January 2020 News Update

FCC To Fine Wireless Carriers For Illegal Sale Of Subscribers’ Real-Time Location Data

January 31, 2020 – FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has announced that the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau recently concluded an investigation into mobile wireless carrier’s disclosure of their customers’ real-time location data. According to Chairman Pai, one or more wireless carriers apparently violated federal law. Chairman Pai made the announcement in various letters responding to Congressional inquiries about the status of the investigation. He intends to circulate one or more notices of apparent liability for forfeiture in connection with the investigation.

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Auction 103 Clock Phase Ends, Bidders Win 14,142 Of 14,144 Available Licenses

January 30, 2020 – The FCC has announced that bidding in the clock phase of Auction 103 for licenses in the Upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz bands concluded following round 104. Gross proceeds in the clock phase reached $7,561,724,774, and bidders won 14,142 of 14,144 available licenses (99.9%). Winning bidders will now have the opportunity to bid for frequency-specific licenses in the assignment phase of Auction 103.

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FCC Inspector General Issues Advisory: Massive Lifeline Fraud Due To Failure To Comply With Usage Rule

January 28, 2020 – The FCC’s Office of Inspector General has issued an advisory on compliance with the Lifeline program’s usage rule. Pursuant to that rule, Lifeline providers are only authorized to receive universal service support reimbursement for Lifeline service provided to subscribers who have used the service within the last 30 days, or who have cured their non-usage in accordance with the FCC’s rules. The Section 54.407(c)(2) usage rule applies to Lifeline service that does not require the provider to assess and collect a monthly fee from its subscribers. According to the advisory, the OIG is currently investigating some Lifeline providers regarding significant potential violations of the Lifeline usage rule, and the OIG “suspects non-compliance with the usage rule by both large and small carriers may be more widespread.” In September 2019, the FCC announced it is investigating nationwide wireless provider Sprint Corp. for claiming monthly reimbursements for serving approximately 885,000 Lifeline subscribers, even though those subscribers were not using the service. The OIG suspects some usage rule violations may be the result of willful conduct, while other violations may reflect the failure of management to establish appropriate policies and procedures, properly train and supervise employees, or adequately test usage mechanisms.

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FCC Eliminates Amortization Rule For E-Rate Non-Recurring Category One Service Charges

January 27, 2020 – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has eliminated an E-Rate Program rule requiring schools and libraries to amortize over three years upfront, non-recurring charges of $500,000 or more for category one services, including charges for special construction projects (i.e. fiber networks). The amortization requirement was put in place in 2000, but in a 2014 E-Rate order, the FCC suspended it for funding year 2015 through funding year 2018, and then extended it through funding year 2019. The FCC then initiated a rulemaking aimed at repealing the rule. Based largely on E-Rate participants’ experiences during the time the rule was suspended, the FCC has eliminated the amortization requirement. The FCC’s order cites the experiences of two New Mexico school systems which were able to reduce the costs of upgrading their networks to 10 Gbps and 1 Gbps connections when the amortization rule was temporarily suspended. Eliminating the rule, according to the FCC, will lower barriers to broadband deployment to schools and libraries, lessen administrative burdens of the E-Rate program for applicants, and improve the efficient use of E-Rate funds.

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FCC Establishes Uniform Deadlines For Deployment And Reporting Obligations For CAF Phase II Auction Support Recipients

January 27, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has issued an Order establishing uniform deadlines related to deployment and reporting obligations for authorized Connect America Fund Phase II Auction support recipients and New York’s New NY Broadband Program support recipients. The uniform deadlines are intended to reduce confusion; ensure continued compliance with the obligations; and decrease administrative burdens. Accordingly, service milestone deadlines for all CAF Phase II Auction support recipients will fall at the end of the calendar year, and Section 54.316(c)(2) annual location filing and Section 54.316(b)(4) certification deadlines will fall on March 1. As a result, the Bureau will consider January 1, 2020 to be the commencement of the deployment timeline for all CAF Phase II support recipients, rather than the release date of the Bureau’s authorization public notice.

