Kansas Broadband News

NTIA Approves BEAD Program Initial Proposals For Kansas, Nevada, & West Virginia

April 25, 2024 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Kansas, Nevada, and West Virginia’s Initial Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The Initial Proposals detail how each state plans to spend their BEAD allocation by providing grants to deploy high-speed broadband to all unserved and underserved locations within their borders. Kansas, Nevada, and West Virginia may now request access to funding and begin implementation of their BEAD broadband grant programs. However, all are awaiting NTIA approval of the results of their challenge processes. The three states were allocated the following amounts under BEAD: Kansas – $451.7 million; Nevada – $416.6 million; and West Virginia – $1.2 billion. All states submitted their Initial Proposals by December 27, 2023. NTIA will continue to announce approval of Initial Proposals on a rolling basis. Updates on the status of other U.S states and territories’ Initial Proposals are available online from NTIA’s Bead Initial Proposal Progress Dashboard page.

Stratus Networks Applies For CLEC Certificate Of Authority

April 12, 2024 – Stratus Networks, LLC has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) requesting a Certificate Of Authority to serve as a Competitive Local Exchange Service provider in Kansas. Stratus Networks is an Illinois corporation headquartered in Peoria Heights, IL that was founded in 1998. It offers competitive long distance, VoIP, private line, data and Internet services in over 30 states. Stratus Networks is majority-owned by Novacap Management Inc., a North American-based private equity group founded in 1981. In its application, Stratus describes its operations as follows:

At the current time applicant only intends to provide transport to Tandem and 911 PSTN switching centers for other telecommunications carriers. The intent of the CLEC authority is to be able to collocate inside the Local Exchange Carriers Central office via Interconnection agreements and connect with the PSTN. The exchanges that have been identified for the first stage of the project are provided below. Stratus may at some point also provide Voice origination and termination calls to and from the office, but at this point it would solely be data transport for other licensed carriers.

Stratus Networks has requested its CLEC service territory be “statewide to the extent open to competition.” It states that it “has initiated negotiations with AT&T for an interconnection agreement in Kansas and will submit the agreement as soon as it is final.” The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-SNIC-671-COC.

Nex-Tech Wireless Requests Expansion Of Lifeline-Only ETC Designation

April 12, 2024 – Nex-Tech Wireless, LCC has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) requesting an expansion of its Lifeline-only Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) designation. Nex-Tech Wireless currently provides mobile wireless services to consumers in all or part of 44 counties in Kansas using various spectrum licenses issued by the Federal Communications Commission. Nex-Tech Wireless is seeking to expand its Lifeline-only ETC designation which will enable it “to provide significant discounts off the cost of monthly service to eligible subscribers in additional rural areas where [it] offers wireless service.” The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-NTWZ-672-ETC.

Brightspeed Requests Approval Of Interconnection Agreement With Bar Tell USA

April 8, 2024 – Brightspeed of West Missouri, LLC, Brightspeed of Kansas, LLC, Brightspeed of Eastern Kansas, Inc., and Brightspeed of Southern Kansas, Inc. (collectively, Brightspeed) have filed an application for approval of an interconnection agreement between Brightspeed and Bar Tell USA, Inc. The parties state that the interconnection agreement “is bilateral, reached as a result of negotiation and compromise,” and that “there are no outstanding issues in involving the limited subject matter of the Agreement that require the assistance of mediation or arbitration.” The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-UTDT-666-IAT.

TruConnect Communications, Inc. Seeking ETC Designation In Kansas To Provide Lifeline Service

April 4, 2024 – TruConnect Communications, Inc. has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) requesting designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) in the State of Kansas. TruConnect is seeking ETC designation solely for the purpose of providing Lifeline service to qualifying Kansas consumers. TruConnect is not seeking Universal Service Fund (USF) support from the Link-Up program or the high-cost mechanism. The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-TCCZ-659-ETC.

March 2024

Consolidated Communications of Missouri Company Files Tariff Revisions

March 15, 2024 – Consolidated Communications of Missouri Company has filed tariff revisions with the Kansas Corporation Commission. Consolidated has requested an effective date of August 16, 2024 for its revisions to the following tariff pages: Section 4 - Sixth Revised Sheet 7; Section 15 - Fifth Revised Sheet 2; Section 15 - Fifth Revised Sheet 9; Section 15 - Fifth Revised Sheet 22. According to Consolidated, the purpose of the filing is the make the following tariff changes:

• Residential access line rate will increase by $1.50 per month (Current access line rate is $21.00 increasing to $22.50);

• Home Phone Standard Service Package amended to indicate customers no longer on this bundle; and

• Voice Advantage and Voice Advantage II bundles will increase by $2.50 per month (residential access line rate increase of $1.50 and intrastate long distance minutes’ rate increase of $1.00).

Consolidated has provided the following information on the increased revenue it expects to see from the tariff revisions:

On an annual basis, Consolidated Communications of Missouri Company anticipates recognizing approximately $1,008 in additional residential access line revenue ($684 from stand-alone access lines and $324 from access lines in bundles) and $216 in additional intrastate and interstate long distance revenue resulting from bundled service containing long distance service. These figures do not include estimates of customer churn.

Consolidated’s tariff filing includes a copy of the bill messaging that will be used to notify customers of the changes as part of the April 16, 2024 billing cycle. The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-FCMT-628-TAR.

Federal USF Contribution Factor Dips To 32.8 Percent For Second Quarter Of 2024

March 14, 2024 – The FCC’s Office of Managing Director (OMD) has announced that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the Second quarter of 2024 will be 32.8 percent. If the FCC takes no action on the proposed USF contribution factor within 14 days, it will be declared approved. The 32.8 percent contribution factor for 2Q 2024 is a slight decrease from the 34.6 percent USF contribution factor that was used for 1Q 2024, and which is the all-time record high. Historical information on quarterly universal service fund contribution factors is available online from the FCC.

For the second quarter of 2024, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects $8.555642 billion in total interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues will be collected ($8.313338 billion was projected for 1Q 2024). USAC estimates that $2.092510 billion is needed to cover the total demand and expenses for all Federal universal service support mechanisms (revenue requirement) in the second quarter of 2024 (the 1Q 2024 demand was estimated at $2.118730 billion). Total second quarter 2024 demand includes projected program support, administrative expenses, and true-ups and adjustments, which breaks out among the USF support mechanisms as follows:

• E-Rate Schools & Libraries:  $652.36 million  (1Q 2024 was $634.96 million)

• Rural Health Care:  $170.03 million  (1Q 2024 was $168.60 million)

• High-Cost:  $1.10091 billion  (1Q 2024 was $1.09021 billion)

• Lifeline:  $169.21 million  (1Q 2024 was $225.47 million)

AT&T Kansas Requests KCC Approval Of Interconnection Agreement With Wisper ISP

March 14, 2024 – Southwestern Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Kansas has filed application with the Kansas Corporation Commission requesting approval of an interconnection agreement with Wisper ISP, LLC. AT&T Kansas (ILEC) and Wisper ISP (CLEC) executed the interconnection agreement on February 28, 2024, and the parties state that there are no outstanding issues that require mediation or arbitration. The interconnection agreement covers the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-SWBT-625-IAT.

FCC Redefines Broadband As 100/200 Mbps In Latest Broadband Deployment Report

March 14, 2024 – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) has approved its latest annual Broadband Deployment Report which shows the status of fixed and mobile broadband service in the U.S. The report was approved on a 3-2 vote (FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel, Commissioners Starks and Gomez approving, and Commissioners Carr and Simington dissenting).

The report “raises the Commission’s benchmark for high-speed fixed broadband to download speeds of 100 megabits per second and upload speeds of 20 megabits per second – a four-fold increase from the 25/3 Mbps benchmark set by the Commission in 2015.” Ultimately, the FCC concludes in the report that “advanced telecommunications capability is not being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion based on the total number of Americans, Americans in rural areas, and people living on Tribal lands who lack access to such capability, and the fact that these gaps in deployment are not closing rapidly enough.”

Section 706(b) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, directs the FCC to annually inquire whether advanced telecommunications capability (broadband) is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. Advanced telecommunications capability is described as high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology. If the FCC determines that broadband is not being deployed in a timely manner, Section 706(b) requires the FCC to take immediate action to accelerate broadband deployment by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and promoting competition.

One other key item in the report is a new 1 Gbps/500 Mbps long-term goal for broadband speeds to give “a better, faster, more robust system of communication for American consumers. According to the FCC’s News Release announcing the approval, the report shows that, as of December 2022:

• Fixed terrestrial broadband service (excluding satellite) has not been physically deployed to approximately 24 million Americans, including almost 28% of Americans in rural areas, and more than 23% of people living on Tribal lands;

• Mobile 5G-NR coverage has not been physically deployed at minimum speeds of 35/3 Mbps to roughly 9% of all Americans, to almost 36% of Americans in rural areas, and to more than 20% of people living on Tribal lands;

• 45 million Americans lack access to both 100/20 Mbps fixed service and 35/3 Mbps mobile 5G-NR service; and

• Based on the new 1 Gbps per 1,000 students and staff short-term benchmark for schools and classrooms, 74% of school districts meet this goal.

KCC Opens General Investigation Docket For Annual Section 254(e) Certification

March 6, 2024 – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has opened a general investigation docket for purposes of certifying compliance with Section 254(e) of the Communications Act. Section 254(e) of the Communications Act requires federal universal service fund (USF) recipients to use USF support only for the provision, maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services for which the support is intended. Each year, the KCC reviews the high-cost USF support amounts received by Kansas eligible telecommunications carriers, and determines whether “all federal high-cost support provided to such carriers within that State was used in the preceding calendar year and will be used in the coming calendar year only for the provision, maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services for which the support is intended.” An annual certification is then filed with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) and the FCC. The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-GIMT-612-GIT.

Consolidated Communications of Kansas Files Tariff Revisions

March 1, 2024 – Consolidated Communications of Kansas Company has filed tariff revisions, pursuant to K.S.A. 66-2007(b), requesting an effective date of August 1, 2024 with the Kansas Corporation Commission. Consolidated’s filing makes the following tariff changes:

• Residential access line rate will increase by $1.50 per month for exchanges in Leoti, Tribune, Marienthal, Jetmore, Sharon Springs, Wallace & Weskan (Current access line rate is $19.27 increasing to $20.77);

• Residential access line rate will increase by $1.50 per month for exchanges in Americus, Cedar Point & Saffordville (Current access line rate is $22.74 increasing to $24.24);

• Voice Advantage and Voice Advantage II bundles will increase by $2.50 per month (residential access line rate increase of $1.50 and intrastate long distance minutes’ rate increase of $1.00); and

• Home Phone bundles will increase by $2.50 per month.

Included with the tariff revisions is a copy of the bill messaging that will be used to notify customers of the revisions as part of the April 1, 2024, billing cycle. As a result of the revisions, Consolidated expects to receive, on an annual basis, “approximately $10,818 in additional residential access line revenue ($6,336 from stand-alone access lines and $4,482 from access lines in bundles) and $2,988 in additional intrastate and interstate long distance revenue resulting from bundled service containing long distance service.” The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-SFLT-605-TAR.

Global Crossing Local Services Files Tariff Revisions

March 1, 2024 – Global Crossing Local Services, Inc. has filed revisions to its Kansas Tariff No. 1 with the Kansas Corporation Commission. The revisions designate services found in Section 2 of the tariff as “grandfathered (obsolete) and no longer available to new customers.” Global Crossing Local Services, Inc. defines a grandfathered service as “one that is no longer sold, and availability is limited to lines currently in service at existing locations.” The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-GCLT-606-TAR.

FEBRUARY 2024

NIST Releases Cybersecurity Framework Version 2.0

February 26, 2024 – The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released version 2.0 of its Cybersecurity Framework. According to NIST, the updated version “is designed for all audiences, industry sectors and organization types, from the smallest schools and nonprofits to the largest agencies and corporations – regardless of their degree of cybersecurity sophistication.” The first version of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework was focused on the protection of critical infrastructure, and was released in 2014. It was updated to version 1.1 in 2018. The Cybersecurity Framework version 2.0, along with numerous supplementary resources are available online from NIST.

Nex-Tech, LLC Requests Relinquishment Of ETC Designation In Certain Census Blocks In Its Abilene Local Exchange Service Area

February 23, 2024 – Nex-Tech, LLC has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (Commission) requesting an order confirming relinquishment of its Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) designation in certain census blocks in its Abilene local exchange service area. More specifically, Nex-Tech, LLC is seeking to relinquish its ETC designation in certain census blocks in its Abilene exchange in Dickinson County, Kansas, that are served by one or more remaining ETCs. In 2021, the Commission designated two other telecommunications carriers as ETCs for purposes of being eligible to receive federal high-cost universal service fund support in the Abilene exchange census blocks. The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-NTHT-589-ETC.

KanOkla Telephone Association Files Tariff Changes With KCC

February 9, 2024 – KanOkla Telephone Association has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC or Commission) requesting approval of tariff changes to Part 2, Sheet 12 of KanOkla’s Local Exchange Tariff. KanOkla has requested its tariff changes become effective March 10, 2024. The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-KOKT-568-TAR. KanOkla has provided the following explanation of its requested changes:

KanOkla is requesting Commission to increase the “Notice of Noncompliance or Discontinuance of Service” rate element (F.3.b.(3)) from $2.00 per occurrence to $5.00 per occurrence. KanOkla estimates approximately $13,000 in additional annual revenue from this increase. Kan Okla is also requesting to increase the Service Order Charge Per order (F.3.b.(4)) from $7.50 to $10.00 per occurrence, and the Line Connection Charge Per Connection (same section) from $9.00 to $10.00 per occurrence. KanOkla estimates approximately $1,700 in additional annual revenue from this increase, for a combined estimated annual revenue increase of $14,700.

