March 2020 News Update
USDA Extends ReConnect Pilot Program 2nd Round Application Window To April 15
March 30, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced it has extended the application window for the ReConnect Pilot Program’s second round of funding to April 15th. Applicants have until midnight, based on the time zone the applicant is located in, on April 15, 2020, to submit their applications. USDA’s Broadband ReConnect Pilot Program provides loans and grants for the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service in eligible rural areas. To date, USDA has provided $621 million in ReConnect Pilot Program broadband funding to create or improve connectivity for rural Americans across 31 states.
**********
FCC Grants WISPs Emergency Authorization To Use 5.8 GHz Band Spectrum
March 27, 2020 – The FCC has granted a Special Temporary Authorization (STA) to 33 wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) to operate in the 5.8 GHz (5850-5895 MHz) band at various locations throughout the U.S. for 60 days. Each WISP’s use of the 45 MHz of spectrum is authorized on a secondary, non-interference basis, but each is required to first file an FCC Form 601 application within 10 days of the STA grant. The WISPs requested use of the spectrum to help deal with increased broadband consumption by subscribers due to the coronavirus pandemic.
**********
FTC Warns VoIP Providers About Facilitating Illegal Coronavirus Robocalls
March 27, 2020 – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent letters to nine VoIP service providers and other companies warning them that assisting and facilitating illegal telemarketing or robocalls related to the coronavirus pandemic is against the law. Letters were sent to the following companies: (1) VoIPMax; (2) SipJoin Holding, Corp.; (3) iFly Communications; (4) Third Rock Telecom; (5) Bluetone Communications, LLC; (6) VoIP Terminator, Inc., also known as BLMarketing; (7) J2 Web Services, Inc.; (8) VoxBone US LLC; and (9) Comet Media, Inc. Each letter warns the recipient that the FTC may take legal action against them if they assist a seller or telemarketer who they know, or consciously avoid knowing, is violating the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).
**********
FCC March 31 Open Meeting Will Be Online Only
March 24, 2020 – The Federal Communications Commission will hold its March 31, 2020 open meeting in a wholly electronic format due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting will be open to the public on the Internet via live feed from the FCC’s web page at www.fcc.gov/live and on the FCC’s YouTube channel. It is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. ET. The agenda items are expected to be voted on circulation prior to the meeting.
**********
FCC Delays 3550-3650 MHz CBRS Band Spectrum Auction To July 23rd
March 25, 2020 – The FCC has postponed Auction 105, the auction of Priority Access Licenses in the 3550-3650 MHz band. Bidding in Auction 105 is now set to begin on July 23, 2020. Other important deadlines have been revised as follows:
Short-Form Application Filing Window Opens: April 23, 2020, 12:00 p.m. ET
Short-Form Application Filing Window Deadline: May 7, 2020, 6:00 p.m. ET
Upfront Payments: June 19, 2020, 6:00 p.m. ET
Mock Auction: July 20, 2020
Auction 105 will assign up to seven PALs in each county-based license area, for a total of 22,631 PALs nationwide. Each PAL will consist of a 10-megahertz unpaired channel. PALs are 10-year renewable licenses. The auction format will be an ascending clock auction, similar to that used in Auctions 102 and 103, in which bidders indicate their demands for generic license blocks in specific counties. However, there will not be an assignment phase.
**********
Families First Coronavirus Response Act – Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act
March 18, 2020 – The President has signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which among other things, provides emergency paid sick leave for some American workers. Specifically, Division E of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, requires certain employers to give paid sick time to employees who are unable to work or telework because of six different coronavirus-related circumstances. These include employees who cannot work because they or their children are or may be infected with the virus, or employees who must care for their children due to school or daycare closures.
**********
Challenges To Preliminary List Of RDOF Phase I Auction Eligible Areas Due April 10
March 17, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has released a preliminary list of census blocks that have been deemed initially eligible for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction. The list begins a limited challenge process to give parties an opportunity to identify by April 10, 2020, census blocks that should not be eligible for support, which fall into one of the three following categories:
FCC Form 477 Filers – Current FCC Form 477 filers should identify as ineligible any census blocks that have become served with voice and 25/3 Mbps or better broadband services since June 30, 2019, in order to address the lag between the time when areas became served and the time that service is reflected in publicly available Form 477 data.
Subsidized Census Blocks – Parties are invited to identify specific census blocks that have been awarded funding by a federal or state broadband subsidy.
Rate-of-Return Carriers – Rate-of-return carriers have the opportunity to identify any census blocks within their service areas as ones where they do not expect to extend broadband in satisfaction of their USF deployment obligations; i.e., moving census blocks from ineligible to potentially eligible, subject to other eligibility criteria.
