KCC Business Meeting Consent Agenda – Telecommunications Items – December 31st

December 30, 2024 – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) is expected to approve the following telecommunications items, included on a consent agenda, during the KCC’s business meeting on Tuesday December 23, 2024 at 10:00 am:

Order Assessing Costs – KCC Docket No. 25-SNKT-249-TAR – Application of Southern Kansas Telephone Filing Tariff Revisions to No Longer Provide a Printed Telephone Directory and Remove Services Which No Longer Provided.

Order Assessing Costs – KCC Docket No. 25-AVWZ-250-ETC – Application of Air Voice Wireless, LLC for Designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 for Lifeline Purposes Only.

Order Approving Traffic Factors for New Cingular Wireless, LLC, d/b/a AT&TR Mobility and Crickett Wireless, LLC – Docket No. 24-GIMT-229-GIT – Investigation to Determine the Annual Assessment Rate for the Twenty-Eighth Year of the Kansas Universal Service Fund, Effective March 1, 2024.

Suspension Order: August 18, 2025 – KCC Docket No. 25-SNKT-249-TAR – Application of Southern Kansas Telephone Filing Tariff Revisions to No Longer Provide a Printed Telephone Directory and Remove Services Which No Longer Provided.

Order Adopting Audit Report and Closing Docket – KCC Docket No. 25-SWBT-098-KSF – Audit of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, LLC by the Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) Administrator Pursuant to K.S.A. 66-2010(b) for KUSF Operating Year 27, Fiscal Year March 2023-February 2024.

Order Adopting Audit Report – KCC Docket No. 25-ORIZ-099-KSF – Audit of Kansas #15 Limited Partnership by the Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) Administrator Pursuant to K.S.A. 66-2010(b) for KUSF Operating Year 27, Fiscal Year March 2023-February 2024.

Order Approving Revised Tariff – KCC Docket No. 25-WHST-230-TAR – Wheat State Technologies Filing Tariffs Revisions to Remove a Service No Longer Provided and Change some Non-Recurring Charges.

Order Cancelling Evidentiary Hearing – KCC Docket No. 25-GIMT-141-GIT – Investigation to Determine the Affordable Local Service Rates for Rate-of-Return Regulated Carriers and the Annual Assessment Rate for the Twenty-Ninth Year of the Kansas Universal Service Fund, Effective March 1, 2025.

All items consent agenda (proposed orders dealing with routine, procedural, administrative, or uncontested matters) on the are considered to be routine by the KCC, and will be considered together as a single item. However, any KCC Commissioner may request that a proposed order be removed from consideration at a meeting. KCC business meetings are accessible via the KCC YouTube channel link on the KCC website at http://kcc.ks.gov/.

Air Voice Wireless, LLC Seeking Designation As Lifeline-Only ETC In Kansas

December 23, 2024 – Air Voice Wireless, LLC has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) requesting designation as Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) for the purpose of receiving only federal Lifeline universal service support. Air Voice Wireless is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that provides commercial mobile radio service and mobile broadband services by reselling the services and connectivity of an underlying wireless carrier. The company is seeking ETC status in the areas of Kansas where its underlying facilities-based wireless carrier, AT&T Wireless, has wireless coverage. Air Voice is a Texas limited liability company, and has been designated as a Lifeline-Only ETC in Alaska, Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming; as well as in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The KCC Docket Number for the proceeding is 25-AVWZ-250-ETC.

Southern Kansas Telephone Revises Tariff Language To Account For No Longer Providing Printed Telephone Directories

December 20, 2024 – Southern Kansas Telephone has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) to revise “tariff language related to no longer providing a printed telephone directory and removing services which are no longer provided.” Southern Kansas Telephone states that there is no revenue effect as a result of the changes. The KCC Docket Number for the proceeding is 25-SNKT-249-TAR.

Assurance Wireless Request Expansion Of ETC Designation For All Areas Where It has Wireless Coverage In Kansas

December 6, 2024 – Assurance Wireless USA, L.P. has filed an application requesting the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) expand its Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) designated service area for Lifeline only services in Kansas. Additionally, Assurance Wireless is seeking eligibility to receive funding from the Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) for service to eligible low-income consumers throughout the company’s designated service areas in Kansas. Assurance Wireless (formerly Virgin Mobile USA, L.P.) was previously designated an ETC by the KCC in November 2011. In its application, Assurance Wireless requests expansion of its designated ETC service area to allow it to provide Lifeline services to eligible low-income households anywhere it currently has wireless coverage in Kansas. The company is a Lifeline-only ETC, and is not seeking designation to receive high-cost universal service fund support. The KCC Docket Number for the proceeding is 25-VMBZ-235-ETC.

Wheat State Technologies Files Tariff Revisions

December 4, 2024 – Wheat State Telephone Company, Inc. d/b/a Wheat State Technologies has filed revisions to its general exchange tariff with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). Wheat State’s tariff revisions remove a service that is no longer provided, and changes some non-recurring charges. Wheat State explains that the revenue effect as a result of the changes is de minimus – $25 annually. The KCC Docket Number for the proceeding is 25-WHST-230-TAR.

Kansas Governor Announces ADOPT Program Round 2 Will Open On December 12, 2024

December 3, 2024 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that the application window for the second round of the Advancing Digital Opportunities to Promote Technology (ADOPT) program will open on December 12, 2024. The second round of the ADOPT program will provide $10.7 million to organizations working to expand access to public wi-fi and connected devices. The Kansas Office of Broadband Development (KOBD) will administer the ADOPT program, and have provided the following details on the two funding categories:

• Equipment Distribution: the maximum individual award is $500,000 and requires 2% match and 1% co-investment

• Public Wi-Fi: the maximum individual award is capped at $1 million and requires 5% match and 2% co-investment

Additional information on program details, eligibility, applications, funding, and timing are available on KOBD’s ADOPT program website. KOBD will host a webinar at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 11th, to discuss funding priorities and application guidelines. Interested parties can register for the webinar here.

KanOkla Files Tariff Revisions Related To Printed Telephone Directories

December 2, 2024 – KanOkla Telephone Association has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) requesting revisions to its general exchange tariff to implement the KCC’s discontinuance of the directive to annually distribute a printed telephone directory. The KCC Docket Number for the proceeding is 25-KOKT-227-TAR. Specifically, KanOkla’s revisions include the following:

The Company will in January of each year make available upon request to any subscriber a copy of the directory. Subscribers may request a copy of the directory in person at the Company premises. Subscribers may also access the directory on the Company’s website.