Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update — newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP are reproduced in this section with the firm's permission. 
| BloostonLaw Telecom Update | Vol. 16, No. 16 | May 8, 2013 |
Headlines FCC Unsympathetic to Failed Do-it-Yourself Attempts to Renew Licenses — Denies Waiver Requests The FCC has recently denied waiver requests that would have permitted the filing and acceptance of late-filed applications for renewal of licenses. In both instances, inadvertent errors involving the FCC's Universal Licensing System resulted in the expiration of the licenses. In the first case, the licensee intended to file an application for renewal and modification of its license the day before the license expiration. Unfortunately, it only filed a request for Administrative Update to correct its licensee contact phone number and e-mail address. As a result, the license expired the very next day because a license renewal application had not been filed. In the second case, the licensee discovered a few days after the license expiration date that it had inadvertently overlooked the filing of the license renewal application and immediately filed a request for waiver of the FCC's rules for reinstatement of the license. Unfortunately, ULS reflects that while the second licensee filed its waiver request, it never actually filed the required application for renewal/reinstatement of the license. In both cases, the FCC concluded that even though the licensees had clearly made attempts to make the necessary renewal filing, they had not made an adequate showing to justify the grant of a waiver. While the FCC has taken steps to encourage licensees to make do-it-yourself filings, it is important to note that the FCC is not always forgiving when mistakes are inadvertently made. Aside from the licensing area, the FCC has also taken significant enforcement actions in connection with the annual CPNI and HAC reporting requirements. Significant fines and loss of a license can also be imposed for allowing license authorizations to expire or not making other required filings in a timely manner. We are available to assist you with your various regulatory filings. However, if you chose to make filings on your own, please contact us if you have any questions.
FCC Proposes $9,000 fine for failure to Install Emergency Alert System Equipment and Maintain EAS Logs The FCC's Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules apply to broadcasters, cable operators and wireless licensees that utilize their broadband systems for the provision of wireless cable services. These rules are designed to ensure that the public receives important safety messages from the President, and state and local governments in the event of an emergency. Additionally, state and local area emergency plans identify local primary sources responsible for carriage of common emergency messages from sources such as the National Weather Service or local emergency management officials. Further, broadcasters and cable systems are required to participate in weekly and monthly tests that originate from EAS Local or State Primary sources. The FCC stated that EAS is critical to public safety since it is the United States' emergency warning system. As a result, the FCC has stated that full compliance is required and that it takes any violations seriously. To prove that the FCC takes its EAS rules seriously, it proposed a $9,000 fine against a small broadcaster for failing to install EAS equipment and maintaining the required EAS logs. In addition to the fine, the FCC also directed this small broadcaster to submit a statement, under penalty of perjury, that it has installed the required EAS equipment and is otherwise in full compliance with the FCC's EAS rules. The violations were discovered during an inspection triggered by an unrelated complaint against the broadcaster. During that inspection, the FCC's field agent discovered that the broadcaster had not installed the required EAS encoders, EAS decoders and attention signal generating and receiving equipment required by the FCC's Rules. This equipment is required so that the broadcaster or cable service operator can ensure that the monitoring and transmitting functions are available during all times that the station or cable system is operating. Further aggravating the matter was the fact that the broadcaster did not maintain EAS logs, as required by the rules. As a result of this additional violation, the FCC increased the base amount of the proposed fine from $8,000 to $9,000.
LightSquared Granted Experimental Authority The Wall Street Journal Online and other sources are reporting that last week the FCC granted experimental authority to LightSquared Subsidiary, LLC in the 1675-1680 MHz band to to test whether its mobile network can coexist with government use of that space. According to the article, LightSquared has three months to share the band with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which currently uses the spectrum for meteorological work. The grant of experimental authority received no fanfare on the FCC's website, but rather was quietly slipped into the FCC's Experimental Licensing System. The experimental authority does not amount to a grant of the request for modification that LightSquared originally requested for its 4G network. The LightSquared system came under much heat because of concerns about interference to GPS signals. As the WSJ article further notes, LightSquared still faces a number of difficulties, having filed for Chapter 11 protection last year and its controller, Mr. Phil Falcone, being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission "on a number of counts, including misappropriation of client money, manipulating bond prices and favoritism of certain clients."
Law & Regulation Senate to Hold Hearing on State of Wireless Communications The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation announced that it will hold a hearing on June 4, 2013 at 2:30 p.m. entitled "State of Wireless Communications." The hearing will be held at 253 Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., and will be webcast live via the Senate Commerce Committee website. The Committee has provided the following list of witnesses scheduled for the hearing: Mr. Jonathan Spalter, Chairman of Mobile Future; Mr. Doug Webster, Vice President of Service Provider Routing and Mobility and Video Marketing for Cisco Systems; Mr. Steven K. Berry, President and CEO of the Competitive Carriers Association; Ms. Delara Derakhshani, Policy Counsel for Consumers Union; and Mr. Thomas F. Nagel, Senior Vice President of Wireless Services for Comcast Corporation. BloostonLaw will be reporting on the hearing once it occurs.