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USDA Announces Two ReConnect Program Broadband Awards In Arkansas Totaling $7.1 Million

January 21, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced ReConnect Pilot Program broadband awards have been made to Yelcot Telephone Company and Mountain View Telephone Company in Arkansas. Yelcot Telephone Company will use a $1.7 million ReConnect Program grant and a $1.7 million loan to deploy a fiber-to-the-home network with approximately 61 miles of fiber that is expected to connect 548 households spread over 24 square miles in Baxter and Marion counties. The Mountain View Telephone Company will use a $3.7 million ReConnect Program grant to deploy a fiber broadband network project with approximately 97 miles of fiber. The network is expected to connect 702 households, farms, and businesses in the funded service areas that are spread over 98 square miles. USDA’s $600 million ReConnect Program provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to construct broadband network infrastructure in rural America. USDA continues to review first round applications, and will announce additional awards on a rolling basis.

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FCC Releases Report On Fixed Competitive ETC Legacy USF Support

January 21, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has issued an updated report showing the legacy universal service support amounts associated with competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) offering service to fixed locations. The report shows 78 fixed, competitive ETS are receiving $6.1 million in annual legacy support. Fixed competitive ETCs began receiving legacy support at a reduced level on June 1, 2019.

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USDA Announces $18.7 Million ReConnect Program Broadband Grant In West Virginia

January 20, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a ReConnect Pilot Program broadband grant award has been made to Harrison Rural Electrification Association Inc. in West Virginia. Harrison will use the $18.7 million ReConnect Program grant to construct a fiber-to-the-premises network that is expected to connect 6,320 households, five educational facilities, a critical community facility and approximately 383 farms spread across 355 square miles in rural West Virginia. USDA’s $600 million ReConnect Program provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to construct broadband network infrastructure in rural America. USDA continues to review first round applications, and will announce additional awards on a rolling basis.

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USDA Announces $5.7 Million ReConnect Program Broadband Grant In Nebraska

January 17, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a ReConnect Pilot Program broadband grant award has been made to Eastern Nebraska Telephone Company. The company will use the $5.7 million ReConnect grant to construct 221 miles of fiber-to-the-premises broadband infrastructure to bring service to rural areas of Pierce County, Wayne County and Madison County in Nebraska. Eastern Nebraska Telephone Company will use matching funds of $1.9 million to complete the project, for a total project cost of $7.6 million. The network will extend broadband services to every household and business in the funded area, which includes 489 households spread over 387 square miles. USDA’s $600 million ReConnect Program provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to construct broadband network infrastructure in rural America. USDA continues to review first round applications, and will announce additional awards on a rolling basis.

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USDA Announces Three ReConnect Program Broadband Awards In Iowa & Minnesota Totaling $11 Million

January 17, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced three ReConnect Pilot Program broadband awards have been made to Harmony Telephone Company, Osage Municipal Utilities, and Consolidated Telephone Company to bring broadband service to areas in Iowa and Minnesota. Harmony Telephone Company will use a $2.7 million ReConnect Program loan and a $2.7 million grant to construct a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 577 households, a health care center and a critical community facility spread over 143 square miles in several counties bordering southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. Osage Municipal Utilities in northern Iowa will use a $397,749 ReConnect Program grant to deploy fiber-to-the-premise and hybrid-fiber-coax infrastructure to serve farms, residents, and businesses located in rural areas of Mitchell County, Iowa. The funded service area includes 151 households spared over 20 square miles. Consolidated Telephone Company will use a $5.2 million ReConnect Program grant to construct a fiber-to-the-premises network to serve portions of Cherry and Great Scott townships in Minnesota. Consolidated will leverage existing middle-mile infrastructure, in partnership with Northeast Service Cooperative, and require only an additional 157.1 miles of new FTTP construction. The funded service area includes 667 households, two educational facilities and two critical community facilities. USDA’s $600 million ReConnect Program provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to construct broadband network infrastructure in rural America. USDA continues to review first round applications, and will announce additional awards on a rolling basis.

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NIST Releases Privacy Framework Version 1.0

January 16, 2020 – The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released Version 1.0 of the Privacy Framework: A Tool For Improving Privacy Through Enterprise Risk Management. NIST describes the privacy framework as “a voluntary tool that can help organizations manage privacy risk arising from their products and services,” and can help demonstrate compliance with applicable privacy laws, such as the CCPA and GDPR. The NIST privacy framework has an overarching structure modeled on the well-known NIST cybersecurity framework. The privacy framework is composed of three parts: the Core, which offers a set of privacy protection activities; the Profiles, which help determine which of the activities in the Core an organization should pursue to reach its goals most effectively, and the Implementation Tiers, which help optimize the resources dedicated to managing privacy risk. A preliminary draft of the privacy framework was released in September 2019, followed by a public comment period before the release of Version 1.0. NIST plans to continually update and improve the privacy framework over time.

