The Regulatory Mix

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

          August Open Meeting

The FCC announced the tentative agenda for its August 6, 2015, Open Meeting.  As expected, the agenda includes items addressing the IP Transition.  See our 7/13/15 Blog FCC-Moves-Forward-On-IP-Transition-Rules.  The items are described as follows: 

  • Emerging Wireline Networks and Services –A Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will advance longstanding competition and consumer protection policies on a technologically-neutral basis and further the technology transitions underway in fixed communications networks that offer the prospect of innovative and improved services to consumers and businesses alike.
  • Ensuring Continuity of 911 Communications –A Report and Order that would protect consumers through the transitions from legacy copper networks to modern networks by adopting rules to ensure that consumers have options, and sufficient information about those options, to maintain 911 communications at home during power outages.

The FCC will also consider an item on wireless microphones and items regarding mobile spectrum holdings, incentive auctions, and unlicensed operations in TV bands and 600 MHz band that were deleted from its July meeting.

          911 Outages

The FCC entered into a $17.5 million settlement with T-Mobile to resolve an investigation into two 911 service outages that occurred on the company’s national network in August 2014.  The separate but related outages, which together lasted approximately three hours, prevented T-Mobile customers from reaching first responders when making wireless 911 calls.  The outages were due to a software upgrade.  The T-Mobile settlement represents the largest fine that the FCC has assessed against a carrier in connection with a 911 outage.  It is the fourth major enforcement action involving 911 outages that the FCC has taken this year.  See the Regulatory Mix dated 4/7/15 and 3/18/15

The FCC found that T-Mobile did not provide timely notification of one of its outages to all affected 911 call centers as required by FCC rules.  The investigation also found that the outages could have been avoided if T-Mobile had implemented appropriate safeguards in its 911 network architecture.  As part of the settlement, T-Mobile will:  appoint a compliance officer; develop a compliance plan and compliance manual; implement a compliance training program; report any non-compliance; and file periodic reports at the FCC for the next three years.  The company’s compliance plans must include operating procedures and processes to 1) Identify risks that could result in disruptions to 911 service, (2) Protect against such risks, (3) Detect future 911 outages, (4) Respond to such outages with remedial actions, including notification to affected PSAPs, and (5) Recover from such outages on a timely basis.  T-Mobile is also required to maintain up-to-date contact information for PSAPs, develop a PSAP notification system, and establish a test program to verify its Gateway Mobile Location Centers’ active/standby failover process.

Utah

The PSC extended the time for filing comments on CenturyLink’s 2015 additions to its non-impaired wire center list.  Comments are now due July 29, 2015, and reply comments are due August 10, 2015.  The comment dates were extended at the request of the Division of Public Utilities which wanted more time to complete its investigation.  CenturyLink is seeking to revise the status of its American Fork, Kaysville, and Salt Lake East wire centers.  TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers see Bulletin dated 6/23/15.

 

Regulatory Digest

 

VoIP (Digital Phone) Requirements

 

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