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.

FCC Twitter Town Hall on Robocalls and Gift Card Scam Alert

The FCC announced that it will host a Twitter town hall tomorrow from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm EDT to answer consumers' questions about and provide information on robocalls. The public is encouraged to participate in this online conversation by following #RobocallChat and submitting questions using the hashtag.

Included in the same announcement, the FCC alerted consumers to be on the lookout for callers pretending to be government or law enforcement officials demanding immediate payment, often by gift cards and providing the call numbers to the scammers. These "officials" typically say that payment will protect the consumer - or the consumer's family or friends - from arrest or other legal action. The Commission believes that the fraudulent callers pretend to be from such organizations as the IRS, the FBI, and local sheriff's offices, among others.

FCC CAF Funding For Rate-of-Return ILECs

The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that 216 rate-of-return companies submitted letters electing 274 separate offers of Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) support in 43 states.  (A list of all carriers that submitted a letter is attached to this Public Notice.)  The Bureau totaled the amount of model-based support for electing carriers and determined that model based support and transition payments would exceed the overall 10-year budget set by the FCC by more than $160 million annually.  The FCC previously indicated that if demand for the model exceeded the additional funding allocated to the voluntary path to the model, it may consider whether circumstances warrant an additional allocation of up to $50 million annually or whether other measures are necessary.  Parties are encouraged to submit ex partes into the record no later than 11/14/16 on what measure should be considered to address the high level of interest in A-CAM model-based support.

California Enforcement of Safety Regulations

The PUC issued a DRAFT Resolution that will establish citation procedures for the enforcement of safety regulations by the Safety and Enforcement Division (SED) staff for violations of General Orders and other applicable Decisions, Codes, and Regulations regarding communications facilities.  As used in the Resolution, “communications facilities” relates to communication facilities such as wire, cable, antenna, equipment boxes, support structures, pad-mounted structures, or other equipment which a communication provider attaches or wishes to attach to any utility pole or other support structure used in common with electric, telephone, or other utility providers, as well as with cable television corporations or providers.  The Resolution will allow SED to assess penalties for safety violations which previously required lengthy formal proceedings.  The PUC believes a citation program will encourage communications providers and VoIP service providers to proactively identify and repair violations to avoid penalties and to self-report potential violations to potentially reduce or avoid penalties.  The Draft Resolution will be addressed at the PUC’s December 1, 2016 meeting.

Massachusetts Cable and Telecommunications Regulations

In September the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable (DTC) opened a rulemaking to amend its regulations under Titles 207 and 220 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR).  These Code sections address Cable Regulations (Title 207) and Telecommunications Regulations (Title 220).  TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 9/22/16.  In comments it filed, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) said it supports the DTC’s proposal to shift the telecommunications-related regulations from Title 220 into Title 207, with the exception of 220 CMR §45.00, the pole attachment regulations.  The DPU will coordinate with the DTC on any joint proceeding to amend §45.00. 

Virginia SCC Changes Divisions

The State Corporation Commission announced that Communications Division Director William Irby is retiring.  In conjunction with Irby’s retirement, the Commission is combining two SCC divisions effective November 1.  The Division of Energy Regulation and the Division of Communications will merge and become the Division of Public Utility Regulation (PUR).  William F. Stephens will serve as the PUR division director.  Sheree King, a telecommunications competition specialist, will serve as the primary PUR contact for telecommunications related matters.