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 Regulatory Bulletin.
TELECOM
FCC
NAL
The FCC issued a $1,588,988 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture to Advanced Tel, Inc., (ATI) a California IXC, for failing to make required payments to the Universal Service Fund (USF), Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund, Local Number Portability (LNP) administration, and federal regulatory fees. ATI also failed to timely file its FCC Form 499-Q. The FCC found that ATI was apparently liable for:
- A total forfeiture of $1,423,655 for willfully or repeatedly failing to contribute to the USF. This includes a base forfeiture of $20,000 for each of the 36 months in which it failed to contribute to the USF, plus an upward adjustment equal to one-half of the highest amount of ATI’s unpaid USF contributions during the period at issue.
- A total forfeiture of $35,333 for its apparent willful or repeated failures to timely contribute to the TRS Fund. This includes a base forfeiture of $10,000 for each of the three years it failed to contribute to the TRS Fund, plus an upward adjustment of 50% of its largest unpaid TRS balance.
- A total forfeiture of $40,000 for its willful or repeated LNP contribution failures. This includes a base forfeiture of $10,000 for each of the four years it failed make required LNP contributions.
- A total forfeiture of $40,000 for its willful or repeated failure to make regulatory fee payments. This includes a base forfeiture amount of $10,000 for each of the four years in which it failed to make required regulatory fee payments.
- A forfeiture of $50,000 for its willful failure to timely file its quarterly Worksheet due November 1, 2013.
Cable Inflation Adjustment
The FCC announced that the third quarter 2014 Inflation Adjustment Figures for cable operators that use FCC Form 1240 is 1.42%. The adjustment factor is a measure of the annualized change in prices occurring over the period from July 1, 2014, to September 30, 2014. FCC rules give regulated cable operators the option of filing for rate adjustments on an annual basis instead of quarterly. Form 1240, Annual Updating Of Maximum Permitted Rates For Regulated Cable Services, is used for this purpose.
Iowa
The Iowa Utilities Board is seeking comment on a new subrule intended to give guidance about Board expectations when a change in corporate ownership or control involves at least one carrier with an ETC designation. The Board drafted the rule to address the types of transactions that are most likely to involve ETC designations. This includes ILEC transactions, Lifeline-only ETC transactions, and when a non-ETC acquires an ETC. The rule also addresses how ETC designations can be expanded or amended to include newly acquired service areas. Comments are due by February 2, 2015.