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Vol. 19, No. 39

September 25, 2023

WELCOME

NEW MEMBER


Summit Broadband

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 8-10

The 2023 INCOMPAS Show

Tampa, Florida


March 5, 2024

The 2024 INCOMPAS

Policy Summit

Washington, D.C.

UPCOMING EVENTS


Broadband Breakfast

Trade Group Report Argues

for USF Funding from Broadband Companies


Multichannel News

INCOMPAS Study Says Streamers Should Not

Pay Into USF

MEMBER NEWS


Bandwidth Partners with Google and Cognigy to Launch AIBridge, Integrating Artificial Intelligence with Contact Centers Using Maestro


Boldyn Networks’

Jeff Garte Joins

INCOMPAS

Board of Directors


Boldyn Networks Shortlisted for Best Mobile/5G Service Innovation


Boldyn Networks and ASM Global Redefine the Connected Fan Experience with State-of-the-Art Converged Network at Cowtown Coliseum


FirstLight Augments its Executive Team with the Appointment of Mike Constantino as Chief Operating Officer and

Lorenzo Leuzzi as Chief Revenue Officer


Google Fiber Introduces GFiber Labs


Announcing Microsoft Copilot, Your Everyday AI Companion


Sinch Named a Leader in the First Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CPaaS


Tarana Raises $50 Million to Sustain Rapid Growth


COMMENT

DEADLINES


September 29

Reply Comments Due on Shared Use of the 42.0-42.5 GHz Band


October 2

Reply Comments Due on Proposed Changes on Renewing International Section 214 Authority


October 2

Reply Comments Due on Enhanced A-CAM Program NPRM


October 23

Reply Comments Due on Streamlining E-Rate Application Process


Comments Due on NTIA Middle Mile Program Reports - Questions


October 23

Comments Due on Enhanced A-CAM NOI


November 21

Reply Comments Due on Enhanced A-CAM NOI

Women in Tech Event to Explore Emerging Technologies as Catalyst for New Career Paths

The Women in Tech networking event is back by popular demand at The 2023 INCOMPAS Show.


On Tuesday, October 10, jumpstart your morning with complementary breakfast and a lively discussion about new career paths for women at this event - Emerging Technologies: The Catalyst for New Career Paths for Women in Telecom - sponsored by Arcadian Infracom.


Women are breaking barriers with the rise of tech and telecom. Advances in technology, such as AI, are fostering the growth of women in the workforce, creating equal opportunities and providing fresh avenues for women to pave the way of the future.


Hear from women on the forefront of technology about their career trajectories, and learn about ways in which emerging tech will continue to impact professional advancement and growth opportunities for women in the industry in the years to come. Speakers include:

All INCOMPAS Show attendees are invited to join us for this informational and inspiring session.


Register now and reserve your spot!

REGISTER

INCOMPAS and The Brattle Group Release Economic Study on

USF Contribution Reform

INCOMPAS last week introduced a new report - The Economics of Universal Service Fund Reform - with The Brattle Group. During a webinar INCOMPAS President Angie Kronenberg and Brattle Principal and former Chief Economist of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Paroma Sanyal discussed the report, which analyzes the most economically efficient solution to stabilize the Universal Service Fund (USF).


“The Universal Service Fund is one of our nation’s most critical connectivity programs. Millions of families, community anchor institutions, and small businesses rely on it for affordable phone and broadband services,” said Kronenberg. “However, with the contribution factor reaching historic heights, the Fund is in grave danger of becoming unsustainable. That is why we have been diligently working on this issue to present reasonable, impactful solutions to contribution reform that ensure the Fund meets its mission for the long term. This new economic report underscores the key findings in the USForward Report, including broadband internet access revenues is the most efficient way to drive down the contribution factor, stabilize the Fund, and correct its distortionary impact. It is also a solution that can be acted upon immediately by the FCC.”


“We are at a pivotal moment in communications history where connecting every American to broadband has never been more important,” Kronenberg continued. “The USF is a key component in bridging the digital divide and we hope the Commission will do what is necessary to act swiftly and put the Fund on a sustainable path forward.”


Key highlights of the report:

  • The Brattle Group Report underscores a key point in the USForward Report, which shows that telecom revenues are in decline while broadband revenues are on the rise.
  • The report predicts that, without reform, the factor will be 44% in 2025 and almost 50% in 2027.
  • The report shows that broadening the contribution base to include broadband internet access service revenues is the best way forward to create a sustainable future for the Fund and meet its mission.
  • By including broadband internet access revenues in the base, the data indicates that consumers will not face a significant price increase. In fact, many will achieve savings due to the significant decrease of the contribution factor on their phone service.
  • The report also shows that proposals that suggest including tech in the contribution base are problematic because it would greatly distort the marketplace and harm competition.


