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MINNESOTA TELECOM
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
The 2010 Minnesota legislative session is
underway. Several telecommunications
related bills are being considered.
Below is a summary of key bills Mendoza Law Office is tracking, and
their current status. A list of other
bills being considered is also provided below.
Senate File 2532/House File
2629
Chief Authors:
Senate: Tom Bakk (DFL District 6)
House: David Dill (DFL District 6A)
Bill Status:
Senate: Passed the Energy, Utilities, Technology
and Communications Committee on February 18, 2010.
House: Introduced to House Commerce and Labor
Committee, referred by Chair to House Telecommunications Regulation and
Infrastructure Division. The House bill
has not yet been heard.
Bill Summary: The bill, as it currently
stands in the Senate, would lower the threshold that must be achieved in
referenda in which municipalities seek to offer telephone services. Current law requires a 65% supermajority in
a municipal referendum to authorize a municipality to own and operate a
telephone exchange. The bill would
lower this threshold to require only a majority of those voting in the election
to approve. The Senate bill was amended
by the Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications Committee to authorize any
county (in addition to any municipality) to own and operate a telephone exchange if a majority of voters voting
in a countywide referendum approve.
Senate File 2254/House File
2907
Chief Authors:
Senate: Yvonne Prettner-Solon (DFL District 7)
House: Sheldon Johnson (DFL District 67B)
Bill Status:
Senate: Passed on the Energy, Utilities, Technology
and Communications Committee on February 4, 2010. Second reading on Senate floor February 16, 2010.
House: Heard by House Telecommunications Regulation
and Infrastructure Division. Referred
back to House Commerce and Labor Committee.
Bill Summary: The bill would codify goals for
broadband deployment and access established by the Minnesota Broadband Task
Force in its Fall 2009 report.
The current Senate version, as passed by the Energy, Utilities,
Technology and Communications Committee requires the Commissioner of Commerce
to report annually to the legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over
broadband policy. The House version
would also require reports from the Commerce Department, but would also allow
the Commerce Commissioner to appoint an advisory group for assistance in
achieving the state's broadband goals.
Senate File 2535/House File
2852
Chief Authors:
Senate: Scott Dibble (DFL District 60)
House: Sheldon Johnson (DFL District 67B)
Bill Status:
Senate: Passed the Energy, Utilities, Technology
and Communications Committee on February 18, 2010.
House: Introduced to House Commerce and Labor
Committee, referred by Chair to House Telecommunications Regulation and
Infrastructure Division. The House bill
has not yet been heard.
Bill Summary: The bill would prohibit local cable
franchising authorities from requiring a telephone company to build out plant
beyond its MPUC certificated service area where the municipal boundaries and
telephone exchange boundaries are incongruous.
Other telecommunications related bills:
Senate File 2651/House File
2833 (deleting Department of Commerce authority to issue and enforce rules
pertaining maintenance, construction, and operation of telephone lines crossing
or paralleling utility lines)
Senate File 2470/House File
2639 (authorizing wireless carriers to provide call location information to
authorities in emergency situations)
Senate File 0129/House File
0170 (allowing and facilitating ability of consumers to decline delivery of
telephone directories).
Senate File 2616 (No House companion
yet)(reinstating requirements for landlords who own buildings where a private
shared telecommunications system is operated to provide competitive access to
telephone companies).
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CITY OF WINDOM AWARDED $12.7
MILLION IN FEDERAL BROADBAND STIMULUS GRANTS AND LOANS
Hiawatha Broadband Application for Southeast Minnesota Rejected
The City of Windom has been awarded $12.7 million in
federal broadband stimulus grants to extend its city-owned broadband network to
the cities of Jackson, Lakefield, Round Lake, Bingham Lake, Brewster, Wilder,
Heron Lake, and Okabena, Minnesota. The
Cities of Windom, Jackson, and Lakefield already own and operate their own
cable systems. The total population of
the area to be served by the network is 7,337.
In its grant application, the City of Windom states that its network will
provide retail and wholesale services.
The project will involve building a 125 mile, 96 strand fiber ring
connecting the participating communities.
The application states the "transport" network will run at
1Gbps, and can be upgraded to 10Gbps.
The last mile distribution network will provide 2.4/1.2 Gbps of shared
capacity per 32 subscribers. The
initial capital cost of the project is $12.8 million, or $4,201 per
subscriber. The City intends to work
with the Blandin Foundation in marketing the network.
Hiawatha Broadband learned that it will not be
receiving funding for a grant it applied for that would have funded a similar
project in Southeast Minnesota, at least not from the first round of federal
broadband stimulus grants and loans.
Hiawatha's project intended to serve the communities of Minneiska,
Miesville, New Trier, Lake City, and Red Wing.
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MPUC UPDATE
Caller ID Spoofing
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission issued a
notice seeking comments from the public regarding Caller ID Spoofing,
"Vishing," and Caller ID "Unmasking" services. The MPUC notice was triggered by a complaint
filed by the Minnesota Department of Commerce describing the problem, and
recommending that the MPUC seek comment from interested parties about the
issue. Initial comments were due on
February 8, 2010. Reply comments are
due on March 10, 2010.
In the initial comments received by the Commission
from industry advised that spoofing, vishing, and unmasking are federal
problems. Carriers reminded the
Commission that its jurisdiction is limited to intrastate telecommunications,
and that these problems are interstate in nature. Some carriers also cautioned the Commission to tread carefully
because there are legitimate reasons for end users to substitute caller
identification information. All phone
companies said there no technological fix to this problem. There is no way to validate the accuracy of
calling party number data provided by an upstream carrier. Carriers stated that the Commission could
launch a consumer education campaign on this issue. However, telephone companies should not be burdened with costs of
any government-created consumer education campaign. Companies stated that the focus of regulatory and enforcement
action should be on perpetrators of this conduct, not on providers of Caller ID
services. The Minnesota Attorney
General Residential Utilities Division (RUD) filed comments arguing that
responsibility for fixing Caller ID spoofing problem lies with phone companies
and other providers of Caller ID services.
The RUD argued there is little public benefit to Caller ID services if
Caller ID information provided to consumers is inaccurate or deceptive. Further, the RUD asserted that service
providers should only be allowed to transmit Caller ID information if they have
a way to verify the accuracy of the Caller ID information provided to the end
user. RUD finally asserted the MPUC has
authority to prohibit offering of Caller ID services in Minnesota, or to modify
the terms and conditions under which it can be provided.
Qwest "Traffic Pumping: Complaint" Against Tekstar
The MPUC also referred Qwest's "traffic
pumping" complaint against rural CLEC, Tekstar, to an administrative law
judge for a contested case hearing.
Qwest's complaint alleges that Tekstar enters into arrangements with
"free calling service companies" (FCSCs) to greatly increase the
volume of long distance traffic routed to or through Tekstar. The FCSCs allegedly advertise free calling
services, such as free conference calling, free adult chat lines, or free
international calling to draw the traffic through Tekstar's switch. Tekstar then bills the long distance carrier
for access charges. Tekstar argues
that Qwest's allegations grossly mischaracterize the nature of the calls. Tekstar states its services are primarily conference calling services provided to businesses and
non-profit institutions. Tekstar rebuts
Qwest's allegation that most Tekstar traffic is directed to adult chat lines as
"grossly inaccurate and an obvious attempt to obscure the facts and
prejudice consideration of real issues."
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