FCC Releases Form 477 Data

For data on fixed broadband deployment, users can download data on the census blocks where  providers report offering fixed broadband services to at least part of the block. These data tables also indicate the technology used to offer the service and the maximum advertised download and upload speeds for both consumer and business fixed broadband services. The data are available in CSV (comma delimited) format for both the entire United States and for individual states. For data on mobile deployments, users can download coverage area shapefiles indicating mobile voice and broadband network deployment for each combination of provider and  network technology, as well as separate CSV files depicting mobile coverage resulting from two different coverage analyses: centroid and actual area.

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The Regulatory Mix Today: FCC Releases Form 477 Data, FCC's O'Reilly on Montana's 911 Fee Diversion

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FCC’s O’Rielly On Montana’s 911 Fee Diversion

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly sent a letter to the Governor of Montana requesting that he initiate a process to reverse the state’s policy past diversion of 9-1-1 fees to other programs by returning the misappropriated money to the 9-1-1 account and commit that the state will not divert 9-1-1 funds again.  O’Rielly notes that, according to 2018 filings provided to the FCC, Montana's operating statute permits the Montana Legislature to transfer funds for functions unrelated to 9-1-1 communications and the corresponding answering centers. And, in 2017, Montana ultimately diverted $2 million to the state general fund after reports that you and your administration sought to divert even more 9-1-1 fees as part of the state budget process.  O’Rielly cites reports indicating that the diverted funds were intended to be used to help right-size the number of college professors in the Montana University System, including by pursuing buy-outs for professors close to retirement. O’Rielly said: “To be clear: 9-1-1 fee diversion in unacceptable under any circumstances.  That being said, if reports about how the money was spent are true, Montana's diversion of funds would be one of the most egregious cases that I have come across in my time at the Commission. Perhaps some other, more colorable reason or excuse can be generated, but the simple truth is that 9-1-1 fees are paid by consumers to preserve, operate, and improve the 9-1-1 public safety network, not to serve as a piggy-bank that can be raided to fix state budget shortfalls.”

O’Rielly added that it “appears that while Montana's diversionary scheme was being devised, state officials made representations that Montana's planned fee diversion was consistent with the FCC's policies and would not jeopardize Montana's eligibility for federal grants to modernize its 9-1-1 systems. Both of these claims are completely inaccurate. Montana was clearly deemed a diverting state or territory by the FCC.”

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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.

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