Today: FCC Releases 4Q 2017 Inflation Adjustment for Cable Operators, FCC Letter on Diversion of 911 Funds, Minnesota Issues Notice of Comment Period for TAP/Lifeline Docket
FCC Releases 4Q 2017 Inflation Adjustment for Cable Operators
The FCC announced the most recent inflation adjustment factors for cable operators. For operators filing quarterly using FCC Form 1240, the 3Q17 inflation factor is 2.33%. Operators calculating the Inflation Factor for a True-Up Period that includes some portion of the 4Q17 should enter the inflation factor on the appropriate lines of Worksheet 1 of FCC Form 1240 as “0.0223.” Operators using this factor for calculating the Projected Period Inflation Segment of FCC Form 1240 should enter this number on Line C3 (January 1996 version), or Line C5 (July 1996 version) as “1.0233.”
FCC Letter on Diversion of 911 Funds
FCC Commissioner O’Rielly has asked the Governor of Rhode Island to respond to certain questions regarding potential changes to Rhode Island state law to prevent diversion of 911 fees going forward. Among other things, he asked the Governor if she planned to make a formal legislative recommendation on this matter to the State General Assembly and if the creation of a new dedicated 911 fund will be contained within a supplemental budget submission or await next year's budget preparation. He also asked whether any excess 911 fees that currently go to the State's General Fund will be reduced to the appropriate level or reserved to modernize the state's 911 system.
Minnesota Issues Notice of Comment Period for TAP/Lifeline Docket
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) issued a notice of comment period in the matter of implementing processes for the Minnesota Telephone Assistance Program (TAP) consistent with changes to the federal Lifeline program. Comments are due May 1, 2018 with reply comments due by May 11, 2018.
Staff is proposing that the PUC issue an Order clarifying that once the National Verifier (NV) is operational, if a Minnesota resident applies for Lifeline through the NV, the carrier enrolling the resident in Lifeline must automatically enroll the resident in TAP, thereby making the filing of a separate application unnecessary.
Topics open for comment posed by the PUC include:
- Should the PUC require that applicable carriers that must provide both the Lifeline and TAP credits in Minnesota enroll customers in TAP if and when they use the NV or USAC application process to enroll customers in Lifeline?
- Carriers that offer both TAP and Lifeline are encouraged to identify situations during the application process that the PUC could offer guidance on.
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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.
