A newly established Fraud Division, operating within the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, will help protect USF programs from further fraudulent behavior. The Commission’s Order, released earlier this year and just recently made effective, lists just a few examples of past fraud and abuse of Universal Service programs. DataConnex, for instance, was fined $18.7 million for defrauding … Read More
Irregulators: Frozen Separations Factors Cause Malformed Rates
An informal group of former FCC officials, State Attorney General’s Office experts and lawyers, and telecommunications consultants, have taken the FCC to task over its recent Order that extends the freeze of jurisdictional cost separations factors. The Irregulators, as this group calls itself, have filed a Petition for Review in the US Appeals Court in … Read More
Pai: Equal Opportunity Depends on Digital Access
At a recent Latin American Telecommunications Conference, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai declared that the American Dream of “equality of opportunity…depends on access to digital communications.” He then outlined what his Commission is doing to “promote universal access to…digital opportunity.” The Chairman explained that a light touch, “market-based regulatory framework…promotes competition and increases network investment.” In … Read More
Hard USF Caps and USF Principles . . . Oil and Water
The FCC’s recent proposal to impose a total cap on all USF programs is completely incompatible with its long-standing Universal Service principles. The nationwide Communications Act of 1934 stated that “ALL (emphasis added) people in the United States shall have access to rapid, efficient, nationwide communications service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges.” Thus was … Read More
FCC Corrects A-CAM II Offers, Extends Deadline for Acceptance
The FCC recently announced that it had made errors in 37 of its A-CAM II offers to RLECs still receiving legacy support. Its June 5th Public Notice makes corrected offers to the affected carriers, while extending the election date for acceptance to July 17, 2019. This 30-day extension applies to all companies, not just those … Read More
ACAM II Offer Available – ICORE Can Assist Legacy Carriers with This Important Decision
The FCC has just issued a key Public Notice, which contains details on its previous order announcing an ACAM II offer to legacy carriers. (See our blog of January 17, 2019.) The notice provides links to company-specific support, along with their related deployment obligations. Carriers are required to make their irrevocable election to choose ACAM … Read More
Big Brother Wants the Internet Back
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would put the internet back firmly under government control. The primarily Democrat-backed Save The Internet legislation would rescind the FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order, adopted only a short time ago, and re-impose “net neutrality,” i.e., the previous and very restrictive Title II regulatory scheme. All … Read More
No More Rate Floors
The FCC’s recent decision that eliminates the high cost USF program’s local service rate floor rule is a real win for small RLECs all over the country. The rate floor forced proportionately higher local rates on rural customers, dampened RLEC investment in broadband, and actually ran counter to the FCC’s own core Universal Service principles. … Read More
A Farewell to . . . Rate Floors?
In a recent news release, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the Commission will vote on eliminating rate floors at its upcoming April meeting. These floors were frozen by the FCC in 2017 to help mitigate their harmful effect on RLECs and their customers. Now, the Chairman is advocating their total elimination. Calling rate floors … Read More
Effective Date Established for Key USF Reform (ACAM) Report and Order
The FCC’s December, 2018 Order offering new ACAM options to RLECs becomes effective March 21st, 2019. First, the order makes an increased funding offer to existing ACAM carriers (ACAM I) for building out additional locations at 25/3 Mbps. Second, carriers currently receiving legacy support will have the option of moving to a new ACAM model … Read More
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