Today:  FCC Roundtable on Emergency Alerting, FCC Net Neutrality - Open Internet - Internet Freedom Rules  

FCC Roundtable on Emergency Alerting

The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) announced the agenda for its public roundtable on emergency alerting to encourage awareness of those best practices, share lessons learned, and promote a continued dialogue among stakeholders.  The roundtable will be held on May 15, 2018.  The FCC will begin by providing an overview of the FCC rules governing the testing and delivery of Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). The session will then open a roundtable discussion of panelists’ experience and the benefits of emergency alerting proficiency training. The panel will discuss lessons learned from the Hawaii false missile incident, including best practices for conducting proficiency training and testing. The panel will also share information regarding proficiency training resources.  The second session will discuss how emergency alerting stakeholders – including federal, state, and local emergency managers, and communications providers – can form effective partnerships.

FCC Net Neutrality/Open Internet/Internet Freedom Rules

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the FCC’s Order repealing the 2015 Net Neutrality rules and adopting a new transparency rule will become effective on June 11, 2018.  This mean that BIAS service will no longer be regulated as telecommunications service but will instead be considered an information service.  The Chairman said, in part “Adopted on December 14, 2017, the Restoring Internet Freedom Order ends the heavy-handed, utility-style regulation from 1934 of broadband Internet access service. In place of these rules is a strengthened transparency requirement that empowers consumers in the marketplace. And by reversing the 2015 Title II designation, the Order allows the Federal Trade Commission to once again protect consumers’ online privacy and promote competition across the entire Internet ecosystem instead of harming innovation and investment with Depression-era rules.”

Commissioner Rosenworcel also issued a statement saying: “Today, the FCC gave notice that net neutrality protections will be taken off the books on June 11. This is profoundly disappointing.  The agency failed to listen to the American public and gave short shrift to their deeply held belief that internet openness should remain the law of the land. The agency turned a blind eye to serious problems in its process—from Russian intervention to fake comments to stolen identities in its files. The FCC is on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American people. It deserves to have its handiwork revisited, reexamined, and ultimately reversed. I raised my voice to fight for internet freedom. I’ll keep raising a ruckus to support net neutrality and I hope others will too.” Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefings Part 1 and Part 2 dated 2/13/18 

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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.