An update on news about the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier.
USDA ReConnect Program Awards
To date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made seven awards under its ReConnect Pilot Program, totaling $93,140,232 in broadband funding in nine states.
November 2019 News Update
An update on news from November 2019.
Connect America Fund Phase II Auction – News Update
Here is an update on news related to the FCC’s CAF Phase II auction.
FCC Announces Precision Agriculture Connectivity Task Force – Nominations For Working Groups Due December 3rd
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has announced the appointment of members to serve on the Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United States. The Task Force will hold its first meeting on Monday, December 9, 2019, at 9:30am. Nominations for membership on one of the Task Force’s four working groups should be submitted to the FCC no later than December 3, 2019.
GAO Says FCC Should Make A-CAM Mandatory For All Rate-Of-Return Carriers As Part Of Antifraud Strategy
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has issued a report on its investigation of potential fraud risk in the FCC’s universal service high-cost program that supports rate-of-return carriers. Among other things, the GAO report recommends that the FCC assess the A-CAM support mechanism to determine the extent to which it produces reliable cost estimates and consider making its use mandatory all for rate-of-return carriers.
OneWeb – Low Earth Orbit, High-Speed Satellite Broadband Service
In July 2019, OneWeb reported the tests of six of its LEO satellites – download speeds of 400 Mbps with latency under 40 milliseconds, which enabled the fastest real-time video streaming in Full HD from Space. OneWeb plans to blanket the entire world with unsubsidized competitive broadband service.
Update On Broadband Funding: FCC Programs, Federal Funding, State Funding
This article contains recent news about broadband funding: FCC Universal Service Programs, Federal Funding, and State Funding.
USDA ReConnect Program Awards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided three awards under its ReConnect Pilot Program, totaling $16,399,401 in broadband funding in three states.
Rural Carriers Initiate Class Action Lawsuit Against T-Mobile & Inteliquent Based On Violations Of FCC Rural Call Completion Rules
Two rural communications companies have filed a class action lawsuit, individually and on behalf of a class of similarly situated companies, against T-Mobile USA, Inc., Inteliquent, Inc., and 10 Doe Defendants. The Plaintiffs are seeking relief for injuries sustained from T-Mobile’s violations of the FCC’s rural call completion rules. The claims in the lawsuit are largely based on an April 2018 Consent Decree between T-Mobile and the FCC, in which T-Mobile admitted that it violated the FCC’s rules by inserting false ring tones into calls made to rural areas and failing to police the conduct of its intermediate providers.