Telecom Alert - Robocall NOI; FCC Budget Hearing; FirstNet Update; Petition for Rulemaking in 3700-4200 MHz Band; Webinar: Drafting Telecom Services Agreements - Vol. XIV, Issue 26
Robocall Notice of Inquiry
The FCC has released a tentative agenda for its July 13 Open Meeting. Among the items to be considered are a Notice of Inquiry relating to the creation of a comprehensive database that businesses can use to identify telephone numbers that have been reassigned to new consumers in order to avoid placing automated calls and texts (“robocalls”) to consumers who have not agreed to receive them. The NOI asks about the best way for voice service providers to report information about reassigned numbers, how that information should be made available to callers, whether and how service providers should be compensated, and whether callers should be charged an access fee. For more information, please contact Tracy Marshall (marshall@khlaw.com; 202.434.4234).
Senate Appropriations Hearing on FCC Budget
Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government held a hearing regarding the FCC’s FY2018 budget request. The 2018 budget request cuts approximately $13 million from the current budget. Throughout the hearing, both Commissioners and Senators focused on the FCC’s work to close the digital divide. Subcommittee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) highlighted the importance of broadband deployment in rural areas. On a related note, the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Council announced that it will hold a meeting on July 20.
FirstNet Delivers State Plans
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) along with AT&T, Inc. delivered plans to select state officials describing how AT&T plans to build and maintain each states’ radio access network (RAN). Individual state plans became available on a restricted basis through an online portal, in which FirstNet notifies the state when their plan becomes available or when it is updated. FirstNet also announced that states have until August 4 to review and file comments regarding their plan. FirstNet will then take another 45 days to review comments and offer responses. At the conclusion of the review period, Governors will have 90 days to determine whether to opt-in or opt-out of the FirstNet-AT&T plan.
Broadband Access Coalition Requests Fixed Wireless Service in 3700-4200 MHz Band
The newly formed Broadband Access Coalition filed a Petition for Rulemaking requesting the FCC to adopt regulations that would establish a new licensed, point-to-multipoint (P2MP) fixed wireless service in the 3700-4200 MHz C-band. The Petition requests 500 MHz of contiguous spectrum for licensed P2MP broadband services. It is the Coalition’s position that shared use can be implemented “rapidly and simply,” and that Part 101 frequency coordination will ensure that incumbent users will not experience harmful interference. For more information, please contact Greg Kunkle (kunkle@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).
Webinar: Drafting Telecom Services Agreements: Structuring Key Provisions, Anticipating Legal Pitfalls, Mitigating Risks
Keller and Heckman attorney Doug Jarrett will be presenting on a telecommunications panel for the Stafford Online Legal Webinar July 18. The webinar will guide business and technology counsel in drafting and negotiating agreements for telecommunication services.
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Keller and Heckman LLP's Telecom Business Alert is a complimentary weekly electronic update created by the Telecommunications Practice Group of Keller and Heckman LLP. All articles, videos, and quotations are on topics of general interest and do not constitute legal advice for particularized facts. Keller and Heckman LLP's Telecom Business Alert © 2015. All rights reserved. Articles may be copied with attribution. To sign up for our weekly alert, please send us an email at telecomalert@khlaw.com and provide us with your name and email. Please follow us on Twitter at @KHtelecom.