Today:  FCC Releases Agenda for June Open Meeting, US Congress Bill to Establish FCC Office of Rural Broadband 

FCC Releases Agenda for June Open Meeting

The FCC announced that the following items are on the agenda for its June 7, 2018, Open Meeting:

• Next Steps to Open Spectrum Frontiers for 5G Connectivity:  A Third Report and Order, Memorandum Opinion and Order, and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would continue efforts to make available millimeter wave spectrum, in bands at or above 24 GHz, for fifth-generation wireless, Internet of Things, and other advanced spectrum-based services. 
• Wireline Infrastructure: A Second Report and Order that will revise the Commission’s section 214(a) discontinuance processes, network change disclosure processes, and Part 68 customer notification process to remove barriers to infrastructure investment and promote broadband deployment. 
• Eliminating Disparate Treatment of Rural Broadband Providers: An Order granting forbearance from applying Universal Service Fund contribution requirements to rural carriers’ broadband Internet access transmission services. 
• Updating the Intercarrier Compensation Regime to Eliminate Access Arbitrage: A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes measures to eliminate access arbitrage in the intercarrier compensation regime. 
• 8YY Access Charge Reform: A Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which proposes taking further steps in reforming intercarrier compensation by transitioning interstate and intrastate originating 8YY end office and tandem switching and transport charges to bill-and-keep and capping and limiting 8YY database query rates. 
• Text-Enabled Toll-Free Numbers: A Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will clarify the Commission’s rules regarding the authorization required to text-enable a toll-free number and propose further safeguards to promote the innovative use of toll free numbers while protecting the integrity of the toll free numbering system.
• Slamming and Cramming Rules: Report and Order to protect consumers from slamming (the unauthorized change of a consumer’s telephone provider) and cramming (the placement of unauthorized charges on a consumer’s telephone bill), including rules to address sales call misrepresentations and abuses of the third-party verification procedures.
• Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service Reform: A Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Notice of Inquiry to adopt measures, and seek comment on others, to ensure that Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) remains sustainable for people with hearing loss who need it. 
• Leased Commercial Access; Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative: A Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that tentatively concludes that the Commission should vacate its 2008 Leased Access Order and invites comment on ways to modernize the existing leased access rules. 
• Audacy Corporation Space Station Authorization: An Order and Authorization that recommends granting Audacy’s request to construct, deploy, and operate a proposed non-geostationary satellite (NGSO) constellation to provide continuous, high-speed, low-latency relay services to other NGSO spacecraft operators through Audacy’s proposed satellites and gateway earth stations.
  
• O3b Market Access Request: An Order and Declaratory Ruling that recommends granting a request to modify O3b’s existing U.S. market access grant by adding new non-geostationary satellites and new frequency bands in order to provide broadband communication services in the United States. 
• Enforcement Bureau Action – The Commission will consider an enforcement action.

US Congress Bill to Establish FCC Office of Rural Broadband

US Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced S.2959, bipartisan legislation to establish an Office of Rural Broadband at the FCC to be tasked with helping coordinate federal resources and providing more rural Americans with access to reliable, affordable telecommunications and broadband services.  The Office will coordinate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Universal Service Administration Company (USAC) and other agencies to ensure that all federal agencies with jurisdiction over rural broadband work together to maximize federal funding and coordinate efforts to improve and sustain broadband services in rural areas.  The Office will also be responsible for tracking broadband adoption rates in rural areas,  coordinating federal efforts to remove barriers to broadband deployment, assessing the impact of FCC actions on rural consumers and providing annual reports on progress. 

 “Congress has made it a priority to provide our rural communities with access to reliable, affordable broadband services. This bipartisan legislation will help to coordinate and streamline rural broadband programs to make them more cost-effective and efficient,” said Hoeven. “By ensuring that the federal government’s broadband programs work in concert, we can maximize each dollar and improve and sustain service to more Americans in rural areas.”

 “Our 21st century economy demands 21st century infrastructure - and that includes broadband,” said Klobuchar. “Establishing an Office of Rural Telecommunications will ensure that rural broadband deployment is a priority for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and that every family, regardless of their zip code, has access to high speed internet.”

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 The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’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 an Inteserra Briefing.