AT&T highlighted its recent growth in wireless and fiber in a Wednesday news release. AT&T’s wireless network now covers more than 2.91 million square miles in the U.S., “an increase of about 100,000 square miles in 2022, or like covering the entire United Kingdom,” AT&T said. The network is available to 290 million people in nearly 24,000 cities and towns across the U.S. AT&T also increased wireless coverage by more than 40% on federally recognized tribal lands in 2020-2022, the company said. In 2022, AT&T said it laid more than 60,000 miles of fiber in the U.S.: “All that fiber helps carry more than 594 petabytes of data traffic on an average day, up 23% year-over-year.”
The Rural Utilities Service is accepting Community Connect Grant program applications until 11:59 a.m. June 20, said a notice for Monday's Federal Register. The agency anticipates about $79 million in funding to be available for FY 2023.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Marketing Support Systems owner Kenneth Moser's petition for review Thursday of an FCC order saying Moser and his company violated the Truth in Caller ID Act by engaging in a "large-scale" robocalling campaign (see 2112020059). The 9th Circuit said the district court "has exclusive jurisdiction over the petition because Moser seeks to avoid enforcement of a forfeiture order," per a memorandum in case no. 21-70099.
The FCC wants comments by April 12, replies May 12, in docket 22-238 on how to implement the Safe Connections Act and improve access to communications services for survivors of domestic violence, said a notice in Monday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved an NPRM in February (see 2302160024).
The National Urban League had separate meetings with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks about digital equity efforts and raised concerns about barriers to accessing and adopting broadband. The group emphasized the need for a granular data collection to "better understand what is keeping households offline" and said community organizations are "best situated ... to perform this work," per an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 22-69. NUL also cited "the importance of providing communities with updated skills to use the internet." The group backed "continued funding" for the affordable connectivity program and sought an annual report on "the state of digital discrimination" to assist the commission in establishing rules to combat digital discrimination.
The FCC granted nearly 200 applicants about $66 million in funding through the affordable connectivity outreach grant program Friday. The commission received 350 applications, said a news release. "These outreach grants will help us expand awareness in more communities, so we can continue the work to close the digital divide," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The commission awarded $60 million through the national competitive outreach program and about $6 million through the tribal competitive outreach program. Awards for the Your Home, Your Internet and ACP Navigator Pilot programs will be given later. Also Friday, Rosenworcel circulated an order proposing another "more targeted" notice of funding opportunity for ACP outreach grants. "I’ve proposed another targeted grant opportunity to give even more outreach partners a chance to join us in our work to close the digital divide," Rosenworcel said.
The USF contribution factor has “gone up really through the roof” and “led to a pretty vibrant debate right now about what the future of the universal service is going to be funded going forward,” said Keller and Heckman partner Casey Lide during a firm webinar Thursday. The telecom lawyer noted some groups sought direct congressional appropriations to fund USF, while others urged the FCC to include broadband internet access service revenue in the contribution base. Consumers’ Research’s challenge of the USF contribution factor in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based on the nondelegation doctrine could “force the hand on this kind of reform discussion,” he said (see 2301180054). If the court finds in favor of the petitioners, “it's undoubtedly going to go before the Supreme Court,” Lide said: "This Supreme Court could well uphold that [and] if that happens, then you're in a scenario where the universal service program is effectively gutted by judicial process.”
The FCC rejection of Wide Voice's petition for reconsideration of its June 9 order granting AT&T and Verizon's complaint about access stimulation rule violations (see 2109280065) "was not arbitrary and capricious, nor unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act," the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday in docket 21-71375. In the decision by Judges Richard Paez, Bridget Bade and Raner Collins and penned by Paez, the court said the FCC finding was "reasonable and lawful." WV argued the FCC needed to establish new rules barring the evasion of existing rules to find a Communications Act violation, but that "belie[s] common sense," the court said. WV outside counsel didn't comment.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel was to visit the Los Angeles Public Library's Pio Pico-Koreatown branch Thursday with Mayor Karen Bass (D) and EveryoneOn to promote the affordable connectivity program. The library launched a public campaign to increase enrollment, said a news release. “I’m grateful to Mayor Bass and our local community partners for collaborating with us to ensure families can get online and stay online, no matter who they are or where they live,” Rosenworcel said.
The FCC wants comments by April 24, replies May 23, in docket 02-6 on ways to increase tribal and rural entities' participation in the E-rate program, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved the item in February (see 2302160024).