Telecom Business Alert - Special Access; SCADA Enforcement; PSAP Task Force; FirstNet Board and RFP Extension; FCC Form 499Q - Vol. XIII, Issue 16
Special Access
According to Chairman Wheeler, the FCC will vote on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at its scheduled April 28 Open Meeting that will propose a less stringent, competitively neutral regulatory scheme for interstate special access services, treating Ethernet-based and TDM-based special access services equally, limiting rate regulation, and detariffing special access services. As outlined, the planned NPRM tracks aspects of the joint letter filed by Verizon and InCompas (a CLEC/IXC association) that proposes a new framework for regulating special access.
SCADA Enforcement
Last week the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau levied a $12,000 fine and compliance plan on a licensee for allowing Temporary Fixed units to operate at locations for more than one year. American Time & Signal Company (ATS) operates wireless synchronized clock systems. The FCC granted ATS a waiver to allow licensing of its temporary fixed transmitters as mobiles, but because several of its transmitters operated at fixed locations for more than one year prior to the grant of the waiver request, the Commission found it to be in violation of its rules. For more information, please contact Greg Kunkle (kunkle@khlaw.com; 202.434.4178 or Tim Doughty (doughty@khlaw.com; 202.434.4271).
PSAP Task Force
The FCC’s Task Force on Optimal Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Architecture (TFOPA) will hold its seventh meeting on May 6, 2016, to hear presentations from Working Group 1--Optimal Approach to Cybersecurity; Working Group 2--Optimal Approach to NG911 Architecture Implementation; and Working 3--Optimal Approach to NG911 Resource Allocation. The meeting will be held in the Commission’s meeting room at FCC headquarters in Washington, DC from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).
FirstNet Board and RFP Extension
FirstNet announced a deadline extension for proposals for the deployment of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network by two and a half weeks, from May 13 to May 31, 2016. FirstNet initially issued its Request for Proposals for the network on January 13, 2016 (Vol. XIII, Issue 3). In other news, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Notice announcing a call for expressions of interest from individuals who would like to serve on FirstNet’s board. Four of the 12 appointments of non-permanent members will expire in August, 2016. Current board members are eligible to be reappointed. Expressions of interest will be accepted until May 20, 2016.
FCC Forms 499Q Due May 2
The filing deadline for the quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet Form 499-Q for Filing Contributions to Universal Service Support Mechanisms falls on a weekend this year so the due date is May 2, 2016. The USF contribution factor for the 2nd quarter is 17.9%, reflecting a modest reduction from the 1st quarter’s 18.2%.
Southeastern Electric Exchange
KH Partner Tom Magee will be participating in a Legal Panel on utility pole attachment issues at the Southeastern Electric Exchange’s Joint Use Committee meeting in Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday, April 20, 2016.
ENTELEC
KH Attorneys Greg Kunkle, Wes Wright, and Tim Doughty will be in Houston, Texas April 26-28 for the ENTELEC Spring Conference and Expo. They will present the Washington Report at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26 in Room 360 D. KH will be at Booth 601 in the Exhibit Hall.
Send Us Your Feedback
We welcome your feedback on topics of interest that you would like to see covered in our Telecom Business Alert. To make suggestions, please e-mail telecomalert@khlaw.com.
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.