Telecommunication

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the October Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 17, 2024:

Long-time observers of AT&T and Verizon may be wondering how low they can go on headcount. In mid-September, Verizon made the telecom news with a securities filing that warned around 4,800 jobs would be cut by March next year at a severance cost of about $1.8 billion. Without any hiring to offset those cuts, this would leave it with fewer than 100,000 employees for the first time this millennium.

T-Mobile expects to pass between 12 million and 15 million more households with fiber by 2030 through its fiber partnerships, company executives told attendees at a September 18 T-Mobile investor event. The company’s fiber partnerships include a joint venture with investment firm EQT that will acquire Lumos and a joint venture with KKR to acquire Metronet. Unsurprisingly, T-Mobile sees strong potential to convert customers who currently use the company’s fixed wireless service to fiber.

A long-running issue resurfaced recently asking if light poles should be made available for telecommunications.

During Digital Connectivity and Lifeline Awareness Week, the Federal Communications Commission announced the implementation of a key provision of the Safe Connections Act that will help survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and related crimes get discounted phone, internet, or bundled services through the FCC’s Lifeline program. Survivors can now make a request with their service provider to separate their mobile phone lines from family plans where the abuser is on the account.

There has been a strike by 17,000 union members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) against AT&T that started on August 16. Like most strikes that last for more than a week, there is some rhetoric flying from both parties accusing the other side of negotiating in bad faith. Telecommunications strikes have been part of the history of the industry.

The Federal Communications Commission announced a $950,000 settlement with AT&T to resolve an Enforcement Bureau investigation into whether the company violated FCC rules by failing to deliver 911 calls to, and failing to timely notify, 911 call centers in connection with an outage AT&T experienced on August 22, 2023, in parts of Illinois, Kansas, Texas, and Wisconsin.

The Federal Communications Commission reached a settlement to resolve its enforcement action against Lingo Telecom, a voice service provider that transmitted spoofed robocalls that used generative AI voice cloning technology to spread disinformation in connection with a presidential primary election in New Hampshire.  The calls were directed by a political consultant named Steve Kramer in an attempt to interfere in the 2024 New Hampshire primary election.

Starting February 2025, Canada’s largest telephone companies, led by BCE and Telus, must provide smaller rivals with wholesale access to their fiber-optic networks in a bid to foster affordable access to high-quality internet services. The order from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, in essence, makes permanent a temporary order issued in November 2023. At the time, BCE responded with plans to curtail planned capital expenditures for the current fiscal year.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed new consumer protections against AI-generated robocalls and robotexts.