NTIA awarded $4.5 million in additional tribal broadband connectivity program grants to nine tribes Wednesday. The new funding will support broadband deployment and planning and feasibility studies, said a news release. “Tribal communities deserve access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet service,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson: “These grants will help lower barriers to internet access today and plan for the future high-speed internet infrastructure projects of tomorrow.”
Attorneys general from 48 states and the District of Columbia sued Avid Telecom, owner Michael Lansky and Vice President Stacey Reeves for illegal robocalls, per a complaint Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (docket 4:23-cv-00233). Avid didn't comment. According to the complaint, Avid violated the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and state laws in 11 states in facilitating billions of illegal robocalls for years via the company's VoIP services. Avid received more than 329 notifications from the USTelecom-led Industry Traceback Group (ITG) putting it on notice that it was transmitting illegal robocalls, said the complaint. The states allege Avid "knew or consciously avoided knowing they were routing illegal robocall traffic." In the complaint, they ask for an injunction and damages for each illegal call.
The FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council will meet at FCC headquarters June 26 starting at 1 p.m., said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. This will be the final meeting of the current iteration of CSRIC. The current charter expires June 29.
"We're all kind of progressives on broadband now,” said Brookings senior fellow Blair Levin at the think tank’s livestreamed event Thursday. Levin said COVID-19 did more to persuade policymakers about high-speed internet’s importance than the national broadband plan he oversaw while at the FCC. Now Democratic and Republican governors alike are aggressive about expanding service, he said. Inflation and workforce issues mean the government may not connect as many people as it could have when the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was made law, said Levin: From an economic perspective, it may end up looking like the government wasted two years waiting for the FCC’s map.
NTIA awarded nearly $5 million in additional tribal broadband connectivity program grants Wednesday. The latest round of funding will support "planning for future high-speed Internet infrastructure projects or promoting Internet use and adoption," said a news release. The agency said it will release a second notice of funding opportunity for additional program funding "in the next few months."
NTIA awarded Guam, American Samoa and Northern Mariana Islands planning grants Wednesday for the broadband, equity, access and deployment program and Digital Equity Act. Guam received $1.25 million in BEAD funding, American Samoa $1.24 million and Northern Mariana Islands $1.25 million. Each territory received $150,000 in Digital Equity Act funding.
The FCC Wireline Bureau extended the service and equipment delivery deadlines for Emergency Connectivity Fund recipients, in an order Friday in docket 21-93. The bureau extended the service delivery deadline by 14 months for requests from first- and second-window applicants with a funding commitment decision letter, or revised funding commitment decision letters that were dated on or after July 1, 2022. The bureau also extended by 180 days the service delivery date for equipment funding requests with either letter dated on or after Jan. 1. The service delivery deadline for applicants from the third filing window was extended from Dec. 31 to June 30, 2024. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and Consortium for School Networking sought an extension in a petition filed in April (see 2304050075).
The FCC committed more than $24 million in additional Emergency Connectivity Fund support Wednesday. The new funding will support 55 schools, five libraries, and one consortium from all three application windows, the agency said in a news release.
ZP Better Together launched a campaign Thursday urging the FCC to ensure video relay service users have "equal telecommunications rights." The #StandWithTheDeafCommunity campaign wants action on "geolocating for emergency services and having one phone number for both texting and calling," the video relay service provider said in a news release. It also launched a documentary film that highlights the "critical role that deaf and hard of hearing individuals play in shaping society and underscores the urgent need for communication equity."
FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Debra Jordan advised public safety agencies Tuesday to get ready as hurricane and wildfire seasons approach. Jordan noted the work the FCC did to improve the delivery of outage information to public safety answering points (see 2211170051), update wireless priority service (WPS), government emergency telecommunications service (GETS) and other rules (see 2205190057) and the “many recent” commission “actions to make the nation’s emergency alerting systems a stronger tool for public safety officials to warn and protect their communities.” Everyone should “prepare now for communicating during emergencies, especially when the power is out,” Jordan said.