Today:  Oklahoma OUSF, VoIP and Broadband, Pennsylvania Competition Rulemaking, USDA Rural Broadband Grant Program

Oklahoma OUSF, VoIP and Broadband

The Corporation Commission of the State of Oklahoma (Commission) has issued a notice of inquiry to identify and resolve issues related to and/or affecting the Oklahoma Universal Service Fund and the Oklahoma Lifeline Fund (collectively, OUSF). This includes: the Commission's ability to advance and support the deployment of broadband support; the Commission's authority to regulate VoIP service; and actions to be taken as a result of the abolishment of the Oklahoma High Cost Fund (HCF).  Comments are due 8/17/18. 

Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 8/3/18

Pennsylvania Competition Rulemaking

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) is seeking comments on permanently eliminating various rules

that it waived in 2015 in competitive wire centers.  Specifically, the PUC wishes to determine: whether to make permanent the waivers previously granted to any wire center that is currently classified as competitive or becomes classified as competitive in the future; whether to rescind or amend any Chapter 63 and 64 Regulations (discussed in detail below) for non-competitive wire centers; and whether to create a separate chapter in the PUC Regulations to address service provided in competitive wire centers.

Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 8/7/18

USDA Rural Broadband Grant Program

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking comment on the implementation of certain provisions of its pilot broadband program (e-Connectivity Pilot).  Comments are being sought regarding: (1) ways of evaluating a rural household’s “sufficient access” to broadband e-Connectivity at speeds of 10 Mbps down/1 Mbps up and how broadband service affordability should be factored in; (2) the best options to verify speeds of broadband service provided to rural households; and (3) the best leading indicators of the potential project benefits for rural industries (e.g. agriculture, health care, and education) using readily available public data.  Comments are due 9/10/18. 

Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 8/1/18

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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.

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