Potential Shutdown #2 Prompts FCC to Move Up February Meeting

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To get out in front of another potential government shutdown, the FCC moved up its monthly meeting from February 21, to February 14. The agency is being funded by a Continuing Resolution that runs through February 15, explained agency Chief of Staff Matthew Berry in a tweet yesterday. Commission employees already are fighting a large backlog created by the shutdown (see story below.)

The items that were originally on the January meeting agenda have been moved to the February agenda. Two out of five items concern telecom. The first is a Report and Order establishing a schedule to end Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase I support in price cap areas where winning bidders in the CAF Phase II auction will begin receiving support and in areas that were not eligible for the auction.  

The R&O will also provide interim support in areas that did not receive any bids. CAF funding ensures consumers in expensive-to-serve areas have access to the same voice and high-speed broadband services as urban consumers do, at reasonably comparable rates.

The second item of interest to the telecom industry concerns spoofing, when callers manipulate caller ID information to deceive consumers into revealing personal information. The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to expand its Truth in Caller ID rules to clarify the prohibition on misleading or inaccurate caller identification information. Specifically, it extends the Act to include calls originating from outside the U.S. to callers in America, and to include text messages.  Comments? Email Us.

January 30, 2019                   

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