Telecom Policy Report articles from July 2004

Telecom Policy Report archives from July 2004

Powell At Supercomm: Future Is Broadband, VoIP.
July 7, 2004... Chairman Commits To Bush's Plan, But Provides Few Details CHICAGO - FCC Chairman Michael Powell's remarks during a June 22 question and answer session before an audience of about 2,000 Supercomm attendees largely centered on VoIP and "the...

Interim Telecom Competition Rules Expected To Surface Soon.
July 7, 2004... CHICAGO - FCC Chairman Michael Powell on June 22 told attendees at Supercomm 2004 that the federal regulatory agency could have an interim version of new rules governing local telecom competition in place within "a couple of weeks." These...

SBC's Whitacre Promises Big Investment -- With A Catch.
July 7, 2004... Bell Company Chieftain Takes Aim At Cable Companies CHICAGO - Ed Whitacre, the charismatic chairman and CEO of SBC Communications, on June 22 told attendees at Supercomm 2004 that if the FCC crafts the right regulations, his company will...

Proposed Accounting Rule Has IT Industry In Uproar.
July 7, 2004... The information technology (IT) industry is taking strong exception to a proposed rule from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that would require regulated companies such as telecom service providers to list the value of stock...

Study Suggests No Need For Law To Fix 'Options' Problem.
July 7, 2004... If a proposed accounting rule by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) goes into effect, stock options for employees of telecom firms could go the way of the dinosaurs. If that happens, the impact on rank-and-file telecom workers...

AT&T's Illinois Rate Hikes Signal More To Come.
July 7, 2004... AT&T, the nation's largest competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), is not only abandoning some of its residential markets, the carrier can be expected to raise residential phone rates in key markets where it continues to offer services. ...

AT&T At Odds With BellSouth Over Special Access.
July 7, 2004... The failure of the so-called Intercarrier Compensation Forum (ICF) to deliver to the FCC an industry-wide consensus plan for reforming the interexchange access regime appears to have spilled over into the realm of "special access." Late last...

Non-Telecom Player Enzi Finds A Play In Telecom.
July 7, 2004... If you happen to be a member of the independent Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) probably isn't on your list of "favorite celebrities." Enzi, who last year won a second six-year term in the Senate, is the...

What's Behind Verizon's Complaint About Nextel?
July 14, 2004... Is It Justice The Company Wants -- Or Less Competition? The FCC's decision last Thursday (July 8) granting Nextel most of what it sought -- contiguous blocks of spectrum at 800 MHz in the 1.9 GHz band in exchange for Nextel's patchwork of...

Death Of 'Pick-And-Choose' Hurts CLECs, Helps ILECs.
July 14, 2004... When the FCC acted last week to eliminate the so-called "pick-and-choose" provision of the agency's interconnection rules, a loud, anguished cry arose from competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) bemoaning the measure. Some CLECs -- mostly...

AT&T, McLeodUSA Tee Up Debate On Facilities-Based Competition.
July 14, 2004... None of them will admit it, but the big interconnection deal that AT&T just struck with McLeodUSA has got to be causing the Bell companies at least a little pocketbook pain. After all, AT&T used to be the Bells' biggest wholesale customer. Last...

The AT&T-McLeodUSA Principles For The Advancement Of Facilities-Based Competition.
July 14, 2004... The AT&T-McLeodUSA proposed principles have emerged at a time when the FCC is the midst of crafting new rules governing wholesale interconnection arrangements. Essentially, AT&T and McLeodUSA want the FCC to do the following: * Competitors...

House Subcommittee Takes First Crack At VoIP Legislation.
July 14, 2004... Rep. Pickering Urges Rapid Passage Of Bill He Authored Legislation that would grant the FCC exclusive authority on how -- or even whether -- to regulate Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) appears to be moving along undeterred in the U.S....

BellSouth's Claims Of No-Growth DA Market Debunked.
July 14, 2004... The debate surrounding retail directory assistance (DA) competition appears to be heating up inside the FCC as industry stakeholders begin weighing in more heavily with pleadings that the Commission craft rules aimed at fostering a competitive...

Wilson Emerges As Outspoken Pro-Competition Advocate.
July 14, 2004... Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has been described by colleagues and Congress watchers alike as one of the most knowledgeable people in the U.S. House when it comes to telecomrelated policy...

Drawing The Battle Lines On Telecom Reform.
July 21, 2004... MCI's Proposal Establishes A Framework For The Debate Unlike the decade of debate leading up to the 1996 Telecom Act, the next long and bitter legislative fight waged in the U.S. Congress will not be about local exchange competition or Bell...

Professor Says PFF's Hired Scholar Was 'Opportunistic' In Crafting Anti-MCI White Paper.
July 21, 2004... The Progress and Freedom Foundation's (PFF) scholarly criticism last week of MCI's proposal to apply a "layered" approach to broadband regulation is not shared by all scholars. In fact, Tim Wu, an associate professor of law at the University...

Facilities-Based Broadband Providers React To MCI's Plan.
July 21, 2004... MCI's proposal for a "layered" regulatory approach to broadband is meeting fierce resistance from a group of 10 facilities-based broadband service providers. The group, known as the Broadband Service Providers Association (BSPA), is now in the...

Resolution Of AT&T's Pre-Paid Calling Card Petition Nears.
July 21, 2004... The FCC appears poised to finally resolve AT&T's long-standing petition seeking a declaratory ruling that phone calls made by consumers using the company's "enhanced" pre-paid calling card services are interstate in nature. But precisely what...

Interim Order Replacing Vacated TRO Now Circulating At FCC.
July 21, 2004... Item Could Surface At Agency's Upcoming Public Meeting FCC Chairman Michael Powell has begun circulating to his fellow commissioners a draft version of an interim order that replaces key portions of the Commission's Triennial Review Order...

Sen. John Breaux Proves Himself Bell Companies' Champion.
July 21, 2004... As telecom policy goes, Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee as well as its communications subcommittee, usually weighs in on the side of the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) -- and the most recent data available...

Economist: AT&T's Move Bodes Ill For Competition.
July 28, 2004... Bush Administration Blamed For Company's Decision The decision last month by the Bush Administration not to pursue a Supreme Court review of a controversial telecom ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is the primary reason why AT&T...

AT&T's CEO Puts Positive Spin On A Negative Move.
July 28, 2004... Oh, how the mighty are fallen. AT&T, the former behemoth telecommunications service provider, late last week (July 22) dealt a stunning psychological blow to the competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) industry when it announced that it...

AT&T's Rise And Fall: A Snapshot View.
July 28, 2004... * 1877: Telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell establishes the Bell Telephone Company. * 1882: Renamed the American Bell Telephone Company, the fledgling firm acquires control of Western Electric Company. The two companies form the basis...

PACE Coalition Asks States To Preserve Competition.
July 28, 2004... The Promoting Active Competition Everywhere (PACE) Coalition, a group of smaller telecom competitors (that doesn't include AT&T or MCI) hopes that AT&T's withdrawal from the consumer marketplace will serve as a kind of "wake-up call" for...

Can VoIP Save The Day For AT&T? Maybe ... Maybe Not.
July 28, 2004... AT&T Chairman and CEO David Dorman, during his July 22 conference call with industry analysts, made a point of reiterating the company's commitment to broadband and its goal of transitioning AT&T's customers to Voice over Internet Protocol...

On Matters Of Telecom, Burr Speaks The Bells' Language.
July 28, 2004... Make no mistake: When it comes to telco-related issues, Rep. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) speaks the uncomplicated language of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). And the RBOCs are clearly grateful that Burr understands and appreciates the...