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Mergers & Acquisitions: Premier Communications Purchasing Assets Of Spencer Municipal Utilities In Iowa

January 16, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has invited comments on an application filed by Spencer Municipal Utilities (SMU) and Premier Communications, Inc. requesting approval to transfer assets and customers of SMU to Premier. SMU is a municipal utility that provides competitive local exchange, long distance voice telecommunications, Internet, and cable television services (approximately 2,725 lines) in Clay County, Iowa. Premier provides competitive local exchange, long distance voice telecommunications, Internet, and cable television services (approximately 7,200 lines) in Iowa. Upon closing the transaction, Premier will transfer the SMU physical assets and Internet and video customers in the town of Fostoria, Iowa to Premier’s affiliate, Milford Communications, LLC. Milford Communications provides cable TV and broadband services in the towns of Milford and Fostoria, Iowa, but does not offer voice service. The SMU voice customers in Fostoria will remain with Premier. Comments on the domestic Section 214 joint application are due on or before January 30, 2020, and reply comments are due February 6, 2020.

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CenturyLink Fails To Meet CAF Broadband Deployment Obligations

January 15, 2020 – CenturyLink has notified the FCC that it has failed to meet it Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II broadband deployment obligations in 23 states. In Phase II of the CAF, incumbent price cap carriers were offered high-cost universal service support, on a state-by-state basis, to extend broadband-capable networks to unserved locations while also sustaining existing voice and broadband services. Support amounts are derived from the final version of the Connect America Cost Model (CAM v4.3). 

CenturyLink accepted $505.7 million in annual CAF Phase II support to deploy broadband service to over one million locations in 33 states. CenturyLink, as well as other price cap carriers that accepted support were to deploy 10/1 Mbps broadband service to 40 percent of funded locations by the end 2017; 60 percent by the end of 2018; 80 percent by the end of 2019; and must cover 100 percent of funded locations by the end of 2020.

In its letter to the FCC, CenturyLink states it has now enabled broadband service at speeds of at least 10/1 Mbps or higher to nearly 900,000 locations. However, CenturyLink explains that, based on preliminary year-end data, it may not have met the CAF Phase II eighty-percent interim deployment milestone in twenty-three states. CenturyLink will provide additional information on its efforts to meet the CAF II broadband obligations to USAC’s High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal by March 1, 2020.

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T-Mobile & Inteliquent File Motions To Dismiss Rural Call Completion Class Action Lawsuit

January 15, 2020 – T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Inteliquent, Inc. have each filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed against them by Craigville Telephone Co. and Consolidated Telephone Co. for alleged injuries related to T-Mobile’s use of  local ring back tones in violation of the FCC’s rural call completion rules. T-Mobile argues the complaint should be dismissed for the simple reason that Craigville and Consolidated have failed to plead a plausible theory of injury – they cannot plausibly allege they were harmed by the use of local ring back tones. T-Mobile describes the lawsuit as an opportunistic attempt to parlay a negotiated consent decree between T-Mobile and the FCC into an unwarranted windfall for them. Inteliquent argues the lawsuit should be dismissed because all of the claims against it are barred under relevant statutes of limitations. Inteliquent also claims the complaint has very few factual allegations about Inteliquent, and those that are pleaded are woefully insufficient to state a claim, and actually exonerate Inteliquent. Craigville and Consolidated must file their reply to the motions to dismiss on or before February 10, 2020. T-Mobile and Inteliquent may then reply by February 24, 2020. The lawsuit is captioned as case: 1:19-cv-07190, and was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

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ATIS Releases Guide For Collecting, Documenting, And Finding Public Safety Answering Point Contact Information

January 15, 2020 – The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) has released a guide detailing how Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) contact information is to be collected and documented. When certain communications providers experience a network outage that cuts off access to 911 emergency services, they are required to notify PSAPs, but often have difficulty obtaining contact information for relevant PSAPs. The information in the document “addresses the challenges associated with identifying PSAP and 9-1-1 authority recipients of outage notifications and the mechanisms for collecting and standardizing contact information.” The document, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Updating Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Outage Contact Information, is available online from ATIS.

