Telecom Policy Report articles from January 2005

Telecom Policy Report archives from January 2005

DoE Offers Vision On Tech, Silence On E-Rate.
January 12, 2005... New Report Details Future School Plans, But What About Funding? The U.S. Department of Education (DoE) recently offered the nation its long-term visions and views on implementing the wider use of computers, software and networking in the...

CPUC Holds Off On Rights Vote.
January 12, 2005... Despite efforts by one member of the California Public Utilities Commission to derail the "Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights" that squeaked through the voting process less than a year ago, a suspension of the document will not be voted...

Tax The Pizza Delivery Service, Not The Pizza.
January 12, 2005... By Steven Ivester Long-heralded as the voice-calling standard of the future, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has quickly roared into the present, touching business markets and rapidly replacing the aging TDM systems that most firms...

Groups Ask FCC To Reach Out, Put The Touch On AT&T.
January 12, 2005... AT&T may find out sooner than later that its idea of putting commercials on calling cards does not classify those calling cards as "information services," thus exempting them from Universal Service Fund (USF) payments and connection fees...

Barbetta Named TPR Editor.
January 12, 2005... Veteran journalist Frank Barbetta has joined Access Intelligence as editor of Telecom Policy Report. Barbetta's work is well-known in the telecommunications and high-tech industries, and he brings to the table extensive business reporting and...

USF Reform: Where Angels Fear To Tread.
January 19, 2005... Think Tank Calls Current System 'Outdated,' 'Generalist' Publicly subsidized costs are simply getting too high for the "high-cost" segment of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund (USF), and it is high time for a...

It's Our Party, And We'll Pay If We Want To.
January 19, 2005... President George W. Bush will be inaugurated for a second term tomorrow in ceremonies that will cost some $40 million when all is said and done. Who is paying for all of this? According to numbers released yesterday by watchdog group Public...

New Bill Envisions Federal Jurisdiction, Fixates On VoIP.
January 19, 2005... This year's initial political volley on new telecom legislation surfaced earlier this month when Rep. U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) - with co-sponsor Rick Boucher (D-Va.). - submitted a House bill to define all IP-based telecommunications,...

FCC Targets Competition, Broadband, Spectrum Policies.
January 19, 2005... Federal Communications Commission staffers have outlined an ambitious agenda for 2005 aimed at aggressively increasing competition, further driving down end-user prices, promoting ubiquitous broadband access to the Internet and widening the...

The 2005 Deloitte Crystal Ball.
January 19, 2005... According to new research from Deloitte, things are looking up this year when it comes to wireless and wireline trends. First and foremost, the company predicts big money for wireless companies, saying there will be nearly 2 billion wireless...

Dingell Letter Turns Up The Heat On FCC, AT&T.
January 19, 2005... Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell and the other commissioners are being pressed again by Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) to resolve AT&T's May 2003 petition (TPR, Jan. 12) asking the FCC for a ruling that declares its...

Money Trail: Who Wrote Checks For The 2005 Inauguration Fund?
January 19, 2005... Corporations AT&T $25,000 Cisco Systems $100,000 Clearwire Communications $100,000 Computer Associates International Inc. $100,000 EDS ...

Wanted: Reg. Mgr.; Must Be Good Swimmer.
January 26, 2005... New FCC Chairman Must Dive Right In, No Treading Water "Having completed a bold and aggressive agenda, it is time for me to pursue other opportunities and let someone else take the reins of the agency, "wrote Michael K. Powell last week,...

Grass Roots Effort Could Derail La. Municipal Fiber Plan.
January 26, 2005... Last year, the city fathers in Lafayette, La., voted to go with a controversial plan to build a municipally owned fiber system that would serve residences and businesses alike with high-speed broadband services. A group of Lafayette businessmen...

Supremes Ready For 'Brand X' Cable-Modem Case.
January 26, 2005... The infamous "Brand X" Internet services case - which may decide whether cable-modem offerings should be treated as information services or communications services - will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, with oral arguments perhaps slated...

Bankers Ask FCC For Do-Not-Call Telemarketing Relief.
January 26, 2005... A banking organization has told the FCC that telemarketing laws in three states - Indiana, New Jersey and Wisconsin - are too restrictive on businesses, and that they effectively pre-empt the agency's authority over interstate calling. This...

Open Letters Task White House With VoIP Demands.
January 26, 2005... Re-elected and re-inaugurated President George W. Bush may think he has other burning issues to contemplate, but the telecom industry and carrier factions constantly at war over voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, services and...

The AT&T Calling-Card Dispute: Same Song, New Verse.
January 26, 2005... Controversy over AT&T's refusal to cough up Universal Service fund (USF) payments from its calling-card offerings generated a near feeding-frenzy of publicity recently as a Florida legal settlement and continued trade organization arguments...

NTCA Scores Extra Cash Following 'Safety Valve' Ruling.
January 26, 2005... Finally, some good news where the Universal Service Fund is concerned. The FCC granted a request made by the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) to permit its rural and cooperative telco members to recoup some of the...

Bush Appointee Takes Over As New NCTA Head.
January 26, 2005... U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Kyle McSlarrow, who handed in his resignation last week, has been named president and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), effective March 1. McSlarrow takes over a post now held by...