Today:  FCC Releases 2015 U.S. International Circuit Capacity Report, FCC Chairman to Visit Texas, FCC Updated Report on TS Harvey, FTC Warning about Harvey Robocall Scam  

FCC Releases 2015 U.S. International Circuit Capacity Report

The FCC released its 2015 U.S. International Circuit Capacity Report.  The report presents circuit capacity data submitted by U.S. facilities-based common carriers, non-common carrier satellite operators, cable landing licensees, and U.S. international carriers that owned or leased capacity on a submarine cable between the United States and any foreign point, as of December 31, 2015.  The report shows that the total available capacity of U.S. international cables grew in 2015 to approximately 120,000 gigabit per second (Gbps) circuits, up from 91,000 Gbps circuits in 2014.  Submarine cable capacity grew 35% per year from 2007 to 2015 and, based on data submitted for this report, is projected to grow 17% per year from year-end 2015 to year-end 2017.  In addition:

• Among the three regions into which the FCC traditionally groups submarine cables, the Atlantic region accounted for 40% of total available capacity, the Pacific region had 37%, and the Americas region had more than 23%.
• Over 87% of global capacity on U.S. international cables was activated.  The non-activated capacity varied among regions with the Americas region reporting 18%, the Pacific region reporting 17%, and the Atlantic region reporting 3%.
• The top eight foreign landing points (in descending order) for U.S. international submarine cables were Colombia (9 landing points), Japan and the United Kingdom (7 landing points each), Panama (6 landing points), Brazil and Venezuela (5 landing points each), and Australia and Mexico (4 landing points each).

FCC Chairman To Visit Texas To Inspect Harvey Damage

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced he will visit Texas on September 5, 2017, to inspect the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey and meet with those engaged in recovery efforts.  “Working in close coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, the FCC will do everything it can to help restore communications services after this terrible storm,” said Chairman Pai.  “I look forward to meeting those on the ground in Texas and seeing firsthand what needs to be done to make sure that those affected can get back on their feet as quickly as possible.”  The FCC said that additional details regarding the visit would be released closer to the trip.

FCC Updated Report On Tropical Storm Harvey

The FCC released an updated report on the status of communications services in geographic areas impacted by Tropical Storm Harvey as of August 30, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. EDT.  As before, the report incorporates network outage data submitted by communications providers to the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS).  DIRS still covers 55 counties in Texas and Louisiana.  The report indicates that: (1) there were a total of 11 PSAPs affected by the storm (down from 15) but there are no PSAPs down without a re-route; (2) 4.2% of the cell sites in the affected area were out of service (down from 4.7%) and there are no longer any TX counties with greater than 50% of cell sites out of service or any cell sites out of service in LA.; (3) there are at least 267,426 cable and wireline subscribers out of service in the affected area (down from 283,593), 42 non-mobile switching centers out of service (up frcircuitom 21) and 25 switching centers on back-up power (down from 35); (4) there are 5 radio stations out of service (down from 7); and (5) there are now 3 TV stations out of service (up from 1).

FTC Warning About Hurricane Harvey Robocall Scam

The Federal Trade Commission issued a warning to consumers about a flood insurance scam targeting those that have been affected by Hurricane Harvey.  According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), homeowners and renters are getting fraudulent robocalls, telling them their flood premiums are past due.  Consumers are advised not to respond to these robocalls.  Consumers with flood insurance who are not sure what to do are referred to this FTC blog post.  Consumers that suspect fraud can call the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline toll free at 1-866-720-5721 and report it to the FTC. 

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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.