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 Briefing.
TELECOM
FCC
AT&T Discontinuance
The FCC has invited comments on AT&T’s petition to discontinue various operator services throughout its services areas in the United States, including the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. AT&T’s application will be deemed granted automatically on March 15, 2016, unless the FCC notifies AT&T that the grant will not be automatically effective. If the application is deemed granted on that date, AT&T and its affected affiliates will be permitted to discontinue the affected services to retail customers on or after March 18, 2016, and may discontinue the affected services to wholesale customers on or after June 4, 2016. The affected services include Collect Calling, Person-to-Person Calling, Billed to Third Party, Busy Line Verification, Busy Line Interruption, and International Directory Assistance. Comments objecting to the application must be filed by February 16, 2016. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 1/19/16.
TRS Contributions
The FCC is seeking comment on a petition filed by IDT Telecom, Inc. asking it to change the contribution methodology for the interstate Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund so that intrastate revenues are included in the contribution base. The Petition states that the inclusion of intrastate revenue would increase and strengthen the base of the TRS Fund, reduce the TRS Fund contribution factor on interstate and international revenue for all carriers presently contributing to the Fund, and fairly apportion costs among all jurisdictions. Comments are due February 4, 2016; reply comments are due February 16, 2016. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 1/20/16.
Ohio
The Public Utilities Commission issued a reminder about the 380 area code overlay. Beginning January 30, 2016, all local calls made within the 614 area code must be placed using the 10- or 11-digit telephone number (area code plus the seven-digit telephone number or 1 + area code + seven-digit telephone number). Beginning February 27, 2016, residential and business customers in the 614 area code region requesting new service, an additional line, or in some cases, moving their service may be assigned a number in the new 380 area code. TMI Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 2/13/15.