Today: FCC Seeks Comment on 911 Network Reliability, Oregon Initiates Second Net Neutrality Rulemaking, Pennsylvania Court Reverses PUC DAS Decision 

FCC Seeks Comment on 911 Network Reliability

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) of the Federal Communications FCC (FCC) is seeking comment on the FCC’s rules regarding the reliability of the nation’s 911 networks, including notification to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) of network outages affecting 911 service.  Interested parties are invited to provide comments and other information regarding how effective the existing provisions (discussed in the background below) have been in practice, and whether those provisions should be modified to adapt to advancements in technology or other changes.  Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers, please see Briefing dated 6/25/18.

Oregon Initiates Second Net Neutrality Rulemaking

The Public Utility Commission of Oregon (PUC) has adopted a Staff proposal to initiate a second rulemaking to implement HB 4155.  (See Inteserra Briefing dated April 10, 2018.)  This rulemaking will be conducted to address the procedures that will govern how the PUC will make several specific determinations related to services, devices, and the application of the exceptions to the core net neutrality conduct rules.  This rulemaking complements Docket AR 618 addressing disclosures under the law.  (See Inteserra Briefing dated June 14, 2018.)  Staff expects to propose rules to the PUC by the end of summer to enable the PUC to issue a formal notice of proposed rulemaking in time to meet the statutory timeline.  The PUC expects the updated rules to go into effect by January 1, 2019.  Inteserra Regulatory Briefing Service subscribers, please see Briefing dated 6/25/18.

Pennsylvania Court Reverses PUC DAS Decision

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania (Court) has reversed the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) March 2017 Distributed Antennae Systems (DAS) Order.  The Court determined that DAS network operators’ transport service is a telecommunications service under the Pennsylvania Code even though Wireless Service Providers (WSP) use it to transmit a service not regulated by the PUC (i.e. commercial mobile radio service (CMRS)).  The Court decided that DAS network operators are a public utility, reversed the PUC’s March 2017 decision, and returned jurisdiction to the PUC to issue certificates of public convenience (CPC) to providers of DAS.  Regulatory Briefing Service subscribers, please see Briefing dated 6/19/18.

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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.