Today:  FCC Announces Entities Certified To Participate In The NDBEDP,  FCC Schedules Infrastructure Deployment Calls, Nebraska Proceeding On Ported Universal Service Support

FCC Announces Entities Certified To Participate In The NDBEDP

The FCC’ Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau announced the entities certified to participate in the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP) program in 13 states and territories.  The Perkins School for the Blind was certified as the entity to administer the program for the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Vermont; and for the jurisdictions of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Access Technologies, Inc., was certified to administer the NDBEDP for Oregon, and the South Dakota Department of Human Services to administer the NDBEDP for South Dakota.  These certifications will become effective July 1, 2017.  The Bureau will release additional public notices announcing entities selected for NDBEDP certification in other states on a rolling basis after reviewing applications and supplemental materials received for each state.

FCC Schedules Infrastructure Deployment Calls

The FCC announced various webinars and conference calls designed to inform stakeholders how to file comments in the FCC’s rulemaking on accelerating wireless broadband deployment.  TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 5/12/17.  The first webinar, on May 24, 2017, will be for state and local governments and will focus on issues in the rulemaking that affect state and local government offices and agencies.  The second webinar, on May 31, 2017, will focus on issues in the rulemaking that affect small businesses.  In addition, the FCC will hold a conference call with Tribal and Native officials on May 25, 2017, to review the questions raised in the rulemaking that affect Tribal nations.  Attendance will be limited to elected and appointed leaders or duly appointed representatives of federally recognized Tribal Nations and Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHOs).

Nebraska Proceeding On Ported Universal Service Support

The Nebraska PSC has initiated a proceeding to determine if it should discontinue the practice of porting universal service support on lines captured by CLECs in certain CenturyLink out-of-town areas.  Currently, the PSC provides ported support for a total of 13 grandfathered residential lines to two competitive ETCs.  If it decides to discontinue this support, it seeks comment on how such support should be phased-out.  Comments are due June 16, 2017

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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.