Telecom Business Alert – Municipal Broadband; FirstNet; Drones; USF Contributions; IWCE, Vol XIII, Issue 12
Municipal Broadband Arguments
Last week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments from the FCC and states of North Carolina and Tennessee regarding the Commission’s preemption of laws in those states that limit the ability of municipalities to expand broadband service beyond their municipal boundaries. (Vol. XII, Issue 9). The FCC found these laws conflict with provisions of the Communications Act that direct the FCC to remove barriers to broadband investment and competition. Tennessee and North Carolina appealed the Commission’s decision and the case was consolidated before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. A decision is expected later this year. For more information, please contact Wes Wright (Wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).
FirstNet Meetings
The FirstNet Board and Committees held a joint meeting last week. Among the many issues addressed were rural coverage, state plans, environmental programmatic concerns and bylaw changes. The Board emphasized its goal of selecting a winning bidder for the construction, maintenance and operation of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network by the end of 2016. FirstNet also disclosed that there are over 600 entities on a list created by FirstNet looking to partner or team with a nationwide bidder. For more information, please contact Al Catalano (Catalano@khlaw.com; 202.434.4207).
NTIA Drone Meeting
Last week the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it will convene a meeting on April 8 in the boardroom of the American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Ave. NW, Washington DC, to discuss commercial and private use of drones. The meeting is part of NTIA’s multistakeholder process concerning privacy, transparency, and accountability regarding commercial and private use of UAS. The meeting is scheduled to run from 1-5 p.m. For more information, please contact Greg Kunkle (kunkle@khlaw.com; 202.434.4178).
USF Contribution Reporting
The annual Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) Annual Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet (499-A) is due on April 1. In advance of the upcoming deadline, KH Partner Doug Jarrett penned a blog article setting forth recommendations for Universal Service Fund (USF) reporting reforms, such as limiting adjustments to the USF contribution factor to just once a year. For more information, please contact Doug Jarrett (Jarrett@khlaw.com; 202.43180).
IWCE Speakers
KH Attorneys Greg Kunkle, Wes Wright, and Al Catalano are attending the International Wireless Communications Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada from March 21-25. On March 24th, Mr. Kunkle will present Positive Train Control – What’s the Reality? From 10:00 to 11:15 a.m. Mr. Wright will be featured on a panel on Bringing Text Capabilities to 911 on Wednesday, March 23rd at 10 am, and will be discussing What You Need to Know about Next Generation 911 at 8:15 am on Friday, March 25th. Please feel free to attend these sessions or to visit us at Booth 2167.
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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 © 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.