Telecom Policy Report articles from June 2006

Telecom Policy Report archives from June 2006

FCC Revamps Spectrum-Auction Discount Rules.
June 5, 2006... The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) late last week again sought to clarify its rules on small companies getting discounts during spectrum auctions as it seeks to clamp down on large carriers surreptitiously backing underfinanced...

Industry Holds Its Breath On CALEA Compliance.
June 5, 2006... Internet Protocol and broadband carriers, system/software vendors, industry outsourcers and private network users all find themselves in the same boat attempting to coordinate and accelerate efforts to comply with the Communications...

Vacation's Over: Congress, Interest Groups Back To Butting Heads.
June 5, 2006... As federal lawmakers and staffers drift back to Capitol Hill following holiday time off, lobbyists and pressure groups will be readying a new round of butting heads over the currently-potent legislative issues surrounding communications...

Lobbyist Update: What ITAA Wants These Days.
June 5, 2006... The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) normally is associated with its technology namesake yet the organization has been busy lately on a number of legislative items and federal-agency policymaking issues that directly...

Newest Commish Member Staffs Up.
June 5, 2006... Just sworn into office last week (TelecomWeb news break, June 2), the Federal Communications Commission's newest member, Robert M. McDowell, already is naming temporary staff members for his office, disclosing the hiring of Dana Shaffer,...

Franchise Bill, Accoutrements In Senate's Hands.
June 12, 2006... The House of Representatives' controversial bill to establish a national video-franchise system along with a slew of nagging disputes over Internet- regulation, network-neutrality, build-out and anti-redlining issues now rests with the...

House Democrats Press For NSA Call-Records Inquiry.
June 12, 2006... Democrats in the House of Representatives last week continued pressing for inquiries into whether telephone companies helped U.S. intelligence groups gather domestic calling records and accumulate a massive database, despite some key members...

ACLU Adds To AT&T's Merger-Review Angst.
June 12, 2006... Last week's comments collected by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the proposed $67.1 billion merger of AT&T, BellSouth and Cingular Wireless drew out alleged telco cooperation with the National Security Agency (NSA) in...

Courts Act On CALEA, NSA Lawsuits.
June 12, 2006... The U.S. court system's involvement in federal surveillance, wiretapping and call monitoring by law-enforcement and intelligence authorities deepened last week as one panel ruled in favor of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order...

Rural Broadband Study Presses For Actual USF, ICC Costs.
June 19, 2006... The movement by rural telcos and communities to keep the universal service fund (USF) and intercarrier compensation (ICC) stable and growing - especially for broadband deployments - has taken another turn with the National Exchange Carrier...

Court Ruling Stirs CALEA Compliance Urgency.
June 19, 2006... Although broadband and Internet Protocol (IP) companies already were wrestling with how to handle law-enforcement wiretaps and surveillance measures (Telecom Policy Report, June 5), a recent court decision upholding new rules and regulations...

Appeals Court Decision: Must The Industry Now Live With Current UNE Rules?
June 19, 2006... Incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers (ILECs and CLECs) over the weekend were left to ponder their future coexistence as a U.S. court left them with the status quo by upholding the Federal Communications Commission's revamp of...

Communications Bill Markup Previews Passage Chances.
June 19, 2006... The Senate markup on sweeping communications reform is just around the corner, but that key event's aftermath in the weeks to come may impact the success of passage during this legislative session, determining whether the industry's legal...

Hooray: USF's 3Q Rate Expected To Decline.
June 19, 2006... The Federal Communications Commission recently disclosed that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the third quarter of 2006 will decrease to 0.105 percent or 10.5 percent compared with past increases (TPR, March...

Senate Judiciary Becomes Net Neutrality Focal Point.
June 19, 2006... Under the relatively benign-sounding purpose of reconsidering communications laws "ensuring competition and innovation," the Senate Judiciary Committee under Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) began tackling whether reform legislation requires...

Senate Opens Wallet Wider For First-Responder Funding Boost.
June 26, 2006... Amid the rancor over network neutrality, consumer protections and Internet regulation in the Senate's sweeping communications-reform bill (TelecomWeb news break, June 23), the public-safety communications community received something of a...

Looking At The Big Apple's 311 Calling-System Core.
June 26, 2006... As it prepares to expand the functionality and purpose of its unique complaint-fielding and information-dissemination 311 calling system (Telecom Policy Report, Feb. 21), New York City also is taking a hard look at how well the...

Simpatico? Will Verizon's Puerto Rican Telecom Sale Pass FCC Muster?
June 26, 2006... The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is examining a Verizon Communications proposal to sell its Telecomunicaciones de Puerto Rico Inc. (Telpri) holdings to Mexico's America Movil SA (TelecomWeb news break, April 3). The agency's...

FCC, NTIA Send Out Spectrum-Sharing Feelers.
June 26, 2006... As the federal government prepares to phase its users out of the 1,710 MHz-1,755 MHz bands in favor of commercial third-generation (3G) wireless services and a potentially lucrative auction, the two key agencies handling RF management in the...

Protecting Their Own Data? Online Call Brokers Take The Fifth.
June 26, 2006... Congressional inquiries and legislative measures surrounding telephone calling data and other Internet-related consumer-privacy intrusions (TelecomWeb news break, June 21) took a dramatic turn last week when several online information...

Universal Service Survival: A Safe Bet For Now?
June 26, 2006... Federal Communications Commission action and current congressional leanings appear to indicate the universal service fund's contributions may keep pace with the telephony program's growth at the moment, although the long-term prospects on...