The Bureau will not entertain challenges from parties seeking to establish that a census block is unserved if the census block is reported as served on a certified Form 477 as of June 30, 2019 or later. Challenges must be filed on or before April 10, 2020. All filings are to reference WC Docket No. 19-126, and may be filed using the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or by filing paper copies.
**********
FCC Releases Preliminary List Of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I Auction Eligible Areas
March 17, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has released a preliminary list of census blocks and a map of areas that have been deemed initially eligible for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction. To identify the preliminary eligible areas, the Bureau used the Connect America Cost Model with updated coverage data using the most recent publicly available FCC Form 477 data to identify census blocks that are unserved with broadband at speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps. For illustrative purposes, the Bureau has also released a list of the associated census block groups and reserve prices, and a list of the associated census tracts and reserve prices. The list of RDOF Phase I auction eligible census blocks, census block groups, and census tracts can be found at www.fcc.gov/auction/904. The map of eligible areas can be found at https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/maps/auction-904-preliminary-eligible-areas.
**********
FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly Asks RUS To Revise ReConnect Program Award Criteria
March 16, 2020 – FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly has sent a letter to the administrator of USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to express concern about the way the RUS ReConnect Program will award broadband funding during its second round. Commissioner O’Rielly believes certain aspects of the ReConnect Program’s selection “criteria are likely to result in potentially wasteful or problematic spending.” These include the following:
(1) the decision to lower the threshold at which an area must be unserved to be eligible for a 100 percent grant from 100 percent unserved to 90 percent unserved;
(2) a lack of consistent and transparent practices governing the challenge process;
(3)the absence of comprehensive measures to exclude from eligibility areas already subject to enforceable deployment obligations; and
(4) the decision to disproportionately favor fiber technology in the application scoring process.
Commissioner O’Rielly has asked RUS to consider appropriate programmatic revisions as “[it] move[s] toward awarding further funding or designing future ReConnect Program rounds.”
**********
FCC Chairman Launches Coronavirus Broadband Connectivity Initiative: Keep Americans Connected Pledge
March 13, 2020 – FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has launched the Keep Americans Connected Pledge, an initiative aimed at keeping Americans connected to broadband and telephone service as the U.S. endures the coronavirus outbreak. The Keep Americans Connected Pledge reads as follows:
Given the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on American society, [[Company Name]] pledges for the next 60 days to:
(1) not terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic;
(2) waive any late fees that any residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic; and
(3) open its Wi-Fi hotspots to any American who needs them.
Shortly after launching the initiative, Chairman Pai received commitments from some of the largest ISPs in the nation, as well as small ISPs that serve the nation’s rural areas. In addition to the Keep Americans Connected Pledge, Chairman Pai is calling on broadband providers to relax their data cap policies in appropriate circumstances, on telephone carriers to waive long-distance and overage fees in appropriate circumstances, on those that serve schools and libraries to work with them on remote learning opportunities, and on all network operators to prioritize the connectivity needs of hospitals and healthcare providers.
**********
USF Contribution Factor Set At 19.6 Percent For Second Quarter Of 2020
March 13, 2020 – The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Managing Director has announced that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the Second quarter of 2020 will be 19.6 percent. This is a slight decrease from the 21.2 percent contribution factor that was used for the first quarter of 2020. For the second quarter of 2020, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects $10.86513 billion in total interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues will be collected. USAC estimates that $1.765460 billion is needed to cover the total demand and expenses for all Federal universal service support mechanisms in the Second quarter of 2020. If the FCC takes no action on the proposed USF contribution factor within 14 days, it will be declared approved. Historical information on quarterly universal service fund contribution factors is available online from the FCC.
**********
USDA Extends ReConnect Pilot Program 2nd Round Application Window
March 12, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that it has extended the application window for the ReConnect Pilot Program’s second round of funding to March 31. Specifically, the application window is extended until midnight, based on the time zone the applicant is located in, on March 31, 2020. A full description of 2020 ReConnect Pilot Program funding is available from the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and solicitation of applications for second round of the ReConnect Program. Additional information about eligibility, technical assistance, and recent announcements is available at www.usda.gov/reconnect.
