The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau took additional measures to ensure that providers are receiving reimbursement from the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) for fully subsidized service only for households using their service, as required by the FCC’s rules. Concerning the FCC's ACP usage rule, the Bureau (1) has referred the matter to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau for further investigation; (2) has directed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to revise its methodology for proactively monitoring provider claims and de-enrollment data; and (3) has directed USAC to expand its program reviews to help ensure compliance with the non-usage rules. The non-usage rules are designed to ensure that ACP funding is targeted to households that are actually using their ACP service. Where a provider does not assess or collect a monthly fee from the enrolled household for the supported service, the household must use that service at least once every 30 days. If the household does not use its service during a 30-day period, the provider is required to notify the household that they will be de-enrolled if the household does not use the service within the next 15 days. On September 28, 2023, the FCC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an advisory about potential provider non-compliance with the ACP usage and de-enrollment rules among certain providers

As part of DISH’s involvement in the T-Mobile-Sprint transaction, and in connection with DISH’s related applications for an extension of time to complete construction of its facilities for its AWS-4, Lower 700 MHz E Block, and AWS H Block licenses, DISH committed to construct a nationwide 5G broadband network. The DISH Commitments, which were imposed as license conditions, required DISH to meet certain “concrete milestones,” including a set of “Band-Specific 5G Deployment Commitments” and “Nationwide 5G Commitments.” On July 14, 2023, DISH submitted its status report with detailed information on its compliance with these obligations as of June 14, 2023,3 and on September 25, 2023, DISH submitted a White Paper describing its proposed methodology for demonstrating compliance with one of the nationwide 5G commitments that must be verified by drive tests. Based on our review of your submission, the Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) finds that DISH has met its band-specific 5G commitments and two of its three nationwide 5G commitments, and the Bureau accepts DISH’s proposed drive test methodology for verifying compliance with the remaining nationwide 5G commitment.

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) selected Laphonza Butler—the President of the nation’s largest organization dedicated to electing women, EMILY’s List—to complete the United States Senate term of the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, which runs through 2024. Butler, a longtime senior adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris, labor leader, and advocate for women and working people, will be the first openly LGBTQ person to represent California in the Senate. She will also be the first Black lesbian to openly serve in Congress in American history and the second Black woman to represent California in the Senate following Vice President Kamala Harris. Butler will step down from her role as president of EMILY’s List, where she was the first woman of color and mother to lead the organization. Prior to joining EMILY’s List, Butler ran political campaigns and led strategy efforts for numerous companies, organizations, and elected leaders—including for Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Butler was a key leader of Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign. For more than a decade, she served as the president of the largest labor union in California—SEIU Local 2015—a union representing more than 325,000 nursing home and home-care workers throughout the state. Previously, Butler served as President of SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW) and also as SEIU’s Property Services Division Director, in which she was responsible for the strategic direction of organizing on behalf of more than 250,000 janitors, security officers, window cleaners, and food service workers across the country. Butler also served as an SEIU International Vice President and president of the SEIU California State Council. Butler was the former director of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles branch of the Federal Reserve System. In 2018, she was appointed to the University of California Board of Regents by Governor Jerry Brown, where she served until 2021. She served in various other roles, including as a board member for the National Children’s Defense Fund, BLACK PAC, and the Bay Area Economic Council Institute, and as a fellow for the MIT Community Innovators Lab.

I am deeply honored to serve another term on the Federal Communications Commission. Day in and day out, this agency helps build a more innovative, secure, and equitable America. I’m thrilled to continue advancing that mission on behalf of the American public – and on a Commission that is operating at full strength. I would like to express my sincerest thanks to President Biden for his nomination and to Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, and Chair Cantwell for their support during the confirmation process. I also would like to congratulate Commissioner Carr on his confirmation. I consider Brendan a friend and a colleague and hold the deepest respect and admiration for his public service. I look forward to continue working together during my second term.

The Broadband Forum is striving to better inform broadband providers of the work it’s doing in technical standards, with the help of the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA). In July, the Broadband Forum and FBA partnered to focus on developing and educating the broadband industry on best practices. They said the agreement will also broaden support for “ubiquitous broadband service delivery.” What that means is leveraging a combination of technologies to close the digital divide—not just fiber—according to Broadband Forum’s VP of Strategic Marketing and Business Development, Craig Thomas. The other side of ubiquitous broadband service is broadening the customer base. “We’re building networks now with a path to be truly multi-service. So it’s meeting business needs, residential, community services, industrial internet-of-thing (IoT), even mobile backhaul,” Thomas said. He described the agreement with the FBA as a “good marriage” in that FBA is well-versed in advocacy and can help “bring other partners in,” while Broadband Forum is “great at teaching where the technology is going.”

GeoLinks has a lot going on with fixed wireless access (FWA), Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) deployments, gig+ speed offers, and spectrum bands. The company has more licenses in the 28 GHz band than any other license holder and "that will give us the opportunity to look into other states in the future,” said COO Ryan Adams. Investments from Rock Mountain Capital and JLC Infrastructure make GeoLinks' expansion plans possible and help GeoLinks build upon their significant spectrum footprint, delivering broadband to urban and rural communities, businesses and government institutions beyond their current footprint. Additionally, GeoLinks has begun offering gig+ speeds—exceeding 1 Gbps—using FWA in several metro markets. GeoLinks was also the winning bidder for RDOF funding in parts of California, Arizona and Nevada, though was only approved for Arizona and Nevada because the California Public Utilities Commission didn’t approve the company’s application for eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) status. Its RDOF wins in Arizona and Nevada total $84.6 million, which GeoLinks will leverage to provide a combination of FWA and fiber broadband to support gigabit service.