Today's Regulatory Mix:  Ohio Announces New Broadband Office, FCC Releases Voice Telephone Services Status Report

Ohio Announces New Broadband Office 

Governor Mike DeWine announced the creation of BroadbandOhio, an office dedicated to improving access to high-speed internet across Ohio.  Establishing an office committed to increasing high-speed internet access across the state was a pillar of the Ohio Broadband Strategy that was released in December 2019.

“BroadbandOhio will implement our strategy for increasing high-speed internet access to underserved and unserved Ohioans across the state,” said Governor Mike DeWine.  “We know there are more than 300,000 households in Ohio without broadband access.  We need to increase access and establishing the office is a first step.” 

BroadbandOhio will implement the Ohio Broadband Strategy and be the point of contact for all broadband projects in Ohio.  The office will be charged with identifying high-priority initiatives and ensure their completion, as well as serve as a liaison among state agencies in order to implement the goals of the state in expanding access and supporting Ohioans who have been left without access to the modern economy, education system, and healthcare system due to their lack of high-speed connectivity.  BroadbandOhio will also serve as a resource for local governments and private industry as they undergo their own expansion efforts. 

FCC Releases Voice Telephone Services Status Report 

The Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) at the FCC (Commission) has released its “Voice Telephone Services:  Status as of December 31, 2018” report. This report, previously titled “Local Competition Report,” summarizes FCC Form 477 data from providers of voice telephone services – incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), and mobile voice providers – since December 1999. The Commission has required interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (interconnected VoIP) service providers to report information since December 2008. In addition, for the data reported for 2014, FCC Form 477 has been modified to distinguish “over-the-top" (OTT) and interconnected VoIP subscriptions from other interconnected VoIP subscriptions.  Inter

Over the three-year period presented in the chart below, interconnected VoIP subscriptions increased at a compound annual growth of 4%, mobile voice subscriptions increased at a compound annual growth rate of 2%, and retail switched access lines declined at a compound annual growth rate of 12 % per year. 

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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.