$1.2 Million Fine Proposed for Noncompliant Devices

The FCC released a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (“NAL”) against Sound Around, Inc. (“Sound Around”) for marketing unauthorized, noncompliant radio frequency devices and for failing to fully respond to a Letter of Inquiry and Further Letter of Inquiry from the Commission.  The FCC referenced Sound Around’s repeated and continuous marketing of noncompliant devices as justification for the large fine it proposed, which had resulted in Sound Around being cited in 2011 and fined in 2022 for similar conduct.  Sound Around now is required to pay the proposed $1,202,454 forfeiture or respond to the Commission within 30 days of the NAL being issued.  

Protecting Cell Phone Accounts Enforcement Advisory

Last week, the FCC issued an Enforcement Advisory (“EA”) reminding mobile phone service providers of their obligation to prevent fraudulent subscriber identity module (“SIM”) swapping and other criminal activity that commandeers customers’ cell phone accounts.  Telecommunications providers must protect the confidentiality of proprietary information under Section 222 of the Communications Act, and any failure to reasonably protect such information can result in fines or other action by the Commission.  The FCC requires carriers to immediately notify customers of certain account changes and will soon require secure methods of authentication before redirecting a customer’s phone number to a new device or provider.  

Updated Data Breach Notification Rules

The FCC adopted rules to modify the Commission’s data breach notification rules to safeguard consumer information.  The modification seeks to expand the scope of the rules to cover certain personally identifiable information and expand the definition of “breach” to include inadvertent access, use, or disclosure of customer information.  Carriers and telecommunications relay services (“TRS”) providers are also required to notify the Commission of breaches through the central reporting facility, however, are no longer required to notify customers of a breach where the customers are not reasonably likely to be harmed or the breach solely involves encrypted data and the encryption key was not also accessed, used, or disclosed.   

FCC Adopts New Pole Attachment Rules

At its December Open Meeting, the Commission voted to reform its pole attachment rules to promote faster and more efficient broadband deployment.  The rules establish an intra-agency rapid response team to address pole attachment disputes and allows pole attachers to obtain pole inspection reports from utilities.  Furthermore, the rules clarify “red tagging,” the obligation to share easement information, and timelines for processing large attachment requests.  

USF Contribution Factor

The FCC issued a Public Notice last week announcing that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the first quarter of 2024 will be 34.6% absent any action from the Commission.  The 34.6% assessment on end-user interstate and international telecommunications revenues is projected to meet the first quarter’s requirement of $2.11873 billion for the four original universal service programs (E-Rate, rural health care, high-cost, and Lifeline) and the Connected Care Pilot Program. 

$450,000 in ECF Funding

The FCC announced that it is committing $450,000 in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Program (the “Program”).  The commitment will support applications from the third application window and will support 1,000 students in New York, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Texas.  To date, the Program has provided support to roughly 11,500 schools, 1,070 libraries, and 130 consortia.