Fine for Robocalls, Regional Fiber Connect Workshops, Philadelphia’s Broadband Plan

February 22, 2022 – The Federal Communications Commission proposed Friday a $45-million fine for violations of robocall rules.

The fine is proposed against telemarketer company Interstate Brokers of America, which allegedly made hundreds of thousands of calls with false claims about the pandemic to induce people to purchase health insurance.

The investigation sampled 10,000 calls and confirmed with the dialing platform provider that the calls were pre-recorded messages. Investigators spoke to several recipients who confirmed they “had not provided to consent to be called,” according to the press release.

“Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, robocalls made to wireless phones and telemarketing robocalls made to landlines require prior written consent of the called party,” said the press release.

This proposed fine is based on verified calls and would be the largest illegal robocall fine ever.

The proposed fine comes in wake of the announcement the FCC made on Friday about increasing efforts against robocalls, including the STIR/SHAKEN standards that provide a common information sharing language between networks to verify caller ID information.

FBA launches regional fiber connect workshops

The Fiber Broadband Association is launching an event series of regional fiber connect workshops that will focus on preparing community leaders, broadband operators and public officials that are planning to deploy fiber or are already in the process of building fiber broadband infrastructure.

Broadband experts and local broadband leaders will be featured during these events. The content of these workshops will “provide the tools needed to fund, design, deploy and deliver fiber broadband services across North America” such as the who, what, when and how of broadband assessment, funding, getting community support and political will, brand positioning, marketing strategies, and more, according to an article in Broadband Communities.

These workshops will begin in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on March 23, 2022, and will go to various cities in the United States. They were announced on Wednesday.

Philadelphia announces five-year broadband plan to close city’s digital divide

Philadelphia has released a five-year plan, titled the Digital Equity Plan for the City of Philadelphia, that will “tackle the digital divide,” according to Mark Wheeler, chief information officer for the City of Philadelphia.

This plan was put in place through an executive order signed in early February by Mayor Jim Kenney and combines new and existing initiatives to bring broadband to the entire city. The plan was released February 15.

“With new expectations for remote work and school, coupled with the reality of housing insecurity, high-capacity, ubiquitous wireless networks will also be critical and necessary to close the digital divide. Both high-capacity wired and wireless solutions must be affordable for all residents,” said the plan.

The plan has five goals that focus on devices, connectivity, training and workforce, and ecosystem.