The Regulatory Mix, TMI’s daily blog of regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of a TMI Regulatory Bulletin.

TELECOM

FCC

The FCC today conditionally approved a recommendation that Telecordia Technologies be selected as the next Local Number Portability Administrator. The FCC’s Order does not award a contract to Telecordia; it simply authorizes contract negotiations between the NAPM (North American Portability Management, LLC), which is an industry consortium, and Telcordia. The negotiated contract will be subject to review by the FCC to ensure that the neutrality and security requirements are fully satisfied. Neustar, Inc. and its predecessors have administered number porting since 1997, starting with a five-year contract that was extended three times. The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau in 2011 issued an Order detailing a process to award the LNPA contract through a competitive process.

Pennsylvania

The PUC announced the date for filing comments on a proposed rule that would prohibit public utilities from charging customers a fee to receive a paper utility bill. Written comments are due by April 13, 2015. TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers see Bulletins dated 12/15/14 and 3/25/15.

Texas

The PUC has opened a proceeding to determine whether it should readopt, readopt with amendments, or repeal the “Substantive Rules Applicable To Telecommunications Service Providers” contained in Chapter 26 of its rules. All 16 subchapters of the rules are subject to review. Comments are due April 20, 2015; reply comments are due May 5, 2015. If it is determined during the review that any section needs to be repealed or amended, the repeal or amendment will be initiated under a separate proceeding. The notice of intent to review Chapter 26 has no effect on the sections as they currently exist. TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers see Bulletin dated 3/24/15.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SOLD OUT

TMI's Spring Telecom Regulatory Seminar & Workshop -  April 30 & May 1, 2015, in Maitland, FL.