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FCC Wireline Bureau Intending To Dismiss Eight Petitions For Reconsideration Pending Since 2011

January 14, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has released a list of eight petitions for reconsideration of various aspects of the 2011 USF/ICC Transformation Order which are still pending. All were filed in 2011, and no entities have filed comments or ex partes regarding the petitions for several years. According to the Bureau, the various requests for relief in the petitions appear to be moot or are otherwise no longer relevant. Consequently, each petition will be dismissed with prejudice unless a petitioner files a notice specifying that it objects to the dismissal of its petition. A notice must be filed in the relevant docket within 45 days of the date the Bureau’s Public Notice is published in the Federal Register.

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Truth-In-Billing Comments Due February 12, 2020

January 14, 2020 – The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau has announced the deadlines to comment on ways to modernize and strengthen the FCC’s truth-in-billing rules. In a December 2019 Public Notice, the Bureau requested comment on proposals to extend truth-in-billing rules to providers of interconnected VoIP services and to require carriers to separate government-mandated charges from other charges on consumers’ telephone bills. Comments are due on or before February 12, 2020. Reply comments are due March 13, 2020.

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Rate-Of-Return Carriers Must Report Pre-Existing Broadband Deployment Data To HUBB By March 1, 2021

January 13, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has announced a one-year notice for certain rate-of-return carriers to report pre-existing broadband deployments to the High Cost Universal Service Broadband portal (HUBB). Specifically, rate-of-return carriers receiving CAF-BLS that did not have HUBB reporting obligations prior to December 2018 must submit geo-located broadband deployment information in the HUBB by March 1, 2021 for all locations to which broadband service of 25/3 Mbps or greater has been deployed since May 25, 2016. The Bureau’s Public Notice provides an explanation on the obligation to report geo-located broadband information and make deployment certifications to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). In the 2016 Rate-of-Return Reform Order, the FCC adopted requirements that rate-of-return carriers report geo-located broadband information on new deployments to the HUBB. Carriers that had deployed broadband of 10/1 Mbps to 80% or more of their study areas were not subject to mandatory deployment obligations and thus were not required submit data to the HUBB. However, in the 2018 Rate-of-Return Reform Order, the FCC determined that carriers receiving CAF-BLS should deploy broadband service with speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps and that all CAF-BLS carriers should be subject to deployment and HUBB reporting obligations. Since many rate-of-return carriers were previously not required to report data to the HUBB, the March 1, 2021 deadline is expected to give carriers sufficient time to ensure that all pre-existing deployments since May 25, 2016 are properly geo-located and reported.

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FTC and DOJ Announce Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines; Public Comment Due Feb. 11, 2020

January 10, 2020 – The Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division are seeking public comment on draft 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines, which describe how the two agencies review vertical mergers for antitrust violations. While vertical mergers combine two or more companies that operate at different levels in the same supply chain, much of the draft guidelines are based on the agencies’ horizontal merger guidelines issued in 2010. However, the draft 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines outline the agencies’ principal analytical techniques, practices, and enforcement policy that are specific to vertical mergers. In general, the draft guidelines:

• describe potential anticompetitive effects resulting from vertical mergers, which may include both unilateral and coordinated effects;

• identify foreclosure and raising rivals’ costs and access to competitively sensitive information as potential elements of antitrust harm under unilateral effects;

• describe an analytic framework for analyzing potential anticompetitive effects of foreclosure and raising rivals’ costs;

• discuss how the elimination of double marginalization may mitigate or completely neutralize the potential anticompetitive effects of vertical mergers;

• discuss cognizable merger efficiencies that are specific to vertical mergers;

• provide a number of examples to provide more clarity about the agencies’ analytical methods in evaluating vertical mergers.

Comments on the draft 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines can be submitted to VMG Comments, and must be received no later than February 11, 2020.

