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.

The Regulatory Mix will not be published on Friday, October 7, 2016, due to office closures related to Hurricane Matthew.

FCC Hurricane Matthew

The FCC announced it will be available to address emergency communications needs 24 hours a day throughout the weekend, especially relating to the effects that Hurricane Matthew may have on the Southeastern United States.  It reminded emergency communications providers, including broadcasters, cable service providers, wireless and wireline service providers, satellite service providers, emergency response managers and first responders, and others needing assistance to initiate, resume, or maintain communications operations during the weekend, to contact the FCC Operations Center for assistance at 202-418-1122 or by e-mail at FCCOPCenter@fcc.gov.

FCC Direct Video Calling Showcase

The FCC announced that it will hold a Direct Video Calling Showcase on November 4, 2016.  Direct video calling enables consumers with disabilities who use American Sign Language (ASL) to make video calls directly over broadband transmissions to business and government call centers.  The Showcase will illustrate how the availability of the direct video calling option can help businesses and government agencies are more accessible to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, speech-disabled or deaf-blind, by providing ways for these populations to directly contact entities in sign language using video transmissions.  Among other things, the Showcase will demonstrate an open-source direct video calling technology developed by the FCC.  Technical and policy experts will be on-site to answer any questions.  Interested parties may RSVP to attend the Showcase or to request the opportunity to exhibit a direct video calling technology here.

FCC Inflation Adjustments for Cable Operators

The FCC announced the most recent inflation adjustment factors for cable operators.  For operators filing quarterly using FCC Form 1240, the second quarter 2016 inflation factor is 1.0230.  For operators filing annually using Form 1210, the inflation factor for the 12 months ended June 30, 2016, is 1.0121.