ISP License in the USA?

Sun Jun 5 18:17:12 UTC 2016

A couple of places to start:

Baller Stokes & Lide, P.C. (www.baller.com)

http://www.bbklaw.com (which absorbed Miller & Van Eaton a few years back)

They both have practices that focus on telecom from a municipal point of 
view (municipal broadband, right-of-way issues, cable franchises, and 
such) - which is how I know them - but may be able to help or point you 
in the right direction.

Miles Fidelman

On 6/5/16 12:31 PM, Ryan Finnesey wrote:
> Would you mind sharing some of the telecommunications focused law firms?  I am about to start a company that is going back into the CLEC/ISP/VoIP Business and I am going to have to establish relationships with a few law firms.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NANOG [mailto:nanog-bounces at nanog.org] On Behalf Of Eric Flanery (eric)
> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2016 2:55 PM
> Cc: NANOG list <nanog at nanog.org>
> Subject: Re: ISP License in the USA?
>
> There is no such thing as an 'ISP license' in the US. I have a hard time imagining Texas of all places would have such a requirement.
>
> Depending on what exactly you are doing, there are various and highly varied requirements, such as acquiring a SPIN number for E-Rate, filing FCC
> 477 if you do broadband, FCC 499 if you do VoIP (CLEC and ETC also apply there), a FRN if you do pretty much anything FCC-related, various sorts of licenses for most radio/microwave systems (excepting part 15 stuff), CALEA, open internet, etc...
>
> COALS _could_ apply _if_ you are running a cable TV system that also delivers data services, but it isn't an 'ISP thing'.
>
> More to the point...
>
> I wouldn't take US legal advice from any consultant not familiar with US law, or really any non-lawyer consultant at all. I wouldn't take it from NANOG either; while it's a tremendous technical resource, it is not your attorney.
>
> There are a number of telecommunications focused law firms out there, with knowledgeable lawyers. It would be a good idea to establish a relationship with one, if you intend to enter the increasingly complex legal minefield of being an ISP.
>
> --Eric
>
> On Tue, May 31, 2016 at 11:24 AM, Dan White <dwhite at olp.net> wrote:
>
>> Not familiar with the process, but look at E-rate if you want to
>> provide service to schools, libraries and health providers.
>>
>>
>> On 05/31/16 13:14 -0500, Lorell Hathcock wrote:
>>
>>> NANOG:
>>>
>>> Our owner has hired a consultant who insists that we should have an
>>> ISP license to operate in the United States.  (Like they have in
>>> other countries like Germany and in Africa where he has extensive
>>> personal experience.)
>>>
>>> I am asking him to tell me which license we should have because I
>>> don't know of a license that we are required to have to route IP
>>> traffic to end customers.
>>>
>>> I am familiar with CLEC status filed with our state.  But it is not a
>>> requirement to pass traffic.
>>>
>>> He is suggesting COALS with which I am completely unfamiliar.
>>>
>>> Can anyone tell me if there is a Texas state and/or USA Federal
>>> license for a small operator to pass IP traffic from the internet to
>>> end users (commercial and/or residential).
>>>
>>> I am aware that there are some CALEA requirements of ISPs that seem
>>> to kick in once a CALEA request is made, but is that different from a
>>> license.
>>>
>> --
>> Dan White
>> BTC Broadband
>>

-- 
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.  .... Yogi Berra