NECA has published a newly developed list of rural CLEC OCNs for use in efforts to help combat rural call completion problems. This list is the result of the FCC’s directions in its April 17 Second Report and Order and Third FNPRM on rural call completion.

The calendar declares June 21 as the official start of the summer season, but we all know better; it started this week with the Memorial Day holiday. For good things we can’t wait to enjoy, why not start sooner and reap the benefits? More on that later.

The Washington tech and telecom world is still caught up in the Facebook frenzy that led up to and followed CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony a few weeks back. Not surprisingly, this has ignited significant interest in privacy issues, which will be important to follow moving forward. Of particular interest will be to see if Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) BROWSER Act, which would apply privacy rules to both ISPs as well as edge providers such as Amazon, Facebook and Google, starts to gain traction after sitting in limbo for months.

Around this time one year ago, we were presented with choices, decisions and elections, from selecting someone to occupy the highest office in the land to choosing the appropriate path to receive universal service support. As 2018 approaches, decisions have been made and results became effective, but there is still much for us to contemplate and engage in to keep pace with the resulting changes.

To combat the continuing problems with rural call completion, the Federal Communications Commission is re-evaluating one of its policies. Specifically, the FCC is considering eliminating the  r ecording, retention and reporting rules adopted in its 2013 Rural Call Completion  Order .