Electric Lightwave, LLC Consolidated Into Zayo Group

February 8, 2024 – Electric Lightwave, LLC has notified the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC or Commission) of a pro forma intra-consolidation of Electric Lightwave, LLC into Zayo Group, LLC, with Zayo Group remaining as the surviving entity. The forma intra-consolidation was completed on December 31, 2023, and was undertaken as part of an effort to simplify Zayo Group’s corporate structure. Because Electric Lightwave no longer exists as a separate corporate entity, has requested that the Commission cancel, effective January 1, 2024, Electric Lightwave’s Certificate to provide intrastate long-distance telecommunications services granted in Docket No. 97-ELWC-733-COC and amended in Docket No. 05-ELWC-828-CCN. The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-ELWC-567-CCS.

Legislation Introduced In Kansas House To Replace 911 Coordinating Council With State 911 Board And Revise Other 911 Funding Provisions

February 6, 2024 – New legislation related to oversight and funding of 911 services has been introduced in the Kansas House of Representatives. House Bill 2690, if enacted, would abolish the 911 coordinating council and replace it with a new state 911 board, effective July 1, 2025. It also would abolish the 911 operations fund, 911 state fund, and 911 state grant which are outside of the state treasury, and replace them with identical funds located within the state treasury. Among other things, House Bill 2690 authorizes counties to contract with other counties for the provision of 911 PSAP services. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications.

Southwestern Bell Telephone Company Changing From Delaware Corporation To Delaware Limited Liability Company

February 2, 2024 – to Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (SWBT) has filed a Notice and Application to change the company's name on its Certificate of Convenience and Authority with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC or Commission). Currently, SWBT is a Delaware corporation authorized to conduct business in the state of Kansas as foreign corporation. In Kansas, SWBT uses “AT&T Kansas” as its “doing business as” name. On May 1, 2024, SWBT will convert to a Delaware limited liability company. Thereafter, the company will be known as Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, LLC, but will continue to operate in Kansas as AT&T Kansas. The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-SWBT-546-CCN.

AT&T Corp. Merging Into AT&T Enterprises; Requests That KCC Transfer Its Certificates of Convenience And Authority To AT&T Enterprises

February 2, 2024 – AT&T Corp. has notified the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC or Commission) that on or about May 1, 2024, it will be merging into and with AT&T Enterprises. As a result, AT&T Corp. will cease to exist, and AT&T Enterprises will be the surviving entity. Both AT&T Corp. and AT&T Enterprises, Inc. are wholly owned subsidiaries of AT&T Inc. According to the filing, “AT&T Inc. is undertaking an internal restructuring project to rationalize its corporate structure, which is complex, with over 400 subsidiaries. The merger of AT&T Corp. and AT&T Enterprises will help to streamline AT&T's corporate structure, resulting in greater operational efficiencies.” AT&T Corp. has requested that the Commission transfer its Certificates of Convenience and Authority to AT&T Enterprises, and that the name, AT&T Enterprises, Inc., be noted and reflected by the Commission in all company references and all future proceedings. Additionally, the parties have requested that AT&T Enterprises be allowed to begin serving Kansas customers now served by AT&T Corp. on the requested May 1, 2024, effective date. The KCC Docket No. for the proceeding is 24-SBAT-545-COC.

January 2024

KCC Adopts 11.69% Assessment Rate For Kansas Universal Service Fund Year 28

January 30, 2024 – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has issued an order which adopts an assessment rate of 11.69% for Fiscal Year 28 of the Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF). The 11.69% assessment rate will be effective March 1, 2024 through February 28, 2025. The KUSF Year 28 assessment rate was calculated based on information provided by the KCC’s Deputy Chief of Telecommunications, Steve Garret, in written testimony in the KCC’s most recent KUSF docket. As explained in Deputy Chief Garrett’s testimony, the KUSF Year 28 assessment rate is comprised of two budgeted components: (1) the projected KUSF obligations or amounts to be paid from the KUSF; and (2) the projected revenue base, or the revenue carriers are projected to report to the KUSF for funding purposes. Further, the KUSF FY 28 total KUSF obligations of $37.1 million are reduced by the projected $3.8 million reserve and increased by $2.5 million for the contingency fund allowance, resulting in the $35.8 million net KUSF obligations to be collected from a revenue base of $306.1 million. In light of this data, Mr. Garrett proposed the KCC adopt its resulting 11.69% assessment rate for KUSF Year 28.

Pioneer Telephone Files Tariff Changes For SIP Interconnection Trunks

January 26, 2024 – The Pioneer Telephone Association, Inc. has filed changes to its local exchange service tariff with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). Pioneer’s tariff changes reflect a new service offering SIP interconnection trunks. According to the filing, Pioneer anticipates $480 of additional yearly revenue for the service, and has requested a March 1, 2024, effective date.

Condor Holdings LLC Acquiring Control Of Consolidated Communications Of Kansas and Consolidated Communications Of Missouri

January 25, 2024 – Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (Consolidated Holdings), Consolidated Communications of Kansas Company (Consolidated Kansas), Consolidated Communications of Missouri Company (Consolidated Missouri), and Condor Holdings LLC have filed a joint application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) that requests approval of the transfer of indirect control of Consolidated Kansas and Consolidated Missouri to Condor. Pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger, Condor Holdings will acquire all of Consolidated Holdings’ issued and outstanding common stock. This will make Condor Holdings the direct owner of Consolidated Holdings and the indirect parent of Consolidated Holdings’ subsidiaries Consolidated Kansas and Consolidated Missouri. Consolidated Holdings, which is currently a publicly traded company, will become privately held.

IM Telecom, LLC d/b/a Infiniti Mobile Requests ETC Designation In Kansas To Provide Lifeline Service

January 23, 2024 – IM Telecom, LLC d/b/a Infiniti Mobile has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) which requests designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) in the state of Kansas solely for the purpose of providing Lifeline service to qualifying consumers. Infiniti Mobile is not seeking, and is not eligible for, funding from the universal service Link Up program or high-cost support program. In its application, Infiniti Mobile asserts that it “meets all the statutory and regulatory requirements for designation as an ETC in the State of Kansas.”

Infiniti Mobile is an Oklahoma Limited Liability Company, with its principal office located in Plano, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of KonaTel, Inc., a Delaware corporation which acquired Infiniti Mobile in January 2019. Infiniti Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that uses the underlying wireless networks of AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile USA, Inc. on a wholesale basis. Infiniti Mobile has been designated as a Lifeline-only wireless ETC in the states of California, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin, and has been authorized by the FCC to participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program throughout the U.S.

Consolidated Communications Enterprise Services, Inc. Applies To Cancel Local Service Certificate Of Convenience And Authority

January 17, 2024 – Consolidated Communications Enterprise Services, Inc. (CCES) has filed an Application to cancel it Certificate Of Convenience And Authority to provide local exchange and exchange access service within the state of Kansas. As explained in the Application, in November 2022, Everfast Fiber Networks began operating the competitive local exchange business in the Kansas City metropolitan area formerly owned by CCES, and consequently, “CCES now requests that its certificate to provide local exchange and exchange access be canceled.” CCES will continue to provide interexchange and operator services in Kansas communities served by its rural telephone company exchanges operating under the name of Consolidated Communications of Kansas and Consolidated Communications of Missouri, pursuant to its Certificate of Convenience and Authority to Provide Interexchange and Operator Services issued in Docket No. 15-COSC-219-CCN.

Kansas Lifeline Service Program Eligibility – U.S. Department Of Health And Human Services Issues 2024 Federal Poverty Guidelines

January 17, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued the 2024 Federal poverty guidelines used to determine financial eligibility for certain governmental assistance programs. For the Kansas Lifeline Service Program (KLSP), a consumer is eligible for support if the consumer’s household income level is at, or below, 135% of the Federal poverty guidelines for a household of that size. This same eligibility requirement applies to the Federal universal service Lifeline program. There are separate guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, Alaska, and Hawaii.

KCC Business Meeting Consent Agenda: Telecommunications Items – January 23rd

January 16, 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, January 23, 2024 at 10:00 am:

Order Approving Tariff Revisions – Docket No. 24-RRLT-470-TAR – Rural Telephone Service Co., Inc. dba Nex-Tech Filing Tariff Revisions.

Order Cancelling Evidentiary Hearing – 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.

Order Assessing Costs – Docket No. 24-EVMT-501-COC – Application of Consolidated Communications Exchange Services, Inc. to Cancel its Certificate of Convenience and Authority to Provide Local Exchange and Exchange Access Service within the State of Kansas.

All orders on the consent agenda 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/.

John Deere Announces Agreement With SpaceX To Enable Starlink Connectivity In Farm Equipment

January 16, 2024 – Deere & Company has entered into an agreement with SpaceX that will enable John Deere farm equipment to connect to Starlink’s satellite communications (SATCOM) service. Starlink, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SpaceX, operates a constellation of low earth orbit satellites that deliver internet access service. In the press release announcing the agreement, Deere & Company provided the following additional information:

The SATCOM solution will connect both new and existing machines through satellite internet service and ruggedized satellite terminals. This will fully enable technologies such as autonomy, real-time data sharing, remote diagnostics, enhanced self-repair solutions, and machine-to-machine communication, all of which help farmers work more efficiently while minimizing downtime.

“John Deere has led the agriculture equipment industry for more than two decades with satellite-based precision guidance technology,” said Jahmy Hindman, Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer at John Deere. “Now, we are bringing satellite communications service to the farm at scale so farmers with cellular coverage challenges can maximize the value of connectivity to their operations. The SATCOM solution unlocks the John Deere tech stack so every farmer can fully utilize their current precision agriculture technology in addition to the new innovative solutions they will deploy in the future. We initiated this process with a fierce focus on delivering value to our customers, and this partnership ensures we have a solution that meets their needs today and in the future.”

John Deere’s SATCOM solution will leverage SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet constellation.  To activate this solution, John Deere dealers will install a ruggedized Starlink terminal on compatible machines, along with a 4G LTE JDLink modem to connect the machine to the John Deere Operations Center. The SATCOM solution will initially be available through a limited release in the United States and Brazil starting in the second half of 2024.

KCC Opens Docket For Filing Annual Lifeline Recertification Forms

January 9, 2024 – The Kansas Corporation Commission has opened Docket No. 24-GIMT-473-CPL in which eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) must submit the results of their Lifeline recertification efforts using FCC Form 555. The filing of Lifeline recertification forms must be completed on or before January 31, 2024. The FCC Form 555, “Annual Lifeline Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Certification Form,” is used by all Lifeline service providers to report the results of their annual recertification process and includes required data accuracy certifications. The Form 555 must be submitted to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) using USAC’s online One Portal, the FCC in Docket 14-171 using the FCC’s EFCS, relevant state regulatory authorities, and Tribal governments if Lifeline service is provided to subscribers that reside on Tribal lands.

KCC Business Meeting Consent Agenda: Telecommunications Items – January 9th

January 8, 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, January 9, 2024 at 10:00 am:

• Order Assessing Costs – Docket No. 24-GIMT-473-CPL – Lifeline Re-Certification Filing Compliance as Required by Commission Order Dated March 4, 2013, in Docket No. 10-GIMT-658-GIT.

• Order Assessing Costs – Docket No. 24-RRLT-470-TAR – Rural Telephone Service Co., Inc. dba Nex-Tech Filing Tariff Revisions.

Brightspeed of Kansas, Inc. Changing Name To Brightspeed of Kansas, LLC

January 5, 2023 – Brightspeed of Kansas, Inc. has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission requesting that the name on its Certificate of Convenience and Authority be changed to Brightspeed of Kansas, LLC. The requested name change will not affect Brightspeed’s services or the rates charged to customers. Brightspeed is preparing to refile complete tariffs reflecting the new name.

KCC Opens General Investigation Of Depreciation Rates Used By Rural Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers – Comments Due April 3, 2024

January 4, 2024 – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has opened a general investigation into depreciation rates applicable to rural incumbent local exchange carriers (RLECs). RLECs’ comments on specific depreciation rate changes are due on or before April 3, 2024. KCC Staff’s responsive comments and recommendations are due July 2, 2024. The KCC docket number for the investigation proceeding is 24-GIMT-459-GIT.

In December 1993, the KCC issued an order streamlining the process for determining reasonable depreciation rates for RLECs, and created a common depreciation schedule that provided ranges for depreciation rates. The common depreciation schedule was updated annually until September 1996 when the KCC issued an order in which it determined it would maintain the ranges within the 1996 common depreciation schedule until such time as it determines that adjustments are necessary. As a result, RLECs’ depreciation rates have not changed for 27 years.

Governor Kelly Announces New Designation For Kansas Cities Improving High-Speed Internet

January 4, 2024 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced the launch of Kansas Broadband Ready Communities, a new certification from the Kansas Office of Broadband Development (KOBD) for communities working to improve access to high-speed internet. A Kansas Broadband Ready Communities designation will help ensure Kansas communities have competitive bids for broadband service and grant opportunities. By adopting specific local ordinances ahead of time, communities can ensure more successful and sustainable broadband deployment projects. Kansas communities seeking designation as Kansas Broadband Ready Community must adopt an ordinance that aligns with the following minimum requirements outlined by the program:

• Designating a single point of contact

• Committing to a 30-day process for reviewing and responding to applications

• Ensuring reasonable filing fees, not to exceed what is allowed in state statute K.S.A. 17-1902

• Utilizing or transitioning to electronic filing systems

• Prohibiting discrimination in permitting procedures

Additional information about the Kansas Broadband Ready program is available online. KOBD will conduct a one-hour informational webinar starting at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, February 8, 2024.

KCC Business Meeting Consent Agenda: Telecommunications Items – January 4th

January 3, 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 Thursday, January 4, 2024 at 10:00 am:

• Order Granting Amended Video Service Authorization – Docket No. 07-CXKC-621-VSA – Application of Cox Communications Kansas L.L.C., Filing for Kansas Video Service Authorization; Cox Communications Amended Application.

