Telecommunication

In 2018, we created the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund. Today, I shared with my colleagues a draft Order that would finalize Stage 2 of the Funds, allocating about $950 million to improve, expand, and harden broadband networks in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. We will be voting on this draft Order at the FCC’s monthly meeting on Sept 26.

After years of frustration that Silicon Valley companies seemed to get special treatment in Washington, telecommunications giants are finally (re)gaining the upper hand. They are now starting to feel more able to compete with tech giants as they all jockey to dominate how we communicate and access information.

Copper networks still form the backbone of America’s communication system despite the rise of fiber -- and providers are either pulling the plug or letting them fall into disrepair.

The Federal Communications Commission released a report on the 911 outage originating in CenturyLink’s network that occurred Dec 27, 2018. The findings are the latest example of the risks involved in what the FCC calls the telecom “tech transition.” The 911 outage studied in the report was what is known as a “sunny day” outage – one not caused by weather or other natural disaster.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the US Department of Commerce identified 46 additional Huawei affiliates that require inclusion on the Entity List, as part of a routine review of all Entity Listings. Since May, the Dept has added over one hundred persons or organizations to the Entity List in connection to Huawei. The new restrictions on these affiliates are effective Aug 19th.

The Florida League of Cities and three communities filed a renewed constitutional challenge to a state law that is expected to help telecommunications companies install wireless technology on city-owned utility poles and in public rights of way. The league and the FL cities of Fort Walton Beach, Naples, and Port Orange filed the lawsuit Aug 12  in Leon County circuit court, about three months after filing a similar challenge to a 2017 state law.

The Federal Communications Commission announced a settlement with CenturyLink to resolve an investigation into the company’s placement of unauthorized third-party charges and fees onto consumers’ bills. This practice, known as cramming, is unjust and unreasonable under the Communications Act. During its investigation, the Enforcement Bureau reviewed complaints from CenturyLink customers. Consumers stated that they discovered unauthorized third-party charges on their CenturyLink bills and, in some cases, had difficulty getting timely refunds.

Frontier Communications customers are reporting more outages and longer repair times, and state government officials have decided to investigate.

Frontier Communications CEO Dan McCarthy was not surprised by -- but is not enthusiastic --  about some aspects of the proposed Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which would essentially replace the Connect America broadband funding program for the nation’s larger price cap carriers. His concerns relate to the proposed reverse auction, which would be used to award program funding. In the Connect America Fund program, price cap carriers had a right of first refusal on Connect America Fund (CAF) support for their local service territories.

Over the past few years, the major US mobile carriers have been in the spotlight over allegations that they have been selling their subscribers’ real-time geolocation data, including highly precise assisted GPS (A-GPS) information designed for use with “Enhanced 911” (E911).  Today, broadband providers that also provide telecommunications services are not subject to any comprehensive federal privacy law.