**********
FCC Tentative Agenda For March 31st Open Meeting
March 10, 2020 – FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced has announced the following tentative agenda for the FCC’s March 31, 2020 open meeting:
Mandating STIR/SHAKEN to Combat Spoofed Robocalls – The FCC will consider a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would (1) adopt rules requiring originating and terminating voice service providers to implement the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication framework in the Internet Protocol portions of their networks; and (2) propose additional measures to combat illegal spoofing, including measures to implement portions of the TRACED Act. (WC Dockets Nos. 17-97, 20-67)
Amending Distributed Transmission System Rules to Facilitate Next Generation TV – The FCC will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on whether to modify the Commission’s rules governing the use of distributed transmission systems by broadcast television stations. (MB Docket No. 20-74; GN Docket No. 16-142)
Defining Significantly Viewed Local TV Stations – The FCC will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on whether to update the methodology for determining whether a television broadcast station is “significantly viewed” in a community outside of its local market. (MB Docket Nos. 20-73, 17-105)
Revising Program Carriage Rules and Part 76 Review Procedures – The FCC will consider a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on whether to modify the Commission’s rules governing the resolution of program carriage disputes between video programming vendors and multichannel video programming distributors. (MB Docket Nos. 20-70, 11-131, 17-105)
Detariffing Telephone Access Charges and Simplifying Consumer Bills – The FCC will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would propose to (1) eliminate ex ante pricing regulation and require detariffing of various end-user charges associated with interstate access service, and (2) prohibit carriers from separately listing these charges on customers’ telephone bills. (WC Docket No. 20-71)
The FCC March 31, 2020 open meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. EDT in the Commission Meeting Room (Room TW-C305) of the FCC, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. The meeting is open to the public, and will be streamed live online at www.fcc.gov/live.
**********
FCC To Adopt Rules Requiring STIR/SHAKEN Implementation By June 30, 2020
March 6, 2020 – FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has announced that the FCC will vote on a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to address spoofed robocalls at the next FCC open meeting. If adopted, the new rules would require originating and terminating voice service providers to implement STIR/SHAKEN in the Internet Protocol (IP) portions of their networks by June 30, 2021. The FNPRM proposes giving one-year extensions of the deadline for small and rural providers pursuant to the TRACED Act. The Further Notice also seeks public input on implementing other aspects of the TRACED Act, including requirements that voice service providers work toward deploying caller ID authentication in the non-IP parts of their networks. The FCC will vote on the item during its open meeting on March 31, 2020.
**********
FCC Ready To Authorize 150 CAF II Auction Winning Bids
March 5, 2020 – The FCC’s Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, Wireline Competition Bureau, and Office of Economics and Analytics have announced they are ready to authorize Connect America Fund Phase II auction support for 150 winning bids, for the following five entities:
Armstrong Telecommunications, Inc
Gila Local Exchange Carrier, Inc.
Mark Twain Communications Company
NE Colorado Cellular, Inc.
Redwire, Inc.
To receive the 10-year CAF II auction support, the winning bidders must now submit acceptable irrevocable stand-by letters of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letters prior to 6:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 19, 2020. All CAF II auction winning bidders were required to certify that they are eligible telecommunications carriers in all bid areas and to submit appropriate documentation by February 25, 2019. The deadline was waived for Armstrong Telecommunications, Inc. in Pennsylvania and Redwire, Inc. in Oklahoma. The FCC also announced that wireless Internet service provider ClearSKY Systems, Inc. defaulted on nine winning bids in Illinois totaling $127,414.20. ClearSKY’s case has been referred to the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau.
**********
USAC Files Second Quarter 2020 USF Contribution Base Data: $10.865 Billion
March 2, 2020 – The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has filed information on the universal service fund (USF) contribution base to be used for the second quarter of calendar year 2020. The total projected collected interstate and international end-user revenue base for the second quarter of 2020 is $10,865,131,593. This is roughly a $265 million decrease from the revenue base used for the first quarter of 2020, which was $11,129,976,956. USAC’s estimated revenue base was derived from projected collected revenue for April to June 2020 reported by telecommunications service providers using FCC Form 499-Q in February 2020 – 4,204 reporting carriers, of which 2,844 are USF contributors and 1,360 are non-contributing de minimis carriers. Upon Federal Communications Commission approval of the total USF contribution base, the quarterly funding requirements for the four USF support mechanisms, and projected administrative costs, the FCC will establish a quarterly USF contribution factor. USAC will then bill USF contributors on a monthly basis for their individual obligations based on the approved contribution factor.
**********
FCC Proposes Bidding Procedures For Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction, Comments Due March 27th
March 2, 2020 – The Federal Communications Commission has released a Public Notice proposing pre-auction and bidding procedures and processes for the Phase I auction of The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction (RDOF) (Auction 904). In general, comment is sought on (i) how an applicant can become qualified to participate in the auction, (ii) how bidders will submit bids, and (iii) how bids will be processed to determine winners and assign support amounts. Comments are due on or before March 27, 2020, and reply comments are due April 10, 2020.
**********