• Order Cancelling Certificate – Docket No. 24-TMIC-352-CCS – Application of Telecom Management, Inc. d/b/a Pioneer Telephone for Permission to Cease Operating as a Telecommunications Public Utility in the State of Kansas.

• Order Approving Traffic Factors for Nex-Tech 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; NexTech Wireless, LLC Application for Approval of Traffic Factors Effective January 1, 2024.

• Order Assessing Costs – Docket No. 24-GIMT-459-GIT – General Investigation into Depreciation Rates Applicable to Rural Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers.

• Order Approving Traffic Factors for Midcontinent Communications – 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; Midcontinent Communications For Approval of Traffic Studies.

2023

KCC Business Meeting Consent Agenda: Telecommunications Items – December 28th

December 27, 2023 – 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 Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 10:00 am:

• Order Approving Traffic Factors for TDS Metrocom, LLC – Docket No. 23-GIMT-261-GIT – Twenty-Seventh Year of the Kansas Universal Service Fund, Effective March 1, 2023; TDS Metrocom, LLC Request For Approval Of Use Of Traffic Studies For Kansas Universal Service Fund Reporting – 1Q 2024.

• Suspension Order: August 12, 2024 – Docket No. 24-FCMT-444-TAR – Consolidated Communications of Missouri Company Filing Revisions to its General Exchange Tariff, Business Access Line and Package Increases.

• Order Designating Presiding Officer; Setting Procedural Schedule; Granting RLECs’ Petition for Limited Intervention; Protective and Discovery Order – Docket No. 24-TTHT-343-KSF – Application of Totah Communications, Inc. for Additional Kansas Universal Service Fund Support Pursuant to K.S.A. 66-2008.

KCC Opens New Docket To Examine Depreciation Rates Used By Rural Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers – Docket Moved To January 4, 2024

December 20, 2023 – On December 20, 2023, the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) opened a new docket to investigate the depreciation rates used by rural incumbent local exchange carriers. The KCC later moved the docket’s opening date to January 4, 2024. The KCC docket number for the investigation proceeding is 24-GIMT-459-GIT.

Consolidated Communications of Missouri Company Submits Tariff Revisions

December 14, 2023 – Consolidated Communications of Missouri Company has filed revisions to its general and local exchange tariff with a proposed effective date of April 16, 2024. The revisions are contained in section 4 on sixth revised sheet 7, and in section 15 on third revised sheet 17. Consolidated summarizes its tariff changes as follows:

Business access line rate will increase by $1.50 per month; and EPAK II Bundles will increase by $5.00 per month (The tariff only contained the local portion of the bundle and this reflects the $1.50 access line increase. The remaining $3.50 of the total increase has been applied to the intrastate long distance portion of the bundle. The total bundle rate for the EPAK II bundles were added to the tariff for ease of review. The total bundle rate includes both the IntraLATA and InterLATA non-regulated long distance components provided by Consolidated Communications Enterprise Services, Inc.)

Also included with the filing is a copy of the bill messaging that will be used to notify customers of the changes which will be delivered to customers with their January bills. Consolidated has provided the following summary of its projected additional revenue from the tariff revisions:

On an annual basis, Consolidated Communications of Missouri Company anticipates recognizing approximately $378.00 in additional business access line revenue ($72.00 from standalone access lines and $306.00 from access lines in bundles) and $714.00 in additional intrastate and interstate long distance revenue resulting from bundles service containing long distance service. These figures do not include estimates of customer churn.

KCC Establishes Interest Rate Of 5.05% On Customer Deposits For Calendar Year 2024

December 12, 2023 – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has issued an order in docket 98-GIMX-348-GIV establishing a minimum interest rate of 5.05% to be paid on customer deposits for calendar year 2024. Pursuant to K.S.A. 12-822, utility companies, cities, and municipalities in Kansas are allowed to collect security deposits from customers, but when a utility company holds a security deposit, it is required to pay interest to the customers. In a January 1993 order, the KCC “determined that the interest rate paid per annum on security deposits shall be indexed to the yield on one year T-Notes and adjusted each December 1st for the upcoming calendar year.” The Federal Reserve Board reported on December 1, 2023, that the yield to maturity on One-Year T-Notes closed at 5.05%. Accordingly, the KCC has adopted a minimum interest rate of 5.05% to be paid on customer security deposits for calendar year 2024.

Rainbow Telecommunications Association Revises Certain Service Offerings In General Exchange Tariff

December 7, 2023 – Rainbow Telecommunications Association has filed revisions to its general exchange tariff. The filing revises certain Rainbow service offerings shown in section 2 on 3rd revised sheet 13. Rainbow estimates that the “revenue effect of these changes is approximately $1,800 per year.”

Kansas 911 Council Begins Considering Transformation To Fee-Funded State Agency

December 6, 2023 – The Kansas 911 Coordinating Council is considering potential long-term changes that would transform the council to a standalone, fee-funded agency within the state. During the 911 Council’s December 8, 2023, meeting, the executive committee presented draft legislation that would replace the 911 Coordinating Council with the State Board Of 911 Communications. The committee also discussed some of the reasons for considering the change and what it would take to move to a fee-based state agency. The Council has set up a legislation work group to begin improving the draft bill.

KCC Consent Agenda For December 7th Business Meeting: Telecommunications Items

December 6, 2023 – 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 Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 10:00 am:

• Order Granting Cebridge Telecom’s Motion To Withdraw Its Application – Docket No. 13-CKST-711-COC: Application of Cebridge Telecom KS, LLC for a Certificate of Convenience and Authority to Provide Local Exchange and Exchange Access Service Within the State of Kansas.

• Order Granting Cebridge Telecom’s Motion To Withdraw Its Application – Docket No. 24-CKST-248-IAT: Interconnection Agreement Between Cebridge Telecom KS, LLC d/b/a Suddenlink Communications and MoKan Dial, Inc.

Impact Telecom Applies For Certificate Of Convenience And Authority To Provide Interexchange Services

December 5, 2023 – Impact Telecom, LLC has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission requesting a Certificate of Convenience and Authority to provide resale interexchange services within the state of Kansas. Impact Telecom, LLC is wholly-owned by Lingo Management, LLC. Among other things, Impact has provided the following information in its COC application:

• Impact Telecom, LLC proposes to provide wholesale resold interexchange telecommunications services to other carriers throughout the state of Kansas using facilities and services available from its underlying carriers.

• Impact Telecom does not anticipate having any service personnel located in Kansas.

• Impact Telecom will not be deploying any equipment within Kansas.

• Impact Telecom, LLC has no pending or completed criminal, civil or formal administrative action taken against it by a state or federal authority, including settlements in connection with the provision of telephone services or telecommunications services.

Kansas Governor Announces Advancing Digital Opportunities To Promote Technology (ADOPT) Program

December 1, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced the opening of the application window for Kansas’ Advancing Digital Opportunities to Promote Technology (ADOPT) program. The 7-week application window opens on December 7, 2023, and closes at 5:00 pm CST on January 30, 2024. The 2-week public comment window opens on February 7, 2024. A total of $14.7 million will be available from the ADOPT program in the form of grant awards to organizations addressing the challenges of broadband accessibility, affordability, and device availability. ADOPT program grants will be awarded through two sub-programs: (1) Equipment Distribution Program, and (2) Public Wi-Fi Enablement Program.

The Equipment Distribution Program will award grants to eligible entities to make devices available to individuals who do not subscribe to broadband connectivity due to a lack of devices and equipment. Eligible entities will provide devices such as computers, laptops, and tablets to qualifying individuals through no-cost, short or long-term loan programs. The maximum individual award is $500,000, and applicants are not required to provide matching funds. The Public Wi-Fi Enablement Program will award grants for projects that provide access to high-quality, reliable public Wi-Fi based broadband in Kansas. The maximum individual award is $1 million, and applicants are required to provide 10% matching funds.

November 2023

Kansas Awards $28.5 Million LINC Program Broadband Grants

November 29, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that 12 broadband grants totaling $28.5 million were awarded to 11 entities through Kansas’ Lasting Infrastructure and Network Connectivity (LINC) program. Grant awardees will provide a total of $5.7 million in matching funds, bringing LINC’s total broadband investment to $34.2 million. The LINC program is “a multi-faceted effort to improve broadband infrastructure, middle mile connectivity, and Internet Exchange Point capabilities within the State of Kansas.”

Cunningham Communications was awarded a $847,774 grant to construct middle mile facilities in Republic County, Kansas. Cunningham will provide $273,972 in matching funds. Connected Nation was awarded a $5,000,000 grant for an internet exchange point in Sedgwick County, Kansas. Connect Nation will provide $2,631,197 in matching funds. A total of $22.65 million in broadband infrastructure grants were awarded to the following companies:

Midco Requests ETC Designation In Portions Of Johnson & Wyandotte Counties For Purposes Of Receiving Lifeline Support

November 28, 2023 – Midcontinent Communications (Midco) has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (ETC) requesting designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) in two areas that include portions of Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. Midco is seeking ETC designation in these areas in order to be eligible to receive support from federal and state Lifeline programs.

Midco, a South Dakota General Partnership, was granted a Certificate of Convenience and Authority to provide competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) and switched access service in Kansas in areas served by AT&T Kansas and CenturyLink (now served by Brightspeed) (Docket No. 17-MCCT-252-COC). Midco was previously designated as an ETC by the KCC in the company’s operating footprint in the Lawrence, Bonner Springs, Bethel, Tonganoxie, Eudora, Basehor, and Linwood exchanges or zones (Docket N. 17-MCCT-254-ETC). In its application, Midco requests ETC designation in two areas which include portions of Johnson and Wyandotte counties:

• Area 1: Western Johnson County from De Soto to the county line of Douglas County. The area does encompass a portion of the City of De Soto. The north border is K 10 (Governor John Anderson Jr. Hwy). The east border serves the parcels on the east side of Lexington Ave. and the south border serves the parcels along the south side of W 103rd street.

• Area 2: A portion of the City of Bonner Springs, Kansas. This area is: Minnesota Avenue between N 142nd St and N 141st St; N 142nd Street from Minnesota Avenue to just north of Riverview Ave.; N 141st Street from Minnesota Avenue to Sandusky Ave.; Sandusky Ave. between N 141st St and N 142nd St.

Midco currently provides communications services in and around the towns of Lawrence and Eudora in Douglas County, Kansas, which are adjacent to the areas where Midco is seeking ETC designation. Midco is seeking ETC designation for purposes of receiving federal and state Lifeline support. All Lifeline program funding received by Midco “will be used…to reduce the cost of basic local service provided to those customers qualified to receive support under the program.”

Kansas Awards $5 Million Under Broadband Acceleration Grant Program

November 27, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that 11 grants, totaling $5 million, have been awarded to eight broadband providers under Kansas’ Broadband Acceleration Grant Program. Funding will be used to construct broadband facilities in ten Kansas counties and connect 2,294 locations. The awardees will provide $6,632,878 in matching funds, bringing the total broadband investment under this round of the program to $11,632,878.

Kansas Supreme Court Issues Update On Cyber Incident – Cybercriminals Stole Data And Have Threatened To Post It To Dark Web

November 21, 2023 – The Supreme Court of Kansas has issued a statement on the October 12 security incident that has disrupted access to information systems used by Kansas courts. The security incident, which is now being called an attack, “has temporarily incapacitated Kansas Office of Judicial Administration information systems, affecting daily operations of the state’s appellate courts and district courts in 104 counties.” According to Kansas Supreme Court’s statement, cybercriminals have stolen data and threatened to post it to a dark web site if their demands are not met. The Court believes the stolen data “includes Office of Judicial Administration files, district court case records on appeal, and other data, some of which may be confidential under law,” but an ongoing review is being conducted to determine the full scope of data that may have been taken. The full statement of the Kansas Supreme Court is below:

“A few weeks ago, the Kansas judicial branch was a victim of a sophisticated foreign cyberattack that impacted the information systems used by the Kansas judicial branch. This attack has temporarily incapacitated Kansas Office of Judicial Administration information systems, affecting daily operations of the state’s appellate courts and district courts in 104 counties.

“When we discovered the attack, we quickly disconnected our information systems from external access. We notified state authorities, and since that time have benefited from the continued support provided by the governor’s office, legislative leadership, and state and federal law enforcement. This attack—on one of our three branches of government—was made against all Kansans.

“While the impact on our information systems is temporary, the cybercriminals also stole data and threatened to post it to a dark web site if their demands were not met. We are working with cybersecurity experts to identify the data quickly and securely so we can conduct a comprehensive review to determine the full scope of what personal information the cybercriminals may have stolen. Based on our preliminary review, it appears the stolen information includes Office of Judicial Administration files, district court case records on appeal, and other data, some of which may be confidential under law. A full review of what may have been stolen is a high priority to us but it will take time. Once this review is complete, we will notify those affected. As we respond to this criminal attack, we will continue to update our incident response page.

“Cyberattacks on government entities are rampant. According to the 2022 FBI IC3 Internet Crime report, government is the third most-targeted sector for such attacks. Cybercrime is a persistent and serious threat to our democratic institutions. With the help of cybersecurity experts, we are buttressing our systems to guard against future attacks. It will likely take several weeks to return safely to normal operations, including electronic filing, but we will do so.

“This assault on the Kansas system of justice is evil and criminal. Today, we express our deep sorrow that Kansans will suffer at the hands of these cybercriminals.

“Throughout this incident, our decisions have been guided by our foundational values. Chief among those is our dedication to upholding and abiding by the rule of law. By adhering to those values at this profoundly trying time, we seek to demonstrate that no malicious element is more powerful than the rule of law and the institutions that abide by it.”

Intrado Communications Changing Corporate Name To Hypercube Networks, LLC

November 21, 2023 – Intrado Communications, LLC has notified the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) that it is changing its corporate name to Hypercube Networks, LLC. Intrado is authorized to provide interexchange telecommunications services in Kansas pursuant to authority granted in Docket No. 01-KDLC-1051-COC. The company requests that the KCC change the company’s name in all KCC records to Hypercube Networks, LLC at the earliest possible date. Intrado has notified its Kansas customers of the name change, which will have no effect on the rates, terms, or conditions of services it offers.

