Today: California Sets Annual Video Franchise Fee, Missouri Launches Rural Broadband Initiative, Bureau of Prisons Tests Technology to Prevent Cell Phones in Prison  

California PUC Sets Annual Video Franchise Fee

The PUC issued a resolution adopting the annual fee for the fiscal year 2017-2018 to be paid by each video franchise holder.  The annual fee for fiscal year 2017-2018 will be calculated based on each state-issued video franchise holder’s pro-rata share of total gross video revenue.  This year’s annual fee amounts to 0.0147022% of each provider’s gross CA revenues, or 0.0147022 cents per dollar.  Due to confidentiality of individual holder’s revenue, the resolution does not disclose individual fees.  Each franchise holder will receive a fee statement from the PUC.  If the holder of a state video franchise was granted on or before the date of this resolution (February 8, 2018) then their fee amount is due by April 30, 2018.  If the franchise was granted after February 8, 2018, then their fee amount will be due within 60 days of its issuance, or June 30, 2018, whichever is earlier. 

Missouri Governor Launches Rural Broadband Initiative

Governor Eric Greitens announced that the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED), in partnership with the Missouri Department of Agriculture, is launching a new statewide initiative to expand broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas.  Kicking off the initiative, DED plans to hire a Missouri Rural Broadband Manager to lead the effort and serve as a liaison between federal, state, regional and local broadband discussions. The new position will build and strengthen partnerships between public and private stakeholders, and align efforts statewide to improve broadband access.

Bureau of Prisons Tests Technology to Prevent Cell Phones in Prisons

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) recently conducted a test in cooperation with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the FCC.  The test was an attempt to determine if micro-jamming technology could prevent wireless communication by an inmate using a contraband device inside the cell housing units.  Previous cellphone jamming demonstrations had been held by the BOP and NTIA in 2010 which led to NTIA’s congressionally-mandated study of cellphone interdiction technologies.  Contraband cellphones have been an ongoing correctional security and public safety concern for the BOP as well as for state and local correctional agencies across the country.  The BOP and NTIA will appraise the data and scrutinize the results from both BOP’s and NTIA’s testing and advance recommendations for calculated planning and possible acquisition. 

____________________________

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.