Today’s Regulatory Mix: PSAP Annual 911 Certification Due Today, UTOPIA Fiber Sues Utah City


PSAP Annual 911 Certification Due Today

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau announced eight settlements with covered 911 service providers for failing to timely file their required 911 service reliability certification in 2020. Companies that provide 911 service to emergency call centers – also known as Public Safety Answering Points or PSAPs –must certify annually to the Commission that specific steps have been taken to mitigate the risk of a 911 service failure. The deadline for submitting the annual 2021 certification is today, October 15, 2021.

“When we need to make a call to 911, that call might well be the single most important call of our lives. Given these stakes, we take seriously the responsibilities of all who support 911 services in order to do everything possible to ensure service is available when needed,” said FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

Northeast Missouri Rural Telephone Company will pay $7,500. Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative, Farmers Telephone Cooperative, Jackson Energy Authority, Micronesian Telecommunications Corporation, South Central Utah Telephone Association, and Sweetser Telephone Company will each pay $6,000. Hayneville Telephone Company will pay $3,500.

UTOPIA Fiber Sues Utah City

The city of American Fork in Utah has been sued by UTOPIA Fiber for breach of contract after the city allegedly denied build permits to the fiber builder. UTOPIA operates an open network on which private telecoms rent space to provide services.  The fiber provider alleges the city had approved some permits that only allowed it to construct backbone transport lines through the city connecting other cities but denied it the necessary permits to extend services to UTOPIA Fiber customers inside the city.  According to the lawsuit, the city terminated the 2018 rights-of-way agreement between the parties in July 2020 with no explanation. UTOPIA further claims that the city specifically discriminated against the fiber company by singling out UTOPIA’s permit requests for added scrutiny.

The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related 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 an Inteserra Briefing.