Today:  New FCC Commissioners Sworn In, FCC Extends Reply Comment Deadline in Net Neutrality Proceeding, FTC Do Not Call Registry Fees  

New FCC Commissioners Sworn In

Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr were sworn in as FCC Commissioners on Friday, bringing the FCC to its full complement of five commissioners.  See the Regulatory Mix dated 8/4/17.  Commissioner Rosenworcel issued a statement saying, in part: “I firmly believe that the future belongs to the connected…I pledge to fight to make sure that the public interest is served and everyone across this country has access to the best, most reliable communications in the world.”  Commissioner Carr issued a statement saying, in part: “I have had the privilege of working at the agency for over five years, and that experience has instilled in me a deep appreciation for the FCC’s work and its talented staff.  Whether it is promoting broadband deployment, maintaining the United States’ leadership in wireless, or advancing public safety, I look forward to hitting the ground running and working with my colleagues at the Commission to serve the public interest.”  Chairman Pai issued his own statement saying: “I congratulate Brendan and Jessica on their swearing in and welcome them to the FCC as Commissioners.  I’m pleased that the Commission is once again at full capacity.  They will be valuable assets to the FCC, and I look forward to collaborating with them to close the digital divide, promote innovation, protect consumers, and improve the agency’s operations.”

FCC Extends Reply Comment Deadline In Net Neutrality Proceeding

The FCC extended the time for filing reply comments in its proceeding to consider revising its Net Neutrality/Open Internet rules (aka the Restoring Internet Freedom proceeding) until August 30, 2017.  Reply comments had been due August 16, 2017.  The FCC found that the extension of time would allow parties to provide the FCC with more thorough comments, ensuring that the Commission has a complete record on which to develop its decisions.  The petitioners had asked for an additional eight weeks.

FTC Do Not Call Registry Fees

The Federal Trade Commission announced the FY 2018 fees for telemarketers accessing phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry.  The annual fees will increase slightly from FY 2017.  Specifically, effective October 1, 2017, telemarketers will pay $62 for yearly access to Registry phone numbers in a single area code (an increase of $1 from FY 2017), up to a maximum charge of $17,021 for all area codes nationwide (up from $16,714 in FY 2017).  The fee for accessing an additional area code for a half year will increase to $31.  More information is available here.

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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.