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.

The Regulatory Mix will be on hiatus Wednesday, 11/23/16, through Monday, 11/28/16, in observance of Thanksgiving

NARUC Telecom Resolutions

At its recently concluded annual meeting, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) adopted resolutions on Lifeline, Connect America Fund (CAF) data, and VoIP numbering. 

• The Lifeline resolution urges the FCC to grant the requested waivers of the effective date of the federal eligibility criteria to allow the parties to resolve the eligibility differences between State and federal Lifeline programs, obtain answers to the numerous questions that still remain, and ensure a smooth, efficient, and effective transition. 
• The CAF resolution urges the FCC: (1) not to eliminate the requirement that CAF ETCs report data directly with relevant State, Tribal, and Territorial authorities; (2) to revise other sections of its rules to explicitly require CAF ETCs to also report this data directly to the relevant state authorities; and (3) to direct USAC to implement various processes to make relevant state authorities aware of revisions to that data. 
• The VoIP numbering resolutions asks the FCC to require that: (1) interconnected VoIP providers’ applications be filed on a non-confidential basis and identify the States and areas in which they will be seeking numbering resources to enable State commissions the opportunity to provide relevant comments; (2) interconnected VoIP providers seeking nationwide application for numbering authorization demonstrate that they are authorized by each State to provide service; and (3) interconnected VoIP providers follow the same State numbering procedures that other carriers follow.

FCC VoIP Symmetry Order Overturned

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned the FCC’s February 2015 clarification of its VoIP Symmetry Rule.  That Declaratory Ruling clarified that the VoIP symmetry rule does not require a CLEC or its VoIP provider partner to provide the physical last-mile facility to the VoIP provider’s end user customers in order to collect the full end-office access charge switching rate element.  The Court found that the FCC failed to disclose its reasoning with sufficient clarity to enable Court to affirm its conclusion that end-office switching, and not tandem switching, charges should apply.  Therefore, it vacated and remanded the Order back to the FCC for further explanation. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 11/22/16.

In response to the Court’s decision, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai issued a statement saying: “In 2015, the FCC adopted the VoIP Symmetry Order on a party line vote. As I said in my dissent, the order “alters our rules to mean something they’ve never meant before.” This morning, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that order, finding it unlawful. I welcome this latest reminder from the federal courts that neither the FCC nor any other administrative agency is above the law.”