Today:  Connecticut 2018 Emergency Service Restoration Plans, FCC Discontinuance Process, FCC High-Band Spectrum, FCC Broadband Service 

Connecticut 2018 Emergency Service Restoration Plans

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) requires utilities to update their plans for restoring service after a state emergency.  Telecommunication companies and VoIP service providers must file emergency service restoration plans, revised plans, or an exemption status form with the PURA on or before the revised due date of June 29, 2018.  Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 6/5/18

FCC Discontinuance Process

At its June Open Meeting, the FCC voted to further streamline the process for discontinuing certain types of legacy telecom services.  The order will include the following revisions:

• Streamlines grandfathering of lower-speed data services where the carrier already provides fixed replacement data services at download speeds of 25 Megabits per second and 3 Mbps for uploads. The new process provides 10 days for public comment and grandfathering will be allowed automatically in 25 days, barring substantive objections.
• Streamlines permanent discontinuance of services already grandfathered by the FCC for 180 days. The process will now provide 10 days for comment and 31 days for an automatic grant.
• Relieves carriers of discontinuance approval obligations for services with no customers and no reasonable requests for service for at least the preceding 30 days.
• Eliminates education and outreach requirements for carriers discontinuing legacy voice services in the transition to next generation IP services.
• Allows carriers to seek streamlined discontinuance of legacy voice services when a carrier provides stand-alone interconnected VoIP throughout its affected service area, and at least one other stand-alone, facilities-based voice service is available from another provider.
• Eliminates advance notice and waiting period requirements for network changes in exigent circumstances to facilitate rapid restoration of communications networks in the face of natural disasters and other unforeseen events.

FCC High-Band Spectrum Vote

At its June Open Meeting, the FCC voted to make additional high-band spectrum available for advanced wireless services.  Among other things, the item adopts an operability requirement for the entire 24 GHz band, a sharing framework to allow use of a portion of the 24 GHz band for terrestrial wireless operations and Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) earth stations, a band plan for the Lower 37 GHz band, and spectrum aggregation rules applicable to certain bands.  In addition, the FCC denied petitions for reconsideration asking for geographic area licensing in the Lower 37 GHz band and asking to allocate the 42 GHz band for satellite use in order to provide additional certainty in moving forward with other innovative uses for these bands. The item also seeks comment on making 2.75 GHz of additional spectrum in the 26 GHz and 42 GHz bands available for next-generation wireless services, tees up coordination mechanisms to facilitate shared use of the Lower 37 GHz band between Federal and non-Federal users and among non-Federal users, and solicits feedback on potential rules for FSS use of the 50 GHz band for a limited number of earth stations.

FCC Broadband Service

At its June Open Meeting, the FCC granted a petition for forbearance that will, in effect, waive the requirement for small, rural carriers to contribute to the USF on their broadband Internet access transmission service revenues. The relief the FCC adopted is intended to make broadband service more affordable for these carriers’ customers in rural America and level the playing the field among all ISPs.  (Under current rules and unlike all other ISPs, certain small, rural “rate-of-return” providers must pay into the FCC’s Universal Service Fund fees on the revenues they earn from broadband Internet access transmission service. These fees ultimately get passed on to their customers and can add seven dollars or more a month to a subscriber’s bill.)

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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.