On Wednesday, March 30th at 11:00 AM ET, Herman & Whiteaker will host a free webinar on Auction 108. Nokia’s David Fritz, Alpina Capital’s Scott Soden and H&W’s Dee Herman and Clare Liedquist will discuss the overlay licenses available, valuation estimates, and an overview of the “clock-1” auction format. As a reminder, Auction 108 is […]

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) has released a Public Notice establishing the dates, application and bidding procedures for Auction 108. Auction 108 is scheduled to begin on July 29, 2022 and will include approximately 8,000 new flexible-use, county-based overlay licenses in the following three channel blocks of unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum: 49.5 megahertz […]

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association recognized Donald (Dee) Herman, Principal at Herman & Whiteaker, as the winner of the NTCA Associate Member Outstanding Achievement Award. Dee is the recipient of one of only nine awards presented to individuals across the full membership during the recent 2022 Rural Telecom Industry Meeting and Expo. The NTCA Excellence Awards […]

All service providers and equipment manufacturers that are subject to Sections 255, 716 and 718 of the Communications Act must maintain records of their efforts to make their telecommunications services and equipment, advanced communications services and equipment, and Internet browsers built into mobile phones accessible to people with disabilities, as required by the Communications Act […]

Window Scheduled to Open June 30, 2022 Deadline Set for September 1, 2022 As a first step to developing more granular broadband maps, the Broadband Data Task Force (Task Force) and Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) of the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) have announced that starting June 30, 2022, all facilities-based broadband providers can […]

Comments and Reply Comments Due 30 and 60 days after Federal Register Publication On February 22, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) released a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Promoting Telehealth in Rural America docket, which seeks comment on revisions to the Rural Health Care Telecom Program (“Program”), the Rates Database […]

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (“RUS”) has extended the ReConnect Phase 3 application deadline from February 22, 2022 to March 9, 2022. The ReConnect Phase 3 program provides RUS funding through loans, grants, and loan-grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in underserved rural areas. The funds can be used for construction […]

New Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) rule changes to the Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum band allow EBS licensees greater flexibility to lease, assign and transfer their licenses.[1] Most notably, the new rules eliminate the EBS educational eligibility restriction and allow EBS licensees to freely sell their EBS licenses to non-educational entities.[2] Despite these changes in […]

The Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) Form 477, a semi-annual report on information collected about broadband connections to end-user locations, wired and wireless local telephone services, and interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) services, must be submitted by March 1, 2022. This next report covers data collected from July 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. Four […]

Telecommunications carriers, including interconnected VoIP providers, are required to establish and maintain systems designed to ensure they protect their subscribers’ Customer Proprietary Network Information (“CPNI”) and are required to file an annual CPNI compliance certification no later than Tuesday, March 1, 2022 (for data pertaining to the previous calendar year). If a telecommunications provider fails […]