Shelbi Lien We hear so much about data breaches and cyber-attacks these days. Learning that hackers exposed millions of credit card numbers or other pieces of personal information seems to happen more and more. Even large companies with well-funded security such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Equifax suffer at the hands of malicious cyber attackers. Considering how these … Read more
Lifeline Supported Services Minimum Standards New standards take effect December 1, 2020. On July 31, 2020, the FCC released a Public Notice announcing the new Lifeline Minimum Standards that will take effect on December 1, 2020: Download the full memo for additional detail. VPS Memo – Lifeline Minimum Standards Additional Information For information on this … Read more
TRS Fund Modifications Contributions will be modified for 2020-2021 fund year. The FCC released a Report and Order in November 2019 to broaden the support mechanism for Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) and reduce the current burden put on Interstate Telecommunications providers. The FCC launched IP CTS many years ago with an interim … Read more
Performance Measures Module The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has developed a Performance Measures Module (PMM), which will be the reporting system used for performance measures testing. The PMM will: For USAC to generate a random sample of actively served locations, beginning with the testing start dates and biannually thereafter, carriers will need to download … Read more
CARES Act: COVID-19 Funding Assistance Measures The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt daily life and business operations, creating additional urgent demand for reliable broadband networks while causing financial hardships for many. On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) was signed into law in an effort to help meet … Read more
Data Collection Extension On April 2, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a 30-day extension for Supply Chain Data Collection in DA 20-370, making the new due date May 22, 2020. All Universal Service Fund (USF) recipients that were eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) as of December 31, 2019, must respond to the mandatory FCC … Read more
COVID-19: Recommendations for Broadband & Telecom Providers These are unusual times, as COVID-19 has disrupted daily life and business operations across the country. In doing so, the current pandemic has highlighted the need for reliable, robust, fully supported broadband networks. Vantage Point offers the following recommendations and best practices for maintaining and supporting your networks … Read more
Part 90 Transition to CBRS Operations On March 19, 2020, the FCC released its Order, DA 20-291, in which the FCC has announced the extension of six-months for existing Part 90 license holders. April 17, 2020, was the original transition deadline from Part 90 operations to Part 96, Citizens Broadband Radio Services (CBRS), operations for … Read more
FCC’s Supply Chain Data Collection All Universal Service Fund (USF) recipients that were eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) as of December 31, 2019, must respond to the mandatory Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Supply Chain Data Collection (Data Collection) due no later than April 22, 2020. Other USF and service providers that are not ETCs are also … Read more
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) & Copyright Infringement On December 19, 2019, a jury awarded Sony $1 billion in damages against Cox Communications after ruling that Cox failed to protect its network against copyright infringement by the ISP’s subscribers. Generally, ISPs are allowed safe harbor under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). However, an earlier … Read more
Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) is now Commercially Available On January 27, 2020, the FCC released its Public Notice, DA 20-110, in which the FCC has announced the completion of initial Commercial Deployment (ICD) phase and the approval of the Spectrum Access System (SAS) services of CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google, and Sony for Commercial Operations. … Read more
FCC Adds Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to January Agenda On January 8th, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a News Release announcing the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which would provide $20.4 billion in high-cost universal service support over 10 years, has been added to the January 30th Open Commission meeting. The Report … Read more
Bureau Establishes an Eligible Locations Adjustment Process (ELAP) On November 12, 2019, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) released an order creating a voluntary process to review the defined deployment obligations (locations and associated support) on a state-by-state basis when the total number of actual locations in the eligible areas is less than the number of … Read more
Lifeline New Low-Income Program Rules The Lifeline program was originally established in 1985 to ensure that low -income consumers had access to affordable, landline telephone service. Today, the Lifeline program provides qualifying low-income consumers discounts on voice or broadband Internet access service, as well as in a bundled service. Currently, qualifying low-income consumers receive a … Read more
Disaster Recovery Planning From blizzards and flooding to wildfires and hurricanes, 2019 has been a year of weather extremes across the United States. Each season brings new challenges and new opportunities. One challenge we hope you have not had to deal with is the occurrence of a natural disaster in your area. We want to … Read more
Court Upholds Majority of Restoring Internet Freedom Order On October 1, 2019, in the case of Mozilla Corporation v. Federal Communications Commission et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals (“the Court”) confirmed a majority of the FCC rule changes included in the 2017 Restoring Internet Freedom Order (“RIF Order”) which overturned the prior FCC’s 2015 … Read more
