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
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler issued a statement in response to Comcast’s decision to abandon its $45 billion dollar bid to acquire Time Warner Cable. The statement confirms that FCC staff had informed the companies of their serious concerns that the merger risks outweighed the benefits to the public interest. Wheeler’s statement reads, in part:
“Comcast and Time Warner Cable’s decision to end Comcast’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable is in the best interests of consumers. The proposed transaction would have created a company with the most broadband and video subscribers in the nation alongside the ownership of significant programming interests.
Today, an online video market is emerging that offers new business models and greater consumer choice. The proposed merger would have posed an unacceptable risk to competition and innovation especially given the growing importance of high-speed broadband to online video and innovative new services.”
California
A PUC Administrative Law Judge will hold an all-Party meeting on May 6, 2015, to address comments and reply comments filed in the PUC’s Lifeline proceeding . In February 2015 PUC Staff filed a Proposal to allow fixed VoIP service providers without a CPCN to participate in the California LifeLine Program. Among other things, the Proposal addresses a VoIP provider registration process and pre-requisites, including an annual user fee, performance bond, and affidavit requirement. Parties submitted comments on ALJ-specific questions regarding the Proposal. TMI Regulatory Bulletin Service subscribers see Bulletin dated 3/11/15.
