Telecommunication

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the Sept Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Sept 30, 2020:

The Federal Communications Commission’s Sept agenda looks like a well-balanced fantasy team; we’re rolling out a diverse lineup featuring at least one item from each of the FCC’s seven bureaus.

The Federal Communications Commission released the results of its efforts to identify use of Huawei and ZTE equipment and services in US telecommunications networks that receive support from the federal Universal Service Fund. The FCC’s Nov 2019 order barring the use of USF support for the purchase of equipment and services from companies that pose a national security threat initially designated Huawei and ZTE as covered entities and directed FCC staff to conduct this information collection.

On May 26, 2020, Reps Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Darren Soto (D-FL) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to request the FCC to provide an update on the status of communications networks in Puerto Rico and determine whether its residents have maintained reliable connectivity throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The Reps wrote they were deeply concerned about the potential for continued communications disruptions, in light of recent earthquakes and the lingering impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

For the millions of people behind bars in the US, the phone offers a vital connection to their families and the outside world. But placing a call comes at a cost — a steep one. But Federal Communications Chairman Ajit Pai is now asking states to impose price caps on intrastate prison phone calls, keeping the service affordable and accessible to inmates so that they can keep in touch with loved ones.

The US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved Frontier's bankruptcy plan which will reduce the company’s debt by $10 billion, giving the company what it says it needs to emerge from bankruptcy and position itself for long term growth. Much of the company’s debt was accumulated from high profile acquisitions of Verizon network assets.

The COVID-19 impact on telecommunication business revenues hasn’t been as bad as financial analysts at MoffettNathanson expected it to be. But the worst is yet to come.

Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 establishes the duty of telecommunications carriers to protect the confidentiality of its customers’ proprietary information. This Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) includes personally identifiable information derived from a customer’s relationship with a provider of telecommunications services. These regulations impose safeguards to protect customers’ CPNI against unauthorized access and disclosure.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in the Department of Commerce further restricted access by Huawei Technologies and its non-US affiliates on the Entity List to items produced domestically and abroad from US technology and software. In addition, BIS added another 38 Huawei affiliates to the Entity List, which imposes a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and modified four existing Huawei Entity List entries.

The Department of Justice announced that CenturyLink has agreed to settle allegations that CenturyLink violated the court-ordered Final Judgment designed to prevent anticompetitive effects arising from its acquisition of Level 3 Communications. Despite provisions in the Final Judgment barring CenturyLink from soliciting customers that switched to the buyer of the divestiture assets, CenturyLink failed to comply, initiating contact on over 70 occasions over more than a year with former Level 3 customers who elected to switch to the divestiture buyer in the Boise City-Nampa, Idaho MSA (Boise