Battery Backup Power Disclosure Obligations Go Into Effect February 1, 2017 for All Providers

On August 7, 2015, the FCC released an Order obligating providers of facilities-based fixed, residential voice services, such as interconnected VoIP, that are not line-powered (“Covered Providers”) to provide backup power sources to customers in order to ensure 911 service during a power outage.  The Order also obligated Covered Providers to comply with certain consumer disclosure requirements.

While larger Covered Providers – those with 100,000 or more domestic retail subscriber lines (including lines provided by entities under common control with the provider) – have been required to provide customer disclosures since August 5, 2016, smaller Covered Providers must meet these disclosure requirements beginning February 1, 2017. 

Battery Backup Requirements.  Pursuant to the Order, Covered Providers must offer for sale at least one option with a minimum of eight hours of standby backup power.  This eight-hour battery backup requirement went into effect for larger Covered Providers on February 13, 2016, and for all Covered Providers on August 11, 2016.  Beginning February 13, 2019, all Covered Providers, regardless of size, will be required to offer a minimum 24-hour backup power solution. 

Providers may develop and offer their own backup power solution, if it meets certain minimum time obligations and are not obligated to retrofit equipment currently used by subscribers to accommodate new backup power solutions.  Providers may charge subscribers for backup power capabilities.

Disclosure Obligations.  The FCC’s Order includes an obligation to disclose certain information to subscribers, including:

• Availability of backup power sources;
• Service limitations with and without backup power during a power outage;
• Purchase and replacement options;
• Expected backup power duration;
• Proper usage and storage conditions for the backup power source;
• Subscriber backup power self-testing and monitoring instructions; and
• Backup power warranty details, if any. 

These disclosures must be provided to subscribers both at the point-of-sale and annually thereafter. Covered Providers are permitted to convey the disclosures by any means reasonably calculated to reach the individual subscriber.  For example, a Covered Provider may use a combination of disclosures via email, an online billing statement, or other digital or electronic means for subscribers that communicate with the provider.  Posting the information on the provider’s website will not, by itself, satisfy the requirement that notifications be reasonably calculated to reach individual subscribers.  Similarly, an email notification for a subscriber who does not communicate with the provider through email would not satisfy the requirement.

Model Disclosure.  The FCC’s Small Entity Compliance Guide, released August 7, 2015, contains a model backup power disclosure notice of a fictional Covered Provider, KTTel, which can be modified to fit the particular needs of each Covered Provider.  The sample is based upon a Covered Service choosing to furnish backup power with a battery, though that is not the only permissible technical solution. 

If you have further questions about the battery backup power requirements, please contact Scott Friedman at (312) 372-3930 or sfriedman@cinnamonmueller.com.

FCC Clarifies That High-Cost Eligible Telecommunications Carriers Do Not Need to Create a Standalone BIAS Service

 BIAS Service May be Bundled

On January 6, 2017, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau released an Order clarifying that eligible telecommunications carriers (“ETCs”) offering Lifeline services are not required to offer a standalone broadband Internet access service (“BIAS”).  Rather, ETCs receiving high-cost support may bundle the required BIAS service with a voice offering. 

The Bureau released the Order in response to a Petition for Waiver filed by NCTA and WTA requesting that the FCC exempt rural rate-of-return regulated telecommunications providers receiving high-cost support from creating and tracking specialized standalone broadband Lifeline offerings if standalone offerings were not offered.  The Waiver Petition was dismissed as moot given the clarification by the Bureau. 

Background. The FCC’s 2016 Lifeline Modernization Order (“Modernization Order”) requires high-cost ETC recipients to offer BIAS consistent with specified benchmarks as a condition of receiving high-cost support. Note 133 of the Modernization Order stated that “ETCs receiving high-cost support are required to offer a Lifeline-supported standalone broadband offering where the ETC is required to offer Lifeline-supported BIAS to ensure that all low-income consumers, including those living in high-cost areas, have the option to subscribe to standalone broadband offerings.”  NTCA and WTA interpreted note 133 as requiring high-cost recipients that do not currently offer standalone BIAS to do so and to provide the Lifeline discount when applicable.

Order.  The Bureau disagreed and clarified that a standalone BIAS offering was not required.  The Bureau noted that requiring high-cost recipients that do not currently offer standalone BIAS to offer such a service for the first time would entail a major regulatory and policy shift and was not intended by the footnote.  The Bureau noted that the language in note 133 of the Modernization Order merely provides that if an ETC offers standalone BIAS in a portion of its service area that receives high-cost support, the ETC must allow eligible consumers to apply the Lifeline discount to that standalone service. The Bureau found that requiring high-cost recipients that already offer standalone BIAS to allow eligible customers to apply the Lifeline discount was a much more reasonable reading of the language and policies discussed in the Modernization Order, and that the required BIAS service could be offered in a bundle with voice service. 

If you have further questions, please contact Bruce Beard at (314) 394-1535 or bbeard@cinnamonmueller.com.