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Vol. 19, No. 50

December 18, 2023

UPCOMING EVENTS


January 18, 2024

Axcent Networks Webinar:

Integrity Matters: The Keys to Maintaining Accurate Data


March 5, 2024

The 2024 INCOMPAS

Policy Summit

Washington, D.C.

MEMBER NEWS


Bluebird Network Secures $285M in Senior Secured Credit Facilities


DC BLOX Set to Build Hyperscale-Ready Data Center Campus in Rockdale County, Georgia

COMMENT

DEADLINES


December 29

Reply Comments Due on Access to Numbering Resources 


January 16

Reply Comments Due on AI Robocall NOI


January 17

Reply Comments Due on NPRM to Reclassify Broadband Under Title II


Reply Comments Due on Reconsideration of RIF Remand Order

INCOMPAS Files Comments in FCC Net Neutrality Proceeding

INCOMPAS last week submitted comments in the FCC's proceeding regarding safeguarding and securing the open internet.


"INCOMPAS has led the industry in promoting a federal net neutrality framework for over a decade to ensure that consumers have access to competitive online services, content and applications of their choice, which helps drive the business case for more competitive broadband network deployment," INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering said following the filing.


"Absent Congressional action, we support the FCC’s proposal to reclassify broadband internet access service and to reimpose its 2015 net neutrality rules," he added. "INCOMPAS’ broadband-only members will be able to obtain the protections in Title II so that they can build their networks faster and more affordably, including obtaining access to poles and multi-tenant environments. Our comments also recommend that the Commission avoid imposing onerous, new regulations on broadband providers that are not needed to promote an open internet."


"We also urge the FCC follow its precedent and avoid regulating in areas where it lacks statutory authority over internet services, including content delivery networks," Pickering concluded. "We look forward to working with the Commission to further its open internet policy and speed deployment for broadband networks."

FCC Adopts Order on Pole Attachments

At its Open Meeting last week, the FCC adopted of a Fourth Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling and Third FNPRM to make the pole attachment process faster, more transparent and more cost effective.


"For INCOMPAS members, gaining quick access to utility poles at reasonable terms remains a consistent barrier to their efforts to build next-generation broadband networks, which is why today's Poles Order is a step in the right direction to address this critical issue and speed deployment," said INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering.


"We appreciate the Commission's willingness to work with us on these issues and modify its pole attachment rules to ensure that new attachers face fewer obstacles in their builds," he added. "INCOMPAS also welcomes changes the Commission has made to the item, as a direct result of our advocacy, that will go even further to expedite builds by ensuring that the first 3,000 poles in a large pole order fall under the agency's current make-ready timelines. We look forward to continuing this conversation to ensure our competitive members have equitable and affordable access to poles so they can continue to build their networks and connect all Americans." 

FCC Opens One-Time Information Collection Filing Window

for International Section 214 Authorization Holders to

Provide Foreign Ownership Information

Earlier this year, the FCC adopted the Evolving Risks Order and NPRM that, among other things, requires all international section 214 authorization holders to respond to a one-time collection to update the Commission’s records regarding their foreign ownership.


Last week, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the deadline of the one-time information collection. All authorization holders are required to file their responses in the one-time information collection online filing system no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on January 22, 2024. The FCC also provided links for additional documents necessary for the completion of the information collection:

FCC Announces Appointments to USAC Board of Directors

FCC Chairwoman Jessical Rosenworcel appointed six members to the USAC board of directors for a three-year term, beginning on January 1, 2024.


Congratulations to Sheba Chacko of INCOMPAS member company BT Americas, who will be representing competitive local exchange carriers.


Other appointees include Mona L. Thompson, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority for tribal communities; Kara Semmler, South Dakota Telecommunications Association for ILECs; Angela Siefer, National Digital Inclusion Alliance for low-income consumers; Joan H. Wade, Ed.D., Association of Educational Service Agencies for schools eligible to receive discounts; and Katherine Hsu Wibberly, Ph.D., Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center for rural health care providers eligible to receive supported services.

December 31 Deadline for Stir/Shaken Implementation

The FCC issued a public notice reminding non-gateway intermediate providers not subject to an extension that they must use STIR/SHAKEN to authenticate caller ID information for all unauthenticated SIP calls received directly from an originating provider no later than December 31, 2023.

House Bill to Require FCC to Expand Rural 5G Access

The House of Representatives passed Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-LA) 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement (SALE) Act. The bill would require the FCC to release previously auctioned spectrum in order to expand broadband access to rural communities. The Senate passed Kennedy’s legislation this September. The 5G SALE Act would temporarily grant the FCC auction authority it needs to complete spectrum transfers, which would allow broadband services to provide greater 5G network coverage to Americans in rural areas.


In 2022, the FCC auctioned off roughly 8,000 licenses to grant companies access to America’s broadband spectrum. These licenses are the only way companies can legally use the radio waves that deliver 5G to customers. These wavelengths are therefore highly valuable.


During the period between when companies paid for their licenses and when licenses could go out, Congress failed to reauthorize the FCC’s ability to auction off licenses altogether. Now, each company that bought spectrum in that auction is waiting to receive its transfer. Despite payments being complete, the FCC says it no longer has the authority to grant those licenses. Kennedy’s legislation would grant the FCC a one-time, temporary authority to issue licenses purchased in auctions that were held before March 9, 2023. which is when the FCC’s Congressional authorization ended.

INCOMPAS | www.incompas.org
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