Telecom Policy Report articles from March 2004

Telecom Policy Report archives from March 2004

Panel Tosses Hot Potato USF Decision In FCC's Lap.
March 3, 2004... Regulators Likely To Have Serious Reservations About Plan The Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service late last week issued its anticipated recommendation to the FCC for revamping the Universal Service Fund (USF) - a subsidy program...

State Rate Watch: 'Secret Deals' Scandal Continues Dogging Qwest.
March 3, 2004... Qwest Communications, still dealing with lingering financial problems and questionable accounting practices, is again having to defend itself from mistakes of the past - this time in Colorado. The state's regulatory staff has accused the Bell...

Desparately Seeking Feedback.
March 3, 2004... Telecom Policy Report is nearing its launch anniversary (it's next month), and we want to take this opportunity to find out we are meeting your expectations for a telecom policy publication. Are we delivering the kind of information you need?...

Libraries Struggling To Sustain Public Access To Cyberspace.
March 3, 2004... Despite widespread awareness of - and support for - llibrary-based public access computing, libraries still face significant challenges in sustaining and improving this service, according to a new study from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation....

No Vote For SBC, BellSouth Shareholders In Wireless Deal.
March 3, 2004... $41 Billion Cash Expenditure For AT&T Wireless At Stake Neither BellSouth nor SBC Communications, co-owners of Cingular Wireless, have plans to allow their shareholders a say in Cingular's proposed $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless,...

Utah Broadband Initiatives Face Legislative Threat.
March 3, 2004... An industry-led coalition calling itself the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council is pressuring lawmakers in Utah to reject legislation that the group claims would create "an impermeable barrier to true broadband deployment" in the state. The FTTH...

Senators Poised For Battle Over Internet Taxation Bill.
March 3, 2004... The Senate is gearing up for yet another battle over how to treat Internet access: Should cash-strapped states be allowed to tax it or not? Thus far, senators appear equally divided on the issue. The most recent development in this heated...

Sununu Breaks Telecom Ice In The Senate With Vow On VoIP.
March 3, 2004... In late January, Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) proclaimed he would soon draft a bill to keep Internet telephony free of state and federal regulations. We're now into March, and no one has seen Sununu's bill yet. The FCC last December began...

D.C. Circuit's Decision Rattles Telecom Industry.
March 10, 2004... CLECs, Consumer Groups Continue To Rail Against Court's Order Much of the U.S. telecommunications industry continues to reel in the wake of last week's stunning decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacating key...

USTA's Walter McCormick Revels In Court's Decision, Refers To It As 'A Decisive Victory For Consumers'.
March 10, 2004... Incumbent telcos, represented by the U.S. Telecom Association (USTA), comprised the largest -- if not only -- segment of the telecom industry that supported last week's court decision vacating key provisions of the FCC's Triennial Review Order....

State Regulators Weigh In With Offer To Assist FCC In Appeal.
March 10, 2004... One of the most stinging criticisms of the D.C. Circuit's March 3 decision came from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), the organization that represents state regulators. NARUC played an instrumental role in...

Martin Versus Powell, Part 2: To Appeal Or Not To Appeal ...
March 10, 2004... Among the "determinations" now being considered at the commission is not whether to appeal the D.C. court's decision, but rather how. Powell, who was in the minority on the TRO, clearly feels vindicated by the ruling. Consequently, he isn't...

Dissecting Bush, Kerry Policies And The State Of The Debate.
March 10, 2004... It is likely that the UNE-P issue will remain unresolved for quite some time -- probably until at least fall, if not longer. The Bush Administration is in no hurry to pick sides, although TPR is certain the White House is now under heavy...

Will Powell Drop Opposition To States' Oversight Of Competition?
March 10, 2004... Sometimes history is a very good barometer for predicting future events. Sometimes. Not all the time. Case in point: Consider the matter of FCC Chairman Michael Powell's recent past. Based on his history, is it possible that Powell will have a...

States Look To Congress, White House For Help On TRO Appeal.
March 10, 2004... As mentioned earlier in this special report, the Bush Administration is coming under increasing pressure to weigh in on the controversy created by the D.C. Circuit's March 3 decision vacating significant portions of the Triennial Review Order...

Former State Commissioners Call For New Regulatory Model.
March 10, 2004... In the wake of last week's D.C. Circuit decision largely vacating the FCC's rules governing competition in local phone markets, three former statelevel regulators are calling for a "fresh approach" to federal regulation that maximizes the...

The Next Big Battle: Baby Bells Poised For War Over Directory Assistance Competition.
March 10, 2004... The Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) are gearing up for a huge fight with key elements of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) following a decision by two NARUC committees this week calling for the organization to...

Rep. Buyer: Telecom Panel's Newest Addition Favored By BOCs.
March 10, 2004... Among the first things Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, did after ascending to the post previously occupied by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) was appoint Rep. Steve Buyer (R- Ind.) to the...

Industry Group Near Agreement To End Access Charges.
March 17, 2004... Plan's Approval Would Raise Telephone Rates For Every Customer Major players in local exchange and interstate long distance telephony are quietly working behind the scenes to reach an industry-wide agreement that could put an end to the...

Kerry To Stay Away From Telecom Issues Despite High Profile Court Case.
March 17, 2004... Democratic Party operatives are advising the Kerry campaign to stay away from the heated telecom debate now ongoing at the FCC and on Capitol Hill, wellplaced political insiders tell TPR. Sources close to the Democratic Party's leadership...

DOJ Falls Under Intense Lobbying From All Players In TRO Case.
March 17, 2004... The Department of Justice's (DOJ) solicitor general will likely decide within the next few days whether to endorse an appeal to the Supreme Court on behalf of the FCC in an effort to reverse a D.C. Circuit Court decision two weeks ago vacating...

