Welcome back to TLP’s Weekly Wireless Wrap-Up! This past week was a rather quiet week in the wireless world, but the FCC did release a few notable items. Here’s your wrap-up:
- On Thursday, the FCC released its Tentative Agenda for the May Open Commission Meeting, which will be held on Thursday, May 20, 2021. The FCC is set to consider six items, and of particular note to the wireless world, is a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on STIR/SHAKEN, which seeks comment on shortening the small provider extension by one year for small providers that originate an especially large amount of call traffic. For more information on the Tentative Agenda, see our post here.
- Also on Thursday, the FCC announced the start date for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. Eligible households will be able to begin enrolling in the Program starting next Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Participating providers are encouraged to conduct outreach efforts to inform their customers of the Program, which will provide eligible households discounts of up to $50 a month for broadband service or up to $75 a month for households on Tribal lands, as well as provide a one-time $100 discount on eligible computers or tablets. For more information see the FCC’s news release here and the program webpage at fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit.
- On Friday, the FCC released a Draft of the Report and Order establishing the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program pursuant to section 7402 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Once adopted, the program will allow eligible schools and libraries to apply for reimbursement of eligible telecommunications equipment and services purchased during the pandemic to serve the basic educational needs and library services of their communities. The first round of applications will be limited to eligible purchases made between July 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021. If funding remains, a second round will be opened for reimbursement of such purchases made after April 30, 2021. A copy of the draft item can be found here and the FCC’s news release on this item can be found here.
- On Tuesday, the FCC published the Report and Order adopting the American National Standards Institute’s (“ANSI”) 2019 Standards for hearing aid compatibility in the Federal Register. The Report and Order will be effective June 3, 2021, except for the amendments to Sections 20.19(f), (h)(1), and (i). The effective date of these rules will be announced in a future notice published in the Federal Register after the FCC has received OMB approval for the new collection requirements outlined therein. For more information on this, see our post here.
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