Today:   FCC Network Plan for Puerto Rico and The US Virgin Islands, DOJ Roundtable Series on Competition and Deregulation   

FCC Network Plan for Puerto Rico and The US Virgin Islands

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed to direct approximately $954 million toward restoring and expanding communications networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that were damaged and destroyed during the 2017 hurricane season.  His proposal would create a $750 million Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund (Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund) and a $204 million Connect USVI Fund.  Each fund would provide additional short-term assistance for restoring communications networks in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria and longer-term support for expanding broadband access throughout the islands.  The plan includes:

• An immediate infusion of approximately $64 million in additional funding for short term restoration efforts.
• A proposal to allocate approximately $631 million in long-term funding for the restoration and expansion of fixed broadband connectivity in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• A proposal to allocate approximately $259 million in medium-term funding for the restoration and expansion of 4G LTE mobile broadband connectivity in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• The immediate conversion of the advanced funding the FCC provided last year to carriers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands into new funding by declining to offset that advanced funding against future universal service support payments.

The plan would be funded by providing approximately $256 million in new funds as well as repurposing universal service support currently directed to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

DOJ Roundtable Series on Competition and Deregulation

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced it will hold a series of three public roundtable discussions to explore the relationship between competition and regulation, and its implications for antitrust enforcement policy.  They are intended to help the Department pursue effective and appropriate competition policy and identify related regulatory burdens on the American economy. The first roundtable will occur on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 and will assess policies and regulations that states are adopting that may be considered exempt from antitrust scrutiny and consider the resultant harm to competition and consumers.  The second roundtable, which will focus on antitrust consent decrees, will be held on April 26, 2018. The third roundtable will be held on May 31, 2018, and will assess the consumer costs of anticompetitive regulations.

The roundtables will provide a forum for industry participants, academics, think tanks, and other interested parties to discuss the economic and legal analyses of competition and deregulation. It also welcomes comments in advance of each of the roundtables. The Department will accept public comments (not to exceed 20 pages) regarding the first roundtable until March 13, 2018. 

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’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