KCC Consent Agenda For November 16th Business Meeting: Telecommunications Items

November 15, 2023 – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) is expected to approve the following telecommunications items that are included on a consent agenda during the KCC’s business meeting on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 10:00 am:

• Order Adopting Audit Report and Closing the Docket:  24-HOMT-108-KSF – Audit of Home Telephone Co. Inc. by the Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) Administrator Pursuant to K.S.A. 66-2010(b) for KUSF Operating Year 26, Fiscal Year March 2022-February 2023.

• Order Assessing Costs:  24-KDLT-381-CCN – Intrado Communications, LL Notification of a Name Change to Hypercube Networks, LLC and Revised Access Tariff.

• Order Adopting Audit Report and Closing the Docket:  24-NCMC-109-KSF – Audit of Network Communications Intl Corp. dba NCIC Inmate Communications by the Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) Administrator Pursuant to K.S.A. 66-2010(b) for KUSF Operating Year 26, Fiscal Year March 2022-February 2023.

Epic Touch Selling Louisiana Companies To H.N.G. Holdings

November 8, 2023 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking comment on a Section 214 application filed by Epic Touch Co., Inc. and H.N.G. Holdings, L.L.C., requesting consent to transfer control of CP-TEL Holdings, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries Campti-Pleasant Hill Telephone Co., Inc. and CP-TEL Network Services, Inc., from Epic Touch to H.N.G. Holdings. Comments are due on or before November 22, 2023. Reply comments are due November 29, 2023.

Epic Touch, a holding company incorporated in Kansas, owns and operates the following entities: (1) the Elkhart Telephone Company, a Kansas rural ILEC; and (2) CP TEL Holdings, Inc., a Louisiana holding company. CP Tel Holdings wholly owns the following entities: (a) Campi-Pleasant Hill, a Louisiana corporation and rural LEC that provides local exchange and exchange access services in portions of the Natchitoches, Sabine, DeSoto, and Red River Parishes in northwestern Louisiana; and (b) CP-TEL Network Services, Inc, a Louisiana competitive LEC serving portions of Natchitoches, Sabine, DeSoto, and Red River Parishes in northwestern Louisiana.

H.N.G. Holdings, L.L.C., is a Louisiana holding company that wholly owns: (1) Northeast Louisiana Telephone Company, Inc., a Louisiana rural LEC; and (2) Northeast Long Distance, LLC, a Louisiana limited liability company that provides long distance toll services in Morehouse and Ouachita Parishes. Northeast Louisiana Telephone wholly owns Northeast Telephone Services, Inc., a Louisiana corporation that provides competitive LEC and other services in portions of Morehouse and Ouachita Parishes in northeastern Louisiana.

Pursuant to the terms of the proposed transaction, H.N.G. Holdings will purchase from Epic Touch all of the issued and outstanding stock of CP TEL Holdings. As a result, H.N.G. Holdings will indirectly wholly own Campti-Pleasant Hill and CPTN. Due to the complexity of the transaction, the Wireline Bureau has accepted the Section 214 application for non-streamlined processing.

Kanas RLECs Petition KCC To Eliminate Printed Telephone Directory Requirement

November 6, 2023 – A group of Kansas Rural Local Exchange Carriers (RLECs) have filed a petition with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) requesting that the KCC eliminate any requirement currently existing that mandates RLECs physically print and distribute a telephone directory to all subscribers. In place of the requirement, the Kansas RLECs request that the KCC allow RLECs to provide directories in any format or manner an individual RLEC deems most cost-effective, including electronic or web-based, and provide a simple paper or PDF copy to subscribers upon request. The current telephone directory requirement was put in place via a 1967 KCC Directive.

October 2023

FCC Authorizes 368 Rate-Of-Return Companies That Elected Enhanced A-CAM Support

October 30, 2023 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has authorized 368 rate-of-return carriers to receive model-based Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (Enhanced A-CAM) support. Carriers that have elected Enhanced A-CAM will receive a 15-year period of support beginning January 1, 2024, in exchange for deploying broadband service of at least 100/20 Mbps speeds to over 700,000 unserved locations across the U.S., and maintaining or improve existing 100/20 Mbps broadband service to approximately 2 million locations. Authorized Enhanced A-CAM support totals $18,281,852,513 over the 15-year term. Along with the Public Notice, the Bureau has released Authorization Report 1, which shows each carrier’s authorization amount and initial deployment obligations. A total of 10 carriers in Kansas elected Enhanced A-CAM. Three of those carriers are currently receiving CAF-BLS support, while the other seven were under a previous A-CAM program. Additional information, including each carrier’s election letter, are available from the FCC’s rate-of-return resources website.

Totah Communications Applies For Additional KUSF Support

October 18, 2023 – Totah Communications, Inc. has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) requesting additional Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) support. Totah requests the KCC issue an order increasing its KUSF draw by $627,462.30 which reflects an intrastate revenue deficiency of that amount. In its application, among other things, Totah states that “[t]he proposed receipt of additional KUSF support based on Totah’s embedded costs, revenue requirements, investments and expenses pursuant to K.S.A. 66-2008(e) is necessary to allow [it] to continue the provision of sufficient and efficient telecommunications service in the public interest, which provision of service is mandated by the State of Kansas.” The amount requested by Totah is roughly 2% of the $30 million KUSF. Accordingly, if Totah receives the entire amount, there will be a 2% pro-rata reduction to other KUSF recipients pursuant to the KUSF cap rules.

Brightspeed Broadband, LLC Refiles Competitive Access Services Tariff To Reflect Name Change (CenturyTel – Brightspeed)

October 17, 2023 – Brightspeed Broadband, LLC has refiled its entire Competitive Access Services Tariff No. 1 to reflect the KCC’s approval of the company’s name change from CenturyTel Broadband Services, LLC to Brightspeed Broadband, LLC. There are no changes to rates, terms, and conditions with this tariff filing.

Brightspeed Companies Of Kansas Refile Tariffs To Reflect Name Changes

October 17, 2023 – The Brightspeed Companies of Kansas have refiled three tariffs to reflect the KCC’s approvals of the companies’ name changes.

Kansas Courts Suffer Cyber Incident

October 12, 2023 – The Supreme Court of Kansas has issued an administrative order announcing that the appellate court clerk’s office and all district court clerk’s offices except Johnson County are inaccessible because the electronic filing systems in those courts are unavailable. According to the Supreme Court’s announcement of the administrative order, the judicial branch suffered “a security incident that has disrupted access to court systems.” The online system for making electronic payments and several others are also unavailable.

Experimental Boring Company, EarthGrid PBC, Applies For Authority To Provide Interexchange Long Distance Service & Local Exchange And Exchange Access Services In Kansas

October 10, 2023 – EarthGrid PBC has filed two applications with the Kansas Corporation Commission for Certificates of Convenience and Authority to provide: (1) interexchange long distance service, and (2) local exchange and exchange access services. Both applications are seeking authority within AT&T Kansas and CenturyLink service areas in Kansas. EarthGrid PBC is a Delaware for-profit, public benefit corporation that is headquartered in California. EarthGrid PBC has provided the following information on its “short run and long run growth plans” for providing services in Kansas:

EarthGrid PBC seeks authority to provide non-switched point-to-point local and interexchange telecommunications services throughout the State of Kansas. These services will be offered to Wireless Service Providers (WSPs), other telecommunications carriers and communications providers, municipalities, tribal communities, and commercial customers. The Company seeks authority to provide service via its own fiber facilities and/or through resale arrangements. EarthGrid PBC does not initially plan to offer service to residential or to small business customers other than WSPs, data centers, other utilities and/or internet service providers (ISPs), and telecommunications carriers. It initially plans to offer service in the areas where AT&T Kansas and CenturyLink operate as the incumbent local exchange carriers. It may extend services into other areas as it builds out its network in Kansas and finds additional opportunities. The Company does not propose to offer local exchange access services.

EarthGrid PBC is currently authorized to provide telecommunications service in 36 states, and has applications for operating authority pending in three states. However, EarthGrid does not currently provide telecommunications services. In its applications, it has included the following description of its business plan:

The Company is developing a long-range fiber route which requires engineering, permitting and easements. This process will begin upon approvals and will spread out over several years. Initially, the Company will purchase facilities for resale, but long-term plans would include significant investment in infrastructure. The first step is to obtain the authorities that will enable the company to execute on these plans and it will take more than 12 months to begin installation of physical plants.

EarthGrid PBC was formed in 2016 as a non-stock, non-profit corporation with the name Red Gopher Cooperative Corp. In 2018, it reorganized as a for-profit public benefit corporation. Delaware public benefit corporations are intended to produce a public benefit and to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner. They must be “managed in a manner that balances the stockholders’ pecuniary interests, the best interests of those materially affected by the corporation’s conduct, and the public benefit or public benefits identified in its certificate of incorporation.” EarthGrid PBC was created to produce the following public benefit:

The purpose of the corporation is to develop and build a subterranean clean energy superhighway system to connect low cost, fixed price wind and solar power plants to cities and industrial centers. The corporation shall then develop and build a network of vacuum tunnels underground to support Hyperloop and other forms of low cost, super-high-speed transportation solutions designed for the 21st century.

In November 2022, EarthGrid PBC initiated an offering of securities under the Securities And Exchange Commission’s (SEC) crowdfunding regulations. Among other things, the SEC’s “Regulation Crowdfunding” allows a company to raise a maximum aggregate amount of $5 million through crowdfunding offerings in a 12-month period. Through the offering, EarthGrid PBC “plans to raise between $10,000 and $4,999,998,” and intends “to use most of the proceeds…to acquire a tunnel boring machine and plant equipment.” In the offering statement, EarthGrid PBC described its “business and anticipated business plan” as follows:

EarthGrid PBC (the “Company”) was formed as Red Gopher Cooperative on September 23, 2016 in the state of Delaware. The Company changed its name to Earthgrid PBC on June 29, 2020. The Company is a public benefit corporation. EarthGrid has invented a plasma tunnel boring robots that are solar powered, use no water, have zero emissions, and can bore tunnels 100x faster at 1/10th the cost of conventional techniques. The Company is building a network of large, underground utility tunnels that improve infrastructure and rapidly accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy by enabling underground clean energy power lines, high-speed data, water, and wastewater, H2 pipelines, e-commerce parcel transportation via pneumatic tubes, etc. The Company has a BOOM (Build, Own, Operate and Manage) model, and intends to lease space to investment-grade utilities. EarthGrid’s vision is to build a subterranean network of tunnels to rapidly eliminate fossil fuels, targeting 100% renewable energy, and offer high-speed internet, clean water, wastewater, and transportation & delivery services. Imagine a network of underground utility tunnels, big enough to walk in and perform maintenance that normally requires specialized equipment and tremendous expense, connecting every city (including underserved communities) on every continent, moving 100% clean energy, water, high-speed data & e-commerce goods via pneumatic tubes. EarthGrid PBC currently has 7 employees.

Sage Telecom Communications, LLC d/b/a TruConnect Files Application To Expand Its Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Service Area In Kansas

October 10, 2023 – Sage Telcom Communications, LLC d/b/a TruConnect (Sage) has filed an application with the KCC to expand its eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) service area. More specifically, Sage is requesting to further expand its ETC designated service area to include additional wire centers within the wireless network coverage of its underlying carriers that were not included in its prior ETC designations. The wire centers are located within the service areas of rural ILECs, AT&T Kanas, and Brightspeed companies. Sage is seeking an expanded ETC service area to enable it to provide Lifeline service to additional qualifying Kansas households. Sage is not seeking high-cost universal service fund support. The KCC first designated Sage as a wireless ETC on June 14, 2013, in Docket No. 13-SAGT-407-ETC, and in August 2014, granted Sage’s application to expand its ETC service area.

EarthGrid PBC Applies For Certificate Of Convenience And Authority To Provide Local Exchange And Exchange Access Services In Kansas

October 10, 2023 – EarthGrid PBC has filed an application with the Kansas Corporation Commission for a Certificate of Convenience and Authority to provide local exchange and exchange access services within AT&T Kansas and CenturyLink territories in Kansas. EarthGrid PBC is a Delaware for-profit, public benefit corporation that is headquartered in California.

EarthGrid PBC Applies For Certificate Of Convenience And Authority To Provide Interexchange Long Distance Service In Kansas

October 10, 2023 – EarthGrid PBC has filed an application with the KCC seeking a Certificate of Convenience and Authority to provide interexchange long distance service within the State of Kansas. Specifically,  the company has requested authority to provide service within AT&T Kansas and CenturyLink service areas. EarthGrid PBC is a Delaware for-profit, public benefit corporation that is headquartered in California.

KCC Consent Agenda For October 19th Business Meeting: Telecommunications Items

October 6, 2023 – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) is expected to approve the following telecommunications items that are included on a consent agenda during the KCC’s business meeting on Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 10:00 am:

• Order Assessing Costs:  Docket No. 24-SAGT-326-ETC – Application Sage Telcom Communications, LLC to Expand Its Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Service Area

• Order Approving Interconnection Agreement Amendment:  Docket No. 16-SWBT-566-IAT – Application of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company for Approval of Interconnection Agreement Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 With First Communications, LLC

• Order Assessing Costs:  Docket No. 24-EGPT-336-COC – Application of EarthGrid PBC Application for Certificate of Convenience and Authority to Provide Interexchange Telecommunication Services (CLEC)

All orders placed on the consent agenda 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/.

