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.
FCC Plan For Shutdown In The Event Of A Funding Lapse
The FCC has released a plan for the orderly shutdown of business in the event of a lapse in congressional appropriations. During a shutdown all FCC activities other than those immediately necessary for the protection of life or property will cease. Suspended activities would include, among many others: Consumer complaint and inquiry phone lines cannot be answered; consumer protection and local competition enforcement must cease; licensing services, including broadcast, wireless, and wireline, must cease; management of radio spectrum and the creation of new opportunities for competitive technologies and services for the American public must be suspended; and equipment authorizations, including those bringing new electronic devices to American consumers, cannot be provided. If the shutdown plan is activated, all FCC employees will be instructed to report to work the first business day following a lapse in appropriations if necessary to conduct orderly shutdown of operations. The FCC estimates that orderly shutdown can be completed in approximately 4 hours, with rare exceptions. After the plan has been implemented, 127 employees, or 8% of those on-board before the plan was implemented, will have been retained. The remaining 1469 employees, or 92% of those on-board before the plan was implemented, will have been furloughed and sent home.
Pennsylvania Area Code Relief
The PUC has agreed to address a Petition for Reconsideration filed by the Joint Industry Members relating to the implementation of relief for the 717 area code. The petition requests specific alterations to the implementation schedule to avoid unintended anti-consumer consequences such as implementation errors and customer confusion. The petition includes a proposed revised implementation time line which would extend the total implementation interval from seven months to 11 months. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefings dated 10/28/16 and 11/11/16.
