FTC Actions on Subscriptions and Robocalls Will Impact Telecom Providers
With the FCC stuck on four commissioners for the foreseeable future, increasingly the ultra-regulatory Federal Trade Commission (FTC) encroaches on our industry.
Category: Blog
FCC Will Issue Latest Order to Stop Access Arbitrage
The FCC last attempted to address the issue of switched access arbitrage (also known as access stimulation) in 2019. Not surprisingly, it was not successful. As the agency ruefully notes, access arbitrage has been an ongoing problem
Fifth Circuit Court Finds Universal Service Fund Constitutional
In a case that could have had tremendous repercussions for the industry, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans released a Opinion affirming the constitutionality of the universal service fund and the Universal Service Administrative Company.
FCC Begins Rulemaking to Develop Just and Reasonable Telecom Rates for Inmates
On January 5, 2023, President Biden signed into law the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022 (Act), which expands the FCC’s authority over rates charged for telecom services provided to incarcerated people.
FCC Will Extend STIR/SHAKEN Requirements to Intermediate Carriers
Illegal robocalls continue to be a serious problem. Last year the FCC received 119,000 complaints about unwanted calls and obviously this is just the tip of the iceberg.
FCC Adopts Rules to Improve Support for Rural Health Care Providers
In an Order on Reconsideration, Second Report and Order and Second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking the FCC implemented rules to improve industry support for health care providers serving rural areas.
FCC Proposes Rules for Reliable Access to 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) released January 27, 2023, in Docket No. 23-5, the FCC proposed rules to help ensure that the public has access to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline if a service outage occurs.
FCC Begins Proceeding to Update Reporting of Customer Data Breeches
It has been fifteen years since the FCC adopted a rule requiring telecommunications carriers and interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers to notify customers and federal law enforcement of breaches of customer proprietary network information (CPNI) in their possession.
FCC Affirms Three-Call Limit on Robocalls to Residential Lines
It’s a new year but the FCC is stuck in the same old place, waiting for a fifth commissioner to be appointed. Gigi Sohn has been renominated by President Biden with the advent of the new Senate.
FCC Proposes Rules for Location-Based Routing of Wireless 911 Calls
In 2018, the FCC released a Notice of Inquiry in Docket 18-64 after it recognized that there was a problem routing certain wireless 911 calls.