Today: Virginia Bill Requires PSAPs to Receive Text Messages, Washington State Legislation Plays Role in the Provisioning of Broadband Services
Virginia Bill Requires PSAPs to Receive Text Messages
The law will require public safety answering points (PSAP) to be able to receive and process calls for emergency assistance sent via text message by July 1, 2020. The law references, and intends to be consistent with, the FCC Order from August 2014 requiring all CMRS providers and interconnected text messaging application providers be capable of supporting text-to-911 services. Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see FCC Briefing dated 9/15/14.
Once the PSAP deploys text-to-911 it must notify the FCC's PSAP Readiness and Certification Registry.
Washington State Legislation Plays Role in the Provisioning of Broadband Services
S.B. 6034 authorizes limited retail telecommunications services for public utility districts (PUD) that provide only sewer, water, and telecommunications starting on June 7, 2018. Before they provide service, the PUD must receive a formal written request for retail internet service by property owners on the PUD broadband network and the PUD’s board of commissioners must hold hearings to verify and certify the petition. The board must also submit findings that the currently provided local service is either inadequate or nonexistent.
H.B. 2664, effective June 7, 2018, extends existing telecommunications authority to all ports in Washington state to facilitate public-private partnerships in wholesale telecommunications services and infrastructure. Importantly, the new law removes the word “rural” from all definitions, thereby allowing all ports the authority to construct fiber networks. The law also adds unlit or dark optical fiber for resale to the definition of wholesale telecommunications services.
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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.
INTESERRA SPRING 2018 SEMINAR "DEMYSTIFYING TELECOM AND INTERNET REGULATION" MAY 8 & 9