP benefit to any residential broadband internet access service plan they selected."

After five years of growth, “the pendulum swung rapidly towards the negative” in the second half of 2023 in the worldwide telecom equipment market, Dell’Oro Group’s Stefan Pongratz said Wednesday in a blog post. Revenue decreased across the six telecom programs tracked -- broadband access, microwave and optical transport, mobile core network, radio access network, and service provider router and switch -- with overall performance worse than expected. “There are multiple forces at play,” Pongratz wrote: “First and foremost, challenging comparisons in some of the advanced 5G markets with higher 5G population coverage taken together with the slow transition towards 5G [stand alone] helped to partially explain steep declines in wireless-based investments.” The aggregate telecom equipment fell by roughly a fifth in the North America region, “underpinned by weak activity in both RAN and Broadband Access.” Market conditions “are expected to remain challenging in 2024, though the decline is projected to be less severe than in 2023,” he said.

NTIA accepted digital equity plans for South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, the agency said Friday (see 2402290071). South Dakota received about $527,000 through the state digital equity planning grant program. Wisconsin received roughly $952,000. Wyoming received about $530,000. The three states created plans to address "disparities in digital access, skills and affordability."

The FCC Wireline Bureau extended until May 1 the deadline to apply for the rural healthcare program. In an order Thursday in docket 17-310, the bureau extended the FY 2024 application filing window due to "two instances of outages of a program form that delayed some program participants’ ability [to] begin competitive bidding."

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by March 26, replies April 9, in docket 19-126 on a coalition request for amnesty for certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and Connect America Fund II recipients, a public notice Tuesday said (see 2402280078). The coalition, which included nearly 70 ISPs, trade associations, state and local officials, and school districts, sought an amnesty period for support recipients "who cannot or do not intend to build their networks, a very short and expedited amnesty period of no more than a month that allows them to relinquish all or part of their winning areas without being penalized to the full extent that the commission’s rules provide."

The American Association of Public Broadband released a handbook for communities that want to build broadband networks. Published by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, the guide “is a key part of AAPB's strategy to double the number of public networks in the next five years,” Executive Director Gigi Sohn said Wednesday.