Telecom Business Alert – FCC Shutdown Continues, Cybersecurity Framework, Part 22 Construction Deadline – Vol X, Issue 42
FCC Shutdown Continues – Reopening Concerns
The FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) has been offline since the government shutdown began on October 1, 2013. After more than two weeks of zero filing capability, there are mounting concerns about what will happen when the FCC finally reopens. All filings that would have been due during the shutdown will become due the next business day after the FCC returns to business. Many will recall the multiple ULS “downtimes” and backlog that resulted from the large number of filings submitted for the narrowbanding deadline at the end of 2012. Applicants should expect a similar, if not worse, situation when the FCC finally reopens. For more information contact Greg Kunkle (kunkle@khlaw.com; 202.434.4178).
Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework Delayed
The White House Executive Order on Cybersecurity, issued last February, tasked the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) with developing a voluntary framework, based on existing standards, guidelines, and practices, to reduce cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure. The NIST was expected to release its preliminary draft voluntary cybersecurity framework on October 10. That deadline passed last week without action since NIST’s cybersecurity activity has been limited as a result of the government shutdown. Several working drafts of the framework have been released over the past few months, but the NIST website is down and the drafts are unavailable. Please contact Doug Jarrett (Jarrett@khlaw.com; 202.434.4180) for more information.
Construction Deadline for Part 22 Paging Licenses
As a reminder, licensees of Part 22 paging licenses auctioned by the Commission in 2010 are required to file an initial notification of construction with the agency by November 18, 2013. Licensees must show that their facilities meet certain coverage benchmarks as of November 3, 2013, or certify that they will be providing “substantial service” in the licensed territory by November 3, 2015. As mentioned, these showings cannot be submitted until the FCC reopens.
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Keller and Heckman LLP's Telecom Business Alert is a complimentary weekly electronic update created by the Telecommunications and the Business Counseling and Transactional practice groups 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 © 2013. 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.