Feb. 7, 2020: FCC Releases RDOF Order The FCC has just released the Report and Order previously approved at the January 30 open meeting; the full document is linked here. The Vantage Point Consulting and Engineering teams are actively reviewing this Order for any significant changes, surprises, or declarations. If you wish to receive a…
Continue ReadingRDOF: What’s Happening Now? Vantage Point has fielded several inquiries about the status of RDOF since the FCC’s January 30 meeting. Here we are providing an update about what is happening now, what to expect next, and what steps you can be taking at this time. What’s happening now Last week the FCC voted to…
Continue ReadingDigital 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…
Continue ReadingCitizens 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….
Continue ReadingFCC 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…
Continue ReadingGeolocation data for locations built in 2019 are due on March 2. This deadline applies to companies with these funding obligations: CAF Phase II A-CAM, Revised A-CAM I, and A-CAM II CAF BLS Rural Broadband Experiments (RBE) Alaska Plan You may be missing locations. Carriers who may have already collected location information through a process other…
Continue ReadingCongratulations, Eric! The Vantage Point team is thrilled to congratulate Eric Rajchel, of our Engineering team, on successfully passing his Professional Engineering exam. Eric has worked diligently under the mentorship of fellow Vantage Point P.E.s since graduating from South Dakota State University in 2016. During this time he has specialized in aerial engineering, co-authoring a…
Continue ReadingBureau 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…
Continue ReadingLifeline 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…
Continue ReadingDisaster 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…
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