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.
US House of Representatives Letter On Lifeline Investigation
The US House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) sent a letter to FCC’s Inspector General (IG) David Hunt expressing concerns with the apparent erosion of the IG’s independence by FCC action. The concerns arose as a result of the recently released IG report into the disclosure of non-public information about a compromise agreement among a majority of commissioners to cap the Lifeline program in the hours leading up to the FCC’s public vote. The investigation revealed that FCC Chairman Wheeler authorized the leak of the agreement to the press, triggering an outcry from groups opposed to a cap on the program. Ultimately, the sole Democratic Commissioner supporting the compromise withdrew from the agreement in favor of adopting the Chairman’s proposal after a long-delayed vote. While the IG identified the Chairman’s office as the source of the leak and acknowledged the “unusual” circumstances surrounding the deliberations, the IG found “no evidence” that the information the Chairman deliberately provided to the press was done so in an attempt to unduly influence the outcome of the vote.
The two Chairmen expressed “growing concern that because the FCC Inspector General is appointed by, reports to, and is under the general supervision of the Chairman of the Commission that the IG is not free to provide the honest and independent criticism that is critical to the performance of the IG’s oversight.” As such, they are now asking the IG for information “necessary to understand the practical and working relationship between the Office of the Chairman and the Inspector General.”
FCC Broadband Health Mapping Webinar
The FCC announced it will host a webinar on November 10, 2016, to further explore the potential of the recently launched Mapping Broadband Health in America platform for the public sector. The webinar will focus on how state and local government offices, agencies, and other local community stakeholders can effectively use the platform. It will feature: (1) an overview of the power of the platform, showcasing the broadband, health and rural “filters” that drive the functionality; (2) step-by-step instructions and user scenarios tailored to how agencies can use the platform to drive broadband health efforts in their respective areas and communities; and (3) information on how agency web developers and data experts can incorporate their own proprietary or public datasets of interest into the mapping platform. There will also be an opportunity to pose questions about the platform to Connect2HealthFCC experts. The webinar will be available via WebEx. Registration information is available here.
California Prehearing Conference for Transfer of Control
The PUC Administrative Law Judge has set a prehearing conference (PHC) and directed that all parties file a joint PHC statement in the proceeding to consider the joint application of Webpass Telecommunications and Google Fiber for approval of a transfer of control of Webpass. The PHC is scheduled for November 1, 2016, in order to 1) establish the permanent service list; 2) determine the scope of the proceeding and identify the issues to be included in the scoping memo; 3) discuss the categorization of this proceeding and need for hearing; 4) discuss the schedule for this proceeding; and 5) discuss any additional procedural matters relevant to this proceeding.
