Today's Regulatory Mix:  California Sends Letter to ISPs Regarding Data Caps and Data Overage Charges, FCC Waives Access Arbitrage Rules, FCC Grants WISPS Temporary Access to Additional  5.9 GHz Spectrum, FCC Acts to Assist Rural Health Care Program Participants

California Sends Letter to ISPs Regarding Data Caps and Data Overage Charges

The California PUC has sent a letter to the top five largest wireless and top ten largest ISPs in the state asking  them to consider temporarily suspending data caps and data overage charges if they have not already done so.  The PUC also requested information on customer commitments and other actions the companies have taken to support customers.  Finally, the PUC asked if it could arrange a regular conference call so “we may establish a clear line of communication to update each other on our efforts and resolve issues as they arise.”

FCC Waives Access Arbitrage Rules 

The FCC temporarily waived two of its access arbitrage rules to allow Inteliquent, a telecommunications company that carries traffic for two of the nation’s largest conference calling providers, Zoom Video Communications and Cisco WebEx.  Absent the waiver, the massive increase in conference calls made by American consumers using Zoom and WebEx to work and attend classes from home during the COVID-19 pandemic would likely result in Inteliquent being deemed an “access-stimulating” carrier under the FCC’s rules.  This, in turn, would trigger significant cost increases for Inteliquent that would impede its ability to serve these conference calling companies.  The waiver.  The temporary waiver, which is based on circumstances specific to Inteliquent and detailed in the order, will expire on June 1, 2020, and Inteliquent may seek renewal of the waiver if necessary.

FCC Grants WISPS Temporary Access to Additional 5.9 GHz Spectrum 

The FCC granted temporary spectrum access to 33 wireless Internet service providers serving 330 counties in 29 states to help them serve rural communities facing an increase in broadband needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Special Temporary Authority (STA) allows the companies to use the lower 45 megahertz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for 60 days.  The Special Temporary Authorities granted today will help serve communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. The list of individual companies and the counties they serve will be posted on FCC.gov.

FCC Acts to Assist Rural Health Care Program Participants

The FCC waived or extended the deadlines contained in a number of its rules in order to assist Rural Health Care Program participants, including extending the Rural Health Care Program application window until June 30, 2020, among other administrative deadlines. Specifically, the FCC (1) issued an extension of the RHC Program application filing window until June 30, 2020; (2) eased competitive bidding requirements for health care providers with expiring evergreen contracts; and (3) extended deadlines for responses to inquiries from the Universal Service Administrative Company, filing invoices, and filing appeals, among other deadlines.  

“The disruption to health care providers throughout the country as a result of this pandemic is indisputable and the FCC, alongside other federal agencies, is working to address these challenges head on,” said Chairman Ajit Pai.  “Telemedicine continues to play a significant role in combating the ongoing pandemic, especially in rural areas.  Today’s changes will allow health care providers to focus their attention on their immediate task at hand—addressing the influx of patients associated with the COVID-19 outbreak and continuing critical care for existing patients, thereby helping to control the spread of this serious pandemic.  With our actions today, our hospitals and health care providers can devote more of their attention on continuing to meet the needs of their communities.”

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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.