Telecommunication

Frontier Communications, the provider of telecom services in 29 states, is asking creditors to help craft a turnaround deal that includes filing for bankruptcy by the middle of March. Company executives including Bernie Han, Frontier’s new chief executive officer, met with creditors and advisers and told them the company wants to negotiate a pre-packaged agreement before $356 million of debt payments come due March 15. Frontier has been in talks with advisers about possible solutions to its $17.5 billion debt load, which has become a heavy burden as people stop using landlines.

By some accounts, about 40 percent of the world’s population relies on Huawei equipment.

On Aug 22, 2019, Sen Jon Tester (D-MT) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai expressing concern about the FCC's proposal to establish a cap on the overall Universal Service Fund (USF) budget and combine the E-rate and Rural Health Care programs under a single sub-cap.

On Oct 31, 2019, Rep Jennifer González-Colón (D-PR) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai about how the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Bureau (PRTB) filed a waiver request to suspend the requirement that carriers use the National Verifier eligibility determination system for the Lifeline communication services until the new verification program proves operations. The FCC denied the waiver request, and Rep González-Colón, while ultimately supporting the purpose of the National Verifier, urged for reconsideration from the FCC and approve the waiver request. 

On May 7, 2019, Reps Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), and Jennifer González-Colón (D-PR) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai regarding communications restoration efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. "It is no secret that the cost of deploying fiber or other forms of wireline and wireless broadband access to our nation's rural and remote communities is expensive, and we have an obligation to bridge the digital divide for all communities, regardless of where they may be located.

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

CenturyLink has agreed to pay nearly $9 million to settle allegations the company overbilled Minnesota customers, said MN Attorney General Keith Ellison. AG Ellison said the settlement requires CenturyLink to pay more than $844,000 in refunds to more than 12,000 Minnesota customers who were promised a discount they did not receive.

This historic legislation will provide American consumers with even greater protection against annoying unsolicited robocalls. American families deserve control over their communications, and this legislation will update our laws and regulations to stiffen penalties, increase transparency, and enhance government collaboration to stop unwanted solicitation. President Donald J. Trump is proud to have worked with Congress to get this bipartisan legislation to his desk, and even prouder to sign it into law today.

The Network Security Information Sharing Act (HR 4461) would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to mitigate cybersecurity threats to suppliers of telecommunications services and equipment. Under the bill, the DHS would establish a program office to share information with trusted participants in the telecommunications industry about efforts by adversaries to embed malicious software into communications equipment purchased by American companies.