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 Congress FCC Oversight Hearing
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing on September 15, 2016, entitled, “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission.” The Hearing will cover every aspect of the agency and major policy issues before the FCC. Committee Chairman Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said: “With the FCC considering significant new rules affecting consumer privacy, cable service through set-top boxes, and other issues impacting our economy, effective collaboration and informed decision making at the commission couldn’t be more important. This hearing presents an opportunity to discuss concerns about partisanship affecting commission work and to raise issues on important policy questions under consideration this fall.” All five FCC Commissioners are scheduled to appear.
FCC PSAP Task Force
The FCC announced that the next meeting of the Task Force on Optimal Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Architecture (TFOPA), will be held on September 23, 2016, from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The TFOPA is a federal advisory committee that will provide recommendations to the FCC regarding actions that PSAPs can take to optimize their security, operations, and funding as they migrate to Next Generation 911 (NG911). At this meeting, the Task Force will hear updates on 2016 tasks from the Task Force's three working groups: Working Group 1—Cybersecurity: Optimal Approach for PSAPs; Working Group 2—Optimal 911 Service Architecture; and Working Group 3— Optimal Resource Allocation. Members of the general public may attend the meeting. It may also be viewed over the Internet at www.fcc.gov/live.
California Service Quality Proceeding
The California Association of Competitive Telecommunications Companies (CALTEL) has petitioned the PUC to modify Decision 16-08-021 and General Order 133-D and find that CLECs should only be fined for failures to meet service quality measures if the failure was primarily due to the CLEC’s action or inaction, and not because of service or facility issues of an unaffiliated underlying carrier. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 9/2/16. CALTEL has requested that the PUC act on the Petition for Modification as soon as possible, but no later than the date that the penalty mechanism goes into effect (January 1, 2017).
Connecticut Small Cell Facilities
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) scheduled a technical meeting to be held on September 26, 2016, to discuss matters relating to regulating authority over small cell wireless telecommunications facilities. Discussion will include statutory provisions relating to the respective rights of the PURA, the Connecticut Siting Council, and the municipalities to regulate the installation of telecommunication facilities.
