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
NANPA
The North American Numbering Plan Administration issued Planning Letter 481 recommending implementation of the NPA 833 for toll-free services. In February 2000, the Industry Numbering Committee directed NANPA to assign the 833 and 822 NPA codes for toll-free service. A March 2015 analysis of the toll-free resource conducted by 800/SMS, Inc. projected the current toll-free resource will reach 90% exhaust in 1Q16, and 95% exhaust in the 1Q17. Based upon this information, 800/SMS, Inc. recommends the FCC consider opening the 833 NPA on or about April 22, 2017. Information pertaining to the exhaust of toll-free resources can be found on the NANPA website (www.nanpa.com) under Reports, NRUF. NANPA will issue a subsequent Planning Letter when an implementation schedule is determined.
California
The PUC presiding ALJ in the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger case has directed the companies to file additional information about broadband service on or before April 30, 2015. See the Regulatory Mix dated 4/18/14. The questions include: “How many households in the California service territories of Comcast and Time Warner have annual incomes less than 150% of the Federal poverty guidelines? How many have annual incomes less than 200% of the Federal poverty guidelines? What are the fixed broadband penetration rates for households with incomes of 150% and 200%, respectively, of the Federal poverty guidelines in Comcast’s and Time Warner’s California service territories?” The companies must also report their actual expenditures for fiscal years 2010 to 2014 for fixed and/or wireless broadband infrastructure development in K-12 schools in California; their budget and projected budget for fiscal years 2015 to 2020 for fixed and/or wireless broadband infrastructure development in K-12 schools in California; and their budget and projected budget for fiscal years 2015 to 2020 for all fixed and/or wireless broadband infrastructure development in California.
Earlier this month, Commissioner Florio issued an alternate proposed decision denying the applications for transfer of control (filed in California on April 11, 2014). The alternate proposed decision finds that the harms identified in the record of the proceeding cannot be effectively mitigated, and that, on balance, the transaction is not in the public interest. The ALJ’s proposed decision, issued on February 13, 2015, recommended that the PUC approve the transfers of control, subject to conditions intended to mitigate those potential harms as identified.
Maryland
The Governor has signed HB 1080 (Kari’s Law) which requires that on or before December 31, 2017, a person who installs or operates a multiple-line telephone system (MLTS) ensures that the system is connected to the public switched telephone network in such a way that an individual dialing 9-1-1 is connected to the public safety answering point without requiring the individual to dial any other number or set of numbers. State executive branch units are exempt from compliance until the date of the next upgrade of the unit’s multiple-line telephone system. The law becomes effective on October 1, 2015.
