Intelligent Telecom Data Solutions
Some potential good news for incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs). The FCC is poised to use its August 7, 2025, meeting to eliminate remaining rate regulation and tariffing requirements on DS1 and DS3 business data services (BDS). The proposal will be part of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) and Third Notice of Proposed Rulemaking […]
Remember the days when customers claimed they were slammed? If you’re old like me, you remember that slamming is the illegal practice of submitting or executing a change in a consumer’s wireline telephone service provider for local, local toll, or long-distance service without their permission. Slamming emerged four decades ago, a side-effect of the Commission’s then […]
On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court released an Opinion in the Case of “Federal Communications Commission v Consumers Research” which reversed the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and found the Universal Service Fund (USF)to be lawful. The Opinion was 6-3 with “KAGAN, J., deliver[ing] the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. […]
The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program was created in 2021 as part of the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Program is a $42.45 billion initiative aimed at expanding high-speed Internet access across the areas of the country lacking broadband service. BEAD is governed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), […]
During the first Trump administration, the FCC led by Ajit Pai eliminated federal Net Neutrality rules. It also tried to prevent states from enacting similar regulations, but that attempt was rejected by the courts. Thus, the door is now open to a flood of possible state broadband regulations, including state Net Neutrality, price regulation, and […]
Believe it or not, 25 years ago there were hundreds of telecom companies competing to offer customers local and long-distance telephone service. Now, other than turning Northern Virginia into an economic powerhouse, those days are long gone. The latest consolidation of our industry into a few massive broadband providers supplemented by smaller regional providers and resellers took […]
The FCC has for years attempted to protect U.S. telecommunications networks from foreign penetration and possible sabotage. Each time a company applies for an FCC license, its level of foreign ownership is carefully reviewed. In addition, the agency recently created a list of Covered equipment and services provided by foreign countries that pose unacceptable risks to […]
It should come as no surprise to anyone with a cellphone that robocalls are still a problem. The FCC asserted that in 2020 alone, illegal robocalls drained $13.5 billion from the U.S. economy. Congress responded to this crisis by passing the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED) aimed at combating illegal robocalls. […]
In oral arguments held on March 26, 2024, most justices at the U.S. Supreme Court appeared sympathetic to the FCC’s argument that the federal universal service fund (USF) is a lawful mechanism for ensuring equitable telecommunications services to low-income and rural areas. Moreover, the justices also seemed supportive of the agency’s delegating of authority to the […]
On March 20, 2025, the FCC released a series of orders eliminating several unnecessary rules to enable carriers to more easily retire their antiquated copper networks and replace these networks with modern broadband. As FCC Chairman Brendan Carr notes, Outdated FCC rules have left Americans sitting in the slow lane for far too long. Those […]