iFCC Supports Louisville One-Touch Make-Ready
The FCC last week filed a “Statement of Interest” in U.S. District Court in Kentucky stating that Louisville’s One-Touch Make-Ready ordinance does not violate federal pole attachment rules, since the Kentucky PSC, not the FCC, regulates pole attachments in Kentucky. The Commission argued that One-Touch Make-Ready laws are “consonant with federal telecommunications policy and the federal pole attachment regulations.”
OSHA Tower Penalty Affirmed
Last week, the Fifth Circuit upheld an OSHA decision penalizing a tower services company for the deaths of two tower workers. The penalty stemmed from an accident in 2013 when two employees were struck by an 1800-pound gin pole and killed at a 300-foot tower site. OSHA issued a citation of $134,400 against the company and later reduced the fine to $70,000. The Court affirmed the penalty last week, finding that the company exposed its workers to “struck-by hazards” and failed to properly mark the gin pole.
Broadband Privacy Order Released
As we previously reported, the FCC recently adopted new rules for protecting the privacy and security of information that broadband internet access service providers acquire from customers. The Report and Order, which was released last week, imposes (among other things) notice and consent requirements for the use and sharing of “customer proprietary information” (a term that is broadly defined) and new requirements relating to data security and data breach response. The FCC also revised its existing privacy rules to “harmonize” them for all telecommunications carriers, and committed to initiate a rulemaking regarding mandatory arbitration requirements in early 2017.
Arizona Extends RFP Deadline
The state of Arizona has extended its deadline for responding to a request for proposal for operating a public safety broadband network. Responses are now due by November 1st. The deadline was extended in response to FirstNet’s recent announcement that it would not meet its projected goal of awarding a contract for the nationwide public safety network by its original deadline of November 1st.
