Telecom Policy Report articles from February 2006

Telecom Policy Report archives from February 2006

Call-Records Scandal Mushrooms Amid Legislative, Regulatory Fallout.
February 6, 2006... The scandal over buying and selling individual wireless and wireline call records is spreading like the nuclear age's classic mushroom cloud over industry and government communities. And the fallout seems virtually certain to include laws...

Agencies Aren't Strangers To Privacy's Legal Issues.
February 6, 2006... The legal issues and loopholes in the carrier call-data-record flap appear to be the crux of legislative concern, with the FCC and the FTC seemingly in the midst of a confusing jurisdictional debate and being ensconced in sometimes...

Comptel's McDowell Gets White House FCC Nod.
February 6, 2006... In a relatively swift turnaround for the Washington, D.C. rumor mill, Comptel's Robert M. McDowell last Friday was named by President George W. Bush as the nominee for the remaining vacant GOP seat at the five-member Federal Communications...

U.S. Small Business Advocate Seeks Junk-Fax Leniency.
February 6, 2006... The Federal Communications Commission has listened to pleas for leniency on behalf of the small fry from another U.S. agency about pending restrictions on the transmission of unwanted facsimile advertisements (junk faxes) to consumers and...

IP Video: A Mind Meld Of Franchising, Content.
February 6, 2006... Like the Internet Protocol (IP)-intensive environments of multimedia, communications convergence and inter-modal competition they seek to understand and maybe govern, federal legislators appear painfully aware that video applications reflect...

Report Explores Sunshine State's Low LinkUp/Lifeline Take-Up.
February 6, 2006... As federal and state regulators explore ways to enhance consumer awareness of the Universal Service Fund (USF) program's Link-Up and Lifeline discounts to low-income households regarding phone service installation and monthly bills (TPR, Jan....

At The Commish: Call-Records Rulemaking Tightens Consumer Data Privacy.
February 13, 2006... The Washington, D.C., shock over commercial online infringement of customer calling records and confidentiality (TPR, Feb. 6, Jan. 30, Jan. 23) reached another stage late last week as the Federal Communications Commission opened a Notice of...

Deja Vu: The 'Old AT&T' Lawsuits Reappear.
February 13, 2006... A series of pending telco lawsuits against the former AT&T Corp. (predating its merger with SBC) resurfaced recently when a federal court allowed a number of local exchange carriers seeking unpaid access charges from the interexchange...

Bush Proposals Touch Hearts, Break Hearts.
February 13, 2006... In the aftermath of his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush may have made follow-up announcements that both played on the heartstrings of many in the telecom industry but that also broke many hearts as well. First, he...

Just How Onerous Are Local Franchise Authorities?
February 13, 2006... Unless lobbyists working state legislatures and the U.S. Congress are all that's necessary to streamline video franchising, local exchange carriers (LECs) seeking to alter the approval environment may be rapidly approaching a moment of truth...

A Mix Of USF Allies: Change It But Keep It The Same.
February 13, 2006... Political and pressure-group machinations surrounding the universal service fund (USF) ramped up again last week as a second Senate bill surfaced to encourage rural broadband deployment via the subsidy program. Hispanic/Latino organizations...

New USF Draft Bill Broadens Base, Requires Broadband.
February 20, 2006... Reps. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Rick Boucher (D-Va.) are drafting legislation on the universal service fund (USF) that would broaden the base of contributions, put new controls on distribution and allow its use specifically for broadband...

NTCA Has Its Say.
February 20, 2006... As might be expected, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association during its recent annual meeting and expo in San Diego passed a series of resolutions on maintaining its rural advocacy and lobbying efforts, particularly regarding...

NARUC Weighs In On Call-Records Brokering Action.
February 20, 2006... At its winter meeting in Washington, D.C., last week, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) voiced its take in on the pressing need for swift responses from the federal government to take action against the sale...

Hey, Big Spender: Details Of 2005 Lobbyist Dollars.
February 20, 2006... Corporate lobbyist filings on expenditures are beginning to drift into to the clerk's office at the U.S. House of Representatives, painting a picture of the growth of 2005 lobbyist spending at large and the telecom/information technology...

Are Telecom Issues Testing Congressional Absorption?
February 20, 2006... While it's been suggested previously that the U.S. Congress tackling of video content and franchising issues presents lawmakers and regulators with a difficult intertwining industry interests and agendas (TPR, Feb. 13; Feb. 6), the tough...

NYC Examines Potential '311' Service Expansions.
February 20, 2006... The New York City government is considering a $13.9 million-plus expansion of its 311 service, which currently handles non-emergency public- safety complaints, to include information on social services for residents provided by non-profit...

At The FCC: Telcos Link U.S. Broadband Goals With Video Franchise Changes.
February 27, 2006... In the first round of comments on whether local franchise authorities (LFAs) unreasonably hinder new video entrants, major telcos essentially are telling the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the whole franchise process, legislative...

Spectrum Management Gets Much More Respect.
February 27, 2006... A new position statement from the captains of the high-tech industry and Senate proposals to harness underused broadcasting frequencies highlight a broadening interest in tighter spectrum management that seeks to squeeze every hertz-worth of...

Commish Mulls Higher Bidding Defaults.
February 27, 2006... Interestingly, the Technology CEO Council mentions incentives on combinatorial (package) bidding in wireless auctions, but the FCC has some changes surrounding non-combinatorial conditions (standalone bids). On May 10, bidding on three...

Congress Gets Grief On Lack Of E911 Funding.
February 27, 2006... Every member of the U.S. Congress last week received a little heartburn regarding the fact the Administration and federal lawmakers never appropriated the monies promised to help modernize official 911 emergency call handling services under...

Cops Decry COPS Demise.
February 27, 2006... The letter-writing campaign to Congress came less than two weeks after the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International claimed a lack of adequate funding for dedicated first-responder interoperable...

Iowa Eyes New USF Eligibility Rules.
February 27, 2006... The Iowa Utilities Board has begun a rulemaking process to establish new certification and reporting requirements for service providers that want to be designated as eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs); such a designation entitles...