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
The FCC announced it has authorized $255,723,850 in second round Connect America Phase I incremental support for AT&T, CenturyLink, FairPoint, Frontier Communications, and Windstream. The funding will enable them to provide new broadband access to over 400,000 homes and businesses in rural areas of 41 states and connect nearly 1 million people who lack service. The funding covers 393,409 locations contained in 66,712 census blocks. A machine readable list of the newly authorized census blocks is available here.
The carriers had identified 563,767 locations where they wanted to use Connect America funds. However, the eligibility of some of those locations was challenged. The FCC’s action authorizes funding for 393,409 locations that were not subject to a challenge. It will take action on the remaining pending elections at a future date.
FCC
The FCC has published an online, publicly-accessible map of ILEC study area boundaries. The map can be viewed at http://apps.fcc.gov/wcb/sabdata. The map is based on data submitted by ILECs and certain state commissions in May and June of 2013. The publication is intended to assist ILECs and state commissions in reconciling the filed boundary data.
The online map displays all of the submitted study area boundaries, except those subject to confidentiality requests, and provides data describing each study area. It also: (1) depicts the visible overlaps and voids present in the submitted study area boundaries; and (2) highlights certain large overlaps and provides information about them, including their size and associated ILEC names. Parties accessing the online map can download the study area boundary data in an esri shapefile format.
The FCC strongly encourages all ILECs to review the online map, resolve any overlaps and voids with neighboring ILECs, and resubmit and recertify their study area boundary data based on any boundary modifications agreed to by the relevant parties. It also recommends that state commissions review the study area boundary map in order to modify their data submissions as necessary and advice the ILECs in their state on resolving boundary overlaps and voids. If ILECs and state commissions elect to alter previously submitted boundaries, they should submit and certify revised study area boundary data by January 13, 2014. Read the Notice here
Texas
The PUC of Texas has released new weighted statewide average composite usage-sensitive intrastate switched access rates. All CLECs are required to make compliance filings no later than December 11, 2013. Bulletin subscribers see TMI Bulletin dated 11/25/13.
