Category: Blog

The FCC continues to operate with four commissioners with a fifth not yet in sight. Therefore, it continues to be limited to pursuing non-controversial issues in which it can easily achieve consensus.

In a Report and Order (Order) released February 15, 2022, in Docket 17-142, the FCC takes steps to bring more broadband competition to multi-tenant environments (MTEs) including apartments, condominiums or other multi-tenant building

There is no question ISPs are feeling under attack. The Biden administration has made it clear that as soon as a new FCC commissioner is approved, a sham proceeding will be held which will result in ultra-strict Internet regulation that will include net neutrality and Title II price regulation.

In its never-ending mission to make its universal service programs more efficient, the FCC will use its February 18, 2022, meeting to initiate a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) in Docket 17-310 to improve the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program.

In one of the least surprising decisions ever, a three-judge panel of the ultra-liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco unanimously found in a January 28, 2022, opinion, that California’s Net Neutrality Law (SB-822) requiring ISPs to treat all web traffic equally was legally enacted.

On January 24, 2022, in Docket 21-450, the FCC released a Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP, which builds upon the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program, provides eligible low-income households discounts off the cost of broadband service and connected devices.

Section 222(a) of the Telecommunications Act requires every telecommunications carrier to protect the confidentiality of customer proprietary network information (CPNI) of, and relating to, other telecommunication carriers, equipment manufacturers, and customers, including telecommunication carriers reselling telecommunications services provided by a telecommunications carrier.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which became law in November requires the FCC to develop regulations for ISP broadband labels.

It’s a story too big to ignore. The unprecedented dispute between AT&T and Verizon and the aviation industry led by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the airline carrier association – Airlines for America (AFA).

The FCC ends the year looking toward the future. The recently enacted Infrastructure Act (Act) allocates $65 billion to broadband development.