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FCC Tentative Agenda For January 30 Open Meeting

January 9, 2020 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has announced the following tentative agenda for the FCC open meeting on January 30, 2020:

Establishing the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund – The FCC will consider a Report and Order that would adopt a two-phase reverse auction framework for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, committing $20.4 billion in high-cost universal service support to bring high-speed broadband service to millions of unserved Americans. (WC Docket Nos. 19-126, 10-90).

Hearing Aid-Compatible Handset Rules – The FCC will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would propose to incorporate a new technical standard for determining whether a wireless handset is hearing aid-compatible and to simplify and update the Commission’s hearing aid compatibility rules. (WT Docket No. 20-3)

At-Home Call Handling for Video Relay Service – The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would adopt regulations on the handling of Video Relay Service, or VRS, calls by communications assistants working from their homes. (CG Docket Nos. 10-51,03-123)

Electronic Delivery of Notices to Broadcast Television Stations – The FCC will consider a Report and Order that would modernize certain cable and satellite television provider notice provisions in Part 76 of the FCC’s Rules by requiring certain notices to be delivered to broadcasters by e-mail instead of on paper. (MB Docket Nos. 19-165, 17-105)

Enforcement Bureau Action – The FCC will consider an enforcement action.

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USDA Announces $48 Million ReConnect Program Broadband Loan In Virginia

January 9, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a ReConnect Pilot Program broadband loan award has been made to Wilkes Telephone Membership Corporation Inc. in Virginia. Wilkes will use a $48 million ReConnect Program loan to construct a fiber-to-the-premises network encompassing 1,847 square miles. The service area is expected to reach 22,604 households, 19 educational facilities, eight critical community facilities and one health care center in Halifax, Charlotte, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Brunswick, King and Queen, Bedford and Pittsylvania counties. USDA’s $600 million ReConnect Program provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to construct broadband infrastructure in rural America. USDA continues to review first round applications, and will announce additional awards on a rolling basis.

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FCC Releases Form 477 Broadband Deployment Data

January 8, 2020 – The FCC has released FCC Form 477 data on fixed broadband deployment and mobile voice and broadband deployment as of December 31, 2018. The fixed broadband data include revisions made by filers through December 3, 2019, while the mobile deployment data include revisions made by filers through June 11, 2019. Both deployment data sets are available for download from the FCC’s Form 477 website.

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USDA Announces Two ReConnect Program Broadband Award In North Dakota Totaling $23 Million

January 7, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced ReConnect Pilot Program broadband awards have been made to Polar Communications Mutual Aid Corp. and Daktel Communications, LLC. Polar Communications Mutual Aid Corp. will use $10,624,167 in grant funding and $10,624,167 in loan funding to deploy an active ethernet fiber-to-the-premise network to areas in rural North Dakota. The funded service areas include 2,237 households, six educational facilities, one health care center, and one critical community facility spread over 1,870 square miles. Daktel Communications, LLC will use $1,809,290 in ReConnect grant funding to construct fiber-to-the-premises network infrastructure north of Jamestown, North Dakota. The funded service areas include 406 households and three educational facilities spread over 354 square miles. Daktel Communications will offer broadband services at 1 gigabit per second symmetrical to locations that were previously unserved in the area. USDA’s $600 million ReConnect Program provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to construct broadband infrastructure in rural America. USDA continues to review first round applications and will announce additional awards on a rolling basis.

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FCC Denies Sagebrush Cellular Request For Waiver Of 700 MHz Final Buildout Requirement; Terminates Two Licenses

