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.

FCC

          Public Safety and Homeland Security

The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau issued a Public Notice providing guidance to U.S. licensees seeking to: (1) roam into Canada; (2) communicate from the U.S. through base station repeaters in Canada; or (3) host Canadian licensees seeking to communicate through base station repeaters in the U.S.  Click here for details.

          NDBEDP Certification

The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau selected the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC) and the Perkins School for the Blind (Perkins) for certification to participate in the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP) for the states of Florida and Washington, respectively, effective July 1, 2016.  Click here for more details.

Mississippi

As of July 1, 2016, Mississippi consumers are able to register their cellular telephone numbers in addition to their residential telephone numbers on Mississippi’s do-not-call list.  New registrations completed by July 31, 2016, will become effective on September 1, 2016.  Thereafter, consumers who continue to receive unwanted telemarketing calls may file a complaint with the Public Service Commission in writing, over the telephone, or via the No Call Program website.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s Attorney General announced that a coalition of 12 states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging part of the FCC’s recent Lifeline Reform Order.  The coalition says that the Lifeline program provides low-income consumers discounted rates on certain communications services, which, under the Reform Order, now include broadband internet services.  However, the Reform Order also denies to the States - and assigns to the FCC - primary authority to decide which companies operating within their borders are eligible to participate in the expanded Lifeline program.  The coalition argues that this violates two laws: the Communications Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.  The State coalition objects to the Order’s “designation rule.”  The 11 States or State commissions that joined Wisconsin include: Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, the Mississippi Public Service Commission, and the Vermont Public Service Board.