Today: FCC Announces Counties with Conditional Lifeline Forbearance, FCC Guidance on Wireless E911 Indoor Location Accuracy Reporting, Pennsylvania Issues RFP for FirstNet Alternative
FCC Announces Counties with Conditional Lifeline Forbearance
The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau announced the counties in which, under the terms of the FCC’s 2016 Lifeline Order, conditional forbearance from the obligation to offer Lifeline-supported voice service applies. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 5/9/16. The forbearance applies only to the Lifeline voice obligation of eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) that are designated for purposes of receiving both high-cost and Lifeline support. It does not apply Lifeline-only ETCs. Appendix A lists the specific counties where the conditional forbearance will apply effective on September 15, 2017.
The forbearance:
- applies only in areas within the counties where the ETC does not receive high-cost support; does not apply to
- Lifeline subscribers that the high-cost/Lifeline ETC serves as of the date of the Public Notice; and
- does not preclude ETCs from electing to provide and receive reimbursement for Lifeline-discounted voice service.
An updated list of counties will be released in 2018.
FCC Guidance on Wireless E911 Indoor Location Accuracy Reporting
The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau issued a Public Notice with a revised reporting template for CMRS providers to use in filing their periodic E911 location accuracy live 911 call data reports as required by FCC rules. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 2/24/15. The next live 911 call data report must be filed by August 1, 2017. Providers are encouraged to use the revised reporting template for all future live 911 call data reports. The Bureau also reminded non-nationwide CMRS providers that they must file their location accuracy implementation plans and initial progress reports by August 3, 2017. The Public Notice includes filing instructions.
Pennsylvania Issues RFP for FirstNet Alternative
Pennsylvania has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a vendor to build and maintain the state’s LTE radio access network in the state. Pennsylvania becomes the ninth state to issue an RFP to consider an alternative to accepting the deployment plan released by FirstNet and AT&T, FirstNet’s nationwide contractor. Should the governor and Pennsylvania decide to pursue the “opt-out” alternative, the state’s deployment plan would require multiple federal approvals. Although four states have accepted FirstNet’s deployment plans (Wyoming, Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas), to date, no state has chosen to “opt-out.” Questions about the procurement are due by July 28th and bids for the Pennsylvania RFP are due on September 7th.
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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.
