The FCC Enforcement Bureau removed 12 carriers from its robocall mitigation database. The Thursday bureau order removed certifications for Viettel Business Solutions, Etihad Etisalat's Mobily, TeleCube.PL, Nervill LTD, Textodog and Textodog Software, CIS IT & Engineering, Datacom Specialists, DomainerSuite, Evernex SMC, Humbolt Voip and My Taxi Ride for failing to "correct their facially deficient database certifications" or prove why they should not be removed following an October inquiry. All intermediate providers and voice service providers were directed to cease accepting calls from the listed carriers. In a separate order Thursday, the bureau removed Teleclub's certification for "fail[ing] to include any description of any robocall mitigation efforts" the company is taking.
USDA Rural Utilities Service will open its fifth round of funding for the ReConnect program on March 22, said a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. Applications are due by April 22 at 11:59 a.m. EDT. The agency made up to $150 million available in grants and $200 million for loans. Up to $200 million was also available for potential awardees seeking a combination. Tribal entities seeking a grant don't have a funding match requirement.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is in New Delhi holding bilateral meetings on security, supply chain and connectivity issues, a Wednesday release said. “Over the course of two days, Carr will meet with his Indian counterparts, including officials at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the Department of Telecommunications, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the National Cyber Coordination Centre,” the release said. “The strong bond between the world’s oldest democracy and its largest has never been more important,” Carr said.
Former APCO CEO Derek Poarch launched a consultancy targeting public safety clients. A former FCC Public Safety Bureau chief, Poarch became APCO CEO in 2011 and left the group last year (see 2306300039).
NTIA is inappropriately trying to set prices in Virginia through the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program by demanding that the state put a specific rate on low-cost plans, former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly blogged Friday. “Despite repeated public reassurances by [Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo] and select staff that BEAD implementation would reject setting specific broadband rates -- an act prohibited by provisions of the infrastructure law -- that’s exactly what is this underhanded attempt is all about,” the Republican wrote. “Contrary to claims being made, setting a price is ratemaking. And by putting Virginia’s application in purgatory, Secretary Raimondo is trying to bend the state to Commerce’s will.” NTIA and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development didn’t comment.
The FCC announced an in-person workshop March 6 that will provide information about identifying and evaluating opportunities "to develop more robust broadband infrastructure and services in tribal communities." The commission said in a public notice Wednesday that the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana will host the workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. On March 5 at 2 p.m. there will be an "optional tribal library tour."
The FCC's affordable connectivity program is a "true unicorn among public policies," USTelecom President-CEO Jonathan Spalter wrote in a Tuesday blog (see 2402120068). Spalter urged that policymakers consider "rolling the ACP into the Universal Service Fund." This would "bring greater accountability to Big Tech" and "create a stable, permanent source of funding." ACP's future "offers a telling gut check on whether our nation remains committed to our shared goal of connectivity," Spalter said: "Congress abandoning ACP funding a mere two years into its existence would be profoundly disruptive to the country’s digital affordability and equity goals."
The FCC released an updated user guide for carriers seeking funding through the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. The program is intended to partially support removal of Chinese gear from U.S. networks. The guide was posted in Monday’s Daily Digest. The document “provides informal guidance intended to assist Recipients as they proceed with this Reimbursement Program process and does not constitute legal advice,” it notes.
Former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was among those hailing Thursday's FCC declaratory ruling prohibiting voice-cloning technology in robocall scams (see 2402080052). “Excellent move by the @FCC to clarify that calls made with #AI-generated voices are ‘artificial’ under the law, making voice-cloning robocalls illegal,” Pai said on X Friday. Also praising the ruling was North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D). “This ruling gives attorneys general more tools to go after robocallers who break the law, and I plan to use them," said Stein: “I’ll keep holding scam callers accountable and doing everything I can to reduce the number of robocalls we all have to deal with.” Stein was one of the state AGs who urged the FCC to address the issue (see 2401170023).
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered Simple Health Plans and its CEO Steven Dorfman to pay $195 million for violating the FTC's telemarketing sales rule, the agency announced in a Friday news release. The scheme included selling "sham health care plans that did not deliver the coverage or benefits they promised and effectively left consumers uninsured and exposed to limitless medical expenses," the agency said. Also fined and banned from engaging in future telemarketing schemes were Health Benefits One, Health Center Management, Innovative Customer Care, Simple Insurance Leads and Senior Benefits One.