Telecom Alert: FCC Issues Notice for ASR Violations; New Cybersecurity Labeling Program Proposed; $24K Penalty for 911 Outage; Unregistered Communications Cited [Vol. XX, Issue 30]
FCC Issues Notice for ASR Violations
Last week, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Violation against New Generation Properties LLC (“New Generation”) for allegedly violating the Commission’s rules on Antenna Structure Registrations (“ASR”). Under FCC rules, owners of an antenna structure must file Form 854 with the Commission for any proposed structure or modification to an existing structure, as well as a valid FAA determination of no hazard. In addition, the ASR Number must be conspicuously displayed at the base of the antenna structure. The FCC has no record of a Form 854 filed by New Generation and an FCC agent did not find the ASR posted when conducting an inspection of the site. Accordingly, New Generation must submit a written statement to the Commission within twenty days explaining each violation and stating specific actions it will take to correct them. For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).
Cybersecurity Labeling Program for Smart Devices
Last week, Chairwoman Rosenworcel announced a proposal to create a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program to provide consumers with clear information about the security of their Internet-enabled devices. Under the proposed program, qualifying products such as smart refrigerators, televisions, and fitness trackers will bear a new U.S. Cyber Trust Mark if they meet established cybersecurity criteria. The FCC would use a QR code linking to a national registry of certified devices to provide consumers with specific and comparable security information about these products. For more information, please contact Tracy Marshall (marshall@khlaw.com; 202.434.4234).
$24K Penalty for 911 Outage
The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau entered into a Consent Decree with Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. (“Frontier”) last week for failing to transmit 911 calls during an outage in last year. On June 11, 2022, Frontier’s wireline network in Arizona was vandalized by gunshots at multiple locations, which damaged fibers carrying backhaul traffic for other communications providers. The damage did not affect the fiber strands that carry Frontier’s voice and 911 traffic, but to repair the impacted services Frontier had to remove and replace sections of fiber, which took down Frontier’s voice traffic. Frontier coordinated with impacted PSAPs to temporarily reroute traffic, but then realized that the alternative telephone numbers provided by the PSAPs were also impacted by the repair and Frontier could not transmit subscribers’ 911 calls for more than an hour. Accordingly, Frontier must pay a $24,000 penalty and implement a three-year compliance plan. For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239) or Tim Doughty (doughty@khlaw.com; 202.434.4271.
CBRS Licensee Cited for Unregistered Communications
The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Violation against Envision Networks LLC (“Envision”) last week for violating the Commission’s rules surrounding the Citizen Broadband Radio Services (“CBRS”). Under FCC rules, a Citizen Broadband Radio Service Device (“CBSD”) must register with and be authorized by a Spectrum Access System (“SAS”) prior to its initial service transmission. During an on-site investigation, an FCC Agent observed that Envision was transmitting on the frequency band 3675-3695 MHz from a station located at the Chinese Peak site in Idaho. Upon further review, the Agent confirmed that Envision was not granted SAS registrations at this site. Accordingly, Envision must submit a written statement to the Commission within twenty days explaining each violation and stating specific actions it will take to correct them. For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).
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