TOMORROW! Webinar on Number Reputation Optimization

Join INCOMPAS and member company Caller ID Reputation on Wednesday, February 21 at 2 p.m. ET for a comprehensive webinar that will break down the importance of optimizing your business phone channel strategy. By doing this, you can ensure success on the phone channel while addressing the major changes within the telecom space. Businesses using the phone to contact leads and customers must adapt to the changes to stay compliant, and this webinar will explain how to do so from setup to execution.

During Number Reputation Optimization; Marketing Successfully on the Phone Channel in 2024, Gerry Christensen, head of Partnerships and Regulatory Compliance for Caller ID Reputation, will cover:

• Changes in the channel's landscape after the FCC's recent ruling
• How registration helps against number spoofing and brand impersonation
• What phone number monitoring looks like
• How optimized organizations approach number management
• How to handle the inevitable: flagged numbers, fraud and remediation

Even if you're unable to attend the live event, please register so you can receive the link to watch the webinar on-demand at a later date. 

INCOMPAS Suggests Ways to Increase Pole Deployment,

Opposes Utiltiies' Petition to Undo December Poles Ruling

INCOMPAS last week filed comments in response to the FCC's rulemaking notice on ways to further increase telecommunications providers access to utility poles in order to facilitate broadband deployment. INCOMPAS urged the FCC to set specific deadlines for utilities to approve large pole attachment orders and encouraged the FCC to allow providers to engage in self-help when stymied by pole owners. In addition, INCOMPAS also filed comments opposing an electric utility association's reconsideration petition, which attempts to remove some of the modest pole attachments reforms the FCC adopted in December.

“Far too often, INCOMPAS members are unable to attain timely access to investor-owned utility poles at a reasonable cost hindering their ability to deploy future-proof networks quickly and affordably. With the billions of dollars of federal resources flowing to broadband deployment, there is no doubt we will see a significant increase in the number of large pole orders making it critical for the Commission to address access issues,” said INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering. “Increasing broadband providers’ access to the poles will spur faster and more efficient deployments, which ultimately benefits consumers and businesses waiting to use next-generation networks.”

"INCOMPAS is supportive of the Commission’s proposal to set specific deadlines to complete the make-ready process in the communications space for large pole attachment orders," Pickering continued. "This will help streamline deployment of broadband facilities in both unserved and underserved communities.”

“We also suggested the Commission should expand the rights of new attachers to engage in self-help and encourage negotiations to take place as much as possible between attachers and pole owners. Taking both important steps, will ensure a more just, and timely process that will result in greater cost savings across the board for competitive broadband service providers trying to build out to unserved and underserved communities.”

“With respect to the reconsideration petition, Edison Electric Institute’s request would undo many of the modest gains that new attachers will experience because of the Commission's December ruling,” Pickering remarked. “The petition would further restore investor-owned utilities' ability to make unreasonable pole replacement demands on competitive telecommunications providers. We strongly urge the Commission to reject this petition as it directly conflicts with the Commission's goals in this proceeding of clarifying its cost-causation principles and increasing transparency between these parties.”

Coalition of Concerned Utilities Seeks Reconsideration of Pole Attachment Order

The Coalition of Concerned Utilities filed a petition for reconsideration regarding the December 2023 fourth report and order on pole attachments. They requested the FCC eliminate the requirement that utilities submit a copy of periodic pole inspection reports to attaching entities. They claimed the inspection report ruling establishes a requirement not raised in the second FNPRM and was not subject to a sufficient notice and comment period, and failed to fully consider the interests, costs, burdens and liabilities of pole owners.

INCOMPAS, CCA, VON Coalition and NTCA Express Concern with Lack of IP Interconnection Framework

INCOMPAS, the Cloud Communications Alliance, the Voice On the Net Coalition and NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association sent a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on February 13 expressing concern about the lack of an IP interconnection framework and the effect it has on the integrity and reliability of the telecommunications network.

The groups asserted without a framework, providers are not incented to exchange voice traffic in IP. They said several developments, including the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN and other forthcoming caller ID authentication initiatives, have been and will continue to be impeded without ubiquitous IP interconnection. Additionally, they said the absence of an IP interconnection framework also poses significant challenges to advancing the transition to Next Generation 911.

Data Breach Order Effective March 13

The report and order updating the FCC’s data breach notification rules was published in the Federal Register last week. The order modified the rules to better ensure providers of telecommunications, interconnected VoIP and telecommunications relay services are held accountable in their obligations to safeguard sensitive customer information, and provide customers with the tools needed to protect themselves if their data is compromised. The order is effective March 13, except for the amendments codified in sections 64.2011 and 64.5111 (notification of security breaches), which are delayed pending approval by the Office of Management and Budget.