This definitive legal guide to the new world of telecommunications provides you with the thorough, authoritative analysis you need to understand and comply with the complex regulatory landscape in the industry. You will find timely review of key legislations, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, regulations and orders, and court decisions, with extensive citations and cross-references concerning essential topics.
The Federal Telecommunications Law, Third Edition brings you up to date on the latest regulatory developments and case law, including the following:
- Updated Special Notice regarding the actions taken by the FCC in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In July 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of theTelephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) but severed the government debt exception as unconstitutional in William P. Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants. In the majority opinion, the Supreme Court held that the government debt exception to the TCPA was an unconstitutional content-based restriction of free speech. The Court found that the government “has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content.”
- In March 2020, Congress passed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (Secure Networks Act). The Secure Networks Act makes permanent the FCC’s ban on the use of Universal Service Fund dollars for the purchase of equipment made by Huawei and other designated Chinese elecommunications companies deemed to represent a risk to national security.
- InCity of Portland v. United States, a Ninth Circuit panel largely held that the FCC’s Moratoria, One-Touch Make-Ready, and Small Cell Orders were proper exercises of the FCC’s authority. The court did reverse certain provisions of the Small Cell Order regarding local government interpretation of aesthetic regulations.
- In July 2020, the FCC released the Sixth Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration wanting to make the precise location of wireless emergency calls more granular. There are two types of technologies for automated location. One is a network-based system that locates a caller by comparing signals received at multiple cell sites, and the other is a handset-based system that depends on location information transmitted by the caller’s device. In the Sixth Order, the FCC has tweaked the rule to permit providers to meet that standard in only 80% of buildings that are more than three stories high. The FCC is allowing nationwide service providers to deploy technologies that focus on multi-story buildings, where vertical location information is most vital to first responders, and the providers have to deploy z-axis technology nationwide by April 2025.
- In Allan v. Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, the Sixth Circuit adopted a broad definition of an autodialer. The court found that the term automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) includes devices that “generate[] and dial[] random or sequential numbers,” and “that dial[] from a stored list of numbers.” With this opinion, the Sixth Circuit has joined the Second and Ninth Circuits in a growing circuit split. The Third, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits have adopted a narrower interpretation.
- In July 2020, the FCC released the Third Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in its campaign to stop unwanted and illegal robocalls. The Order creates a “safe harbor” that protects carriers that block calls based on reasonable analytics or other permissible criteria. It also seeks to make sure that carriers do not mistakenly block wanted calls.
- The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued rulings in two petitions for clarification of the requirements of the TCPA. In the first ruling, P2P Alliance, the Bureau ruled that an ATDS is not determined by whether the equipment has the capability to send a large volume of calls or texts in a short period of time. In the second ruling, Anthem, Inc., the Bureau denied a petition to exempt certain healthcare-related calls from the TCPA’s consent requirements.
