Rhode Island lawmakers might consider ending 911 fee diversion next year, Rhode Island House Finance Vice Chairman Kenneth Marshall (D) told us Friday. Seeking a more immediate fix, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and state Rep. Robert Lancia (R) slammed a proposed Rhode Island budget that renames rather than restricts the state 911 fund. “The citizens of your state deserve more than just a name change,” said O’Rielly in a Friday letter to Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) and Rhode Island House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (D). Raimondo earlier supported legislators ending diversion (see 1803200052).
Former FCC chairmen heralded Apple's Monday announcement it will include RapidSOS technology in iOS 12 to quickly send more accurate location information to 911 call centers, which National Emergency Number Association President Rob McMullen said will accelerate next-generation 911 deployment. It's "a very significant announcement heralding a material shift forward in emergency response capabilities,” former FCC Chairman Dennis Patrick, an adviser to RapidSOS, told us. “The FCC has itself estimated that enhanced location information accurately and immediately communicated can save up to 10,000 lives annually.”
With the Lifeline national verifier not ready, Universal Service Administrative Co. will take over eligibility verification for Utah wireline service providers July 1 in a Utah-specific accommodation, USAC Communication Director Jaymie Gustafson said during a Utah Public Service Commission technical workshop Wednesday. “We’ll basically be running a mini national verifier operation.” The PSC’s state contract ends June 30, terminated in the belief the national verifier would be ready by then, and the commission at first planned to require eligible telecom service providers to self-certify (see 1806070022). The PSC has been in contact with USAC and senior FCC staffers, who say "they understand our concerns" and are committed to deploying the national verifier soon, but there’s no firm schedule, Utah PSC technical adviser John Harvey said. There’s no launch date announced for the national verifier, USAC’s Gustafson said. Starting July 1, USAC will accept paper applications for wireline consumers by mail directly from consumers. When the national verifier launches, service providers will also be able to check consumer eligibility, she said. Consumers must send forms to USAC’s Washington, D.C., address, not the Kentucky address listed in the form, and any applications sent to Kentucky will be destroyed, she said. Gustafson suggested providers attach a sticker to the form with the correct address. “We all want to see [the national verifier] move forward” quickly, Commissioner Brendan Carr said in a Thursday interview at the Above Ground Level Summit in Philadelphia (see 1806140057). He said the FCC is still taking feedback on Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal to end Lifeline support to non-facilities-based carriers, a plan that state commissioners, FCC Democrats and others have protested (see 1806060031, 1806040030 and 1806010046).
PHILADELPHIA -- Pennsylvania may reverse pre-empt the FCC for pole attachment authority, an option for states not taken for nearly a decade. Public Utility Commissioners voted 5-0 for a motion by Commissioner Norman Kennard to open a rulemaking that surprised some. Earlier Thursday, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told the Above Ground Level (AGL) Summit in Philadelphia the FCC may learn from state small-cells bills as the federal agency weighs action to lower state and local barriers to 5G deployment.
State net neutrality actions show a strong public rebuke of the FCC December order that took effect Monday (see 1806110054), consumer advocates said on a National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) webinar Wednesday. But a Montana commissioner and broadband industry officials dismissed efforts as politically driven and probably not effective. A Rhode Island net neutrality bill cleared a key Senate committee Tuesday and lawmakers could pass restrictions on state ISP contracts by the end of next week, said sponsor state Sen. Louis DiPalma (D) in an interview. California lawmakers plan more hearings next week.
ST. PAUL -- A federal circuit judge showed deference to FCC legal analysis but asked if there can be federal pre-emption of states regulating interconnected VoIP without a ruling on classification of such services. The question came at oral argument Tuesday at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Other judges asked if technical differences between Charter Communications’ VoIP service and traditional phone services make it an information rather than telecom service. Minnesota is challenging a lower court’s May 2017 decision that Charter’s cable VoIP is an information service exempt from Public Utilities Commission regulation (see 1705080048).
AT&T and Crown Castle urged the FCC to assert itself over localities to ease deployment of 5G small cells, in Friday letters. Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, localities voiced disappointment after Crown Castle won in court against the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in a case about state authority over distributed antenna systems (DAS). The court reversed the PUC's 3-2 ruling that DAS operators aren't utilities requiring state certification (see 1703020066).
Growing delay in establishing a Lifeline national verifier is worrying some states and put Utah in a difficult situation, where its state eligibility system may terminate before the national system is available, state officials told us this week. Utah eligible telecom providers plan to self-certify consumers starting July 1, though some warned such a process can increase fraud risk.
A March FCC order on wireless infrastructure attracted reconsideration petitions this week from localities, a major American Indian tribe and a tower company in docket 17-79. NATOA said the order isn’t in the public interest, fails to acknowledge existing limits and ignores impact of dense deployments in small areas, among other problems. It “will inflict serious injury” on tribes, said the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. The move is a “step forward,” but the FCC should have stepped further, said T-Mobile unit and tower company PTA-FLA. Residents of Montgomery County, Maryland, also sought reconsideration due to concerns including about possible radiation from RF emissions.
Resigning Gov. Eric Greitens (R) signed a Missouri small-cells bill that would pre-empt local governments on right of way to streamline 5G infrastructure deployment. On his last day and amid a scandal over sexual assault allegations, Greitens Friday signed the small-cells item and 76 others, including a bill to combat one offense Greitens was alleged to have committed. Local government representatives said a two-year sunset unique to the Missouri small-cells bill (HB-1991) may be good and bad. Missouri is the 19th state to enact a small-cells bill, and some expect three more states to advance legislation this year.