Read the full report here. Watch the webinar on-demand. Read the INCOMPAS statement and letter for the record that the association submitted to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology for the record in its hearing on rural broadband funding.

FCC Seeks to Target USF Support for Rural Wireless

Broadband Services by Leveraging Improved Maps

The FCC took action last week to seek further comment on the 5G Fund for Rural America to reignite the Commission’s plan to expand the deployment of 5G service to rural communities that remain trapped on the wrong side of the digital divide. Taking advantage of the agency’s new and improved broadband coverage map, which shows that over 14 million homes and businesses lack mobile 5G coverage, the FCC seeks comment on how to define the areas that will be eligible for support in the 5G Fund Phase I auction and proposes to modify the metric used to accept bids and identify winning bids, in order to target support to places where people live, work and travel in rural America.


The 5G Fund, a Universal Service Fund-supported program, was established in 2020 to distribute up to $9 billion to bring voice and 5G mobile broadband service to rural areas of the country unlikely to otherwise see unsubsidized deployment of 5G-capable networks. As adopted, the 5G Fund will use multi-round reverse auctions to distribute support, in two phases, to target mobile universal service in the high-cost program using the FCC's more precise, verified mobile coverage data gathered through its Broadband Data Collection.


The FNPRM adopted last Thursday will refresh the record on the 5G Fund. Among the other issues raised are whether to modify the $9 billion 5G Fund budget, how to best aggregate areas eligible for support to minimum geographic areas for bidding, whether to make 5G Fund support available to areas in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that meet the eligible areas definition, whether to require 5G Fund support recipients to implement cybersecurity and supply chain risk management plans, and whether the 5G Fund should be used to encourage the deployment of Open Radio Access Networks

FCC Updates Rules to Curb Robocaller Access to Phone Numbers

The FCC last week adopted rules that would strengthen and modernize the FCC's requirements for VoIP providers to obtain direct access to telephone numbers. The action adopts important guardrails to reduce access to phone numbers by perpetrators of illegal robocalls, protect national security and law enforcement, safeguard the nation’s finite numbering resources, reduce the opportunity for regulatory arbitrage and further promote public safety.

 

In addition, last Thursday’s item codifies the FCC's direct access application review, application rejection, and authorization revocation processes; directs NANC to study number use, resale, and reclamation to inform potential future FCC action in furtherance of its public interest goals; and seeks comment on proposals to further increase FCC oversight of entities with access to numbers, including those gaining access indirectly.

NANC Meeting Scheduled for October 25

The first meeting of the rechartered North American Numbering Council (NANC) will take place on Wednesday, October 25 at 2 p.m. ET via video conference and will be available to the public via the Internet at www.fcc.gov/live.


This meeting is open to members of the general public. The public may submit written statements to the NANC, which must be received two business days before the meeting. In addition, oral statements at the meeting by parties or entities not represented on the NANC will be permitted to the extent time permits.

California Bill to Allow Batch Processing of Broadband

Permit Applications Sent to Governor Newsom

A bill that would require local government permitting authorities to process two or more similar broadband permit applications at the same time has been sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for his signature.


AB 965, which is sponsored by Assembly member Juan Carrillo (D-District 39), would require a city or county to undertake batch broadband permit processing when receiving two or more “substantially similar broadband permit applications submitted at the same time, within a presumptively reasonable time.” If the city or permitting authority doesn’t approve those substantially similar broadband permit applications and issue permits or reject the applications and notify the applicants within the presumptively reasonable time, the bill would require that all of the permits be deemed approved.


Senate amendments further specify that a local agency may place reasonable limits on the number of broadband project sites that are grouped into a single permit, as follows:

  1. For a city with a population of fewer than 50,000 or a county with a population of fewer than 150,000, including each city within that county, 25 project sites
  2. For a city or county with a population greater than the applicable population, 50 project sites.

Bill Introduced to Increase Broadband Access on Federal Land

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) introduced legislation to increase access to high-speed internet on federal land. Permitting for broadband projects and telecommunications infrastructure on federal land can take up to 48 months, causing significant impacts on rural communities. These delays jeopardize broadband projects, increase costs, and limit access to high-speed internet and vital telehealth services.


The CLOSE THE GAP Act will modernize and streamline the permitting process to help expand access to high-speed internet and close the digital divide in rural communities.

INCOMPAS | www.incompas.org
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