Telecom Policy Report articles from October 2003

Telecom Policy Report archives from October 2003

Internet-Related Legislation May Stifle FCC, States.
October 1, 2003... Little-Known Language Would Free IP Telephony From Regulation Although it is not being widely discussed, legislation is now moving through Congress containing language that, if enacted, would terminate the ability of the FCC to write rules...

Consumer Group Urges Congress To Make Good On LNP.
October 1, 2003... Consumers Union, the independent, non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, has launched a campaign to enhance the ability of consumers to improve service and options in the wireless phone market by convincing Congress and the states to expand...

EC To Undertake Major Study On Spectrum Trading.
October 1, 2003... Authorities in the United States are closely watching as the European Commission (EC) is about to embark on a sweeping review of the complexities surrounding the issue of trading radio spectrum. The EC already has hired three entities -...

Economists Make Strong Case For TELRIC, UNE-P.
October 1, 2003... A new independent study from economics experts shows that competition permanently reduces consumer prices for voice and broadband services and spurs telecom investment. This is particularly the case when competitors are able to lease unbundled...

TPR's Top Lobbyists Picks For September.
October 1, 2003... Lobbying on behalf of specific business interests isn't exactly a day at the beach. But lobbying on behalf of public interest issues is a never-ending battle exacerbated by dynamics that are constantly changing. It's really tough work, to say...

Is AT&T Exploring Hydra-Headed Mega Deal?
October 8, 2003... Analysts Scrutinize Complexities Of Possible Three-Way Sell-Off Call them rumors. Call them leaks. Call them whatever you like. But stories about a possible sale of AT&T seem to be erupting with growing frequency. Since TPR first reported...

Columbia University: Time To Overhaul Entire Telecom Industry.
October 8, 2003... The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI), the university's research center focusing on strategy, management, and policy issues in telecommunications, computing, and electronic mass media, is recommending a comprehensive overhaul of...

Policymakers Send Scary Message To 'Open Net' Proponents.
October 8, 2003... Some high-level policymakers at the FCC believe that the Internet is adequately "open" and does not require further government oversight to ensure it remains that way in the future. But there are those within the commission who say such...

Vonage VoIP Controversy Moves Into California And Beyond.
October 8, 2003... Internet telephony pioneer Vonage finds itself fighting the policy wars on multiple fronts. Not only has the company asked the FCC to preempt the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission from enforcing its decision calling for Vonage to be...

Survey: Optical Network Spending To See Upswing In 2004.
October 8, 2003... Telecom carriers plan on increasing their optical-networking equipment spending in 2004 and beyond, according to industry responses to KMI's 2003 Optical Networking Equipment Survey. These results are seen as yet another indicator that the...

Japan's VoIP Experience Could Preview Things To Come In America.
October 8, 2003... In a Sept. 11, 2003, advisory to its clients, UBS Securities described VoIP as a technology with "the potential to do to wireline carriers what file sharing is doing to the recording industry." Even though the United States is only now in the...

Bobby Rush's Journey From Radical To Congressman.
October 8, 2003... Imagine, if you will, that it's 1968 and you are standing on the mean streets of Chicago's South Side. There in the pale yellow glow of a street light stands the foreboding image of a man in black trousers, black leather jacket, and a black...

Supreme Court Case Looms Large For Bells.
October 15, 2003... Outcome In Verizon v. Trinko Could Stunt RBOCs' Markets The U.S. Supreme Court, at press time, was poised to begin hearing oral arguments in Verizon v. Trinko, a case that has the potential to radically alter the course of local telephone...

Administration Said To Pressure FCC On Global Crossing.
October 15, 2003... Pentagon Officials Remain Concerned About National Security Issues Purportedly under pressure from the Bush Administration, the FCC last week approved the transfer of various authorizations and licenses held by bankrupt Global Crossing to...

Economist Blasts FCC For Anti-Competitive Policies.
October 15, 2003... The FCC has lost its faith that the success of competition in long distance can be replicated in local voice telecommunications as well as in broadband Internet service. Even worse, the commission seems to have forgotten that Congress, through...

