Today:  FCC Open Meeting, California Call Completion Decision, Missouri 211 Service

FCC February Open Meeting

The FCC announced  the agenda for its February 23, 2017 Open Meeting.  It includes the following items of interest to competitive carriers:

• Small Business Exemption From Open Internet Enhanced Reporting Requirements – An Order granting a five-year waiver to broadband Internet access service providers with 250,000 or fewer broadband connections from the enhanced reporting requirements adopted in the 2015 Title II Order.
• Connect America Fund Support For Mobile Services: A Report and Order adopting rules to provide ongoing support targeted to preserve and advance high-speed mobile broadband and voice service in high-cost areas that the marketplace does not otherwise serve.
• Connect America Fund Auction: A Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration that (1) resolves a number of issues raised in the Phase II Auction Order FNPRM, including the adoption of weights to compare bids among service performance and latency tiers, and (2) considers several petitions for reconsideration for decisions made in the Phase II Auction Order.
• Comprehensive Review of the Part 32 Uniform System of Accounts – A Report and Order that would streamline and eliminate outdated accounting rules no longer needed to fulfill the Commission’s statutory or regulatory duties.

Other items address Next Generation broadcast television standards and revitalization of the AM radio service.

California Coalition Seeks Stay of Call Completion Decision  

A Coalition filed an application for rehearing of the PUC’s Decision 16-12-066 addressing among other things call completion issues.  TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 1/6/17.  The petition demonstrates that the Coalition members will be exposed to irreparable harm if certain of the Ordering Paragraphs (2, 5-8, 11-13, 15-16, 19-20, 23, 25 and 26) are not stayed.  In the absence of a stay, the petition states that Coalition Members will be subject to the potential release of confidential information without protection, and a requirement to operate under rules that are unlawful, and fundamentally vague. 

Missouri 211 Service

The United Way of Greater St. Louis, Inc. has filed an application with the PSC seeking Commission authority to continue as an information and referral provider for purposes of 211 service.  Applications to intervene and participate in this case must be filed no later than March 3, 2017.  Responses to the Public Service Commission Staff’s recommendation to renew the 211 authority may be filed no later than March 10, 2017.

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The Regulatory Mix, TMI’s daily blog of telecom related 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 Briefing.

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