AT&T Kansas Petitions KCC To Relinquish ETC Designation In 14,600 Census Blocks Within Its ILEC Areas In Kansas

October 6, 2023 – Southwestern Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Kansas has filed a petition requesting the relinquishment of its eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) designation for portions of its incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) service areas in Kansas, effective August 1, 2024. Specifically, AT&T Kansas is seeking to relinquish its ETC designation in ILEC exchanges and wire centers where 14,600 census blocks are located, and for which it did not previously request or receive ETC relinquishment. AT&T Kansas will retain its ETC designation in 1,518 census blocks in Kansas. AT&T Kansas is seeking to relinquish its ETC designation in certain ILEC areas because it no longer receives federal universal service fund high-cost support in Kansas. It stopped receiving federal high-cost support in Kansas on December 31, 2021, when the CAF II funding program ended. The areas where AT&T Kansas is seeking to relinquish its ETC designation “consists of some, but not all, of those [census blocks] for which AT&T Kansas chose to retain its ETC designation for purposes of receiving CAF II funding which expired on December 31, 2021, as well as some the company chose to voluntarily retain until this time.”

10 Carriers In Kansas Elect Enhanced A-CAM Support

October 4, 2023 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has announced carriers that have accepted offers of model-based Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) support. Carriers were required to elect such support on a state-by-state basis. Also, the Bureau has confirmed that the number of acceptances has exceeded the minimum carrier participation threshold set by the FCC in the Enhanced A-CAM Order, which means the Enhanced A-CAM program will proceed. A total of 10 carriers in Kansas elected Enhanced A-CAM. Three of those carriers are currently receiving CAF-BLS support, while the other seven were under a previous A-CAM program. A complete list of carriers that selected Enhanced A-CAM is available here.

KCC Consent Agenda For October 12th Business Meeting: Telecommunications Items

October 3, 2023 – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) is expected to approve the following telecommunications items that are included on a consent agenda during the KCC’s business meeting on Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 10:00 am:

• Docket No. 24-UTDT-204-CCN – Application of United Telephone of Kansas d/b/a CenturyLink for a Name Change on the Certificate of Convenience and Authority to Brightspeed of Kansas, Inc. (Order Approving Name Change)

• Docket No. 24-CYBT-208-CCN – Application of CenturyTel Broadband Services, LLC to Brightspeed Broadband, LLC For a Name Change on its Certificate of Convenience and Authority to Provide Local Exchange and Exchange Access Services Within the State of Kansas (Order Approving Name Change)

• Docket No. 24-CNPZ-241-ETC – Cellular Network Partnership D/B/A Pioneer Cellular Notice of Relinquishment of Designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (Order Confirming Relinquishment of Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Designation in the Almena Exchange)

• Docket No. 24-SFLT-227-TAR – Application of Consolidated Communications of Kansas General Exchange Tariff for Convenience Fee Increase (Order Approving Tariff Revisions)

• Docket No. 24-FCMT-228-TAR – Application of Consolidated Communications of Missouri General Exchange Tariff for Convenience Fee Increase (Order Approving Tariff Revisions)

• Docket No. 24-SWBT-318-MIS – Petition of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company D/B/A AT&T Kansas for an Order Confirming Relinquishment of Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Designation in Specified Areas (Order Assessing Costs)

• 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 (Order Opening Docket; Protective Order Applicable to CURB; Requiring Entries of Appearance and Establishing Procedural Schedule; Order Assessing Costs)

• Docket No. 24-SNKT-299-DRS – Application of the Southern Kansas Telephone Company, Inc. for Approval of Depreciation Methodology (Order Assessing Costs)

• Docket No. 24-SNKT-299-DRS – Application of the Southern Kansas Telephone Company, Inc. for Approval of Depreciation Methodology (Suspension Order: May 28, 2024)

• Docket No. 24-TWVT-300-DRS – Application of Twin Valley Telephone, Inc. for Approval of Depreciation Methodology (Order Assessing Costs)

• Docket No. 24-TWVT-300-DRS – Application of Twin Valley Telephone, Inc. for Approval of Depreciation Methodology (Suspension Order: May 28, 2024)

• Docket No. 24-BTUT-302-COC – Application for Certificate of Authority for Barr Tell USA, Inc. to Provide Local Exchange & Exchange Access Service within the State of Kansas (Order Assessing Costs)

September 2023

KCC Certifies To FCC That Kansas ETCs Using Federal High-Cost USF Support As Intended

September 22, 2023 – The Kansas Corporation Commission has submitted a filing with the Federal Communications Commission which certifies that certain eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) in Kansas are eligible to receive federal high-cost universal service fund support. In the filing, made pursuant to Section 54.314 of the FCC’s rules, the KCC certifies that the for the applicable ETCs “all federal high-cost support provided to such carriers within Kansas was used in the preceding calendar year (2022) and will be used in the coming calendar year (2024) only for the provision, maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services for which the support is intended.”

Annie Kuether Confirmed As Kansas Corporation Commission Commissioner

September 13, 2023 – The Kansas Senate Confirmation Oversight Committee has confirmed Annie Kuether to a four-year term as a Commissioner on the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). A full Senate vote will be taken when the Kansas Legislature returns for the 2024 session. Kuether’s term will begin immediately and expire on March 15, 2027. Prior to her appointment to the KCC by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, Kuether served as a State Representative in the Kansas Legislature for 25 years, retiring in 2022. During that time, Kuether was a member of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee.

August 2023

Kansas Submits BEAD Program 5-Year Action Plan To NTIA

August 24, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that the Kansas Office of Broadband Development (KOBD) has submitted the state’s comprehensive Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Five-Year Action Plan (FYAP) to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Kansas’ 5-year action plan details how the state plans to use the $451 million in BEAD funding NTIA has allocated to the state. The plan outlines KOBD’s “vision to provide universal access to quality broadband, with specific goals and objectives aimed at broadband coverage, adoption rates, and economic growth,” and “identifies existing programs and assets to reduce overlap and to leverage resources.” Additionally, Kansas’ plan “identifies challenges such as supply chain constraints, labor shortages, digital skill gaps, and how to overcome these obstacles,” and includes “a projected timeline, costs and strategies to close gaps in broadband service and ways to ensure fair digital access.” More information on the 5-year plan is available here.

RUS Announces $667 Million In ReConnect Program Awards: Wave Wireless & Totah Communications Receive Funding In Kansas

August 21, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service has announced it has awarded $667 million in grants and loans under the fourth round of the ReConnect Program. Funding will be used to cover the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service in rural areas. The $667 million has been awarded to 38 broadband projects in Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the Marshall Islands.

ReConnect Program funding was awarded to two broadband providers serving Kansas: Wave Wireless LLC and Totah Communications Inc. Wave Wireless was awarded a $495,765 grant and a $495,765 loan. The funding will be used to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises broadband network that will serve 228 people, six businesses, and 39 farms in Labette and Montgomery counties in Kansas. Totah Communications was awarded a $4,136,439 grant. The funding will be used to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises broadband network that will serve 213 people, five businesses, and 33 farms in Chautauqua County in Kansas.

Kansas Releases BEAD Program Initial Proposal Volume 1 – Public Comments Due August 30

August 4, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that Kansas’ Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program Initial Proposal Volume 1 is available for viewing and public comment. Kansas has been allocated $451.7 million under BEAD. The Initial Proposal Volume 1 details Kansas’ existing broadband efforts, identifies unserved and underserved locations in Kansas, and lists community anchor institutions in the state. Public comments on Volume 1 can be submitted online here until August 30, 2023.

FCC Approves Up-To-$75 Monthly ACP Broadband Benefit In High-Cost Areas

August 4, 2023 – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved new rules that establish enhanced discounts – an up-to-$75 monthly broadband benefit – for broadband services provided in high-cost areas by participants in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed the FCC to establish the increase because “the $75 monthly benefit would support providers that can demonstrate that the standard $30 monthly benefit would cause them to experience ‘particularized economic hardship’ such that they would be unable to maintain part or all of their broadband network in a high-cost area.” In the Sixth Report And Order, the FCC takes the following actions to implement the increased ACP benefit:

• Adopts rules to implement the up-to-$75 monthly ACP benefit in high-cost areas, as defined by NTIA and as required by the Infrastructure Act;

• Defines “particularized economic hardship” and establishes the showing that ACP providers must make to demonstrate they are experiencing a particularized economic hardship in a high-cost area;

• Sets the processes for reviewing and making determinations on providers’ economic hardship submissions, and appealing those determinations;

• Creates a requirement for providers that are approved to offer the high-cost area benefit to annually resubmit an economic hardship showing to continue offering the high-cost area benefit; and

• Outlines the steps providers must take to provide advance notice and a transition path for ACP consumers if the provider no longer qualifies to offer the high-cost area benefit.

Butler Electric Cooperative Announces $21 Million Fiber-To-The-Home Broadband Network Project

August 4, 2023 – El Dorado, Kansas-based Butler Electric Cooperative has announced plans for a $21 million fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband network project. It will be partially funded through a $10 million Kansas Capital Projects grant, and will deliver broadband to approximately 4,300 rural Kansans. The broadband service will be offered through Butler Electric Cooperative’s broadband division, Velocity. Butler Electric has selected Conexon to deliver comprehensive fiber broadband support services for the network. The network will be built over Butler Electric’s existing electric distribution infrastructure.

June 2023

NTIA Releases BEAD Program’s State Funding Allocations: Kansas To Receive $451.7 Million

June 26, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has released the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program’s funding allocations to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. Kansas has been allocated $451,725,998.15. A list of the BEAD funding allocations by state is available on NTIA’s press release. Each state and territory will use funding from the $42.45 billion BEAD Program to administer programs that award grants to deploy affordable, reliable high-speed broadband Internet service to everyone in America. States and territories will receive a formal notice of allocation on June 30, 2023. They will then have 180 days to submit their Initial Proposals describing how they propose to run their grant programs. Initial Proposals may be submitted starting on July 1, 2023. Once NTIA approves an Initial Proposal, which will occur on a rolling basis, states and territories will be permitted to request access to at least 20 percent of their allocated funds. Below are the allocations for every state and territory, ranked by total funding:

Kansas Department of Commerce Receives $42.5 Million Middle Mile Grant Award From NTIA

June 16, 2023 – The Kansas Department of Commerce has been awarded a $42,514,219.13 middle mile grant by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The award was made under NTIA’s $1 billion Middle Mile program, which is funding the construction, improvement, or acquisition of middle mile infrastructure that does not directly connect end-user locations. NTIA’s award announcement provides the following description of how the Kansas Department of Commerce will use the $42.5 million grant award:

The State of Kansas Departments of Commerce (the applicant) and Transportation (KDOT) (project partner) are working together with private and non-profit partners to create a 682-mile open-access middle-mile fiber optic and network, with plans to connect multiple new internet exchange points throughout the State. The purpose of the project is to connect to multiple new internet points throughout the State and offer dark fiber for last-mile service providers that have the capabilities to light the fiber and need the scalability associated with dark fiber access. The proposed route will provide lit service access to support smaller ISPs as well as other providers with smaller project scopes that prefer lit services to deploying their own fiber or electronics. This will enable last mile providers with a range of objectives to connect to this network and access end users.

NTIA Awards $930 Million In Middle Mile Grants

June 16, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has announced it has awarded $930,021,354.34 in middle mile grant funds. NTIA’s $1 billion Middle Mile program funds construction, improvement, or acquisition of middle mile infrastructure that does not directly connect end-user locations. The awards will fund middle mile projects covering over 350 counties across 35 states and Puerto Rico. NTIA’s grants range from $2.7 million to $88.8 million, with an average award amount of $26.6 million. In total, the awarded projects will deploy over 12,000 miles of new fiber that will pass within 1,000 feet of 6,961 community anchor institutions. Information on the awardees and their projects is available here.

May 2023

FCC Releases Version 2 Of National Broadband Map

May 30, 2023 – FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has authored a blog post announcing the release of an updated version of the FCC’s national broadband map. Version 2 of the map, which shows where broadband service is available as of the end of 2022, reflects changes that were made after the FCC adjudicated challenges from consumers, states, localities, Tribes and other stakeholders. Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s announcement includes the following key takeaways for Version 2 of the national broadband map:

• More than 8.3 million U.S. homes and businesses lack access to high-speed broadband. If we want everyone, everywhere to have access to high-speed internet service, we will need to deploy broadband service to 8.3 million new locations. On net, the improvements to the map since November helped to identify nearly 330,000 more unserved locations.

• Our challenge processes are powerful tools to improve accuracy. Stakeholders have stepped up to provide lots of information and challenges to our data. Our mapping team has reviewed challenges to availability data for more than 4 million locations. Over 75% of those challenges have already been resolved and the majority have led to updates in the data on the map showing where broadband is available. At the same time, the new map also reflects a net increase of more than one million new serviceable locations, as compared to the November 2022 pre-production draft.

• Collaboration is key. Our mapping team met individually with representatives from every state at least once, and, in total, hosted over 200 individual sessions with state, local, and Tribal governments. These discussions were crucial to helping all stakeholders understand what we were showing on the map, how to submit—and respond to—challenges, and how this first-of-its-kind map could be improved. We also responded to more than 7,600 technical assistance requests from internet providers and challengers.

• We’re using all the data quality tools at our disposal. Beyond the challenge process, the FCC has built automated checks into the new system to validate submissions from internet providers. FCC staff have also begun to use the verification and enforcement tools available to ensure accurate availability filings, initiating over 800 verification inquiries thus far. More stringent verification resulted in updates to over 600 submissions from providers and a clearer picture of broadband availability in every state and territory.

• Our maps are continuously becoming more accurate, and will only continue to improve. The Commission has a duty under the law to develop these maps in an iterative fashion. We are going to continue to release a major update twice a year, which overlays availability data from providers onto the tens of millions of serviceable locations. In addition to those major bi-annual updates, we have been making minor updates to the availability data in the map regularly for most of 2023. These incremental updates reflect both challenge outcomes and any corrections providers make to their filings. We will continue to accept challenges every day, every week and every month, and those challenges will continue to improve the map.

