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
International Circuit Capacity Report
The FCC announced that the 2015 Section 43.62 International Circuit Capacity Reports of circuit capacity as of December 31, 2014, will be due by April 30, 2015, with a filing window of March 30, 2015, to April 30, 2015. The reports would normally be due March 31, however, since the new Section 43.62 online filing system will not go live until March 30, 2015, additional time is being provided this year. The FCC urged circuit capacity holders to file their reports as early as possible during this year’s filing window. The FCC’s International Bureau previously released a Filing Manual for the reports that provides instructions on how to file the report, including who must file, which of the reports to file, the information that each report must contain, the filing procedures, and including data specifications for completing the report. Circuit capacity holders may be subject to fines and forfeitures for failure file their reports.
Rural Call Completion Workshop
As required by its Consent Decree with the FCC See the Regulatory Mix dated 1/27/15, Verizon has announced the date for the first of the two rural call completion workshops it agreed to host. The workshop will be held on April 22, 2015, in Washington DC. The topics to be discussed are: 1) the technical causes of rural call completion issues; and (2) strategies and best practices to prevent, identify, and resolve rural call completion problems. Attendees must register by March 31, 2015, and include their name, title, company, and email address. Registrations should be sent to this email address. The event location is 529 14th St., NW 13th Floor Washington, DC.
California
The PUC will address a proposal by Verizon Wireless concerning unpaid public purpose program (PPP) surcharges at its March 12, 2015, Meeting. Verizon proposes to resolve past unpaid PPP surcharges and user fees owed prior to February 2012. In its proposal, Verizon has agreed to pay the PUC $11,521,595 as the sum of past unpaid surcharges and user fees owed ($10,545,989), plus interest, from the sale of prepaid wireless services prior to February 2012. The Communication Division recommends that the PUC adopt this proposal.
Michigan
On February 23, 2015, CenturyLink filed an application with the PSC for approval to expand the geographic scope of its license to provide basic local exchange service to include all zones and exchange areas in the State. Written and electronic comments may be filed with the PSC no later than April 14, 2015. Written comments should be sent to the Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, Michigan 48909. Electronic comments may be emailed to mpscedockets@michigan.gov. All comments should reference Case No. U-17850.
