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 Business Data Services Market Proposal
FCC Chairman Wheeler circulated to his fellow Commissioners a revised proposal to promote fairness, competition, and investment in the business data services (BDS) market. See TMI Blog FCC Acts on Business Data fka Special Access Services dated 4/28/16. The new proposal would bring all ILEC legacy TDM (DS1 and DS3) services under price cap regulation, phase-in a downward 11% productivity adjustment for those services over a three-year period beginning July 2017, and reduce price caps going forward by an annual productivity adjustment of 3% (offset by inflation). Unlike the earlier proposal, the price caps would only apply to ILEC services. A lighter-touch regulation would apply to packet-based services and circuit-based services above the DS3 level (45 Mpbs), which would be not be subject to benchmarking (as originally proposed), price caps, or other forms of ex ante pricing regulation. A “robust” complaint process would be adopted. A Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would seek comment on how best to collect accurate data on market developments and what administrable means can be developed to deal with any concerns that may emerge with respect to pricing for packet-based BDS. Click here for full Fact Sheet. It is not clear if the Chairman’s proposal will be added to the agenda for the FCC’s October Open Meeting.
Massachusetts & New York Service Quality Waivers
The Massachusetts DTC approved waiver requests submitted by Verizon for a waiver of penalties that would otherwise be due to CLECs for the reporting periods of April, May, and June 2016. The Petitions were unopposed. The DTC found that Verizon made a prima facie showing with clear and convincing evidence for waiver of the penalties for missing the PAP performance measurements for April, May, and June 2016.
The New York Attorney General submitted comments opposing a similar Verizon petition for a waiver of penalties for failure to meet required performance standards for the months of April through June 2016. Verizon filed a response to the AG’s comments. Among other things, Verizon points out that PSC Rule 603.1(c) specifically states that the PSC’s service quality standards “relate to the quality of service under normal operating conditions,” and “shall [not] apply to extraordinary or abnormal conditions of operation, such as those resulting from work stoppage . . . or other events beyond a service provider’s control.”
Pennsylvania Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Gov. Tom Wolf proclaimed October 2016 Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Pennsylvania. The PUC announced that a Cybersecurity Best Practices for Small and Medium Pennsylvania Utilities is available on the Commission’s website. It outlines for utilities ways to prevent identity or property theft; how to manage vendors and contractors who may have access to a company’s data; what to know about anti-virus software, firewalls and network infrastructure; how to protect physical assets, such as a computer in a remote location or a misplaced employee device; how to respond to a cyber-attack and preserve forensic information after the fact; how to report incidents; the potential benefits of engaging a law firm in advance of a breach; and a list of federal cyber incident resources. The PUC also stressed that it is important for consumers to take steps to increase their personal protection against cybercrime. Click here for Press Release.
IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER FOR TMI'S FALL 2016 TELECOM REGULATORY SEMINAR AND WORKSHOP.
TMI Regulatory Training | Technologies Management Inc. October 18 - 19 in Maitland, FL
