Telecom Policy Report articles from August 2006

Telecom Policy Report archives from August 2006

Study: 10M Households May Miss Out On IRS Payback.
August 7, 2006... At least 10 million U.S. households would be left out of the disputed federal excise tax (FET) refund procedure, according to a study sponsored by plaintiffs' attorneys in a class-action lawsuit being brought against the 108- year-old,...

FET Gone But Refund Dispute And Tax Reform Not Forgotten.
August 7, 2006... Aug. 1 dawned with the long-sought formal end of long-distance bills carrying the much-attacked federal excise tax (FET), but legal attention last week turned toward misgivings about the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) refund policy and...

The Future: The FCC Takes Broad Look At DTV-Freed 700 MHz Spectrum.
August 7, 2006... On the eve of starting Auction 66 for 1,122 Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) licenses and commercial third-generation (3G) offerings this Wednesday (Aug. 9), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is now looking far ahead to the more...

Fight Club: AT&T, NCTA Spar On IPTV Regulatory Exemption.
August 7, 2006... As federal regulators and lawmakers contemplate how to treat Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled services and to examine whether local franchise authorities (LFAs) hinder telcos from easily offering IPTV, protests from cableco interests are...

NJ Governor Finally Signs Statewide Video-Franchise Bill.
August 7, 2006... After a trail of legislative and lobbying twists and turns that date to late 2005, New Jersey's Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a bill establishing statewide video franchises following a hard-fought victory by Verizon Communications to get...

FCC Auction Update: The Top 10 Leaders.
August 14, 2006... Advanced Wireless Services (AWS)-1 Auction No. 66 - which began on schedule Aug. 9 at the Federal Communications Commission - is projected to bring in tens of billions of dollars in bids as vendors and service providers look toward commercial...

Will Elections Impact Some Key Telecom Lawmakers?
August 14, 2006... With media and pundit speculation starting to intensify now over future party control of the U.S. Congress - possibly over colossal national issues - it is inevitable that every lobbying and special-interest group will be assessing what's at...

Paper Says White Spaces Make Productive Use Of TV Bands.
August 14, 2006... Unlicensed access to currently unused or under-used broadcast-TV spectrum known as "white spaces" would constitute the most productive deployment of such bands and would help meet a range of technology, market, end-user and policy goals,...

Pennsylvania Franchise Bill Draws Onlookers, Renewed Support.
August 14, 2006... With Louisiana's governor vetoing a statewide video-franchise bill and New Jersey's governor signing a similar measure but with an executive order carrying stringent watchdog provisions on telcos (Telecom Policy Report, Aug. 5), the telco...

Deutsche Telekom's VDSL Flap With Regulator In EC Hands.
August 14, 2006... The European Commission is widely expected later this month or in early September to rule on a proposal by Germany's chief telecom regulator that Deutsche Telekom open its newer high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL) facilities to rival...

Final Reform Bill Revision Traverses Capitol Hill.
August 14, 2006... With some reading time possibly on everyone's hands before Congress reconvenes in September, the final revision of sweeping communications-reform legislation now is said to be circulating around Capitol Hill in preparation for conference...

Monday Morning Auction Update: AWS Bidding Tops $11B.
August 21, 2006... The bidding for 1,122 Federal Communication Commission (FCC) advanced wireless services (AWS) licenses topped $11 billion after 28 rounds at the close of business last Friday, with T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless' group in the lead. The...

Could NSA Ruling Bring Further Troubles To Telcos?
August 21, 2006... A federal judge's ruling this past week against the National Security Agency's warrantless communications monitoring effort clearly impacts the once- secret intelligence program itself (TelecomWeb news break, Aug. 17), but it also could...

Think Tank: USF 'Reverse Auction' Asks The Right Questions.
August 21, 2006... The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is asking the right questions about the universal service fund (USF) in positing the idea of using so-called "reverse auctions" to determine carrier eligibility and awards on the basis of lowest...

EarthLink Mulls Unbundling Vacuum After Court Rebuff.
August 21, 2006... Internet service provider EarthLink this past week was left contemplating whether any further legal action is advisable after a U.S. appellate court rejected its petitions to review or countermand federal regulations that allegedly didn't go...

TIA Resurrects National Franchise Push In Senate.
August 21, 2006... Amid state developments and spot telco/municipal fights over video franchises, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has resurrected the campaign for a streamlined, nationwide franchising system by pressing for federal legislation...

Alltel Settles CPNI Investigation With $100K Outlay.
August 21, 2006... The year-long nationwide flap over Internet brokers accessing customer calling data resurfaced when Alltel Corporation signed a consent-decree settlement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that will cost the carrier $100,000 to...

The Brewing Fight At The FCC Over Copy-Cat Forbearance Petitions.
August 28, 2006... There's a bit of a battle waiting to boil over among carriers at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over a series of copy-cat incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) petitions seeking exceptions from broadband regulation as a result...

FTC Chief: Net Neutrality Arguable, But We'll Examine.
August 28, 2006... Deborah Platt Majoras, the head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), this past week disclosed the agency has formed a task force to look into network neutrality and other hot topics. However, she personally feels whether new laws are...

Commentary: The Beguiling Conceits Of Net Neutrality.
August 28, 2006... By Hugh Carter Donahue, Ph.D. Justice Louis Brandeis: "Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent." Citizens and lawmakers would wisely approach the...

U.S. Sues Maine PUC To Stop NSA/Verizon Inquiry.
August 28, 2006... There was a backlash of sorts to a federal judge's ruling that the National Security Agency's warrant-less domestic telecom surveillance is unlawful (Telecom Web news break, Aug. 17). The U.S. government this past week made good on a threat...

EC Clamps Down On DT, Yet Door To Conflict Still Ajar.
August 28, 2006... The European Commission's (EC) clampdown on Deutsche Telekom (DT) to open up its digital subscriber line (DSL) network to rival access, and its issuance of new debating points toward a future European Union (EU) telecom regulatory framework...

BellSouth Drops DSL Surcharge Under Sudden FCC Heat.
August 28, 2006... Plans by BellSouth and Verizon Communications to add a couple of bucks or more in surcharges to monthly digital subscriber line (DSL) bills after their comparable DSL-related universal service fund (USF) obligations ceased have so outraged...

Farm Workers, Elder Groups Oppose USF Flat Fee.
August 28, 2006... A public-interest group that wants universal service fund (USF) contributions to remain mostly based on long-distance revenues today says it has recruited two more organizations to its campaign against regulators and carriers that seek to...

State Advocates Blame Carriers For Separations Over Billing.
August 28, 2006... State consumer advocates put much of the onus on carriers and their supposed competitive ventures for misallocating costs and for over-billing consumers in a recent complaint and reform proposal to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)...

Amid Fire, Verizon Lobbyists Ply Their Trade Here And There.
August 28, 2006... With Verizon Communications igniting controversy among state regulators and legislators over a wide range of issues that include deregulation requests, rate-setting disputes, 411 directory-assistance calls and over-billing (Telecom Policy...

Monday Morning Auction Update: T-Mobile Remains Atop As Bids Exceed $13B.
August 28, 2006... As of Aug. 25, Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA subsidiary remained the top bidder in the Federal Communications Commission's Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-1) spectrum auction as the third week of RF bidding reached Round 48 and the total...