Category: Blog

FCC will Mandate New Requirements for 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline

7 July 2023

At its upcoming meeting on July 20, 2023, the FCC is expected to promulgate new responsibilities for providers to improve the reliability and resiliency of the 988 suicide and crisis hotline (988 Lifeline). These will include new reporting and notice requirements for service outages potentially affecting 988 special facilities. They are similar to the existing requirements for outages that potentially affect 911 special facilities.

FCC Will Investigate Data Caps and Data Privacy

28 June 2023

While waiting for Congress to approve a fifth commissioner, the FCC has decided to wade into the controversial areas of customer data caps and data privacy issues.

FCC News and Notes for June 2023

9 June 2023

In a special edition this week we look at the latest developments at the FCC, including the expected next commissioner, the latest broadband maps release and the upcoming Stir/Shaken requirements.

FCC Proposes New NG911 Requirements for Wireline Providers

26 May 2023

On June 8, 2023, the FCC is expected to adopt a proposal which would require wireline, interconnected VoIP, and TRS providers, to deliver 911 calls and texts in IP format.

FCC Extends Robocall Rules to Additional Carriers

23 May 2023

At its upcoming May 18, 2023, meeting, the FCC is poised to extend its robocall rules to even more carriers. The creation of the new rules highlights the Seventh Report and Order (Order), Eighth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

FTC Actions on Subscriptions and Robocalls Will Impact Telecom Providers

9 May 2023

With the FCC stuck on four commissioners for the foreseeable future, increasingly the ultra-regulatory Federal Trade Commission (FTC) encroaches on our industry.

FCC Will Issue Latest Order to Stop Access Arbitrage

20 April 2023

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

6 April 2023

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

20 March 2023

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

6 March 2023

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.