NTIA Announces Version 2 Of The FCC’s National Broadband Map

May 31, 2023 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has announced that the FCC has released Version 2 of the National Broadband Map. The map shows location-level information about the availability of broadband service across the U.S. It is publicly available online at https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/home. The FCC’s National Broadband Map will play an important role in NTIA’s Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. NTIA has provided three key takeaways from the latest data in the national broadband map:

• Through challenges and additional work that the FCC has been doing to improve the map’s underlying Fabric—a dataset of all locations where Internet service can be installed—the FCC added nearly three million Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) while removing nearly two million for reasons ranging from updated data to the use of sophisticated tools to identify and remove structures like garages and sheds.

• The FCC’s challenge process resolved more than 3.7 million challenges to the availability data – a dataset that shows whether Internet service is, in fact, available at each location, resulting in a more accurate picture of the high-speed Internet service currently available across the nation.

• The overall national story remains consistent: From version 1 to version 2 of the FCC’s map, the percentage of unserved locations nationwide increased by 0.2 percentage points.

New FCC Broadband Funding Map Shows Broadband Infrastructure Deployment Projects Funded By Federal Government

May 15, 2023 – The FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireline Competition Bureau have released a new Broadband Funding Map which details broadband infrastructure deployment projects funded by the Federal Government. The map and its underlying data are available online at https://fundingmap.fcc.gov/. It contains data from the FCC,  the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the Department of Treasury.

Kansas Announces $30 Million Lasting Infrastructure And Network Connectivity (LINC) Grant Program

May 2, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced the creation of the Lasting Infrastructure and Network Connectivity (LINC) program which will provide $30 million in grants to improve broadband infrastructure, middle mile connectivity, and Internet Exchange Point capabilities within Kansas. The LINC program application window opens on May 5, 2023, and closes on June 19, 2023. Award announcements are initially targeted for September 2023.

The Kansas Office of Broadband Development will implement the LINC program by providing grants in two categories: (1) broadband infrastructure, and (2) internet exchange point and middle mile. The broadband infrastructure category will provide funding for deploying broadband to end user locations with a minimum of 100/20 Mbps speeds. The maximum grant will be $5 million. The second category will fund middle mile infrastructure projects that reduce the overall costs of delivering broadband to end users, and internet exchange point facility projects that improve the overall internet access service quality for all Kansans. The maximum grant will be $5 - $10 million. Internet service providers, political subdivisions, tribal governments, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for LINC program grants. Applications previously submitted to Kansas’ Capital Projects Fund broadband grant program can be considered for LINC awards. Additional information is available on the LINC program website.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Abu Dhabi sovereign Wealth Fund Invests $500 Million In Brightspeed

May 2, 2023 – The Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, Mubadala Investment Company, has announced it is investing US $500 million in Brightspeed. Mubadala Investment Company is now a minority owner. Brightspeed is majority owned by Apollo Global Management. Brightspeed is the fifth-largest incumbent local exchange carrier in the U.S., serving rural and suburban communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the U.S. Midwest and Southeast. In 2022, Brightspeed acquired Lumen Technologies’ ILEC businesses in 20 states, which included the operations in Kansas.

Mercury Wireless Fined $96,000 For Defaulting On 32 Census Block Groups In Kansas Where It Won RDOF Support

May 1, 2023 – Mercury Wireless Kansas, LLC has been fined $96,000 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for defaulting on 32 Census Block Groups (CBGs) in Kansas where it won Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction support. Mercury Wireless Kansas’ fine was included in a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) For Forfeiture recently issued by the FCC against 22 RDOF applicants that apparently defaulted on their bids for support between May 3, 2022, and December 16, 2022. Appendix A to the NAL explains the relevant, unique facts pertaining to each of the 22 RDOF applicants, and describes with each entity’s conduct in relation to the RDOF auction. The entry for Mercury Wireless Kansas is below:

Mercury Wireless Kansas, LLC (Mercury KS); FRN: 0024930141; File No.: EB-IHD-23-00034750; NAL/Acct No.: 202332080017. Mercury KS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercury Broadband, LLC f/k/a Mercury Wireless, Inc. (Mercury), a fixed wireless broadband provider located in Kansas City, MO. Mercury submitted its Short-Form Application to participate in Auction 904 and was a successful bidder. In turn, Mercury assigned bids covering 238 CBGs to Mercury KS. On August 10, 2021, Mercury KS notified the Commission of its intent to default on 32 CBGs subject to forfeiture. WCB declared Mercury KS to be in default on May 3, 2022, and referred the company to EB for enforcement action. The Commission finds that Mercury KS apparently committed 32 violations by defaulting on 32 CBGs subject to forfeiture, which places the company’s base forfeiture at $96,000.00. Mercury KS’s total assigned support for the assigned CBGs in default subject to forfeiture amounted to $1,228,636.60, thereby capping the maximum possible forfeiture at $184,295.49, which is 15% of Mercury KS’s defaulted support subject to forfeiture in Auction 904. Because the base forfeiture does not exceed the 15% cap established in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Order, the Commission finds that the forfeiture amount of $96,000.00 against Mercury KS is appropriate here.

NTIA Releases Guidance On BEAD Program Challenge Process

May 1, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has released proposed guidance for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program’s state challenge process. The BEAD Program will provide $42.45 billion in grants to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and U.S. territories. States will use BEAD Program grant funding to prioritize the expansion of broadband internet access to unserved locations (no access to 25/3 Mbps broadband service) and underserved locations (no access to 100/20 Mbps broadband service). Pursuant to the challenge process, an entity may challenge a determination made by a State as to whether a particular location or community anchor institution is eligible for BEAD funding, including whether a particular location is unserved or underserved. The BEAD challenge process Policy Notice, containing additional guidance and the model challenge process are available online from NTIA. NTIA has requested public comments on the proposed challenge process guidance. Comments can be submitted via to BEAD@NTIA.gov no later than midnight EDT on May 5, 2023.

April 2023

Governor Kelly Signs SB-144, Revises The Kansas Video Competition Act

April 13, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has signed SB-144 into law. The bill amends the Kansas Video Competition Act by revising the definition of video service. Specifically, the text of SB-144 “clarifies within the definition of ‘video service,’ that for video programming services provided through wireline facilities located at least in part in the public rights of way, the services will be provided by a video services provider through wireline facilities owned, controlled, constructed, or operated by the provider of the video service.” SB-144 also adds two exceptions to the definition, stating “video service” does not include any video programming provided by:

• a provider of direct-to-home satellite services, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 303(v), that are transmitted from a satellite directly to a customer's premises without using or accessing any portion of the public right-of-way; or

• a provider of video programming accessed through a service that enables users to access content, information, email or other services offered over the internet including streaming content.

University of Kansas Institute for Policy & Social Research Releases Broadband In Kansas Report

April 1, 2023 – The University of Kansas Institute for Policy & Social Research (IPSR) has released a report titled “Broadband in Kansas: The Challenges of Digital Access and Affordability.” IPSR received funding under the CARES Act to study broadband access in the state of Kansas. To compile the report, IPSR “examined existing data, fielded [its] own survey of broadband speeds and access, conducted focus groups, and commissioned a chapter on the digital divide within the state of Kansas.” A few of the key findings in the report include the following:

• The report indicates a rural-urban digital divide in terms of access, affordability, and satisfaction with broadband services. Kansans living outside of cities pay more for slower service than Kansans living in cities.

• The data in the report indicate that up to 1,000,000 Kansans live in regions that lack access to high-speed broadband services, now considered to be 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload (100/20).

• Close to half of survey respondents (46%) report dissatisfaction with broadband services.

March 2023

FCC Chairwoman Issues Update On FCC Broadband Map

March 23, 2023 – FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has authored a blog post which provides an update on the FCC’s broadband availability map. An initial version of the map was released online in November 2022. It shows where fixed and mobile internet services are available throughout the U.S., as of June 30, 2022. The FCC broadband availability map contains two datasets: locations and availability. The locations dataset consists of the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric, which is a common dataset of all locations in the U.S. where fixed broadband internet access service could be installed. The availability dataset is derived from information submitted by broadband service providers through the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection (BDC), and shows what broadband services, if any, are actually available at the Fabric locations.

According to Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s blog post, the version of the Fabric identified over 113 million locations where fixed broadband could be installed. The Fabric now shows “over 114 million broadband-serviceable locations, a net increase of 1.04 million.” This number was derived by adding 2.96 million new broadband-serviceable locations, and removing 1.92 million locations from the first version. Finally, Chairwoman Rosenworcel affirmed that the FCC will release a new broadband availability map that reflects the updated data in the Spring of 2023, as required by the Broadband DATA Act.

Kansas Launches Statewide Initiative To Increase Awareness Of Affordable Connectivity Program

March 15, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced a statewide initiative to increase awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which helps lower-income families pay for high-speed internet access service. The ACP is a $14.2 billion federal broadband benefit program that helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare and more. It provides eligible households a monthly discount of up to $30 per month (up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands) and a one-time $100 discount toward a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet. According to the Kansas Department of Commerce Press Release, there are 438,634 Kansas households eligible for the ACP, yet only 93,244 (21%) of those eligible have enrolled. Under Governor Kelly’s initiative, Kansas will partner with EducationSuperHighway, a national non-profit with a mission to close the broadband affordability gap, to “build a broad coalition of local stakeholders, service providers, non-profit organizations, and higher learning institutions to overcome the barriers that prevent households in under-resourced communities from enrolling.”

Kansas To Receive $15 Million In U.S. Department Of Treasury Digital Connectivity Technology Funds

March 8, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that Kansas is the first state to receive $15 million in U.S. Department of Treasury Digital Connectivity Technology (DCT) funds, which will be used to support equal access to high-speed internet, provide devices to underserved Kansans, and expand digital skills training for communities across Kansas. DCT funding is made available under the American Rescue Act Capital Projects Fund (CPF). States have the option to use all CPF dollars for broadband infrastructure or set aside some funding for programs that ensure broadband is more fully accessible to hard-to-reach communities. Kansas will use the funds to “provide the devices and skills training” to ensure all Kansans benefit from the State’s investments to make high-speed internet available in local communities.

February 2023

Kansas Office of Broadband Development Announces Broadband Roadshow

February 10, 2023 – The Kansas Office of Broadband Development has announced a “Kansas Broadband Roadshow” across the state beginning in Emporia on Wednesday, February 15th. At each stop, staff from the Office of Broadband Development will meet with individuals and broadband stakeholders to learn directly about internet access availability in Kansas communities. The following other Internet access issues also will be discussed: availability, public access, inclusive design, adoption, speeds, safety, privacy, digital skills training, devices, and other topics. Additional information on locations and how to register is available here. The following roadshow stops have been announced:

• Feb 15  –  Emporia  5:30 to 7 p.m. 

• Feb 22  –  Pratt  12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.

• Feb 22  –  Dodge City  5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

• Feb 23  –  Peabody  6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• Feb 28  –  Manhattan  5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• March 2  –  Chanute  Noon to 1:30 p.m.

• March 2  –  Pittsburg  5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• March 7  –  Hiawatha  5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• March 9  –  Beloit  Noon to 1:30 p.m.

• March 9  –  Great Bend  5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• March 22  –  Topeka  5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• March 23  –  Wichita  5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• March 27  –  Garden City  6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

• March 28  –  Sublette  12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

• March 28  –  Liberal  5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• April 4  –  Oberlin  5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• April 5  –  Oakley  Noon to 1:30 p.m.

• April 5  –  Goodland  5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• April 10  –  Baldwin City  12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

• April 11  –  Kansas City  3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• April 13  –  Paola  12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

• April 13  –  Olathe  5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• April 19  –  WaKeeny  2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

• April 19  –  Nicodemus  10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

• April 25  –  Arkansas City  10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

• May 4  –  Salina  5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Mergers & Acquisitions In Kansas: WANRack Acquires KwiKom Communications

February 1, 2023 – WANRack, LLC has acquired JMZ Corporation d/b/a KwiKom Communications. WANRack is a communications infrastructure provider that designs, engineers, constructs, and maintains fiber-wide area networks across the U.S. KwiKom provides residential and business broadband services over fiber and fixed wireless networks in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska. KwiKom’s fixed wireless network covers over 30,000 square miles. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

January 2023

Kansas Awards Nearly $45 Million In Broadband Grants

January 18, 2023 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that $44.5 million will be awarded to nine service providers to extend high-speed broadband internet service to 18,468 locations in 15 underserved counties across Kansas. The awards are being made under the third and final round of the $83.5 million Kansas Capital Project Funds (CPF) Broadband Infrastructure Program.

In total, the $83.5 million CPF awards, combined with roughly $42 million in matching funds, will result in more than 24,500 homes, businesses, schools, health care facilities, and other public institutions being connected to fast, reliable broadband internet access services for the first time. The third-round CPF awards are being made to the following:

• AT&T (Sedgwick County) – $2,206,491 – The proposed service area is 99% unserved on the fringes of the Wichita metro area, targeting multi-dwelling unit properties. The project will offer a subsidy to assist with discounted broadband services.   

• Butler Rural Electric Cooperative Association (Butler, Cowley, Sedgwick, and Sumner counties) – $9,815,894 – The multi-county region targeted is 83% unserved, and 50% of the area is located in an economically disadvantaged county. This significant investment will bring connectivity to south-central Kansas.  

• Cox Communications (Jackson, Shawnee, and Wabaunsee counties) – $6,373,948 – This multi-county project is 100% unserved. To connect these rural areas northwest of Topeka, Cox will use an affordable, scalable solution already deployed in the KC metro region.  

• Cunningham Communications (Mitchell County) – $1,192,735 – Hundreds of residences and businesses in this 98% unserved area will be positively impacted by the Fiber To The Home network that will be provided by Cunningham Communications.  

• GBT Rural (Pawnee and Stafford counties) – $6,782,694 – More than 365 square miles of an economically distressed area with a 92% unserved population will be covered by GBT Rural.  

