Telecommunication

Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the Truth-In-Billing, Remedies, and User Empowerment over Fees (‘TRUE Fees’) Act. The TRUE Fees Act requires phone, cable, and internet providers to include fees, charges, and surcharges in the prices they advertise for service; allows customers to end their contract without early termination fees if their provider increases prices; prevents hikes on equipment fees unless providers improve equipment; and prohibits forced arbitration clauses for wrongful billing errors.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a Report and Order that sets the rules of the road for the upcoming transition between legacy Connect America Fund support in certain price cap areas, and new, auction-based support for voice and broadband. The Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II Auction, which closed in August of 2018, allocated nearly $1.5 billion in support for broadband in rural areas currently lacking it.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules banning illegal spoofed text messages and international calls. The proposed rules would enable the agency to address consumer concerns about unwanted text messages and scam calls from overseas. The rules, if adopted, would ensure that the FCC is also able to bring enforcement actions against bad actors who spoof text messages and spoofers who seek out victims in this country from overseas. 

The Federal Communications Commission took steps to improve Internet-based relay services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and communicate by speaking.

In county- and city-run jails — where predatory contracts get little attention — instate phone calls can still cost $1 per minute, or more. Moreover, phone providers continue to extract additional profits by charging consumers hidden fees and are taking aggressive steps to limit competition in the industry. These high rates and fees can be disastrous for people incarcerated in local jails. Local jails are very different from state prisons: On a given day, 3 out of 4 people held in jails under local authority have not even been convicted, much less sentenced.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai reiterated his call for a robust caller ID authentication system to combat illegal caller ID spoofing. The Chairman recently asked the nation’s largest carriers to provide details about their caller ID authentication plans and he has called for implementation to take place in 2019. On Nov 5, 2018, Chairman Pai demanded that the phone industry begin providing caller ID authentication for consumers in 2019.

The American Cable Association said a number of the Federal Communications Commission legacy regulations "frustrate the public interest by imposing anti-competitive burdens on smaller operators." That came in comments to the FCC on its latest biennial review of telecom regulations, which it is charged with reviewing and modifying or jettison ones that are not, or no longer, in the public interest. ACA is particularly focused on the regulations on implementing the Universal Service Fund.

In 1996, Congress required incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) to unbundle and resell portions of their networks to upstart companies at discounted and government-set rates. These network-sharing rules applied exclusively to ILECs in an era before there was substantial competition from facilities-based rivals. Twenty-three years later that expected competition is here. (ILEC’s share of residential local voice markets fell from nearly 100 percent to only 11 percent of US households by the end of 2018.) Yet, these old-school regulations remain in place.

The Federal Communications Commission will vote in Feb on proposed procedures for phasing out traditional Universal Service Fund (USF) support for areas served by price cap carriers in which the carrier did not accept funding through the Connect America Fund (CAF) to deploy broadband service. Those areas were subsequently made available for auction, with funding going to the network operator that offered to deploy broadband for the lowest level of support.

The Federal Communications Commission, under Chairman Ajit Pai, recently limited the number of providers that can offer Lifeline service in tribal areas (though that decision was struck down in court on Feb 1).