Today:  FCC Open Meeting - June 2017, Texas Universal Service Legislation

FCC Open Meeting Agenda -  June 2017

The FCC announced the agenda for its June 22, 2017, Open Meeting.  As expected, the agenda includes the following:

• New Emergency Alert System Event Code For Blue Alerts: A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would amend the FCC’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules to add a dedicated event code, “BLU,” for Blue Alerts, so that EAS alerts can deliver actionable information to the public when a law enforcement officer is killed, seriously injured, missing in connection with his or her official duties, or if there is an imminent and credible threat to a law enforcement officer.
• First Responder Network Authority: A Report and Order would establish the procedures and standards the FCC will use to review alternative plans submitted by states seeking to "opt-out" of the FirstNet network and to build their own Radio Access Networks that are interoperable with FirstNet.
• Exemption to Calling Number Identification Service: A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would amend the Caller ID rules to allow disclosure of blocked Caller ID information to aid law enforcement in investigating threatening calls and continue the waiver of those rules that is currently in effect for Jewish Community Centers.
• OneWeb Market Access Request: An Order and Declaratory Ruling recommends granting OneWeb’s request to be permitted to access the U.S. market using its proposed global non-geostationary satellite constellation for the provision of broadband communications services in the United States.
• Improving Competitive Broadband Access to Multiple Tenant Environments: A Notice of Inquiry that seeks comment on ways to facilitate greater consumer choice and enhance broadband deployment in multiple tenant environments such as apartment buildings, condominium buildings, shopping malls, or cooperatives.  The Notice also seeks comment on the current state of broadband competition in such locations and whether additional FCC action in this area is warranted to eliminate or reduce barriers faced by broadband providers that seek to serve the occupants of multiple tenant environments.
• Electronic Annual Notice Declaratory Ruling: A Declaratory Ruling would clarify that the “written information” that cable operators must provide to their subscribers via annual notices pursuant to Section 76.1602(b) of the FCC’s rules may be provided via e-mail.
• Modernization of Payphone Compensation Rules: A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order that (1) proposes to eliminate the requirement that carriers that complete payphone calls conduct an annual audit of their payphone call tracking systems and file an associated annual audit report with the Commission, and (2) waives the annual audit and associated reporting requirement for 2017.

The FCC will also consider an (unspecified) enforcement action.

Texas Universal Service Legislation

Effective September 1, 2017, a new law in Texas will provide ongoing support for small and rural ILECs until 2023.  The law requires the PUC, upon request by certain small providers, to determine and disburse universal service support in fixed monthly amounts based on an annualized support amount it determines is sufficient to permit the small provider a reasonable return.  A small provider must continue to receive the support at existing levels until the PUC makes its determination.  The law defines a "small provider" as an incumbent local telephone company or cooperative that, on September 1, 2013, together with all local exchange companies affiliated with the company or cooperative on that date, served 31,000 or fewer access lines in Texas or a company or cooperative that is a successor to such a company or cooperative.  Before January 1, 2018, the PUC must initiate a rulemaking to develop and implement a mechanism to determine the annualized support amount to be disbursed to small providers.  The mechanism must meet several requirements provided by the bill, including that small providers file an annual report and that the PUC provide a procedure to determine whether expenses reported by a small provider were reasonable and necessary.

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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.