The Covid-19 crisis is highlighting the importance of broadband connectivity for all Americans. High capacity broadband service enables essential connectivity supporting telemedicine, distance education, telework, e-commerce, and essential social interactivity. During this pandemic, it is more important than ever that critical broadband services are available to all Americans. Primarily through programs administered by the Federal
About a year ago, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to subdivide the 900 MHz band into a broadband segment and two narrowband segments. The broadband segment would be 3 MHz x 3 MHz from 897.5-900.5 MHz/936.5-939.5 MHZ. The two narrowband segments would consist of 1 ½ MHz x 1 ½
Covid-19 is driving an unplanned, hopefully temporary, shift in enterprise telecommunications management. Plans to install Gig Ethernet access and MPLS ports at major locations can wait. The pressing matters are establishing and maintaining connectivity and network security for hundreds or thousands of new full-time teleworkers. Basically, it’s time to play defense rather than offense. Telecom/IT
Introduction
On February 7, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Report and Order which established the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) under which up to $20.4 billion will be made available at auction to help bring high-speed broadband to the Nation’s unserved rural areas. $16 billion will be made available through the Phase
In December 2019, the FCC finally took action in its open docket on radiofrequency (RF) exposure (RFE), adopting a Resolution of Notice of Inquiry, Second Report and Order, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Memorandum Opinion and Order. Therein, the FCC addressed many issues which had been pending since 2013 when the FCC issued a First
Earlier this week, the FCC Fined CenturyLink $400,000 and West Safety Communications $175,000 for a multi-state 911 outage that occurred in August 2018. To resolve the dispute, both companies also entered into a Compliance Plan.
The outage stemmed from an inadvertent switch configuration change, which disrupted the delivery of 911 calls in nine states. The
At its Open Meeting last week, the FCC approved a Declaratory Ruling that prevents state, local, and Tribal 911 entities from collecting higher 911 fees from VoIP subscribers than what these groups collect from subscribers of traditional telecommunications services. The FCC is promoting fee parity among services that provide end-users with the same 911 calling
Earlier this month, the FCC released a Report and Order that implements the direct dialing and notification requirements of Kari’s Law and adopted rules requiring a dispatchable location to be conveyed with 911 calls from certain Multi-Line Telephone Systems (MLTS), pursuant to RAY BAUM’s Act.
These rules will take effect over the next few
Here is the final entry of a three-part series of articles outlining the key provisions of new state legislation regarding the deployment of wireless small cell equipment in public right-of-way (ROW). Each of the three-part series addresses newly enacted legislation. The first two articles in the series featured Nebraska and Wisconsin. Today’s article features
Here is the second of a three-part series of articles outlining the key provisions of new state legislation regarding the deployment of wireless small cell equipment in public right-of-way (ROW). Each of the three-part series addresses newly enacted legislation. The first part of the series featured Nebraska. Today’s article features Wisconsin and the final