On August 4, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Declaratory Ruling granting in part two separate petitions that were filed last year – one by the Edison Electric Institute and American Gas Association, and another by Blackboard, Inc. – regarding application of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) to certain types
On July 14, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission released a Report Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issuing service rules for four spectrum bands above 24 GHz. These bands are intended to be the future home for 5G wireless services and technologies currently being developed. The FCC’s new rules authorize mobile operations on a
For better or worse, you decide, the FCC is challenged when adopting policies or making decisions that impact enterprise customers. This is the second of two entries on enterprise customers and the FCC.
IP Transition. Responding to persistent calls from AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink, the FCC is in the midst of setting the ground rules for telecom carriers to migrate from copper networks and TDM services to fiber networks and all-IP services, consistent with Section 214 of the Act which requires the FCC to balance carriers’ and end-users’ (residential, SMB and enterprise) interests as carriers seek to discontinue existing services and facilities.
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For better or worse, you decide, the FCC is challenged when adopting policies or making decisions that impact enterprise customers. This is the first of two entries on enterprise customers and the FCC.
2016 looks to be the year the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will place its biggest bet on the value of spectrum and begin to see whether two novel approaches to spectrum management are hits or misses.
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This year’s mergers-and-acquisitions boom is re-shaping industries and contributing handsomely to the bottom lines of leading investment banks. One statutory provision triggered in many transactions–not just those involving major wireless or satellite broadcasting companies–is Section 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. This provision requires that the FCC grant its prior consent to the assignment of radio station licenses or the transfer of control of a radio station licensee.
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The appeals of the Open Internet Order have been consolidated in United States Telecom Assoc. v. FCC, No. 15-1063 (and consolidated cases) (D.C. Cir. filed Mar. 23, 2015). Thus, the court that decided Verizon v. FCC will rule on the FCC’s second attempt to extend its jurisdiction over the Internet.
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The entry summarizes the major elements of the Open Internet Order. An analysis of the FCC’s policy determinations and reasoning for regulating broadband internet access service as a Title II telecommunications service will be provided in a later entry.
Broadband Internet Access Service Defined. The Open Internet rules apply to “broadband Internet access service”
The FCC’s Monthly Meeting scheduled for 26 February 2015 is both widely-anticipated and one in series of continuing events. The FCC will likely adopt its net neutrality order and order preempting certain state restrictions on municipal broadband by 3-2 votes. Both decisions will be appealed.
The immediate questions are whether the net neutrality rules will
Following up on my posts on the subject, I had the opportunity to discuss FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler’s announcement of a new Net Neutrality proposal with Colin O’Keefe of LXBN. In it I explain why the FCC wouldn’t really regulate the Internet like a utility and answer a few other key questions.