Today:  FCC Guidance on E-Rate Program, Mississippi PSC Chairman on Robocalls 

FCC Guidance on E-Rate Program

The FCC released a letter providing guidance to USAC regarding its application of the FCC’s E-rate competitive bidding rules for Category One services for Funding Year (FY) 2018.  The letter explains how USAC should treat E-rate applications for which the applicants completed their FCC Form 470 in a manner that was reflective of their service needs, but may have been inconsistent with USAC's guidance on which services to select from the FCC Form 470 drop-down menu within the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC) online portal.  According to the FCC, various stakeholders reported that the drop-down menu created confusion as to which menu option to choose when identifying the services for which they were requesting bids.  To address these concerns, the FCC instructed USAC: (1) not to deny an FY 2018 application solely because the applicant chose the "Internet Access and Transport Bundled" or "Transport Only - No ISP Service" option on its FCC Form 470 and subsequently selected a fiber service on its FCC Form 471; and (2) not to find a competitive bidding violation so long as the service requested on the FCC Form 470 matches the service selected on the FCC Form 471, regardless of whether it is provided via fiber, and the applicant has otherwise complied with all applicable rules.

For FY 2019, USAC was directed to specify within the wording of the drop-down menu option itself those options that include only non-fiber services and those that include fiber services. Additionally, before July 1, 2018, USAC must provide stakeholders with clear guidance on the FY 2019 FCC Form 470 drop-down menu options and to take whatever measures necessary to ensure that applicants fully understand those options.

Mississippi PSC Chairman Urges Wireless Providers to Stop Robocalls

PSC Chairman Brandon Presley is urging cell phone companies to do more to stop robocalls. In a recent Press Release, he said he wants the PSC to take stronger action to stop the calls by requiring cellular telephone companies to offer free robocall blocking technology and develop ways to stop “Caller ID Spoofing” where telemarketers steal phone numbers to make calls or risk losing PSC-approved federal USF funds.  He also asked PUC Staff to investigate whether telephone companies profit from robocalls. 

In an effort to punish telemarketers the PSC released a first-in-the-nation No-Call app for smartphones that allows customers to get on the state’s Do Not Call list and report complaints from the convenience of their mobile phone.  The PSC also aided in introducing legislation to create a private right to sue telemarketers, though the bill failed to make it to the Governor. In addition, the PSC recently fined 24 telemarketers for violating the no call law.

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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 may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.