January 7, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has denied a request filed by Nemont Telephone Cooperative, Inc. on behalf of its wireless subsidiary, Sagebrush Cellular, Inc., for waiver of the final buildout requirement for three lower 700 MHz B Block spectrum licenses. That rule requires lower 700 MHz B Block licensees to provide signal coverage and offer service over at least 70 percent of the geographic areas of their licenses by the end of the initial license term, which was June 13, 2019. Nemont acquired the 700 MHz licenses, which cover rural Montana, in late 2018. In its waiver request, Nemont stated that one license has 34 percent geographic coverage, but no subscribers receiving service; one has 23.8 percent geographic coverage, but no subscribers receiving service; and for one license there is no coverage or service being provided. Nemont pled the following in support of its request for waiver: it is a longtime wireless provider with a substantial record for completing construction of other licenses; it “tried its best” to meet the final buildout requirement; and it will use the spectrum to provide service to extremely remote, rural markets in Montana. With respect to two of the three licenses, the Wireless Bureau found that for a number of reasons, the requirements for waiver have not been satisfied. In particular, the Wireless Bureau rejected Nemont’s “tried its best” argument by explaining that having a short time frame within which to complete construction as a result of a business decision to acquire licenses late in the construction period does not support a grant of waiver relief. Since Nemont was unable to demonstrate it is actually providing service in the geographic areas of the two licenses that have coverage, the Bureau concluded the licenses “automatically terminated in their entirety as of June 13, 2019.” The licenses will eventually become available for reassignment by the FCC. The Wireless Bureau dismissed as moot Nemont’s request to waive the final buildout requirement for the third license because the previous licensee satisfied the requirement for the license in 2016. However, the Bureau denied Nemont’s request to waive the requirement to show substantial service for renewing the license, and will address Nemont’s pending renewal application as a separate matter.

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FCC Ready To Authorize CAF II New York Broadband Support For Mid-Hudson Data Corp.

January 6, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has announced it is ready to authorize Connect America Fund Phase II New York Broadband Program support for Mid-Hudson Data Corp. The total support to be authorized is $640,296, for 459 locations in 73 census blocks in New York. To receive the total 10-year support, Mid-Hudson must submit an acceptable irrevocable stand-by letter of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letter prior to 6:00 p.m. ET on January 21, 2020.

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Comments On FCC National Security FNPRM Due February 3, 2020

January 3, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has announced deadlines to comment in response to the FCC’s Protecting Against National Security Threats to the Communications Supply Chain Through FCC Programs Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Comments are due on or before February 3, 2020, and reply comments are due no later than March 3, 2020. In the FNPRM, the FCC proposes: to require as a condition on the receipt of any USF support that providers not use or agree to not use within a designated period of time, communications equipment or services from covered companies; to require providers receiving USF support to remove and replace covered equipment and services from their network operations; to establish a reimbursement program to offset reasonable transition costs, in order to mitigate the impact on affected entities, and in particular small, rural entities; to make the requirement to remove covered equipment and services by providers contingent on the availability of a funded reimbursement program.

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Comments On FCC Designations Of Huawei & ZTE As Security Threats Due February 3, 2020

January 3, 2020 – The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has announced deadlines to comment on the FCC’s designation of Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation as “covered companies” in the Protecting Against National Security Threats to the Communications Supply Chain Through FCC Programs Report and Order. In that November 2019 Report and Order, the FCC adopted a rule that prospectively prohibits the use of universal service fund support to purchase or obtain any equipment or services produced or provided by a covered company posing a national security threat to the integrity of U.S. communications networks or the U.S. communications supply chain. The FCC initially designated Huawei and ZTE as covered companies and established a process for designating additional covered companies in the future. Interested parties may file comments responding to the initial designations of Huawei and ZTE as covered companies on or before February 3, 2020.

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FCC’s USF National Security Blacklist Rule Effective January 3, 2020

January 3, 2020 – A summary of the FCC’s Protecting Against National Security Threats to the Communications Supply Chain Through FCC Programs Report and Order has been published in the Federal Register, making it effective January 3, 2020. The Report and Order prohibits the use of universal service fund support to purchase or obtain any equipment or services produced or provided by a covered company posing a national security threat to the integrity of U.S. communications networks or the U.S. communications supply chain. A requirement that USF recipients certify that they are in compliance with the rule will take effect following revision of certain information collections and their approval by the Office of Management and Budget.

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Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act Introduced In Senate

January 1, 2020 – Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH) have introduced Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act of 2019. If passed, the bill (S. 3045) would give the Department of Homeland Security power to subpoena Internet service providers for information about internet protocol addresses associated with critical infrastructure systems and devices that are connected to the Internet. Currently, there are times when the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) finds a critical infrastructure system which is vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, but is only able to identify the associated numerical IP address and not the entity that controls the information system or connected device. Current law prohibits ISPs from disclosing information about the owner of IP addresses to a governmental entity, unless directed to do so by a valid warrant, court order, or subpoena. The Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act would give DHS the power to use a subpoena to obtain the name, address, and contact information for the owner of an IP address associated with a critical infrastructure information system or device. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

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