Today:  FTC Announces Agenda for its Eighth Competition and Consumer Protection Hearing, California Will Hold State’s First Wildfire Technology Innovation Summit, California PUC Highlights New 510 Area Code Dialing Procedure

FTC Announces Agenda for its Eighth Competition and Consumer Protection Hearing

The FTC announced its agenda eighth session of its Hearings Initiative with a one-day hearing at the New York University School of Law in New York City on December 6, 2018.  The day’s panels will examine concerns that acquisitions and holdings of non-controlling ownership interests in competing companies, for example by institutional investors, may have anticompetitive effects. See detailed agenda.

California Will Hold State’s First Wildfire Technology Innovation Summit

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in conjunction with other state entities and private partners, announced that it will host the state’s first convening of thought leaders and practitioners from state and local governments, academia, and the technology industry to discuss the challenges of wildfires and tools that can help better manage these devastating disasters.  Summit attendees will have the opportunity to hear from leading experts, practitioners, and entrepreneurs and discuss innovative technologies, strategies, and practical tools.

WHEN: Two days: March 20, 2019, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and March 21, 2019, 8 a.m. - noon

WHERE: Sacramento, CA

WHY: To initiate an ongoing dialogue between the technology industry, academic researchers, utilities, and government on the needs and tools to address wildfire challenges.

California PUC Highlights New 510 Area Code Dialing Procedure

CPUC issued a reminder to residential and business customers served by the 510 area code to prepare for the introduction of the new 341 area code. The 341 area code will be added as an overlay to the 510 region to ensure a continuing supply of telephone numbers for the area. An overlay is the addition of another area code (341) to the same geographic region served by an existing area code (510).  Unlike the previous 510 area code split in 1998 that required some customers to change their area code, the 510/341 area code overlay will not require customers to change their existing area code. However, the overlay will require customers to dial “1” plus the three-digit area code for all calls from telephone numbers with the 510 and 341 area codes, including local calls. Beginning December 15, 2018, customers with a 510 area code telephone number may begin to use this new dialing procedure to place telephone calls. The new dialing procedure will become mandatory for all customers with a 510 area code telephone number beginning June 22, 2019.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s 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.