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
US Congress
On February 2, 2014, Representatives Henry A. Waxman and Anna G. Eshoo introduced H.R. 3982, the Open Internet Preservation Act in response to the U.S. Court of Appeals decision vacating portions of the FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules. TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers see FCC Bulletin dated 1/21/14 . A companion bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate by Senator Ed Markey. The bill would restore the rules preventing broadband providers from blocking or discriminating against content online until the FCC adopts new replacement rules under the authorities recognized by the court. The bill does not alter the FCC’s authorities themselves or dictate the new rules the FCC must adopt.
Rep. Eshoo said in part: “This bill ensures that consumers, not their Internet service provider, are in the driver’s seat when it comes to their online experience. The free and open Internet has been a pillar of our country’s growing economy, unparalleled technological innovation, and even global social movements. It is the backbone of our digital world, and I intend to keep it that way.”
Original co-sponsors of the bills are: Reps. Waxman, Eshoo, Frank Pallone, Jr., Doris Matsui, Mike Doyle, Zoe Lofgren, Jan Schakowsky, Michael E. Capuano, and Suzan DelBene and Sens. Markey, Richard Blumenthal, Al Franken, Tom Udall, Ron Wyden, and Jeff Merkley.
See Press Release here.
FCC
The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Report summarizing the results of the FCC’s a six-month technical trial in which interconnected VoIP providers were permitted to reserve telephone numbers for their end users directly from the numbering administrators rather than indirectly through a separate telecommunications carrier. See TMI Blog postings: VoIP Numbering Trial Off to a Slow Start; More on the VoIP Numbering Trial; Level 3 Reports Same Obstacles as Vonage in VoIP Numbering Trial and Update on VoIP Numbering Trial: War of Words Continues. TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers see FCC Bulletins dated: 4/24/13, 4/25/13, 5/24/13, 5/30/13, 6/18/13, and 6/19/13.
According to the report, the trials demonstrated that it is technically feasible for interconnected VoIP providers to obtain telephone numbers directly from the numbering administrators, and that such arrangements did not identify technical problems regarding number exhaust, number porting, VoIP interconnection, or Intercarrier compensation. The Bureau noted that the trials did highlight some issues about interconnection and porting, but concluded that those issues related to disputes about what a carrier’s obligation is to interconnect with or port to a VoIP provider and not any technical concerns. The Bureau expects that the FCC will address these disputes and provide greater clarity and direction in the pending rulemaking proceedings on direct access to numbers and VoIP interconnection. TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers, watch for a Bulletin with full details.
Ohio
In December 2013, the PUC approved an all services overlay as the relief method for the 740 NPA. The 740 NPA covers the southeastern portion of the state of Ohio serving communities such as Athens, Cambridge, Delaware, Jackson, Lancaster, Marion, Newark, Marietta, Portsmouth, and Zanesville. The new 220 NPA will serve the same geographic area currently served by the existing 740 NPA. TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers see Illinois Bulletin dated 1/2/14.