The FCC’s revised label template for its recently adopted broadband consumer label is effective Sept. 6, said a Monday Federal Register notice. The template “does not modify or otherwise change any entity's underlying responsibilities under the Broadband Label Order,” the FR said, but “ensures that broadband internet access service providers know as early as possible what content must be displayed in the labels” (see 2301180050). Compliance dates will be announced in a future FR , it said.
The Competitive Carriers Association and USTelecom asked the FCC for an exemption for three more filing cycles from a requirement that broadband data collection filings be verified by a licensed professional engineer. The process under a previous waiver (see 2207080072) “has been effective, with no impact to the quality or accuracy of the BDC filings, and there remains an ongoing industry need for a waiver of the PE requirement,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-195: “A strict imposition of the … requirement would fail to reflect the realities of the broadband workforce and hinder broadband deployment for both mobile and fixed networks, as acknowledged by the Commission in its declaratory ruling and granting of limited waiver last year.” The current waiver expires after the next filing in September.
Incompas and Morgan Lewis, on behalf of its clients, asked the FCC for a 30-day extension of the deadlines to file comments and replies on an NPRM on Section 214 international authorizations, approved by commissioners in April (see 2304200039). The extension would mean comments are due Sept. 30, replies Nov. 1. The NPRM “seeks comment on a host of legal and policy questions to which we are working diligently with our respective members and clients to develop input,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 23-119: “The questions posed … involve complex economic, operational, and policy issues and will require us to closely consult with our respective members and clients. Our members and clients also must coordinate internally among business units and, in many cases, with their corporate owners in the U.S. and globally to determine the potential impact of the rules proposed in the NPRM and to develop their input.”
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment by Aug. 21 on a petition for limited waiver filed by T-Mobile Accessibility seeking waiver of the requirement that text telephone (TTY)-based relay service be capable of communicating with the American Standard Code for Information Interchange format. Replies are due Aug. 31. “T-Mobile contends that the ASCII format is now obsolete and has very few users” and that “continued compliance with the requirement inhibits innovation and imposes significant near-term costs,” the bureau said Friday in docket 03-123.
The FCC's robocall response team signed a memorandum of understanding with attorneys general in Hawaii and New Mexico Thursday to investigate illegal robocalls, bringing the total to 48 states and territories. Robocalls are "a tool for scammers to commit serious financial harm,” Hawaii First Deputy Attorney General Matt Dvonch said: “We welcome this new partnership with the FCC to better expand our reach and pool our resources in the fight against robocalls.”
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh granted a Consumers Research request to extend until Oct. 27 the deadline to file a petition for writ of certiorari Tuesday (see 2307310061). The group sought the extension for its challenge of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the FCC's USF 2021 Q4 contribution factor. Kavanaugh is the justice assigned to the 6th Circuit.
UnitedHealth Group (UHG) raised healthcare industry concerns on a June NPRM on giving consumers more choice on the robocalls and robotexts they receive (see 2306080043). “UHG supports the efforts by the FCC to protect consumers from unwanted robocalls and robotexts,” the company said in a filing Monday in docket 02-278: “We agree that consumers have the right to revoke their prior consent and that callers should adopt and maintain reasonable standards to comply with such requests. We ask the FCC to frame its rulemaking in a manner that does not unduly limit or discourage the use of telephone and text contacts in the context of health care.”
The FCC Disability Advisory Committee will meet in person at 9 a.m. Sept. 7 at FCC headquarters, said a Friday notice in the Federal Register. This is the second meeting of the current DAC, after one in April (see 2304260060).
Rollout of Gogo's terrestrial 5G system for business aviation has been delayed to mid next year due to a design error in a non-5G component of its chip, the company said Friday. The chip was designed by a third-party subcontractor, it said. It said its suppliers did extensive testing successfully of the 5G components of the chip.
Most carriers will phase out their legacy time-division multiplexing operations by about 2030, said Francois Caron, senior director-product management, at network solutions provider Ribbon, on a Light Reading webinar Thursday. “We’re going to run out of people who can operate existing TDM networks,” Caron predicted. TDM technologies are at a point where they have “outlived” the people who built them, understand them and know how to operate them, he said. “Finding someone with TDM knowledge who can continue to operate the gear that’s in today’s networks is going to be a massive challenge,” he said: “You don’t have that much time left to determine what you’re going to do with those legacy assets.” Carriers need to ask, “Do I really need a TDM copper network. What if we just bypassed the entire copper network if and when possible,” Caron said.