The Regulatory Mix - Monday, August 26, 2019

FCC Proposed Fines Against Three WISPs for Interference

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau announced proposed fines related to devices that apparently caused interference to the Federal Aviation Administration’s terminal doppler weather radar station in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The Enforcement Bureau proposed three separate $25,000 fines against wireless Internet service providers Boom Solutions, Integra Wireless, and WinPR. The companies used Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure devices for point-to-point wireless broadband communication.  In each case, the companies apparently misconfigured the devices by turning off a required feature that would have prevented the devices from causing interference to the FAA terminal doppler weather radar station at San Juan International Airport. 

In addition to the proposed fines, the Bureau issued an Enforcement Advisory warning operators, manufacturers, and marketers of Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure devices that these devices must be certified under FCC rules.  Such devices that operate in the 5.25 GHz to 5.35 GHz and 5.47 GHz to 5.725 GHz bands risk interfering with radar systems if not properly configured to share the spectrum.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The Regulatory Mix Today: FCC Proposed Fines Against Three WISPs for Interference, FCC Authorizes Additional Broadband Support

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

FCC Authorizes Additional Broadband Support

The FCC announced it has authorized over $4.9 billion in support over the next decade for maintaining, improving, and expanding affordable rural broadband for 455,334 homes and businesses served by 171 carriers in 39 states and American Samoa, including 44,243 locations on Tribal lands.  In return for the support, carriers must maintain, improve, and expand broadband throughout their service areas, including providing service of at least 25 Megabits per second downstream and 3 Mbps upstream to over 363,000 locations, including more than 37,000 locations on Tribal lands. Providers will be held accountable through an enforceable schedule for delivering improved and expanded service, with the first interim deployment obligation occurring in 2022.

____________________________

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.