Today:  US Senate Small Cell Deployment Bill, FCC CAF Phase II Auction Workshop, Oregon Releases Phone Bridge Information for Workshop, Michigan Granted Lifeline Waiver Extension Maine Issues Pole Attachment Notice of Investigation  

US Senate Small Cell Deployment Bill

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), the ranking member of the committee’s subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, introduced S. 3157, the Streamlining The Rapid Evolution And Modernization of Leading-edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance Small Cell Deployment Act or STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act. The legislation updates the Communications Act to better reflect developing technology and facilitate the rapid deployment of 5G networks to meet consumer demand by setting reasonable standards for public review of infrastructure siting while recognizing the unique challenges for small municipalities.

The Act includes reasonable process and timeframe guidelines specific to small cell applications for state and local consideration. Among other things:

• Permits must be approved or denied on publicly available criteria that are reasonable, objective, and non-discriminatory.
• Small cell applications may be denied or regulated for objective and reasonable structural engineering standards, safety requirements or aesthetic or concealment requirements.
• Applications must be acted on no later than 60 days for requests to collocate equipment and 90 days for other requests.
• Flexibility and additional time is allowed for small municipalities (fewer than 50,000 residents).

The bill would also empower the FCC to grant flexibility by issuing a one-time 30-day waiver of the time frames required for action upon a request by a state or local government.

Other provisions address requirements for reasonable state and local fees for processing applications.  For instance, fees must be publicly disclosed, competitively neutral, technology neutral, nondiscriminatory and based on actual and direct costs (including, for example, costs for maintenance and inspections).

FCC CAF Phase II Auction Workshop

The FCC released the agenda for its July 9, 2018, workshop on participating in the Connect America Fund Phase II auction (Auction 903).  The agenda includes:

• What happens from now until the first round of bidding opens;
• High level auction overview;
• Walk-through of the CAF II Bidding System; and
• Question and answer session

Interested parties may attend the workshop in person or via the internet at the workshop may be viewed live www.fcc.gov/general/live.   During the event, those watching the live video stream of the event may email event-related questions to auction903@fcc.gov.   After the event, a recording of the workshop will be available for streaming.  Attendance at the workshop is not required but the FCC encourages applicants to attend or view the event online.

Oregon Releases Phone Bridge Information for Workshop

Oregon has released the phone bridge information for its July 9, 2018 workshop for the Informal Rulemaking Phase of Docket No. AR 618.  This is the rulemaking seeking to adopt disclosure requirements for Broadband Access Service (BIAS) Providers contracting with public bodies.  Due to workshop interest the Commission is providing 250 ports for the phone bridge on a first come first served basis.  The bridge will be available at 9:15 a.m.  Carriers do not need to comment here to participate in the formal phase.  However, staff desires to understand differing perspectives so is requesting that interested parties that believe the phone bridge environment does not facilitate adequate commenting may submit written comments to the Commission staff contact at:  stephen.hayes@state.or.us.

Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefings dated 6/14/18 and 6/27/18.

Michigan Granted Lifeline Waiver Extension

Michigan was granted a six-month extension by the FCC to align the state’s Lifeline eligibility criteria with those of the FCC (Case No. U-18213).  The extension to December 31, 2018 means all Michigan designated eligible telecommunications carriers will continue to include membership in the Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit Program as one of the criteria for eligibility for Lifeline phone service discounts.

Maine Issues Pole Attachment Notice of Investigation

The Maine PUC issued notice of its intent to open an investigation to determine whether the replacement of utility poles is "make ready" work under Section 7(A) of Chapter 880 of the PUC’s Rules.  If the replacement is “make ready” work under the Rules then the PUC seeks to determine if pole replacements are subject to the exemption in Section 7(A) regarding "non-commercial, non-competitive use consistent with the police power of [a] municipality."  A Hearing Examiner will be assigned and a procedural schedule for the investigation will be developed.

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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.