Intelligent Telecom Data Solutions
In June the Fifth Circuit Court found that the Universal Service Fund was unconstitutional because the FCC does not administer the Fund itself but instead turns it over to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). According to the Court, USAC includes members with an incentive to keep the Fund growing and therefore, was illegal. Since […]
The battle to stop illegal robocalls is never-ending. The FCC’s latest missive is its Eighth Report and Order (Order), issued in Docket 17-97 on November 22, 2024, which sets rules for carriers who rely on third parties for their Stir/Shaken call authentication obligations. The STIR/SHAKEN caller ID framework allows service providers to verify that the […]
On November 17, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump selected Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to be the next chairman of the FCC. Trump stated that Carr “is a warrior for Free Speech and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms and held back our Economy. He will end the regulatory onslaught that […]
Like a broken record, the FCC continues to try to micromanage every aspect of the telecommunications industry. The latest effort is a 3-2 split decision to begin an Inquiry into the customer service of the telecommunications and cable industries. The Notice of Inquiry (Notice) in Docket 24-472 was released on October 23, 2024, with industry comments due […]
On October 15, 2024, the FCC began a Notice of Inquiry (Notice) in Docket 23-199 into the data caps that exist for some consumer broadband plans offered by broadband Internet access service (BIAS) providers. According to the Commission, Data caps are restrictions set by BIAS providers on the volume of bits that a consumer can […]
In 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. It promised that all Americans would have equal access to reliable, high-speed broadband services without discrimination. This, as I’ll soon explain, is a myth. Once you leave the bigger cities and their prosperous suburbs, your broadband choices are a complete crapshoot. The infrastructure […]
Comments are due on October 7, regarding the FCC’s Eighteenth Section 706 Report Notice of Inquiry (Notice) in Docket 24-214. Section 706 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act requires the Commission to conduct an annual inquiry regarding the deployment of “Advanced Telecommunications Capability (i.e., broadband) to All Americans in a Reasonable and Timely Fashion.” In last year’s […]
The FCC continues its never-ending battle against illegal robocalls. In its upcoming September 26, 2024, meeting, the Commission is set to adopt its Eighth Report and Order in CG Docket No. 17-59, and Third Report and Order in CG Docket No. 21-40 (Proposed Order), establishing new rules for voice providers to try to stop unwanted and […]
In its continued attempt to regulate every aspect of telecommunications, the FCC latest missive is a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) in Docket 24-213 seeking to improve the effectiveness of the Robocall Migration Database (RBD). The agency created this Database in 2021 to implement provisions of the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence […]
When the FCC released the Net Neutrality Order on April 25, 2024, reinstating Net Neutrality, it had been repeatedly warned that it was facing an uphill battle. The Order would give the Commission total control over the Internet behavior of ISPs by reclassifying broadband Internet access service as a Title II telecommunications service, forbidding blocking, throttling […]