Jacki Miskimins On a national committee to expand broadband access, Larry Thompson will represent the little guy. But that’s not to say Mitchell-based Vantage Point Solutions (VPS) is little. With approximately 200 employees and an international footprint, the telecom and broadband consulting engineering firm helped Mitchell become one of the world’s top seven Intelligent Communities in 2015, … Read more
Last year’s USF order established requirements for both model and rate-of-return carriers to report the geocoded coordinates of new broadband locations. The first deadline to file geocoded coordinates for those locations is March 1, 2018. Companies failing to timely report geocodes for their newly-available broadband locations may permanently lose the opportunity to count those locations … Read more
At the FCC’s Open Meeting held on April 20, 2017, the Commission granted the Petition for Reconsideration filed by NTCA of the Commission’s Rate‐of‐Return Reform Order with respect to the average per location, per project construction limitation on universal service support. Background: In the Rate‐of‐Return Reform Order, the Commission adopted a Capital Investment Allowance (CIA) … Read more
Vantage Point Solutions has analyzed USAC’s newly released budget control mechanisms (BCMs) taking effect on July 1, 2017. There are a number of key takeaways evident from the data: View the full Impact of USAC Budget Controls report here.
In today’s May 18, 2017, Open Meeting, the FCC voted to freeze the current rate floor at $18 and potentially later this year eliminate the local service rate floor rule and accompanying reporting obligations. Since 2012, the FCC began the phase in of a national rate floor for carriers receiving high-cost support. RLECs were forced … Read more
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may beafforded safe harbor protections from copyright infringement liability if they meet certainrequirements including electronically designating an agent to receive takedown notices andother notices of infringement. The Copyright Office has implemented a new electronicregistration process and all ISPs must file electronic agent designations with … Read more
On May 12, 2017, a new ransomware program was discovered known as WannaCry, WCry, or Wanna Decryptor. As of May 16, there are over 374,000 unique addresses infected – and growing every minute. WannaCry attacks by encrypting and holding data for ransom, currently set at 0.1781 bitcoins (approximately $300 USD). According to the FBI Cyber … Read more
Summary Each individual company differs when it comes to Internet pricing. Many factors must be considereddepending on the region the company is providing services. Vantage Point’s purpose of this survey isto help RLEC/CLEC/ISPs remain competitive. There are further studies that can be done to examine,in high level detail, the prices set by companies. It’s important … Read more
Executive Summary The Internet has had profound impacts on nearly every area of our lives, including education, retail, healthcare, public safety, and entertainment. The Internet has transformed how we communicate, the size and scope of our global economy, and even our political system. We are on the cusp of the next Internet evolution – the … Read more
Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) Grandfathered Protection Zones Filing Window and Procedures Announced On April 7, 2017, the FCC released its Public Notice, DA 17‐340, in which the FCC has opened the fourmonth filing window for Part 90 licensees to submit the required supplemental information in order todefine their Grandfathered Wireless Protection Zones. The deadline … Read more
Summary Overview On March 2, 2017, the FCC released an order taking another step towards implementing the CAF II Auction. The FCC finalized the performance tier weightings, latency weightings, and how to calculate a bid score based on them. In the order the FCC clearly stated they want the auction process to be simple in … Read more
