Today:  US House Gigabit Opportunity Act Introduced, Court to hear BDS Appeal announced, Iowa Revises 911 Statutes

House Gigabit Opportunity Act Introduced

Congressman Doug Collins (R-Ga.) has introduced the Gigabit Opportunity Act (H.R. 2870) to promote broadband development in rural and economically disadvantaged areas.  The Act would incentivize private investment in rural broadband by allowing companies to defer certain capital gains taxes when they convert those gains to long-term investments in broadband infrastructure within state-designated “Gigabit Opportunity Zones.”  Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) introduced the Senate companion bill last month.  See the Regulatory Mix dated 5/4/17.  In a statement, FCC Chairman Pai said, in part “I'm thrilled to see the effort to establish Gigabit Opportunity Zones continue to gain steam in the House of Representatives, thanks to Congressman Collins' leadership in introducing the GO Act.  This legislation, which complements legislation introduced last month by Senator Shelley Moore Capito, would create targeted tax incentives and streamline regulations in order to remove some of the barriers that hold back high-speed Internet access in too many communities.”  The bills build on Chairman Pai’s own vision for Gigabit Opportunity Zones.

Court To Hear BDS Appeal Announced

The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation announced that the appeals of the FCC’s Business Data Services (BDS) order will be heard by the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. When the same order is appealed to different courts of appeal the panel randomly selects one court to hear the consolidated appeals.  In this case, appeals were filed in the Fifth Circuit by CenturyLink, the Eighth Circuit by Citizens Telecommunications Company of Minnesota, and in the DC Circuit by a coalition of carriers and users led by the Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee (and including BT Americas, Inc., Granite Telecommunications, LLC, INCOMPAS, Sprint Corporation, and Windstream Services, LLC.)  Regarding the end of special access, see TMI Blog "The End of Special Access. . . It's the end of the world as we know it," dated 6/19/17.

Iowa 911 Statutes

A new law in Iowa revises the statutory sections addressing the collection of 911 surcharges by local exchange (wireline) carriers, wireless providers, VoIP providers, and prepaid wireless providers. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 9/14/17.

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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.