Telecom Policy Report articles from July 2003

Telecom Policy Report archives from July 2003

Congress Unlikely To Pass Anti-LNP Legislation.
July 2, 2003... Verizon Wireless Now Ready To Embrace FCC's Nov. 24 Mandate Now that Verizon Wireless has done a 180-degree turnaround on wireless local number portability (LNP), congressional interest in helping the wireless industry avoid the FCC's Nov....

Wheeler Didn't Win On LNP, But He Won Big On Growing CTIA.
July 2, 2003... Sources tell TPR that the failure of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) to successfully avoid compliance with the FCC's Nov. 24 deadline for implementing local number portability (LNP) is having a bad effect on the...

Security, Disaster Relief See Progress At WRC 2003.
July 2, 2003... Global telecom policymakers reached a major milestone last week at the World Radiocommunication Confernce 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland, with the approval of a new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) resolution aimed at paving the way for...

In Other WRC 2003 Business ...
July 2, 2003... * A new WRC 2003 resolution approved in the ITU's Committee 5 addresses the special needs of geographically "small or narrow countries" operating fixedsatellite service (FSS) earth stations in the band 13.75-14 GHz and how best to coordinate...

Study Casts Doubt On Claims Of Slow Investment.
July 2, 2003... Phoenix Center Takes Issue With The Regional Bell Companies' Contentions A new policy bulletin from the Washington, D.C.-based Phoenix Center shows that the 1996 Telecommunications Act produced a surge in telecom investment and capital...

Sen. Santorum Targets WorldCom's Tax Loophole.
July 2, 2003... It doesn't appear that Congress is quite finished with WorldCom. Some of the lawmakers are clearly interested in further punishing the company for perpetrating the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history. Last week, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.),...

DoD Now Preparing For Rapid Move To IPv6, Hi-Tech Chief Says.
July 2, 2003... John Osterholz, director of architecture and interoperability for the Department of Defense, late last week told a gathering of technology elite that the Pentagon would phase out purchases of IPv4 network technologies by this fall and would...

Dorgan Seen As Champion For Rural Communities.
July 2, 2003... "I come from a town of 300 people, a high school class of nine." That's a standard opening line for Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), a key member of the Senate Commerce Committee and one of the principal authors of the 1996 Telecom Act. During...

Editor's Note.
July 2, 2003... In recognition of Independence Day, Telecom Policy Report will not be published next week. The next regular issue will be published on July 16, 2003. [Copyright 2003 PBI Media, LLC. All rights reserved.]

RBOCs' Market Power Comes Under Attack.
July 16, 2003... Monopoly Control Of Special Access Becomes Focal Point The independent Washington, D.C.-based telecom policy "think tank" Phoenix Center this week is poised to release a scathing "white paper" - at least 31 pages long - that will take to...

NTIA Boss Nancy Victory Resigns; Some Think Powell Will Be Next.
July 16, 2003... Nancy Victory, head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) and Assistant Secretary of Commerce, surprised telecom industry observers last week when she told members of her staff she would be stepping down from...

EdLiNC: Schools, Libraries Rely Heavily On E-Rate.
July 16, 2003... Current Budget Constraints Make Subsidy Program Critical, Group Says With schools and public libraries facing the toughest budget cuts in a decade, E-Rate support for basic telecommunications services, Internet access and networking is...

RBOCs' Fiber Plan Seen As No Quick Fix For Sector.
July 16, 2003... Skepticism Abounds As To Whether Bells Are Really Serious If the three Bell companies who in late May asked vendors to submit proposals in support of "fiber-to-the-home" (FTTH) deployment actually go forward with their plan - some industry...

Group Alleges RIAA Unfair In Internet Radio Market.
July 16, 2003... Should amateur and professional "webcasters" be compelled to pay the recording industry royalties for music they play on the Internet? And if so, should the terms of those royalty payments be uniform for all webcasters? Those are the...

Conservative Rep. Upton Asserts Quiet Presence.
July 16, 2003... Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) may be the most famous congressman you never heard of - unless, of course, you happen to be in the telecom industry. And if you are, you no doubt know this unassuming gentleman as the current chairman of the House...

Cable Rate Re-Regulation Looms On Horizon.
July 23, 2003... Sen. McCain Said To Be Pondering Possible Legislation The U.S. cable television industry, virtually de-regulated with the passage of the 1996 Telecom Act, may be facing the real prospect of price "reregulation" - especially given the...

