Today: FCC Restoration Funding for Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands,   Florida PSC Releases Telecom Industry Competition Report 

FCC Restoration Funding for Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands

The FCC announced it has made $64.2 million in Stage 1 funding available to providers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to restore voice and broadband service in the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes.  The FCC established the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund with $51.2 million and the Connect USVi Fund with $13 million in Stage 1 funding to cover the immediate short-term costs of restoring and maintaining service for existing facilities-based providers across the islands.  The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) was directed to disburse the allocated funding to the authorized eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) identified in Attachments A and B to the Public Notice, once they are designated as an ETC by the relevant commission.  The FCC reminds providers that if they have not been designated an ETC by October 9, 2018, they will not receive the allocated funds, and the FCC reserves the right to redirect that provider’s allocation toward other universal service purposes, such as increasing the funding available for long-term rebuilding of voice and broadband-capable networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All providers must remain an ETC for at least one year after first receiving funding.  Providers use the funding to help restore and improve coverage and service quality to pre-hurricane levels and to help safeguard their equipment against future natural disasters.  Ten providers were authorized to receive funds in Puerto Rico and six providers in the Virgin Islands.

Florida PSC Releases Telecom Industry Competition Report

The Florida PSC released a report on the state of competition in the telecommunications industry.   The report is delivered to the Florida Legislature by August 1 each year.  The PSC report compiled data from Florida telecommunications companies for a 12-month period ending December 31, 2017.  Following the national trend, Florida consumers continued to shift from landline telephone service to wireless and cable/VoIP services in 2017. Data also indicates that residential migration might be increasing slightly.  Carriers reported about 17% fewer wireline access lines in Florida than in 2016, according to the report.  VoIP and broadband were big pieces of the telecommunications markets in 2017.  There are an estimated 21.5 million wireless handsets in Florida and more than 4.5 million cable VoIP connections. 

The Commissioners requested additional information, if available, from the Federal Communications Commission on Florida’s telephone outages and restoration times during the 2017 hurricane season.  They also encouraged continued awareness for those eligible to sign up for Lifeline, the discounted telecommunications/broadband service.  The Lifeline participation rate decreased by 8.5% from the prior year due, in part, to the decreased participation rate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a main eligibility criterion.

____________________________

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.

INTESERRA'S FALL SEMINAR IN MAITLAND, FL - TRANSLATING GOVERNMENT POLICIES TO DAY-TO-DAY TELECOM OPERATIONS