Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA-18), a senior member of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to express her high concerns that the FCC is ignoring its court-mandated obligation to protect public safety in its latest net neutrality repeal order and called on the Chairman to drop the proposal from next week’s open meeting agenda. “California is experiencing the most horrific wildfire season in history, and I’m deeply concerned that the FCC is ignoring its mandate to protect public safety as required by statute and by a federal court,” Rep. Eshoo wrote. “On October 6, 2020, you published a proposal for the Commission to consider on October 27, 2020, that essentially says the FCC’s 2018 repeal didn’t actually miss anything with respect to public safety. This proposal ignores what the D.C. Circuit highlighted as serious shortcomings of the 2018 repeal and what is required of the FCC by statute.” Rep Eshoo called on Chairman Pai to pull the “Restoring Internet Freedom Order on Remand” proposal from the FCC’s October Open Meeting agenda.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $146 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, and New Mexico.  

• The Stoutland Telephone Company, doing business as (DBA) Missouricom, will use a $4.6 million ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network, which connect 2,390 people, 78 farms and 12 businesses to high-speed broadband internet in Dallas, Camden and Laclede counties in Missouri.
• Marshall Municipal Utilities will use a $7.5 million ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network, which will connect 3,890 people, 433 farms, 63 businesses, two public schools, a fire station and a post office to high-speed broadband internet in Saline County, Missouri.
• Steelville Telephone Exchange, DBA STE Communications, will use a $14.8 million ReConnect grant and a $14.8 million ReConnect loan. As a result, STE Communications will deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 4,756 people, 314 farms, 55 businesses, two fire stations and a post office to high-speed broadband internet in Iron, Dent, Crawford and Washington counties in Missouri.
• Total Highspeed LLC was awarded a $24.9 million ReConnect grant and a $24.9 million ReConnect loan. These funds will provide a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 26,077 people, 720 farms, 417 businesses, nine fire stations and five public schools to high-speed broadband internet in Christian, Greene, Lawrence, Stone and Webster counties in Missouri.
• SWC Telesolutions Inc. will use a $6.1 million ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 1,630 people, 31 businesses, nine farms, five fire stations and two post offices to high-speed broadband internet in Sierra County, New Mexico.
• Leaco Rural Telephone Cooperative Inc. will use a $4.5 million ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 170 people, 29 farms and five businesses to high-speed broadband internet in Eddy, Chaves and Lea counties in New Mexico.
• Penasco Valley Telephone Cooperative Inc. will use a $8.1 million ReConnect loan to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 1,173 people, seven farms, six businesses, three fire stations and a post office to high-speed broadband internet in Chaves, Lincoln, Eddy and Otero counties in New Mexico.
• Continental Divide Electric Cooperative Inc. will use a $1.1 million ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 85 people, four farms and a business to high-speed broadband internet in Cibola County, New Mexico.
• Farmers Mutual Cooperative Telephone Company of Moulton, Iowa will use a $4.9 million ReConnect grant and a $4.9 million ReConnect loan to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network, which will connect 3,085 people, 228 farms, 50 businesses and two healthcare facilities to high-speed broadband internet in Appanoose and Davis counties in Iowa.
• Farmers Mutual Telephone Company of Stanton, Iowa will use a $2.3 million ReConnect grant and a $2.3 million ReConnect loan to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network which will connect 954 people, 115 farms and eight businesses to high-speed broadband internet in Taylor and Page counties in Iowa.
• Harmony Telephone Company will use a $4.8 million ReConnect grant and a $4.8 million ReConnect loan to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network, which will connect 1,579 people, 96 farms and 31 businesses to high-speed broadband internet in Howard and Chickasaw counties in Iowa.
• Allband Multimedia LLC will use a $3.5 million ReConnect grant to deploy a fixed wireless network to connect 3,678 people, 64 farms, 54 businesses, four educational facilities and a post office to high-speed broadband internet in Alpena, Alcona and Iosco counties in Michigan.
• Southwest Michigan Communications Inc. will use a $3.3 million ReConnect grant and a $3.3 million ReConnect loan to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 3,203 people, 40 farms and 27 businesses to high-speed broadband internet in Van Buren, Kalamazoo and Allegan counties in Michigan.

AT&T reports it now has 4.7 million fiber subscribers, adding 357K net new fiber subscribers in 3Q 2020, up over 12% from 3Q 2019. AT&T now reports 33% penetration of its fiber homes passed. Verizon reported 139K net adds for consumer Fios fiber subscribers, the most net additions since 4Q 2014. That’s up over 450% from 3Q 2019. Verizon now counts 6.1 million fiber subscribers.

AT&T CEO John Stankey suggested that some changes to policy, including changes to the Universal Service Fund, could help AT&T reach more homes with fiber. He didn’t elaborate on what changes he would like to see, but an AT&T policy opinion earlier in 2020 suggested the program should be reformed to include direct funding from Congress. “I believe some of these architectures that are coming out, and frankly if policy gets right, that you can open up some of these places for growth,” said Stankey about AT&T fiber broadband momentum. “If the universal service program gets reformed in an effective fashion, which I think it’s time, that from a policy perspective in our country, we should look at that, it makes fixed broadband more affordable.”

The causes and impact of a nationwide T-Mobile outage that occurred in June, along with actions that can help prevent similar outages in the future. On June 15, 2020, T-Mobile experienced an outage on its wireless networks that lasted over twelve hours, disrupting calling and texting services nationwide, including 911 service, as well as access to data service in some areas. The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau estimates that at least 41% of all calls on T-Mobile’s network failed during the outage, including at least 23,621 failed calls to 911. The Bureau notes that T-Mobile’s outage was caused by an equipment failure and exacerbated by a network routing misconfiguration. The outage was also magnified by a software flaw in T-Mobile’s network that had been latent for months and interfered with customers’ ability to initiate or receive voice calls during the outage.

The Bureau identifies the network reliability best practices that could have prevented the outage or mitigated its effects, including providers periodically auditing the diversity of their networks. The Bureau also recommends several network reliability issues for further examination by standards bodies. In keeping with past practice, the Bureau plans to release a Public Notice, based on its analysis of this and other recent outages, reminding companies of industry-accepted best practices, including those recommended by the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council, and their importance. In addition, the Bureau will contact major transport providers to discuss their network practices and offer assistance to smaller providers to help ensure that our nation’s communications networks remain robust, reliable, and resilient.

Federal Trade Commission staff members are recommending that the agency bring an antitrust case against Facebook, but commissioners haven’t yet reached a decision. The five-member FTC met privately via videoconference to discuss next steps, without taking action. The commission is facing political complexities, particularly with the Nov. 3 election looming. FTC Chairman Joseph Simons during his tenure has at times faced challenges in building coalitions among his Republican and Democratic colleagues.