Telecom Business Alert –Pole Attachments, CII Spectrum, Wireless 911, TCPA, FirstNet, Regulatory Fees, Vol XII Issue 36
FCC Pole Attachment Complaint
Verizon filed a pole attachment complaint against Dominion, seeking more than $16 million in refunds for alleged overcharges in pole attachment rental fees. Dominion’s response is due October 17. For additional information about this and six other pending ILEC-Electric Utility joint use rate complaints, please contact Tom Magee (magee@khlaw.com; 202.434.4128).
CII Sharing Public Safety Spectrum
Last week, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on a Petition filed last year by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council. The Petition urged the FCC to amend its rules to permit railroad police officers that are empowered to carry out law enforcement functions to access public safety interoperability and mutual aid channels in the VHF, UHF, 700 MHz, and 800 MHz bands. The Commission tentatively concluded that enabling railroad police officers to use these public safety channels to communicate with first responders would provide a public safety benefit. The comment cycle will be established when the NPRM is published in the Federal Register. For additional information, please contact Greg Kunkle (kunkle@khlaw.com; 202.434.4178).
911 Location Accuracy Test Bed
Last week, 9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed LLC released a Request for Proposals to select an indoor 911 location accuracy test bed administrator. Earlier this year, the FCC established wireless location accuracy rules that require wireless service providers to improve 9-1-1 location accuracy for consumers calling for help from a mobile device. (Vol. XII, Issue 6). The new rules also require wireless carriers to establish by early next year a test bed to study the performance of new and existing 9-1-1 location information technologies. Vendors interested in serving as the test bed administrator should confirm their intent by September 14th and submit their final proposals by October 16. The test bed administrator will be selected by the end of the year. For additional information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).
TCPA Petitions for Review
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Consumer Bankers Association are the latest organizations to challenge the FCC’s July 10 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) Declaratory Ruling and Order. Each filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week challenging, among other things, the FCC’s interpretation of the “called party” for purposes of the TCPA consent requirements, the “one call” standard for calls and texts to numbers that have been reassigned, and the FCC’s interpretation of what constitutes an “autodialer.” On July 24, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated petitions for review of the TCPA Order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. For a brief summary of the Order, click here. For additional information, please contact Tracy Marshall (marshall@khlaw.com; 202.434.4234).
FirstNet Cybersecurity
At its Industry Day last month, FirstNet indicated it plans to release a special notice in the coming weeks requesting input on network cybersecurity. The timeline for input likely will be short. FirstNet plans to release a final Request for Proposals (RFP) by the end of the year, and bidders are expected to submit responses to the RFP – including a cybersecurity solution – by next summer.
Annual FCC Regulatory Fees
Last week, the FCC released a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking announcing regulatory fees for the fiscal year 2015. Licensees of certain facilities, such as Satellite Earth Stations, are required to make annual regulatory fee payments by September 24, 2015. For many licensed facilities, such as microwave and land mobile systems, the regulatory fees are paid when the application is filed with the FCC.
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Keller and Heckman LLP's Telecom Business Alert is a complimentary weekly electronic update created by the Telecommunications and the Business Counseling and Transactional practice groups of Keller and Heckman LLP. All articles, videos, and quotations are on topics of general interest and do not constitute legal advice for particularized facts. Keller and Heckman LLP's Telecom Business Alert © 2015. All rights reserved. Articles may be copied with attribution. To sign up for our weekly alert, please send us an email at telecomalert@khlaw.com and provide us with your name and email. Please follow us on Twitter at @KHtelecom.