Telecom Business Alert - Pole Attachment Rate Calculation, UAS Pathfinder Program, Environmental Compliance Workshop, and NG911 - Vol. XII, Issue 19
FCC to Refresh Record on Pole Attachment Rate Calculation
Last week the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau released a Public Notice seeking to “refresh the record” on a petition for reconsideration or clarification filed in June of 2011 by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), COMPTEL, and tw telecom inc. The petition requested an amendment to the Commission’s rules governing the calculation of pole attachment rates charged to telecommunications providers. Comments are due on or before 21 days after publication in the Federal Register, and reply comments are due on or before 31 days after publication in the Federal Register. For more information, please contact Tom Magee (magee@khlaw.com; 202.434.4128).
FAA’s “UAS Pathfinder Program” Announced
Last week at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Conference, the FAA’s Administrator Michael Huerta announced the Pathfinder Program, wherein the FAA will partner with CNN, PrecisionHawk (a manufacturer), and BNSF Railway to conduct commercial trials for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). CNN will provide data on visual line-of-sight operations used for newsgathering in urban areas, PrecisionHawk will survey crops in rural areas using UAS, and BNSF will provide data on UAS used for track inspections. The goal of the program is to provide the FAA with enough data to approve commercial UAS operations within the next few years. For more information, please contact Greg Kunkle (kunkle@khlaw.com; 202.434.4178).
Environmental Compliance Workshop for Tower Construction
On Tuesday, May 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the FCC will host its annual workshop on environmental compliance and the historic preservation review process required for wireless communications facilities, including new communications towers and collocation of communications equipment on towers and other structures. The workshop will take place. at the FCC’s headquarters (445 12 St, SW, Washington, D.C.) and will be webcast at https://www.fcc.gov/live.
Report on Transition to NG911/911 Apps Workshop
The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) announced the publication of a research report last week discussing the current state of the transition from legacy 911 systems to Next Generation 911 (NG911) technologies across the country. The report is based on a study by the Texas A&M University Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC) and argues a sense of urgency is needed to facilitate NG911 transition. Last week, the FCC hosted a public workshop on the use of smartphone apps that provide 911 services. Various participants including app developers and members of the public safety community discussed the current state of 911 apps and common challenges for implementing location-based 911 services. For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).
Tom Magee to Participate on Heartland Joint Use Legal Panel
Keller and Heckman Partner Tom Magee will be a speaker on the Heartland Joint Use Meeting Legal Panel on May 12 and 13 in Akron, OH. For more information please contact Tom Magee (magee@khlaw.com; 202.434.4128).
Doug Jarrett at Communications Taxation ‘15
Keller and Heckman Partner Doug Jarrett will speak at the TeleStrategies Communications Taxation 2015 Conference in Orlando, FL on Friday, May 15. For more information, please contact Doug Jarrett (Jarrett@khlaw.com; 202.434.4180).
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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. 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.