Today:  FCC Restoring Internet Freedom Order, FCC IP CTS, FCC Cable Leased Access Rules 

FCC Restoring Internet Freedom Order

The FCC's Restoring Internet Freedom Order becomes effective today, 6/11/18. The Order is returning to the framework that was in effect prior to 2015. The "light-touch" approach aims to protect consumers and deliver better, faster, cheaper Internet access and more competition to consumers.

In her statement released today, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel reiterated that she, "voted against the FCC's decision to roll back our net neutrality rules." She also stated that this was "bad news for all of us who rely on an open internet for so many facets of civic and commercial life.  Internet service providers now have the power to block websites, throttle services, and censor online content. They will have the right to discriminate and favor the internet traffic of those companies with whom they have pay-for-play arrangements and the right to consign all others to a slow and bumpy road." See Commissioner Rosenworcel's complete statement here.

Need more information on rules related to the order? Looking for what the FCC requirements are and what role the FTC plays? See Inteserra's detailed report available now Compliance Essentials for BIAS Providers.

FCC IP CTS

At its June Open Meeting, the FCC voted reform Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS), which is a form of telecommunications relay service (TRS) that allows individuals with hearing loss to both read captions and use their residual hearing to understand a telephone conversation.  The FCC set interim IP CTS provider compensation rates to bring those rates closer to actual average provider costs. This move will save the TRS Fund nearly $400 million over the next two years. The FCC also adopted rules to limit unnecessary IP CTS use and waste of the TRS Fund, including a general prohibition on providing IP CTS to ineligible users.  In addition, the FCC agreed to allow service providers to use fully automated speech recognition (ASR) to produce captions.  The FCC is also seeking comment on measures to improve the compensation plan, funding, and structure of the IP CTS program and to curb provider practices that could be incenting use of IP CTS by people who may not need it. 

FCC Cable Leased Access Rules

At its June Open Meeting, the FCC approved a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking to update its leased access rules, which require cable operators to set aside channel capacity for commercial use by unaffiliated video programmers.  In the item, the Commission tentatively concludes that it should vacate its 2008 Leased Access Order, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has stayed for a decade in conjunction with several judicial appeals, and which the Office of Management and Budget had separately rejected under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Due to these roadblocks, the 2008 order never went into effect, and the pre-2008 order rules adopted nearly a quarter-century ago remain in effect. Vacating the 2008 order would provide the FCC with a fresh starting point from which to consider specific proposals to modernize the leased access rules to fit the modern marketplace. The FCC proposes to require cable operators to respond only to bona fide requests from prospective leased access programmers. It seeks comment on the state of the leased access marketplace generally and whether it should extend the timeframe for providing responses to leased access requests and permit cable operators to require leased access programmers to pay a nominal application fee and/or a deposit.  The FCC also proposes to modify the procedures for addressing leased access disputes.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’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 an Inteserra Briefing.