Today: FCC Names New NANPA and PA, FCC’s Pai on Broadband Investment, FTC Cybersecurity Campaign 

FCC Names New NANPA and PA

The FCC announced it selected  Somos as the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) and the Pooling Administrator (PA).  Somos will transition NANPA and PA operations from Neustar, the current NANPA and PA.  Somos will undertake the NANPA and PA functions under separate one-year interim bridge contracts while the FCC works to consolidate the NANPA and PA functions into a single entity under a new long-term contract via a competitive bidding process. The consolidation of the two contracts will bring about a more cost-efficient and effective operation by a single entity.

Somos currently serves as the FCC’s toll-free number administrator.  The NANPA administers the North American Numbering Plan on behalf of its member countries, providing numbering administration functions for telecommunications services.  The PA administers number pooling functions in the United States and serves as the Routing Number Administrator responsible for administering non-dialable numbers used for routing emergency calls and other purposes.

FCC’s Pai on Broadband Investment

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued the following statement regarding US Telecom’s release of broadband investment figures for 2017.

 “Since my first day on the job, this agency has been focused on cutting through the regulatory red tape and increasing broadband investment, most importantly in rural America where the digital divide remains all too real. Today’s report confirms that the FCC’s policies to promote broadband deployment are working. After Internet service providers reduced new investments in 2015 and 2016 under the prior Administration’s regulatory approach, broadband investment increased in 2017 by $1.5 billion over the previous year. That’s real progress for American consumers, and another step toward better, faster, and cheaper broadband for all Americans.”

FTC Cybersecurity Campaign

The Federal Trade Commission, along with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Small Business Administration (SBA), announced the launch of a national education campaign to help small business owners understand common cyber threats and how they can help protect their businesses.   The new campaign materials include fact sheets, videos, and quizzes covering a dozen topics, including:

• Cybersecurity Basics;
• Understanding the NIST Cybersecurity Framework;
• Physical Security;
• Ransomware;
• Phishing;
• Business Email Imposters;
• Tech Support Scams;
• Vendor Security;
• Cyber Insurance;
• Email Authentication;
• Hiring a Web Host; and
• Secure Remote Access.

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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.