• Iowa Tribe (Doniphan County) – $1,424,945 – This very rural, remote, and economically disadvantaged area in the northeast corner of Kansas is 91% unserved. The project will be based on a partnership between the Iowa Tribe, Doniphan County, Rainbow Telecommunications, and the City of White Cloud. 

• Mokan Dial (Miami County) – $5,590,145 – The 65-square-mile project area is 97% unserved. Mokan Dial will ensure symmetrical speeds up to 1G will be available and affordable to everyone in the targeted region.  

• Nex-Tech (Decatur and Saline counties) – $10,764,700 – Two separate project areas servicing a 99% unserved area of Saline County and a 93% unserved area of Decatur County. These awards will allow Nex-Tech to build the necessary infrastructure required to reach these rural areas.   

• WANRack (Johnson County) – $400,000 – This award will target a 100% unserved area of Johnson County. WANRack’s project will enable Kansans to participate in telehealth, remote work, educational opportunities, and the digital economy.

NTIA Will Not Delay BEAD Program Timeline

January 13, 2023 – In a blog post, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has announced it will not delay the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program timeline. This means it will not extend the time period for challenging the FCC’s National Broadband Map. NTIA is still targeting June 30, 2023 as the deadline for allocating each U.S. state and territory’s BEAD Program broadband funding. It explained that it has heard concerns about the broadband map challenge process, and received numerous requests for delaying the timeline, but declined the requests because “a delay in the timeline would mean a delay in providing funding to communities who desperately need it, and it will not address many of the process concerns we have heard.” NTIA also noted that “[t]he FCC already has received over 1 million challenges to provider reported availability data and has updated the map’s underlying Fabric to add more than one million additional locations.”

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund: FCC Authorizes RDOF Support For Resound Networks, LLC Winning Bids In Kansas

January 13, 2023 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has authorized Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction support for 1,764 winning bids. This is the seventeenth Public Notice authorizing RDOF support. Attachment A to the Bureau’s Public Notice contains a list of the authorized winning bids, which belong to Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Rhode Island) and Resound Networks, LLC (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas).

The 1,764 winning bid authorizations were granted after the Bureau reviewed long-form application information for each authorized winning bidder, including letters of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letters, and concluded the submissions were acceptable. Consequently, the Bureau has directed and authorized the Universal Service Administrative Company to obligate and disburse Universal Service Fund support to each winning bidder. Support will be disbursed in 120 monthly payments, beginning at the end of January 2023. The first service obligation that must be met by the RDOF support recipients authorized by the Public Notice is the deployment of broadband service to 40% of locations in a state by December 31, 2025. The broadband service must meet the standards for which support was received (i.e., speed levels and latency). After that, these RDOF support recipients must achieve the following broadband service deployment obligations: 60% of locations in a state by December 31, 2026; 80% of locations in a state by December 31, 2027; and 100% of locations in a state by December 31, 2028.

2022

NTIA Awards $5.69 Million In Broadband Planning Grants to Kansas

December 22, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has announced that $5,692,606.99 in broadband planning grants has been awarded to the state of Kansas. The award consists of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding for broadband deployment planning and Digital Equity Act funding for digital equity planning.

Kansas will receive $4,999,942.61 in BEAD funding for the following: Development of a 5-year action plan; Identification of unserved and underserved locations; and Capacity building of the Kansas Office of Broadband Development programming.

Kansas will receive $692,664.38 in digital equity planning funds for the following: Development of a statewide digital equity plan to support closing the digital equity gap; Recruit staff and contractual expertise to aid in plan development; and Conducting digital inclusion asset mapping and stakeholder engagement.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Wisper ISP Founder Reacquiring Sole Control Of Company

December 22, 2022 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking public comment on a Section 214 application filed by Cable One, Inc., Stephens Wisper, LLC, Wisper ISP, LLC, and Nathan T. Stooke, requesting consent to transfer a controlling interest in Wisper ISP to Mr. Stooke. Comments are due on or before January 5, 2023. Reply comments are due January 12, 2023.

Wisper ISP, Inc., the predecessor-in-interest to Wisper ISP, LLC, was formed in Illinois in 2003 by Nathan Stooke, as the sole owner. Since then, Mr. Stooke has served as the company’s President, in charge of day-to-day operations and strategic vision. In 2020, Wisper ISP, Inc. converted to Wisper ISP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and sold minority interests in the company to: (1) Cable One, Inc. (40.40% ownership), and (2) Stephens Wisper, LLC (18.80% ownership). Mr. Stooke’s ownership interest was reduced to 40.80 percent.

Wisper ISP currently provides fixed wireless or fiber-based broadband and voice services to approximately 19,000 residential and business subscribers in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Wisper ISP won approximately $220 million in Connect America Fund (“CAF”) Phase II auction support in 2018 to deploy service to 80,149 locations in Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. So far, it has deployed voice and broadband service to more than 40 percent of its CAF-supported locations, and satisfied its requirements to reduce its irrevocable letters of credit by 50 percent. Bidding as a consortium, Wisper ISP and Cable One won Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I reverse auction support in 13 states. Wisper ISP ultimately filed the long-form application for RDO support for 1,151 locations in only three states: Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri. It was authorized to receive RDOF support in June 2022.

Cable One, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide video, broadband Internet access, and voice services in 24 states. Stephens Wisper, LLC is an Arkansas limited liability company and private equity firm with substantial investments in broadband companies. It is affiliated with Stephens Capital Partners, LLC, an Arkansas limited liability company and investment group based in Arkansas.

Pursuant to the terms of a Membership Interest Redemption Agreement, Cable One and Stephens Wisper will assign and transfer their ownership interests in Wisper ISP, giving Nathan Stooke 100 percent ownership of the company. Bluewater Wisper Ventures LLC, as the agent for lenders and other parties to a loan agreement, will provide or arrange for debt financing for Mr. Stooke to acquire all the ownership interest in Wisper. Remaining loan proceeds will be used to fund accelerated deployment in Wisper’s CAF and RDOF areas. Bluewater Wisper Ventures LLC is owned and controlled by John Gregg and Randall Mays. According to the Section 214 application, the debt financing arrangement may result in Wisper ISP acquiring additional debt, but will not compromise Wisper’s ability to meet its service obligations.

The Wisper Section 214 application has been accepted by the Wireline Competition Bureau for non-streamlined processing, which will allow the Bureau time to sufficiently analyze the exchange and assumption of Universal Service Fund high-cost mechanism obligations.

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund: FCC Ready To Authorize 1,764 RDOF Winning Bids – Hughes Network Systems, LLC & Resound Networks, LLC

December 16, 2022 – The FCC’s Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, Wireline Competition Bureau, and Office of Economics and Analytics have announced they are ready to authorize support for 1,764 Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction winning bids. This is the thirteenth set of RDOF winning bids that are ready to be authorized.

A list showing each winning bid ready to be authorized, the corresponding long-form applicant, each winning bid’s total amount of 10-year support, and other details is available as Attachment A to the Public Notice. The 1,764 winning bids belong to Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Rhode Island) and Resound Networks, LLC (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas).

Attachment B contains a list of winning bids associated with winning bidders or their assignees that are in default. They belong to Resound Networks, LLC (Texas) and Xiber LLC (Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio). RDOF support will not be authorized for these default bids, and the bidders are subject to FCC enforcement action.

To be authorized to receive the support amounts listed for each of the 1,764 bids, Hughes and Resound must submit acceptable irrevocable stand-by letters of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letters for each state where they have winning bids that are ready to be authorized prior to 6:00 p.m. ET on January 9, 2023. The FCC will continue to review RDOF long-form applications on a rolling basis, and will announce other approvals of long-forms in future public notices. Additional information on broadband providers set to receive RDOF Phase I auction support and RDOF funding amounts by state are available on the FCC’s RDOF auction website.

Kansas Capital Project Funds Broadband Grant Program Second Round Awards: $23.1 Million For Six Projects

December 15, 2022 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that $23.1 million will be awarded to six service providers for projects that will bring high-speed broadband service to nearly 4,200 homes, businesses, schools, health care facilities, and other institutions in unserved and rural areas of Kansas. The awards are being made under the second round of the Kansas Capital Project Funds (CPF) Grant Program. A total of $15.7 million was awarded in the first round. A final third round is forthcoming. The CPF is funded by an $83.5 million allocation from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. The following broadband service providers are receiving the second round awards:

• IdeaTek  –  (Finney, Haskell, Scott, Seward counties) – $7,943,385 to connect 1,121 premises 

• KwiKom  –  (Franklin, Lyon, Osage counties) – $1,810,941 to connect 1,333 premises 

• Mokan Dial  –  (Franklin County) – $6,948,173 to connect 663 premises 

• PGB Fiber, LLC  –  (Finney County) – $1,811,463 to connect 137 premises 

• S&T Communications  –  (Wallace County) – $997,844 to connect 118 premises 

• WTC  –  (Geary, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee counties) – $3,599,749 to connect 814 premises

The maximum grant amount for any CPF-funded broadband project is $10 million. The program will prioritize applications for fiber-optic last-mile network projects that will serve households and businesses in unserved areas, which are defined as areas without access to reliable broadband speeds of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. Funded broadband projects must provide broadband services with minimum speeds of 100/20 Mbps. Grantees have two years to complete their projects. All information about the program, as well as the application portal is available on the program’s website.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Private Equity Acquiring Control Of Kansas Broadband Provider Ideatek Telcom, LLC

December 9, 2022 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking public comment on a Section 214 application filed by Daniel P. Friesen and IdeaTek Telcom, LLC, requesting consent to transfer control of IdeaTek.

The transaction triggering the transfer of control involves an equity investment in IdeaTek in which Peppertree Capital Fund IX QP, LP will acquire 47.3% of the membership units of IdeaTek, resulting in the majority member, Mr. Friesen, being reduced to a 24.46% ownership of the company. Comments are due on or before December 23, 2022. Reply comments are due December 30, 2022.

IdeaTek, a Kansas LLC and Kansas CLEC, provides competitive voice and broadband services via fiber and fixed wireless to approximately 15,000 subscribers in Kansas. IdeaTek has been designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) in areas where it receives Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II support (6,186,881.60 to serve 2,490 locations in Kansas) and Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I support ($23,590.60 to serve 89 locations in Kansas). IdeaTek has completed its CAF Phase II network deployment to 76% of the 2,490 required locations.

Daniel Friesen, a U.S. citizen, currently owns 51.25% of IdeaTek through IdeaTek Equity Group, LLC and 1.96% individually (53.21% total). He is the sole manager of the LLC. Jerrod Reimer, a U.S. citizen, owns 13.15% of IdeaTek through IdeaTek Equity Group and 0.38% individually (13.54% total).

Pursuant to a Convertible Secured Promissory Note and a Convertible Note Purchase Agreement, Peppertree Capital Fund IX, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, Peppertree Capital Fund IX QP, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, and Peppertree Capital FIX Co-Investors, LLC, an Ohio limited liability company, made a significant debt investment in IdeaTek and acquired the right to convert its debt into ownership of up to a total of 49.5% in IdeaTek, subject to FCC prior consent to a transfer of control of IdeaTek’s domestic Section 214 authorization and wireless licenses. The Peppertree Funds are managed by Peppertree Capital Management, Inc., an Ohio corporation.

Upon consummation, the Convertible Note will convert to equity in IdeaTek, and Mr. Friesen’s ownership interest in IdeaTek will be reduced from 53.21% to 24.46% – triggering a transfer of control of IdeaTek under the FCC’s rules. Mr. Reimer’s interest will fall below 10%. Once the transaction goes through, company management will change. After consummation, the company will be managed by a five-person board consisting of Mr. Friesen, Mr. Reimer, and Mr. Daniel Solomon, the company’s CFO, along with two members appointed by Peppertree Capital Management.

Clearwave Fiber Announces Plan For Fiber Network In Salina Kansas

December 8, 2022 – Clearwave Fiber has issued a press release announcing it will extend its fiber network to Salina, Kansas. Clearwave Fiber is a joint venture owned by Cable One, the majority owner, and three private equity firms. It holds Cable One’s subsidiary Clearwave Communications and certain fiber assets of Cable One’s subsidiary Hargray Communications. Clearwave Fiber provided the following details on the Salina, Kansas deployment:

This latest expansion marks the continuation of the company's Kansas buildout, expected to deliver fiber internet service to approximately 9,000 Salina, Lansing, Spring Hill, and Desoto households by early 2023 and advancing its goal to bring the best and fastest Internet technology available to more than 500,000 homes and businesses across the United States by 2026.

Auction 108: FCC Grants 51 Long-Form Applications & Issues 650 Spectrum Licenses

December 1, 2022 – The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has announced the grant of 51 long-form applications and issuance of 650 licenses for Auction 108. Attachment A to the Public Notice lists the granted licenses sorted by licensee. Attachment B lists the granted licenses sorted by market.

The Wireless Bureau announced the results of Auction 108, the auction of new flexible-use geographic overlay spectrum licenses in the 2.5 GHz band, on September 1, 2022. The auction resulted in a total of $419,133,261 in net bids and $427,789,670 in gross bids. A total of 63 bidders won 7,872 of the 8,017 offered licenses, or 98% of the total inventory. Of the 63 winning bidders, 77% qualified as small businesses or as entities serving rural communities. The five bidders that won the largest number of licenses are as follows:

• T-Mobile License LLC – 7,156

• North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation – 107

• Evergy Kansas Central – 54

• LICT Wireless Broadband Company, LLC – 46

• Broadband One of the Midwest, Inc. – 42

November 2022

Kansas Capital Project Funds Broadband Grant Program Awards $15.7 Million To Seven Broadband Providers

November 4, 2022 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that $15.7 million is being awarded under the Kansas Capital Project Funds (CPF) Broadband Grant Program to deploy high-speed broadband service to underserved, economically distressed, and low-population areas of Kansas. Seven broadband providers are receiving the funding to “connect more than 1,900 homes, businesses, schools, healthcare facilities, and other public institutions to fast, reliable internet in the next 24 months.” This is the first of three rounds of awards under Kansas’ CPF Broadband Grant Program, which is funded by an $83.5 million allocation from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. A total of 141 applications requesting $693 million in CPF funding were submitted. Additional information on the program is available from the Kansas Office of Broadband Development. The seven broadband providers receiving awards under the first round are as follows:

• Craw-Kan Telephone Cooperative (Anderson and Allen counties) – $4,584,590 to connect 385 premises,

• Giant Communications (Jackson County) – $895,295 to connect 163 premises,

• MT Networks LLC (Coffey County) – $2,581,932 to connect 326 premises,

• Nex-Tech (Thomas County) – $541,320 to connect 64 premises,

• Pioneer Communications (Hamilton County) – $202,484 to connect 54 premises,

• S&A Telephone (Lyon County) – $3,746,870 to connect 421 premises, and

• Totah Communications (Montgomery and Chautauqua counties) – $3,244,793 to connect 500 premises.

