VoIP Outage Reporting Makes May FCC Meeting Agenda

It has taken nearly a year since the FCC’s Public Safety Bureau first started laying the groundwork, but the FCC is poised to consider expanding its outage reporting rules to cover interconnected VoIP communications and broadband Internet access providers. The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to extend the outage reporting rules at its May 12 Commission Meeting.

This item has been moving forward under the radar of most VoIP and broadband providers. As we told you back in July, the Public Safety Bureau sought comment on how to apply its outage reporting obligations to interconnected VoIP services and broadband Internet access services. The Public Notice produced only a handful of comments and replies. Even in the few days before the FCC announced its meeting agenda -- typically a very busy time for those with an interest in an order -- only three ex parte notices were filed on the proposal. The minimal level of interest won’t last long, however. Once the NPRM is released this week, a much larger universe of interested parties is likely to appear.

Note: Also on the May 12th agenda are proposed revisions to two international service compliance obligations -- the FCC’s settlements policy and its Part 43 reporting requirements for international traffic. International carriers should pay close attention to both items.