FCC Lifeline Obligation Forbearance

The FCC announced the counties in which conditional forbearance from the obligation to offer Lifeline-supported voice service applies.  The forbearance only applies to the Lifeline voice obligation of eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) that are designated for purposes of receiving both high-cost and Lifeline support (high-cost/Lifeline ETCs), and not to Lifeline-only ETCs.  The conditional forbearance will apply effective on September 21, 2019.  The counties are in the following states and territories: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, NV, NM, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, WA, WV, WI, and Puerto Rico.

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The Regulatory Mix Today:  FCC Lifeline Obligation Forbearance, FCC Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council Working Group

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FCC Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) Working Groups

The FCC has announced the topics and chairs of the six working groups that will assist the CSRIC in carrying out its work and seeks applications for membership to these working groups. Selected applicants will join CSRIC appointees to ensure that the working groups represent a range of interests and have the requisite technical expertise to address the assigned tasks:

• Working Group 1: Alert Originator Standard Operating Procedures

          Chair: Craig Fugate, America’s Public Television Stations

• Working Group 2: Managing Security Risk in the Transition to 5G

          Chair: Lee Thibaudeau, Nsight 

• Working Group 3: Managing Security Risk in Emerging 5G Implementations

          Chair: Farrokh Khatibi, Qualcomm

• Working Group 4: 911 Security Vulnerabilities During the IP Transition

          Chair: Mary A. Boyd, West Safety Services

• Working Group 5: Improving Broadcast Resiliency

          Chair: Pat Roberts, Florida Association of Broadcasters

• Working Group 6: SIP Security Vulnerabilities

          Chair: Danny McPherson, Verisign

A full description of each working group’s tasks is available here.  Applications for working group membership must be submitted to the FCC no later than Monday, August 5, 2019 using the procedures specified on the public notice.

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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.