FCC Extends Comment Period Again in Comcast / NBCU Merger

Today the FCC extended [pdf] the time to file Replies to Responses/Oppositions (which were due July 21) to Petitions to Deny and Comments (which were due June 21) to the Comcast / NBCU merger, at the request of the American Cable Association (ACA). The deadline was August 5, but has been extended by two weeks to August 19. The ACA requested the extension because NBCU's 599-page Opposition to Petitions to Deny and Responses to Comments was not immediately available for review on July 21, 2010.

This extension reportedly does not change the original 180-day timeframe for the FCC's merger review.

FCC 706 Report Lends Support to Universal Service Reform

The FCC today released its 143 page report on the status of advanced telecommunications deployment [pdf]. In the report, the FCC finds that 14 to 24 million Americans lack access to broadband service, with little hope for short-term improvement. In a separate statement [pdf], Chairman Genachowski emphasized the need to overhaul the Universal Service Fund in order to bankroll improved broadband infrastructure nationwide.

Additional analysis of the report, including comment in opposition to the FCC's stance on providing service to underserved areas can be found at Multichannel News and Broadcasting and Cable.

FCC Rolls Over Additional $900 Million USF Funds for Schools/Libraries

This morning I saw this story on gobs of extra USF money and thought, "Wow! Nearly $1 trillion extra for schools and libraries: that goes a long way in making up the $1.75 billion shortfall!" But it looks like that "b" should have been an "m" and the real story is more along the lines of "FCC rolls over $900 million for schools and libraries, which should fund about 80% of Priority 2 E-rate requests, just like last year."

It took some digging online to find the real story [see p. 44 of the PDF] (note the suspicious lack of links in the BroadbandBreakfast story), but for a while I held out hope that the lack of news on the FCC USF page, the USAC news page, and other media outlets was based on the fact that no agency wanted to fess up to that scale of accounting sloppiness. In any case, $900 million in misjudged administrative costs is nothing to scoff at. At least it gives me hope that the money is there, somewhere, to continue to fix America's broadband problems with USF support.