The Regulatory Mix, TMI’s daily blog of 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.
TELECOM
US Congress
U.S. Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced bipartisan legislation addressing the future impact of the “Internet of Things.” The bill, known as the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act, builds upon the senators’ resolution, which passed the Senate in March 2015, and called for a national strategy on the Internet of Things. The Act directs the FCC to complete a report assessing spectrum needs required to support the Internet of Things. It also convenes a working group of both federal and private entity stakeholders that would provide recommendations to Congress. These recommendations would focus on how to plan for, and encourage, the growth of the Internet of Things in the United States.
FCC
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai announced that, on April 6, 2016, he will hold a field hearing in Columbia, South Carolina on combating the public safety threats posed by inmates’ use of contraband cellphones. The event will be hosted by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. Commissioner Pai said, in part: “Contraband cell phones are flooding into our nation’s jails and prisons. Inmates are using them to order hits, run drug operations, direct gang activity, and victimize innocent members of the public. We cannot let inmates treat prison as just another base of operations for criminal enterprises. We need to act.” Additional information about the event, including a list of panelists, will be provided in the coming days.
Alaska
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska is seeking comment on further proposed changes to its tariff filing rules for a non-dominant CLECs. The RCA is considering:
- expanding the simplified tariff filing procedures to any competitive local exchange market served by a carrier that is otherwise exempt from economic regulation;
- simplifying and delineating the content and form of tariffs filed with the RCA;
- expanding the list of changes which may be implemented without RCA approval;
- expanding and clarifying the tariff filing requirements;
- providing customers access to tariffs and special contracts, and
- outlining the RCA authority to reject tariff advice and special contract filings.
Comments are due March 30, 2016.