Pennsylvania PUC Strikes Broadband Deal With Verizon.
July 23, 2003... But Chairman Has Serious Doubts About Outcome Of Measure The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PPUC) last Thursday (July 17) voted 4-1 on a measure that is supposed to accelerate Verizon-Pennsylvania's current network modernization...

E-911 Bill Clears Committee, Heads To Senate Floor.
July 23, 2003... Cash strapped states that are diverting - for other uses - funds earmarked for upgrading 911 location detection technology for cellular phones are about to get a serious wake-up call from Congress. The Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday...

FCC, BellSouth Enter $1.4 Million Consent Decree.
July 23, 2003... The FCC late last week entered into a consent decree with BellSouth Corp., ending two major investigations into allegations that the Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) ignored several key provisions of the Telecom Act - namely the rules on...

Sans Power, Gephardt Still Draws Telecom Dollars.
July 23, 2003... In 1995, shortly after the Republicans took control of the House, Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), then the Minority Leader, railed against his Republican colleagues across the aisle for - as he put it - cutting the Democrats out of the...

CPUC To Take Up Telecom Users' 'Bill Of Rights'.
July 30, 2003... Measure Is Seen As Possible Blueprint For Other States In what may well become a roadmap for regulators in other states, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is poised to adopt what some in the consumer advocacy community are...

New Research Portends Re-Emergence Of AT&T Dominance.
July 30, 2003... Even as market research firm Atlantic-ACM was preparing to release its annual long distance sizing and share study - a report due out later this week - it became increasingly clear to researchers there that despite a dismal showing in wholesale...

FCC, Industry Canada OK Spectrum Sharing Plan.
July 30, 2003... The FCC and Canadian policymaker Industry Canada late last week signed an interim arrangement on the Wireless Communications Service (WCS), an agreement viewed as critical for wireless carriers operating at or near both sides of the U.S.-Canada...

ANSI Approves Six New Cable-Based Telecom Standards.
July 30, 2003... The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) this past week approved six new Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) standards, increasing the number of SCTE standards that are ANSI-approved from 98 to 104. The new standards...

Schumer Chides Sprint For Levying LNP Surcharge.
July 30, 2003... Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is pressuring Sprint PCS to reverse its decision to impose a $1.10 monthly surcharge on more than 16 million subscribers for wireless local number portability (LNP) service. Sprint is among the wireless...

SBC's DSL Customers To Seek Class Action Status.
July 30, 2003... Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) customers of SBC Communications on Aug. 5-6 will ask the 347th State District Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, to certify a nearly two-year-old lawsuit against the Baby Bell as a class action, informed sources tell...

Verizon Seen As Next Major Telco To Enter DTV.
July 30, 2003... Verizon Communications is expected to become the next major telco to announce plans to offer its customers enhanced bundles of telecom services that include delivery of digital television (DTV) signals to homes and businesses, according to...

AT&T, Sprint Near To Inking Pact On Roaming.
July 30, 2003... AT&T Wireless and Sprint PCS are closing in on what will likely be a major new agreement that will allow the two carriers' subscribers to freely roam between their respective wireless networks, industry sources tell TPR. The agreement,...

BC, MIT Snub RIAA Subpoenas - At Least For Now.
July 30, 2003... Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are refusing to turn over names and computer records of students accused by the recording industry of illegally downloading music from the Internet. But sources at the two colleges...

Teen Gambling May Ignite 'Net Regulation Debate.
July 30, 2003... Some disturbing data, now leaking out of a research project underway at McGill University Research Centre in Ontario, Canada, is raising serious concerns among U.S. and Canadian officials about the growing problem of online gambling among...

Competitors Poised To Take Advantage Of BT Error.
July 30, 2003... Competitors of UK incumbent carrier British Telecom are poised to pass on to their customers significant savings stemming from an adverse decision handed down last week by British regulator Oftel that forces BT to cut its wholesale Internet...

U.S., Canada Eye China Wireless Trade Show.
July 30, 2003... The PT/Wireless & Networks Comm China 2003 trade fair, slated for Nov. 12-16 in Beijing, is generating a lot of "buzz" within trade policymaking circles in the United States and Canada. In fact, the Canadian government is organizing an official...

TPR's Top Telecom Lobbyists Picks for July.
July 30, 2003... Representing the interests of telecom services providers and related industries isn't the easiest job in the world - particularly now. The industry is still reeling in the wake of the so-called dot-com demise. The WorldCom fraud/bankruptcy case...