INCOMPAS Files NPRM Replies on Advancing IP Interconnection

INCOMPAS filed reply comments with the FCC in the Advancing IP Interconnection Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). INCOMPAS urged the FCC to ensure a successful transition from legacy TDM networks to IP technology by establishing an IP interconnection framework and conditioning any forbearance on verifiable, enforceable safeguards that preserve competition and protect public safety.

"The technology transition is necessary and broadly supported across the industry, but the Commission must ensure public safety and competition are protected by facilitating IP interconnection," said Christopher L. Shipley, Executive Director of Public Policy at INCOMPAS. "The record makes clear that ILECs have used prior forbearance grants to impose substantial price increases on services that competitors and their customers depend on, and that the agency’s general regulatory provisions have proven wholly inadequate to prevent this kind of monopoly pricing. Furthermore, incumbents regularly refuse to negotiate IP interconnection agreements with competitive providers putting 9-1-1 emergency call completion in jeopardy. INCOMPAS urges the Commission to preserve voice services by adopting an IP interconnection framework and conditioning forbearance on enforceable safeguards, not an arbitrary deadline that hands incumbents leverage to extract monopoly rents at the expense of competitors and the public safety community."

INCOMPAS Files Comments 
with NTIA on BEAD Benefit

of the Bargain Funds

INCOMPAS filed comments in response to the's NTIA's request for written feedback on how to use Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funds saved through the Trump Administration and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick’s Benefit of the Bargain reforms. 

“The BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice re-centered the program on cost-effective, technology-neutral builds and contemplated updated parameters for non-deployment uses. Continuing the positive work of this restructuring, INCOMPAS recommends that NTIA now clarify how Benefit of the Bargain savings will support permitting improvements, national AI policy alignment, and other implementation enablers, said Staci Pies, Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Policy at INCOMPAS.

INCOMPAS proposed a state-flexible, federally coherent approach that empowers local decision-makers, aligns with national policy, and accelerates universal broadband access and U.S. AI competitiveness. INCOMPAS offered recommendations in four areas central to BEAD's success: 

• Encourage adoption of processes, such as Permitting Council-state memorandum of understanding, and digital tools to facilitate streamlined permitting to lower deployment costs and shorten project timelines. 
  
• Incentivize state AI regulatory alignment using Benefit of the Bargain funding availability to reduce compliance fragmentation that impedes multi-state deployments and AI-enabled network operations. 
  
• Facilitate investment in AI connectivity infrastructure, like ultra-high-capacity fiber routes, data centers, internet exchange points, cloud on-ramps and regional innovation hubs, to support BEAD investments and regional innovation. 
  
• Support workforce development for an AI-enabled economy through empowering states to use Benefit of the Bargain funds for comprehensive training programs. 

"INCOMPAS looks forward to working with NTIA on the implementation details that will further enable timely, affordable deployment, reinforced by the Benefit of the Bargain savings,” Pies added.