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 Briefing.
TELECOM
FCC
The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that it is ready to authorize rural broadband experiments support for provisionally selected bids covering 292 census blocks in OK and VA for a total of $2,821,652.85 in support. To be authorized to receive the support listed in the Attachment to the Public Notice, the provisionally selected bidders must submit at least one acceptable irrevocable stand-by letter of credit (LOC) and Bankruptcy Code opinion letter from their legal counsel by October 14, 2015, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
FTC
The Federal Trade Commission announced that fees for accessing phone numbers on the National Do Not Call List will not increase in 2016. The rates are available here. Telemarketers will continue to pay $60 for access to Registry phone numbers in a single area code, up to a maximum charge of $16,482 for all area codes nationwide. All telemarketers calling consumers in the United States are required to download the numbers on the Do Not Call Registry to ensure they do not call those who have registered their phone numbers. The first five area codes are free, and organizations that are exempt from the Do Not Call rules, such as some charitable organizations, may obtain the entire list for free. Telemarketers must subscribe each year for access to the Registry numbers.
Maine
The PUC is seeking comments on revisions to Chapter 880, its pole attachment rules. This is in response to a petition filed by the Office of the Public Advocate (OPA) requesting that the rules be revised to ensure that broadband providers have reasonable access to utility poles. TMI Regulatory Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 9/29/15. The OPA said that “Maine’s existing rules governing pole attachment focus primarily on the rates that may be charged for attachment, and not on the terms and conditions of such attachment. In the absence of clear Commission rules governing reasonable pole attachment terms, conditions and practices, companies seeking to provide broadband service face unnecessary costs and delays resulting from pole attachment disputes that hinder the expansion of broadband networks.”
