Today: FCC Applications for NDBEDP, New RTT Rules, Connecticut E911 Assessment, Minnesota Discontinuance of Service to certain carriers
FCC Applications For NDBED Program
The FCC announced that starting February 6, 2017, and ending April 7, 2017, its Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will accept applications from entities that are interested in receiving Commission certification to participate in the permanent National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP). Under the NDBEDP, also known as “iCanConnect,” the FCC may provide up to $10 million annually from the Interstate TRS Fund to support local programs that distribute equipment to eligible low-income individuals who are deaf-blind, so that these individuals can access telecommunications service, Internet access service, and advanced communications services. The Bureau will certify a single entity for each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as the sole entity for that jurisdiction to receive reimbursement for NDBEDP activities from the TRS Fund. Any entity that is currently certified under the NDBEDP pilot program that does not wish to participate in the permanent NDBEDP must notify the FCC by April 7, 2017. Any public or private entity may apply for certification if qualified.
FCC Announces Effective Date of New RTT Rules
The FCC announced that the amendments to its Real-Time Text (RTT) rules will become effective February 22, 2017. See the Regulatory Mix dated 12/16/16. In addition to the amended rules, the FCC extended the notice conditions imposed on service providers that have been or will be granted a waiver of the TTY support obligation for IP-based services. The implementation of those requirements is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act review and will not be effective until publication in the Federal Register of a notice announcing the requirements’ approval by the Office of Management and Budget. Comments on the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking portion of the order are due February 22, 2017; reply comments are due March 24, 2017.
Connecticut E911 Assessment
The Public Utilities Regulation Authority will hold a hearing to determine the monthly fee that will be assessed each local telephone service, commercial mobile radio service subscriber, and payphone provider to fund the state’s E-911 Telecommunications program. The hearing will be on April 12, 2017. All local exchange carriers, commercial mobile service providers, pay telephone service providers, and Voice over the Internet Protocol providers; all wholesale commercial mobile radio service providers; SNET d/b/a Frontier Communication and Verizon New York, Inc.; and, all commercial mobile radio service resellers must answer Authority interrogatories no later than February 14, 2017. TMI Briefing Service subscribers watch for TMI Briefing when final Decision is issued.
Minnesota Requires Discontinuance Of Service To Certain Carriers
The Minnesota PUC has directed all LECs and IXCs to discontinue existing, and not establish new, service arrangements that enable certain identified carriers to provide Minnesota intrastate services. The carriers on the list are those that have either recently relinquished their Minnesota Certificates of Authority or that had such authority revoked. Carriers who find end-users or wholesale customers who will be affected by the discontinuance were directed to contact the Department of Commerce within seven days and wait for further direction. In executing the directives of the Order, LECs and IXCs are NOT to disconnect service arrangements used for wireless or nomadic VoIP services.
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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.
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