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Text Messages Fall under Title II Dkt 08-7

Public Notice, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Seeks Comment Regarding Petition Seeking A Declaratory Ruling Clarifying The Regulatory Status of Mobile Messaging Services, WT Docket No. 08-7, DA 15-1169 (Wireless Telecomm. Bur. rel. Oct. 13, 2015)

Comments Due: 11/20/2015. Reply Comments Due: 12/21/2015. WTB  DA-15-1169A1.docx  DA-15-1169A1.pdf  

On August 28, 2015, Twilio Inc. filed a petition for an expedited declaratory ruling, asking the Commission “to declare that messaging services are governed by Title II” of the Communications Act.[1] Today’s Public Notice seeks comment on the Twilio Petition and seeks to refresh the record in this proceeding in light of marketplace and legal developments since the Commission sought comment in 2008 on a similar petition.[2] Twilio describes itself as a “cloud-based developer-platform company” that facilitates “merging cloud computing, web services, and traditional voice and messaging communications.”[3] In its Petition, Twilio asserts that wireless providers engage in a variety of discriminatory and anti-competitive practices that cannot be adequately addressed absent a declaratory ruling classifying messaging services under Title II.[4] Twilio further asserts that, under judicial and Commission precedent, messaging services constitute telecommunications services and commercial mobile radio services and are thus subject to Title II 

Petition For Declaratory Ruling That Text Messages And Short Codes Are Title Ii Services Or Are Title I Services Subject To Section 202 Non-Discrimination Rules WT Docket No. 08-7

Public Notice DA 08-78 January 14, 2008: "On December 11, 2007, Public Knowledge, Free Press, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, EDUCAUSE, Media Access Project, New America Foundation, and U.S. PIRG (Petitioners) filed a joint petition for declaratory ruling (Petition) . The Petitioners ask the Commission to clarify the regulatory status of text messaging services , including short-code based services sent from and received by mobile phones, and declare that these services are governed by the anti-discrimination provisions of Title II of the Communications Act . The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau seeks comment on the Petition.

"The Petitioners assert that text messaging is "rapidly becoming a major mode of speech, as a replacement for and a complement to traditional voice communications," and that "short codes are developing into an important tool for political and social outreach." The Petitioners allege that mobile carriers "arbitrarily decide what customers to serve and which speech to allow in text messages, refusing to serve those that they find controversial or that compete with the mobile carriers' services." In their Petition, the Petitioners request that the Commission declare that text messaging services are "commercial mobile services" governed by Title II, and thus are subject to the non-discrimination provisions of Section 202. Alternatively, the Petitioners request that, if the Commission declares that these services are "information services " subject to its Title I authority , the Commission should exercise ancillary jurisdiction to apply the non-discrimination provisions of Title II to text messaging services. Petitioners also request that, in either case, the Commission should declare that refusing to provision a short code or otherwise blocking text messages because of the type of speech, or because the party seeking such service is a competitor, is "unjust and unreasonable discrimination" in violation of law.

Released: 01/14/2008. WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON PETITION FOR DECLARATORY RULING THAT TEXT MESSAGES AND SHORT CODES ARE TITLE II SERVICES OR ARE TITLE I SERVICES SUBJECT TO SECTION 202 NON-DISCRIMINATION RULES. (DA No. 08-78). (Dkt No 08-7). Comments Due: 02/13/2008. Reply Comments Due: 03/14/2008. WTB. pdf Word TXT

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