Economist: FCC's Broadband Decision Could Squelch Internet Growth.
October 15, 2003... Competition in local telecommunications is essential for the inexpensive provision of broadband Internet connections to small businesses and residences, says noted Economics Professor Nicholas Economides, of New York University's Leonard N....

Rockefeller: Father Of The (Troubled) E-Rate Program.
October 15, 2003... In terms of telecom policy, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) - also known as Jay Rockefeller - may be best known as one of two Senate members responsible for giving us the so-called E-rate, a government subsidy that funds high-speed...

Tiny Core Wants Verizon To Pay Mighty Big Bucks.
October 22, 2003... But Will Chairman Powell's FCC Make That Happen? The FCC's enforcement of the pro-competition elements of the 1996 Telecom Act is about to be tested in ways not often seen during the stewardship of the commission's current senior executive,...

Temporary Stay Of TRO May Be Beginning Of The End For FCC's New UNE Rules.
October 22, 2003... In what may be the beginning of a trend across the nation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan on Oct. 7 issued a temporary stay of the sections of the FCC's Triennial Review Order (TRO) that, if allowed to go into...

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ponder Trinko Arguments.
October 22, 2003... Bells Appear To Have Scored Some Points With Judges There is no way to accurately predict the outcome of these things, but in TPR's view, last week's oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Verizon v. Trinko appears to...

CFA Study Supports Continuation Of UNE-P Competition.
October 22, 2003... Consumer savings from local telephone competition have mounted sharply in recent months to as much as $5 billion per year. This is a direct result of state utility commission actions to open local markets, according to a new report from the...

Analysis: Telecom Act Continues To Spur Job Growth.
October 22, 2003... Phoenix Center's Latest Findings Fly In Face Of Bell Assertions Government data on employment in the telecommunications industry reveals a substantial increase in sector employment following passage of the 1996 Telecom Act, according to...

No Football Hero, Allen Is Senate's Hi-Tech Champion.
October 22, 2003... Most long-time residents of Washington, D.C., and its suburbs can easily recall - with fondness - NFL Hall of Fame football coach George Allen, the feisty and charismatic leader of the Washington Redskins football team from 1971-1977. So, it's...

FCC Officials Divided Over How To Deal With VoIP.
October 29, 2003... To Regulate Or Not To Regulate -- That Is The Question There is growing division within the Federal Communications Commissioner over how to deal with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), according to sources inside the agency. For his part,...

EFF To Defend ISP In Infringement Case Involving Electronic Voting Machines.
October 29, 2003... The San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has taken the downright defiant step of defending an Internet service provider (ISP) and a news Web site publisher against claims of copyright infringement from electronic voting...

Commissioner Copps Imparts Ominous Warning: Internet May Be Dying.
October 29, 2003... Ask FCC Commisioner Michael Copps what he thinks the future holds for the Internet, and he will probably tell you something you would rather not hear: The Internet may be dying. In fact, that is exactly what Copps, one of two Democrats...

GAO Probe Of Cable Rates Likely To Generate New Heat.
October 29, 2003... During the preceding five years, cable rates have increased approximately 40 percent -- well in excess of the approximately 12 percent increase in the general rate of inflation, according to a just-released report from the General Accounting...

'Tricks And Games' Slowing Net Anti-Tax Legislation.
October 29, 2003... At press time Monday, the U.S. information technology industry was engaged in a full-court press on the Senate side of Capitol Hill in an effort to persuade lawmakers there to get on with the business of making the Internet Tax Moratorium...

Rep. Goodlatte Keen On Hi-Tech And Internet Issues.
October 29, 2003... Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is not a member of the House Commerce Committee, which, of course, means he does not sit on the telecommunications subcommittee. But make no mistake: Goodlatte is seen by the telecom industry as a lawmaker of...

One Last Chance!:Call For Entries For The 2003 Telecom Marketing Awards.
October 29, 2003... Presented by PBI Media's Telecom Group Late Deadline: Nov. 7, 2003 Due to overwhelming demand, Telecom Policy Report subscribers now have one last chance to enter their businesses in this year's Telecom Marketing Awards, sponsored by...