Industry Statements Issued on Nomination of Tom Wheeler for FCC Chairman, Designating Clyburn as Acting Chair On May 1, 2013, each of the FCC Commissioners issued statements congratulating Tom Wheeler on his nomination to be Chairman of the FCC and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on her designation as FCC Interim Chairwoman, pending U.S. Senate confirmation of Wheeler's appointment. With respect to Tom Wheeler's nomination, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski stated that he could "attest to Tom's commitment to harness the power of communications technology to improve people's lives, to drive our global competitiveness, and to advance the public interest," and that with his "deep policy expertise and his first-hand experience as a technology investor, he is a superb choice to advance the FCC's mission of promoting innovation, investment, competition, and consumer protection." He predicted that Wheeler "will be a great FCC Chairman," and urged his swift confirmation. Commissioner Robert McDowell stated that Wheeler "brings with him a deep understanding of the marketplace from his many years of leadership and experience in the information, communications and technology sectors;" that he is "thoughtful, insightful and eager to listen;" and that he is "an accomplished scholar of American history." Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel stated that Wheeler "will bring a deep understanding of communications policy to the role [of Chairman], which he has already demonstrated through his leadership of the Commission's Technological Advisory Council;" and predicted that Wheeler "will be a terrific leader." Commissioner Ajit Pai described Wheeler as "superbly qualified to lead the Commission." Commissioner Clyburn stated: "[I] wish him well as the Senate considers his candidacy." With respect to Commissioner Clyburn's designation as Interim Chairwoman, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski described her as "a strong, experienced, and thoughtful leader" who has "distinguished herself through her work to modernize universal service and promote competition, and as a champion for closing America's digital divide." Commissioner McDowell stated that while "we do not always agree on policy, I have consistently found Mignon to be thoughtful, highly perceptive, energetic and respectful of opposing viewpoints;" and wished her "every success in her new role." Commissioner Rosenworcel characterized her as "a principled and dedicated public servant and I have no doubt she will be a thoughtful leader of the agency during this critical time in history." Commissioner Pai stated that "[g]iven her leadership, experience, and demonstrated commitment to the interests of consumers, I know that she will lead the Commission with skill and integrity."
Steep Forfeitures Issued for Violation of Junk Fax Rule May 7 saw the issuance of four forfeiture orders, ranging from $240,000 all the way up to $2.1 million, for violations of the FCC's junk fax rules. Clients using fax messages for marketing or other purposes should take note to ensure that they do not inadvertently stumble into similar fines. One such forfeiture, in the amount of $240,000, resulted from the violation of Section 52.107 of the Commission's rules, which prohibits brokering toll free numbers for fees (in this instance, 15 numbers for fees ranging from $10,000 to $17,500 per number). Brokering, which involves selling a toll-free number for a fee, is a violation of Section 251 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act). The other three forfeitures resulted from repeated delivery of unsolicited advertisements, or "junk faxes," to fax machines. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) was enacted to address problems of abusive telemarketing, including unsolicited facsimile advertisements or "junk faxes," and Section 227(b)(1)(C) of the Act explicitly makes it "unlawful for any person within the United States, or any person outside the United States if the recipient is within the United States . . . to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send, to a telephone facsimile machine, an unsolicited advertisement." 27 such unsolicited advertisements resulted in a forfeiture of $432,000; 100 such advertisements resulted in a forfeiture of $978,500, and 196 resulted in a forfeiture of $2,187,000.
Deadlines
AUGUST 1: FCC FORM 502, NUMBER UTILIZATION AND FORECAST REPORT: Any wireless or wireline carrier ( including paging companies ) that have received number blocks — including 100, 1,000, or 10,000 number blocks — from the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), a Pooling Administrator, or from another carrier, must file Form 502 by August 1. Carriers porting numbers for the purpose of transferring an established customer's service to another service provider must also report, but the carrier receiving numbers through porting does not. Resold services should also be treated like ported numbers, meaning the carrier transferring the resold service to another carrier is required to report those numbers but the carrier receiving such numbers should not report them. Reporting carriers file utilization and forecast reports semiannually on or before February 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending December 31, and on or before August 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending June 30.
Calendar At-A-Glance May 8 — Electronic filing deadline for Form 497 for carriers seeking support for the preceding month and wishing to receive reimbursement by month's end.
May 9 — Final Deadline for Short Form Application to Participate in Auction 95 is due.
May 10 — Comments on Tribal Mobility Fund Phase 1 Auction Scheduled for October 24, 2013 are due.
May 13 — Comments on Options for Disposition of UHF T-Band (470-512 MHz) are due.
May 13 — Reply Comments on Health Care Connect Fund Forms 460, 461, 462 and 463 are due.
May 13 — Comments on 911 Reliability Rulemaking are due.
May 13 — Comments on Rural Call Completion are due.
May 23 — Final deadline for ILECs to have shapefiles submitted and certified.
May 24 — Reply Comments on Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I Auction are due.
May 24 — Comments on FirstNet Notice of Proposed Rulemaking are due.
May 28 — Reply Comments on 911 Reliability Rulemaking are due.
May 28 — Reply Comments on Rural Call Completion are due.
May 31 — FCC Form 395, Employment Report, is due.
May 31 — Reply Comments on Petition filed by a group of competitive carriers asking the FCC to Reverse Forbearance for Special Access are due.
June 8 — Electronic filing deadline for Form 497 for carriers seeking support for the preceding month and wishing to receive reimbursement by month's end.
June 10 — Reply Comments on FirstNet Notice of Proposed Rulemaking are due.
June 11 — Reply Comments on Options for Disposition of UHF T-Band (470-512 MHz) are due.
June 28 — Deadline for State Commissions to submit and certify the data included in shapefiles.
Jul. 1 — Annual High Cost ETC Report Due under Rule 54.313. |
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