Evergy Constructing Private Wireless LTE Network In Kansas & Missouri

November 1, 2022 – Evergy, an investor-owned utility headquartered in Topeka, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, is constructing a private wireless LTE network to help enable its electric grid modernization efforts. Evergy’s LTE network will utilize two spectrum bands: 900MHz and 2.5GHz. Evergy is leasing 900MHz spectrum licenses from Anterix covering about 3.88 million people in Evergy’s service areas in Kansas and Missouri. The leases run for 20 years with two ten-year renewal options, and will cost Evergy $30.2 million. Evergy’s private wireless LTE network will reportedly “support a variety of utility use cases, including accelerating decarbonization of the grid, engineering access, fault circuit indicators, line regulators and advanced metering infrastructure solutions.”

August 2022

Kansas Broadband Office Receives 141 Applications For Capital Project Fund Program; Announces Public Comment Window

August 25, 2022 – The Kansas Office of Broadband Development has announced it has received 141 applications seeking broadband funding from the Capital Project Fund (CPF) Program. In total, the 141 applications request over $600 million in funding from the $83.5 million program. The Kansas Broadband Office has also announced that the Phase Two Public Comment Window for the 133 CPF Program applications received as of August 19, 2022, is now open. The comment window is available from August 24, 2022, through 11:59 pm CST September 6, 2022. The public comment portal and applications are available online. Application materials include project summaries and maps of the proposed service areas. The Kansas Office of Broadband Development encourages ISPs, the public, and other interested stakeholders to participate by expressing either support or specific concerns for the proposed CPF projects. CPF grant applicants will have an opportunity to respond to any public comments directed at their projects. The Kansas Broadband Officer intends to post comments and grant applicant responses received during the public comment period to the CPF Grant Program Public Comment website.

July 2022

Kansas Now Accepting Applications For $83.5 Million Capital Projects Fund Broadband Grant Program

July 26, 2022 – The Kansas Office of Broadband Development has announced it is now accepting applications for its new Capital Projects Fund broadband infrastructure grant program. The application window runs from July 26, 2022 until 5:00 pm central time on August 19, 2022. Following the close of the application window, there will be a four-week public comment and applicant response window. The total amount of funding for the program is $83.5 million. The maximum grant amount for any funded broadband project is $10 million. The program will prioritize applications for fiber-optic last-mile network projects that will serve households and businesses in unserved areas, which are defined as areas without access to reliable broadband speeds of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. Funded broadband projects must provide broadband services with minimum speeds of 100/20 Mbps. Grantees will have two years to complete their projects. All information about the program, as well as the application portal is available on the program’s website.

Kansas Announces Broadband Grant Program Using $83.5 Million From Capital Projects Fund

July 14, 2022 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced the launch of a new broadband grant program using $83.5 million in Capital Projects Fund money. Kansas’s Expansion of New Development Projects Offering Internet Networking & Telecommunications (ENDPOINT) program will distribute the $83.5M in the form of broadband infrastructure grants for unserved and underserved areas in Kansas. The U.S. Department of the Treasury awarded the $83.5 million in Capital Projects Fund support to Kansas to connect 21,300 homes and businesses with high-speed internet services.

The Kansas Department of Commerce’s Office of Broadband Development will oversee the ENDPOINT program. Eligible entities include internet service providers, political subdivisions, cooperatives and non-profit organizations. Funded projects must deliver broadband service with symmetrical download and upload speeds of at least 100 Mbps. The program will prioritize fiber-optic infrastructure projects that focus on achieving last-mile connections. Middle mile will be funded only if required for the last-mile build. The application window will be open for four weeks on July 25, 2022. Grant awards will be announced in October and November.

Treasury Announces Over $350 Million In Capital Projects Fund Awards For Kansas, Maine, Maryland, And Minnesota

July 14, 2022 – The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced the approval of Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund awards for Kansas, Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota. The four awards total over $350 million and will be used by the four states to increase access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet to an estimated 84,000 homes and businesses. Each state plans to use its Capital Projects Fund award to support broadband infrastructure designed to deliver reliable internet service that meets or exceeds symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 Mbps. The following summarizes the four state plans recently approved by Treasury:

• Kansas, approved for $83.5 million (representing 58% of its available Capital Projects Fund funding), estimates it will connect 21,300 homes and businesses by building high-speed internet service in areas where there is a demonstrated need. The Broadband Acceleration Grant Program, a competitive grant program, will contribute to bridging the digital divide by providing access to reliable high-speed internet connections. Capital Projects Fund dollars will help build reliable infrastructure that is affordable in the areas the program is designed to serve.

• Maine, approved for $110 million (representing 86% of its available Capital Projects Fund funding), estimates it will connect 22,500 homes and businesses by supporting the Maine Infrastructure Ready to invest in qualified locations that can be served by line extensions of existing networks or new networks. This competitive grant program is focused on serving locations that currently lack access to reliable high-speed internet access, including remote locations in Maine’s most rural counties.

• Maryland, approved for $95 million (representing 55% of its available Capital Projects Fund funding), estimates it will connect 16,667 homes and businesses by supporting the Network Infrastructure Grant Program, a competitive broadband grant program that will provide funding directly to internet service providers (ISPs) for qualifying large-scale broadband projects in areas that lack service. The program aims to close the racial and socioeconomic digital divide across the state.

• Minnesota, approved for $68.4 million (representing 38% of its available Capital Projects Fund funding), estimates it will connect 23,517 homes and businesses by using the funds for its Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program, a competitive grant program designed to provide financial resources for new and existing ISPs to invest in building broadband infrastructure in areas of the state that currently lack high-speed internet.

Created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Capital Projects Fund allocates $10 billion to the Treasury Department to provide payments to states, territories, and Tribal governments “to carry out critical capital projects directly enabling work, education, and health monitoring, including remote options, in response to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).” A key priority for the program is investment in high-quality broadband infrastructure and other connectivity infrastructure, devices, and equipment.

The Treasury Department announced the first four Capital Projects Fund awards to Louisiana, New Hampshire, Virginia, and West Virginia on June 7, 2022. So far, Treasury has awarded more than $915 million in Capital Projects Fund awards to states for investment in high-speed internet infrastructure estimated to reach nearly 285,000 homes and businesses. Awards have already been approved for 50 Tribal governments. Treasury intends to continue approving state and Tribal plans on a rolling basis, but states must submit their plans to Treasury by September 24, 2022.

T-Mobile Extends Fixed Wireless Home Broadband Service To 81 Towns & Cities In Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, & Oklahoma

July 1, 2022 – T-Mobile has announced it has expanded its fixed wireless home internet access service – 5G Home Internet – to 81 cities and towns in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. According to the press release, “[w]ith this latest expansion, T-Mobile Home Internet is available to nearly 5 million more homes.” T-Mobile’s fixed wireless Home Internet service costs $50 per month with AutoPay, or $30 per month for families with T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX phone plan. The press release includes a list of the cities and towns where the service is newly available.

June 2022

Bluebird Network Adds 13.63 Miles Of New Fiber In Salina, Kansas

June 7, 2022 – Communications infrastructure provider Bluebird Network has announced that a fiber expansion in Waterloo, Iowa is live, and an additional fiber expansion in Salina, Kansas is underway and will be ready for service by the end of June 2022. According to the Press Release, both “network builds have a Point of Presence (PoP) within the communities, bringing Bluebird’s full suite of services to local businesses and organizations in need of high-quality, high-speed connectivity.” With the projects, Bluebird has added 11.74 miles of fiber within Waterloo and 13.63 miles of fiber in Salina.

Midco Announces $30 Million Fiber Project In Basehor, Eudora, And Lawrence, Kansas

June 3, 2022 – Midcontinent Communications has announced it will invest $30 million over the next few years to bring a next-generation fiber network to Basehor, Eudora and Lawrence, Kansas. This is part of Midco’s Fiber Forward initiative which uses “Midco’s robust fiber network and next-gen fiber tech to deliver 10G speeds, incredible reliability and increase performance to support what’s next in revolutionary innovations.” Midco included the following details in its announcement:

Over the next few years, more than 65,000 homes and businesses in Kansas will benefit from the future-proof $30 million investment. Fiber Forward will begin this year in Basehor, Eudora and Lawrence to deliver fiber upgrades, enhanced product offerings and increased performance. The upgrade is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

May 2022

Mergers & Acquisitions: Nex-Tech Acquiring Moundridge Telecom Companies

May 25, 2022 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking comment on a Section 214 application filed by Emmental, Inc., Moundridge Telephone Company, Moundridge Telecom, Inc., Mid-Kansas Cable Services, Inc. (the Moundridge Companies), and Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc. dba Nex-Tech, requesting approval for the transfer of control of the Moundridge Companies to Nex-Tech. Comments are due June 8, 2022. Reply comments are due June 15, 2022.

Emmental is a holding company that provides telecommunications services through its direct and
indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries, all Kansas corporations. Moundridge Telephone Company, founded in 1904, provides local exchange service and exchange access service as an incumbent local exchange carrier in the Moundridge and Goessel exchanges, which services approximately 2,100 access lines in portions of McPherson, Harvey, and Marion Counties in central Kansas. It wholly owns Moundridge Telecom, Inc., a long-distance toll service reseller providing telecommunications services in Moundridge’s local exchange service area. Mid-Kansas Cable Services, Inc. holds a certificate of convenience and authority from the Kansas Corporation Commission to provide competitive local exchange carrier services. Emmental is also the ultimate parent of two other entities that Nex-Tech “intends to acquire as part of the transaction,” but which are not FCC-regulated entities and hold no FCC authorizations or licenses.

Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc. dba Nex-Tech was organized as a cooperative in 1951, and is headquartered in Lenora, Kansas. It provides voice and broadband services, as well as cloud, managed T.T., security and surveillance, hardware and software, and backup services, itself and through subsidiaries in 39 exchanges. It also owns a 42.75% stake in Nex-Tech Wireless, LLC, a commercial mobile radio service provider.

The companies announced the transaction in April 2022. Pursuant to a stock purchase agreement, Nex-Tech will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Emmental, making Emmental a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Nex-Tech, and the other companies indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Next-Tech. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in July 2022, subject to state and federal regulatory approval.

Kansas Announces Broadband Acceleration Grant Awards

May 20, 2022 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that 11 companies have received a total of $5 million in funding under Kansas’ Broadband Acceleration Grant program. The 11 companies contributed $5 million in matching funds, resulting in a total investment of $10 million to bring high-speed broadband service to 10 rural Kansas counties. Kansas’ Broadband Acceleration Grant program is a ten-year, $85 million program supporting the deployment of broadband service to Kansas communities. It is administered by the Kansas Office of Broadband Development, and funded through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. In its two years of existence, the program has resulted in the investment of more than $70 million in broadband infrastructure.

April 2022

Mergers & Acquisitions: Boulevard Digital (Alinda Holdings) Acquiring Consolidated Communications Enterprise Services’ Kansas City Customers And Assets

April 20, 2022 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking public comment on a Section 214 application filed by Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc., Consolidated Communications Enterprise Services Inc. (CCES), and Boulevard Digital LLC (Boulevard Digital) requesting approval for the acquisition of certain customers and assets of CCES in Kansas and Missouri within the Kansas City metropolitan area and surrounding counties and municipalities by Boulevard Digital. Comments are due on or before May 4, 2022. Reply comments are due May 11, 2022.

CCES is a Delaware corporation that is ultimately controlled by Consolidated Communications Holdings. In the Kansas City market, CCES provides competitive telecommunications services to approximately 19,000 consumer voice subscribers, 13,000 consumer broadband subscribers, and 1,900 commercial subscribers, utilizing approximately 1,230 fiber route miles. CCES’ Kansas City business serves the following Kansas municipalities: Fairway, Kansas City, Leawood, Lenexa, Merriam, Mission Hills, Mission Woods, Olathe, Overland Park, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Shawnee, Westwood, and Westwood Hills. In Missouri, it serves Kansas City, Lee’s Summit, and North Kansas City.

Boulevard Digital is a Delaware limited liability company that was formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the CCES assets. Boulevard Digital is owned by various limited partnerships managed by and controlled by Alinda Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and investment entity.

March 2022

Mergers & Acquisitions: Clearwave Fiber Purchasing Assets Of Kansas Broadband Provider RG Fiber

March 24, 2022 – Clearwave Fiber has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of RG Fiber, a fiber network service provider located in Northeast Kansas. RG Fiber was founded in 2014 to provide higher-speed broadband service in Baldwin City, Kansas. It has a fiber network that spans over 100 miles, and currently provides services to Eurdora, De Soto, Edgerton, Gardner, Spring Hill, Lawrence and Wellsville, Kansas. With its more than 2,000 route-mile fiber network, Clearwave Fiber provides broadband Internet access services in towns and cities across the Midwest and Southeast regions of the U.S. Through the acquisition, Clearwave Fiber is making its initial entry into Kansas. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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