Funding Year 2015. USAC will release Funding Year (FY) 2015 Wave 26 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) on November 20. This wave includes commitments for approved requests for all service types and at all discount levels. As of November 13, FY2015 commitments total over $2.51 billion. On the day the FCDLs are mailed, you can check to see if you have… Read more →
The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) was the target of a phishing attack, which is the attempt to acquire sensitive information for malicious reasons. USAC is warning stakeholders that if an email was received from Leslie Frelow or John Noran with the subject “ITS help desk”, it should be deleted immediately. If the email is opened, do NOT click on… Read more →
Carolina Digital, a leading provider of USAC Category 1 eligible hosted telecommunications for K-12 schools in the Southeast United States, announced that it has been awarded a contract by North Carolina’s Johnson County School System to install a new 4,500 VoIP phone system. Per the agreement, Carolina Digital will utilize the robust and proven unified communications platform powered by Third… Read more →
Title II Regulations a ‘Net’ Loss for Innovation and Consumers FCC’s ‘Throwback Thursday’ Move Imposes 1930s Rules on the Internet The Federal Communications Commission approved an order urged by President Obama that imposes rules on broadband Internet services that were written in the era of the steam locomotive and the telegraph. The following statement should be attributed to Michael E…. Read more →
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is proposing unprecedented rules to regulate Internet service providers — including mobile broadband — like a public utility, in a far-reaching move that could be one of the most divisive plans to emerge from the agency in years. In an op-ed in Wired magazine posted online, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said his plan… Read more →
With Carolina Digital Phone‘s cloud-based, Hosted PBX, we make voice simple. Monthly $15 per user, you get unlimited calling in the US and Canada and the flexibility of using handsets from Cisco, Polycom, Yealink, Snom, and more; why get locked into an enterprise PBX. There’s no need for a tech to roll a truck anymore to make moves, adds, and… Read more →
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday adopted a broad expansion and overhaul of its program to bring high-speed Internet into schools and libraries, a move that will also add to the fees tacked on to the phone bills of Americans each month. The E-Rate program, part of the Universal Service Fund, will grow by $1.5 billion, to a… Read more →
New FCC Order Increases E-rate Program by $1.5 Billion Annually, and Introduces a Number of New Changes Including “Equalizing” Treatment of Lit and Dark Fiber On December 19, the FCC released the text of its Second Report and Order in its E-rate modernization proceeding. The new Order increased the annual spending cap on the E-rate program by an additional $1.5… Read more →
Discovery Communications’ chief executive said Wednesday that the cable television programmer has expressed concerns to federal regulators about Comcast’s $45 billion bid to buy Time Warner Cable. If the merger is approved, Comcast would control 17 of the top 20 markets for advertisers, said Discovery CEO David Zaslav at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia investor conference. The merger “presents some serious issues. We’ve… Read more →
North Carolina approves second area code 743 for Piedmont Triad. 10-digit local calling, additional area code, coming to Triad State officials approved a second area code for the Piedmont Triad that will overlay the current 336 code. The new 743 overlay for area code will be implemented before all numbers in that area code are exhausted, expected to be in 2016. Officials… Read more →
Deal Values Business Ethernet Provider at 12% Premium Level 3 Communications Inc. (LVLT -5.83%) agreed to buy business Ethernet provider TW Telecom for about $5.7 billion in cash and stock, a deal that would expand the metropolitan footprint of the long-haul Internet carrier. The deal values TW Telecom at $40.86 a share, a 12% premium to Friday’s close. Shareholders would… Read more →
The new “Cost Allocation of Bundled Services” Order (DA 14-712, “CA Order”) released Friday. Basically, phones will no longer be allowed to be “given away” as part of a hosted VoIP solution. If they are included they will have to be cost allocated. This will be in effect for 2015 for new and existing contracts. This means that multi-year contracts where the phones… Read more →
USAC announced it will release FY 2014 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) for Wave 1 on Thursday, May 15, 2014 to school and library applicants. This first wave will have more than 14,600 letters committing over $607 million, of which $450 million is for broadband connectivity. The FCDLs will notify applicants of funding commitments for Priority One services (Telecommunications Services… Read more →
The internet as we know it in America is about to fundamentally change, and it’s because our politics are too broken to stop it. On Wednesday, April 23rd, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Communications Commission is about to issue new rules for internet service providers that will allow them to create “fast lanes” of service that will allow companies… Read more →
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