Today's Regulatory Mix:   USDA Announces Utah Broadband Grant, US House RESILIENT Networks Act,  US House Hearing on Emergency Communications Solutions

USDA Announces Utah Broadband Grant

The USDA announced a $23.6 million investment in high-speed broadband infrastructure in Utah. This investment will build an all-fiber network that will serve more than 3,000 farms, businesses and homes spread over more than 400 square miles in rural Duchesne and Uintah counties.  Specifically, UBTA-UBET Communications Inc., dba STRATA Networks, will use an $11.8 million ReConnect loan and an $11.8 million ReConnect grant to expand high-speed broadband connectivity within the Uintah Basin, including Ute Indian Tribe communities on the Uintah and Ouray reservation. The company, headquartered in Roosevelt, Utah, was founded in 1948 to serve rural residents in the Uintah Basin. 

US House RESILIENT Networks Act 

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee member Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) introduced the Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure, and Emergency Notification for Today’s Networks Act (H.R. 5926), or the RESILIENT Networks Act, a bill to improve network resiliency in times of emergency.  

Among other things, the Act would require the FCC to: 

• Adopt rules requiring pre-planned coordination agreements, such as roaming and peering agreements and mutual aid arrangements, among communications service providers to take effect during times of emergency.  
• Adopt rules to improve coordination and outage information sharing between communications providers, public safety answering points (PSAPs) and covered public safety entities to help direct emergency response efforts.   
• Complete a study and submit a report to Congress on the feasibility of expanding the one-call notification system, currently used to identify the location of electric and gas transmission lines, to cover communications infrastructure components. 
• Issue best practices for coordination between communications service providers and utilities during times of emergency and planned power shutoffs.  
• Ensure communications service providers take reasonable and technically feasible measures to integrate backup power sources, such as generators and batteries, into their networks to maintain operation during times of emergency.   
• The Act also establishes a process by which communications providers and utilities can share information to prioritize reenergizing parts of the grid powering the most critical communications network infrastructure. 

“Ensuring the resiliency and reliability of communications networks is critical to keeping Americans safe during emergencies. This is particularly important with the growing threat of disasters intensified by climate change. Resilient communications networks can mean the difference between life and death during and after a storm or wildfire,” Pallone and McNerney said. “Our bill requires the creation of stronger, enforceable protections for consumers.This will ensure that Americans have access to vital and lifesaving communications service before, during and after major disasters. We look forward to moving this bill through the Committee process soon.”  

US House Hearing on Emergency Communications Solutions 

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) announced that the Communications and Technology Subcommittee will hold a legislative hearing on Thursday, February 27, at 10:30 am in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building on bills to improve communications and network resiliency in times of emergency. The hearing is entitled, “Strengthening Communications Networks to Help Americans in Crisis.”  

“In times of emergency, it’s imperative that our communications networks are well equipped so Americans can call for help, contact loved ones and access critical emergency response information. We cannot allow our communications networks to fail when a disaster strikes,” Pallone and Doyle said. “At this hearing, we will discuss several pieces of legislation that will strengthen network resiliency and bolster emergency response to ensure Americans are able to communicate in times of crisis when it matters most.”  

The following legislation is scheduled to be discussed: 

H.R. 451, the "Don't Break Up the T-Band Act of 2019" 

H.R. 1289, the "Preserving Home and Office Numbers in Emergencies Act of 2019" 

H.R. 3836, the "Wireless Infrastructure Resiliency during Emergencies and Disasters Act" or the "WIRED Act" 

H.R. 4194, the "National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2019" 

H.R. 4856, the "Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement Act of 2019" or the "READI Act" 

H.R. 5918, a bill to direct the FCC to issue reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System and to make improvement to network outage reporting 

H.R. 5926, the "Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure, and Emergency Notification for Today's Networks Act" or the "RESILIENT Networks Act" 

H.R. 5928, the "Fee Integrity and Responsibilities and To Regain Essential Spectrum for Public-safety Operators Needed to Deploy Equipment Reliably Act of 2020" or the "FIRST RESPONDER Act of 2020" 

____________________________

The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s 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 an Inteserra Briefing.