The Regulatory Mix - Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Texas Caller ID Spoofing Legislation

A new law in Texas will make Caller ID spoofing a Class A misdemeanor but contains exceptions for providers that are merely transmitting telephone or VoIP calls.  Providers will also not be liable for spoofing that occurs due to the configuration of a service feature at the request of a customer, as a result of the conduct necessary to provide or configure service, or from acting in accordance with other law.  The new law becomes effective September 1, 2019.  Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 7/2/19.

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The Regulatory Mix Today: Texas Caller ID Spoofing Legislation, NHIS Survey Says More Than Half Homes Are Wireless-only

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NHIS Survey Says More Than Half Homes Are Wireless-only

Preliminary results from the July–December 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that more than one-half of American homes (57.1%) had only wireless telephones during the second half of 2018—an increase of 3.2 percentage points since the second half of 2017. More than three in four adults aged 25-34 (76.5%), and a similar percentage of adults renting their homes (75.5%), were living in wireless-only households.

Other interesting findings include:

• Three in four adults living in rented homes (75.5%) had only wireless telephones. This rate is significantly higher than the rate for adults living in homes owned by a household member (48.5%). 
• Adults living in poverty (67.1%) and near poverty (64.8%) were more likely than higher income adults (56.0%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones
• Adults living in the Midwest (61.8%), South (60.9%), and West (59.3%) were more likely than those living in the Northeast (39.1%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
• The proportion of wireless-only adults who were aged 45 and over has increased steadily, from 37.9% in the second 6 months of 2015 to 42.7% in the second 6 months of 2018.
• Regarding alcohol consumption, the percentage of adults who had at least one heavy drinking day in the past year was substantially higher among wireless-only adults (30.1%) than among adults living in landline households (18.4%). Wireless-only adults were also more likely to be current smokers.
• Among households with both landline and wireless telephones, 43.6% received all or almost all calls on wireless telephones, based on data for July–December 2018.
• Adults with college degrees (20.5%) were more likely to be living in wireless-mostly households than were high school graduates (16.0%) or adults with less education (12.2%).
  

The Regulatory Mix will not be published July 3 - July 5, 2019. Happy Independence Day to all!

The Mix will be back on Monday, July 8, 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.