Today:  Puerto Rico Board Reopens for Operations, FCC Mobility Fund Phase II Webinar, FCC Revenue Thresholds 

Puerto Rico Board Reopens for Operations

The Telecommunications Regulatory Board of Puerto Rico issued an Administrative Order stating that effective October 17, 2017, the Board has reopened for operations.  All filings/documents that were due between September 19, 2017, and October 17, 2017, will be extended until November 1, 2017.  As for Hearings and Conferences, they will be reassigned by each case.  This was agreed upon by the Board on October 19, 2017.

FCC Mobility Fund Phase II Webinar

The FCC’s Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force announced it and the FCC’s Wireline Competition and Wireless Bureaus will host a webinar about the proposed challenge process on November 1, 2017, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET. Topics covered in the webinar will include:

• proposed procedures for generating the initial map of areas eligible for MF-II support;
• proposed procedures for challenges, covering: requirements for provider-approved handsets; requirements for speed tests and response evidence; how submitted challenge and response evidence is evaluated by the automated system validations; and information about accessing the challenge process portal.

The webinar will be streamed live with open captioning over the Internet. Participation in the webinar is not a pre-requisite for participating in the proceeding or for applying to bid in the auction, See the Regulatory Mix dated 10/19/17, but the FCC strongly encourages potential applicants to view the event

FCC Revenue Thresholds

The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau announced the inflation-adjusted 2016 revenue thresholds used for classifying carrier categories for various accounting and reporting purposes: (1) distinguishing Class A carriers from Class B carriers; and (2) distinguishing larger Class A carriers from mid-sized carriers.  The revenue threshold between Class A carriers and Class B carriers is increased to $157 million. The revenue threshold between larger Class A carriers and mid-sized carriers is increased to $9.32 billion.  (Class A companies have annual revenues from regulated telecommunications operations that are equal to or above the indexed revenue threshold; Class B companies have annual revenues from regulated telecommunications operations that are less than the indexed revenue threshold.)

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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.