After taking a break from wireless issues at its June and July meetings, the FCC will focus on wireless at its Aug. 8 meeting, said the agenda released by the agency Friday. The marquee item is a report and order and Further NPRM on texting to 911 that expands the current text-to-911 mandate beyond AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon -- to cover interconnected over-the-top (OTT) texting and smaller carriers as well. The only other item on the agenda is a report and order on rules for communications antennas.
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The National Governors Association urged improved coordination between the federal government and states on cybersecurity matters, releasing a framework Tuesday for states, territories and federal agencies to cooperate on cyberattack response, cyberthreat information sharing and cybersecurity protection (http://bit.ly/1p9UfKE). The NGA said its Council of Governors, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security jointly agreed to the plan last week at the NGA’s meeting in Nashville (http://bit.ly/1t0yTCa). The framework charges all parties to develop and clarify their cybersecurity policies to allow a “national approach” to preventing and responding to cyberincidents, including creating a national cyberincident response framework. DOD will work with the Council of Governors to revise DOD’s policy regarding states’ use of National Guard cyber-related resources. The framework asks state and local governments to create real-time reporting and analysis programs that are similar to the federal government’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program. DHS will work with state and local governments to improve the timeliness of shared cyberinformation. The framework’s release follows the NGA’s 2012 creation of its Resource Center for State Cybersecurity and the Council of Governors’ 2011 release of a joint action plan for responding to domestic emergencies.
The National Governors Association urged improved coordination between the federal government and states on cybersecurity matters, releasing a framework Tuesday for states, territories and federal agencies to cooperate on cyberattack response, cyberthreat information sharing and cybersecurity protection (http://bit.ly/1p9UfKE). The NGA said its Council of Governors, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security jointly agreed to the plan last week at the NGA’s meeting in Nashville (http://bit.ly/1t0yTCa). The framework charges all parties to develop and clarify their cybersecurity policies to allow a “national approach” to preventing and responding to cyberincidents, including creating a national cyberincident response framework. DOD will work with the Council of Governors to revise DOD’s policy regarding states’ use of National Guard cyber-related resources. The framework asks state and local governments to create real-time reporting and analysis programs that are similar to the federal government’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program. DHS will work with state and local governments to improve the timeliness of shared cyberinformation. The framework’s release follows the NGA’s 2012 creation of its Resource Center for State Cybersecurity and the Council of Governors’ 2011 release of a joint action plan for responding to domestic emergencies.
Comments on proposed changes to rules governing the emergency alert system are due Aug. 14, with replies due Aug. 29, in docket 04-296, the FCC said Tuesday in a Federal Register notice (http://1.usa.gov/1r2xZWs). The FCC released the NPRM last month (CD June 30 p14). The proposals in the NPRM are intended as first steps to fix the vulnerabilities uncovered in the national EAS test, Pillsbury attorneys said Tuesday in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1apzXs4). The FCC proposes that a reasonable time period for participants to replace unsupported equipment, perform necessary upgrades and other tasks “be six months from the effective date of any rules adopted as a result of the NPRM,” they noted.
Friday’s rural broadband order (CD July 14 p11) was “another important step in modernizing the nation’s phone network,” said Benton Foundation Policy Director Amina Fazlullah in a statement (http://bit.ly/1nnYhwf). “As the public switched telephone network makes a complex transition to Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled networks, regulators must protect the nation’s core values to ensure the newest technologies benefit all Americans,” she said Friday. “Universal service, consumer protection, competition, and access to emergency services must be part of communications networks whether they be copper, fiber, or wireless. The FCC’s experiments to bring broadband to rural areas are needed."
Friday’s rural broadband order (WID July 14 p6) was “another important step in modernizing the nation’s phone network,” said Benton Foundation Policy Director Amina Fazlullah in a statement (http://bit.ly/1nnYhwf). “As the public switched telephone network makes a complex transition to Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled networks, regulators must protect the nation’s core values to ensure the newest technologies benefit all Americans,” she said Friday. “Universal service, consumer protection, competition, and access to emergency services must be part of communications networks whether they be copper, fiber, or wireless. The FCC’s experiments to bring broadband to rural areas are needed."
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The third of four Capitol Hill committees of jurisdiction cleared legislation Thursday to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act for five years. All eyes are now on the Senate Commerce Committee to release legislation, with lingering concerns and curiosity among lobbyists about what will emerge. With STELA expiring at the end of 2014, Hill staffers and industry lobbyists have increasingly told us narrower STELA legislation is the likely outcome.
Whether the FCC should classify VoIP and with it HD voice as a Title I Communications Act information service or a Title II telecom service depends on how stakeholders would be affected by the IP transition, and with it issues like required interconnection. Interviews with lawyers and executives on both sides of the issue this week found that those who believe interconnection rules are important want them to carry over to an all-digital future where calls no longer travel on traditional phone networks. The same with Title I classification, sought by those who believe interconnection will happen on its own in the market without federal or state requirements for it, or Title II classification, for some who think government mandates are needed for interconnection.