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
The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has scheduled a hearing on March 4, 2015, entitled, “Reauthorization of the Federal Communications Commission: The FCC’s FY 2016 Budget Request.” In announcing the hearing, Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) said: “Our work is overdue to say the least. Joe Montana was king of the football world and Tom Brady was barely a teen the last time Congress authorized the FCC. Is the FCC best positioned to handle the challenges of the innovation era?”
FCC
FCC Commissioners Pai and O’Reilly urged “FCC leadership” to immediately release the text of the Open Internet/Net Neutrality Order scheduled to be considered at the FCC’s meeting on February 26, 2015, and to “allow the American people a reasonable period of not less than 30 days to carefully study it. Then, after the Commission reviews the specific input it receives from the American public and makes any modifications to the plan as appropriate, we could proceed to a final vote.” They said that “[w]ith the future of the entire Internet at stake, it is imperative that the FCC get this right. And to do that, we must live up to the highest standards of transparency. Transparency is particularly important here because the plan in front of us right now is so drastically different than the proposal the FCC adopted and put out for public comment last May.”
Tennessee
The Regulatory Authority issued a press release reminding residents that beginning February 28, 2015, telephone calls made within the 615 calling area must include the area code plus telephone number to complete all local calls. The 615 area code generally covers the north-central portion of the state of Tennessee serving communities such as Franklin, Gallatin, Hendersonville, Lebanon, Murfreesboro, Nashville, and Springfield. The new 629 area code will serve the same geographic area currently served by the existing 615 area code. TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers see Bulletin dated 1/3/14.
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TMI’s Telecom Regulatory Seminar & Workshop 4/30/15 – 5/1/15 in Maitland, FL. A two day event designed for CLECs, Cable, IXC, OSP, VoIP, and state regulatory staff.
