The FCC adopted an Order on Reconsideration at its October 25, 2019 meeting modifying the broadband performance testing requirements for service providers receiving Connect America Fund (“CAF”) high-cost support. Under the Order, the FCC will delay the start of testing for many CAF recipients to better align with network deployment deadlines. The FCC also will create a “pre-testing” period to allow CAF support recipients time to assess how their networks and testing equipment perform without penalty before official testing begins. In addition, the FCC will provide more flexibility for certain testing procedures to reduce the burden on smaller service providers. The Order impacts every CAF program and deserves a close look, not only by service providers that currently receive CAF support but also by those that plan to seek such support through future programs like the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The Order is just the latest in a long line of reforms to the CAF since its creation nearly a decade ago and shows that the FCC still is willing to tinker with its high-cost programs to meet its broadband deployment goals.
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This Time It’s Drones: FCC Reminds Retailers, Manufacturers, and Operators of Responsibilities Regarding Equipment Authorization
Simultaneously with issuing a nearly $3,000,000 fine to HobbyKing for marketing unauthorized (and in some cases not capable of being authorized) audio/video (“AV”) transmitters for use with drone mounted cameras, the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC’s” or “Commission’s”) Enforcement Bureau issued an Advisory Tuesday reminding retailer manufacturers, and operators of their obligations: no marketing or operation of unauthorized equipment except under very limited exceptions.
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A Case of Bad Hygiene? FCC Proposes More Than $590,000 Penalty for RF Device Marketing Violations, and Commissioner O’Rielly Foreshadows Potentially Tougher Equipment Authorization Enforcement Policies
On May 30, 2018, the Commission issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (“NAL”) proposing a total penalty of $590,380 against a company for marketing noncompliant radio frequency (“RF”) devices in apparent violation of the agency’s equipment marketing rules. The allegations in the NAL provide a textbook example of how a company that becomes aware of a violation relating to products subject to the Commission equipment authorization procedures should not respond. The NAL was issued against Bear Down Brands, LLC, dba Pure Enrichment (“Pure Enrichment”), a Delaware company, in connection with fourteen models of the company’s consumer-oriented electronic personal hygiene and wellness devices it markets and imports, all of which were Part 15 or Part 18 unintentional radiators. The NAL alleges that the devices were noncompliant because they lacked proper equipment authorization, failed to make required user manual disclosures, and/or did not have compliant FCC labels.
Continue Reading A Case of Bad Hygiene? FCC Proposes More Than $590,000 Penalty for RF Device Marketing Violations, and Commissioner O’Rielly Foreshadows Potentially Tougher Equipment Authorization Enforcement Policies
October 2017 FCC Meeting Recap: FCC Establishes Volume Control Standards for Wireline, ACS and Wireless Handsets
At the Federal Communication Commission’s (Commission’s) monthly meeting on October 24, 2017, the Commissioners approved a Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration (Order) updating Commission rules regarding hearing aid compatibility (HAC). Specifically, the Order adopts a new wireline HAC volume control standard, applies the wireline HAC standards to handsets used for advanced communications services (ACS) like interconnected and non-interconnected VoIP, and adopts a volume control requirement for wireless handsets. The wireless device volume control requirement is the most controversial and drew dissents from both of the Chairman’s fellow Republicans, despite the three year runway for compliance.
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ITSPs and CMRS Providers Can Now Review and Revise FCC Annual Regulatory Fee Information; September Payment Deadline Not Yet Set
By Public Notice released Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) announced that Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers (ITSP) and Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) providers can now log in to preview the provider’s FY2017 regulatory fee data in the FCC’s Fee Filer system. ITSPs and CMRS providers have limited time to request any revisions to the data on which fees are based and therefore are encouraged to review their proposed fee data in a timely manner.
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Carpenters, Carriers, and Cell-Sites (Oh My!): SCOTUS to Hear Mobile Locational Privacy Case
On June 5, 2017, the United States Supreme Court granted cert in Carpenter v. United States, a case in the hotly contested area of mobile cellular location data privacy. The question before the Court is whether law enforcement must obtain a warrant for historical cell-site location information.
The case stems from 2014, when Timothy Carpenter was sentenced for his alleged role in coordinating a series of armed robberies of smartphone vendors. To support its case, law enforcement obtained access to 127 days’ worth of Mr. Carpenter’s cell-site location records through what is commonly referred to as a “D order” (after the subsection of the act under which the records were requested). Whereas warrants require the government to show probable cause, under the Stored Communications Act, a D order merely requires that law enforcement present “specific and articulable facts showing that there are reasonable grounds to believe” that the records requested “are relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation.” 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d).
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That Won’t Fly: The D.C. Circuit Strikes Down the FAA’s Registration Regime for Recreational Drones
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) struck down an FAA regulation that required the owners of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (“UAS”) to register with the agency (the “Registration Rule”).
In 2012, Congress passed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act (“FMRA”), which prohibited the FAA from creating “any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft.” Under the FMRA, a model aircraft is a UAS that is:
- capable of sustained flight in the atmosphere;
- flown within visual line of sight of the UAS operator; and
- flown for hobby or recreational purposes.
Sprint and Windstream Waste No Time Appealing Business Data Services Order
On May 8, 2017, merely ten days after the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) adopted its Report & Order (“BDS Order”) deregulating the market for Business Data Services (“BDS”), Sprint and Windstream petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (“D.C. Circuit”) to vacate the BDS Order.
In the BDS Order, as we
Client Advisory: Congress Repeals FCC 2016 Privacy Order via Congressional Review Act
On April 3, 2017, President Trump signed into law a Congressional joint resolution eliminating new broadband and voice privacy rules set forth in a November 2016 order (the 2016 Privacy Order) by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (the Joint Resolution). Members of Congress largely voted along partisan lines. The House approved the Joint Resolution by a 215-205 vote and the Senate approved it by a 50-48 vote.
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FCC Proposes Eliminating Annual International Traffic and Revenue Report and Streamlining Annual Circuit Capacity Report
At its March 23, 2017 Open Meeting, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) voted unanimously to adopt a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comment on a proposal to reduce certain reporting requirements for international telecommunications service providers (International Service Providers). In particular, the FCC proposes to eliminate, in its entirety, the annual International Traffic and Revenue Report, in which International Service Providers report details regarding their international telecommunications services. The NPRM also seeks comments on ways to streamline the annual Circuit Capacity Report in which International Service Providers report on satellite, terrestrial, and submarine cable system usage and capacity.
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