Merrill Lynch's VoIP Subscriber Forecast Revisions For 2004.
March 17, 2004... "We expect VoIP to add fuel to broadband growth, for three reasons: (1) For customers, the opportunity to save on phone costs via VoIP lowers the effective cost of having broadband service; (2) For cable operators in particular,...

Powell Seen Seeking Narrow Ruling Against AT&T VoIP Petition.
March 17, 2004... FCC Chairman Michael Powell wants to make AT&T retroactively pay interexchange access charges to incumbent local exchange carriers -- namely the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) -- for phone-to-phone traffic transmitted by way of Voice over...

SBA's Office Of Advocacy Survey Talks To Policymakers.
March 17, 2004... The Small Business Administration's (SBA's) Office of Advocacy has just released a ground-breaking report aimed at providing federal policymakers with much needed data upon which to base sound telecommunications policies that pay homage to the...

Report's Eye-Opening Results Underscore Policymaking Flaws.
March 17, 2004... The new and much needed data in the SBA report, titled A Survey of Small Businesses' Telecommunications Use and Spending, written by TeleNomic Research and funded by the Office of Advocacy, shows that small business spends on average $543 per...

Commissioners Eyeing Draft Order In Nextel Spectrum Swap.
March 17, 2004... Plan Largely Favors Nextel While Rejecting CTIA, Verizon Alternatives The FCC commissioners are now in the process of reviewing a draft order from the Wireless Bureau that offers a resolution to the controversial Nextel spectrum swap...

Sen. Max Baucus Committed To Saving The Rural Telcos.
March 17, 2004... What is it that Montana native son Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), a five-term veteran of the U.S. Senate with no apparent ties to telecom, engenders in the telecommunications industry that makes companies as diverse as AT&T and Verizon want to...

Industry Awaits Decision From Solicitor General.
March 24, 2004... Factions Continue To Press For And Against Supreme Court Certification Virtually every player in the U.S. telecom industry is patiently awaiting word from Department of Justice (DOJ) Solicitor General (SG) Ted Olson regarding his decision...

State Rate Watch: SBC Makes Push In California To Drop Competing Telcos From Its Network.
March 24, 2004... The D.C. Circuit's March 2 ruling overturning large portions of the FCC's Triennial Review Order is making waves all over the country, However, the waves it is making in California, the nation's largest telecom market, are tsunamilike. SBC...

NCTA's Preemptory Move To Keep Cable Regulation Free.
March 24, 2004... Trade Group Honcho Unveils Pro-Decency Initiative -- But Will It Be Enough? In a move aimed at keeping his constituency free of the federal regulatory yoke, National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) President and CEO Robert...

At The FCC, All Rules Are Not Enforced Equally.
March 24, 2004... Despite The Bluster, No One There Wants To Say Why Despite all of the FCC's recent public pronouncements about enforcing its own rules, the federal regulator seems to have taken a very selective approach in deciding exactly which rules it...

CWA Totally Reverses Position On AT&T's VoIP Petition.
March 24, 2004... Union Now Supports Company's Request For Access Charge Relief The Communications Workers of America (CWA), the labor union that represents most rank-and-file workers at the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs), has completely reversed its...

Is Powell Promoting Breakdown Of Law Or Just Ignoring History?
March 24, 2004... By Dr. Hugh Carter Donahue, PhD Editor's Note: Dr. Hugh Carter Donahue is a telecom policy expert who advises high-tech firms on regulation and business development. His is a former associate director for the Information and Society...

Rep. Green: A Congressman For Whom The Bells Toll.
March 24, 2004... Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), a native of Houston, is a self-proclaimed champion of Internet access and telecom competition. So, why would Green take the lead last week in asking his House colleagues to sign a letter urging Justice Department...

'Backdoor Censorship' Of Pay-TV Seen Emerging.
March 31, 2004... Analyst Says The 'Real' Issue Is Long-Term Control Of The Media A critically important and equally troubling shift could be developing in the way lawmakers regulate mass media in the United States, says Adam Thierer, chief telecom policy...

'Network Neutrality' Advocates Call For Formal Policy.
March 31, 2004... The federal government should quickly adopt a policy of "network neutrality" in order to make certain popular Internet applications and content remain free from discrimination by broadband service providers, according to Internet rights...

McCain Will Give Up Commerce Committee Gavel, But Poised To Assume Telecom Subcommittee Chair.
March 31, 2004... Next year, when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is forced to relinquish chairmanship of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, he will likely assume chairmanship of the communications subcommittee, assuming the Republican Party...

LEAs Propose Sweeping Changes In CALEA Compliance.
March 31, 2004... Policy Specialists Warn Of Significant Implications The U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration -- referred to in telecom circles as LEAs' (an acronym for Law Enforcement Agencies) --...

FCC Urged To Ban 'Misleading' Charges On Phone Bills.
March 31, 2004... The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) on Tuesday (March 30) filed a formal request with the FCC asking that long-distance and wireless companies be banned from imposing "misleading" surcharges on customers'...

NewSouth Off The Hook In 'Late Notice' Ex Parte Fiasco.
March 31, 2004... TPR's discovery and subsequent report last week of what appeared to be a late filed Feb. 27, 2004, ex parte notice filed by Wiley Rein & Fielding (WRF) attorney Craig Vogt on behalf of NewSouth Communications Senior Vice President for...

Gillmor No Telecom Giant, But Important To The Bells.
March 31, 2004... While Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he does not sit on the panel's telecommunications subcommittee. Nevertheless, as a member of the full committee -- and part of the Republican majority --...