Telecom Policy Report articles from October 2005

Telecom Policy Report archives from October 2005

Emergency Interoperability Creates More Flap On The Hill.
October 3, 2005... The U.S. Congress is being reminded in no uncertain terms that often- ignored, incompatible official communications activities at multiple government levels is coming back to haunt public-safety and emergency-response operations in the...

Unused Satcom Spectrum Now Available For Plucking?
October 3, 2005... A quietly simmering feud over what to do with and who should get unused 2 GHz-range satellite communications spectrum may soon boil over among contenders ready to maneuver at the Federal Communications Commission. Last week, global satcom...

TPR Update: Pending Congressional Telecom Bills.
October 3, 2005... Number: S.535 Title: Native American Connectivity Act Introduced: 3/07/05 by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Daniel Inouye (D- Hawaii) Talking Points: Establishes within NTIA a Native American telecom block grant program for...

Democrats Gang Up On DTV Transition.
October 3, 2005... The industry's High-Tech DTV Coalition and the Association of Public Safety- Communications Officials International (APCO) repeatedly have been heard from in calling for RF spectrum to be freed by analog broadcast movement to digital...

Ohio Advocate Sets Sights On Verizon-MCI Merger.
October 3, 2005... Fewer than three weeks after filing an opposition statement that seeks conditions on the proposed $16 billion SBC Communications/AT&T merger (TPR, Sept. 12), Ohio's consumer advocate has taken a similar position on the proposed $8.5 billion...

FCC Rumored In 'Mega-Merger' Debate With Conditions In Play.
October 10, 2005... The Federal Communications Commission reportedly is in the final stages of deliberating how to acceptably approve the proposed $16 billion SBC Communications/AT&T and the $8.5 billion Verizon Communications/MCI deals, with a heavy focus of...

House Questions FCC/USAC E-Rate Hurricane Capabilities.
October 10, 2005... Although its members wanted and welcomed Federal Communications Commission initiatives to enhance the application of universal service fund (USF) programs in the Gulf Coast region ravaged by two recent hurricanes, a U.S. House of...

Rural Service Providers Press USF In Congress, At FCC.
October 10, 2005... The continuum of rural service providers flexing their muscles in legislative and regulatory forums (TPR, July 11) took on additional focus recently. A new lobbying coalition emerged on Capitol Hill, and additional filings hit the Federal...

Public-Safety Spectrum Concerns Get Mixed Signals.
October 10, 2005... Advocates of wider radio-frequency spectrum use for public- safety and emergency communications last are the recipients of mixed blessings as the Federal Communications Commission reinforced its August 2004 decision on migrating 800 MHz from...

Senate DTV Draft Details April 2009 Transition Deadline.
October 17, 2005... An expected U.S. Senate draft bill on digital television (DTV) finally arrived on Capitol Hill late last Thursday, carrying with it an April 7, 2009, "hard date" for broadcasters to transition out of analog transmissions, timeframes for...

ARRL Takes Va. BPL Carrier To Task.
October 17, 2005... The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), which represents amateur radio operators, continued its campaign against the alleged interference by emerging broadband-over- power line (BPL) systems in a two-punch maneuver last week, objecting to...

Executive Q&A: DTV Coalition Head Talks Transition.
October 17, 2005... Janice Obuchowski is no stranger to telecom or to the Washington, D.C., regulatory and legislative scene. She was involved with NextWave during the era of C-block wireless auctions, and she was president of Freedom Technologies when helping...

The FCC's Short Deadline On Wireless E911 Delays.
October 17, 2005... Industry, carrier, public safety and consumer advocacy group reportedly were hustling this past week and weekend to digest and prepare filings to meet the quick turn-around times the Federal Communications Commission imposed on comments...

E911 Update: Stacks And Stacks Of Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
October 17, 2005... The letter-writing campaigns on DTV transition, spectrum allocations and 911 funding were not the only committees of correspondence active in Washington, D.C. last week. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the...

FCC Orders $211M USF Hurricane Plan.
October 17, 2005... The Federal Communications Commission late Friday issued its formal order to implement a $211 million emergency services plan for supporting the Universal Service Fund (USF) program under adverse circumstances in areas affected by Hurricane...

Latest Round: House DTV Transition Markup Eyes 12/2008 'Hard Date'.
October 24, 2005... A discussion draft of a digital television (DTV) bill carrying a Dec. 31, 2008, transition date late last week morphed into a bona fide legislative proposal heading for markup at the House of Representatives, just as the finishing touches...

PFF Blends Local Role Into Federal-State Telecom Proposal.
October 24, 2005... As part of its effort to influence the U.S. Congress on telecom reform with model legislation, the Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) think tank has issued a second draft proposal on a framework for federal and state regulation of...

Engel: NYC 9/11 Aftermath Warrants DTV Waiver.
October 24, 2005... Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) - a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce its Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet - last week maintained that New York City broadcasters cannot meet 2009 deadlines for the digital...

Congressional Report Presses USF E-Rate Reforms.
October 24, 2005... While its conclusions about "waste, fraud and abuse" in the Universal Service Fund's current education rate (E-rate) mechanism for funding school and library Internet access certainly can't surprise anyone, last week's report from the House...

Canada Orders Subscriber Notifications On VoIP 911 Status.
October 24, 2005... Although Canada effectively led the United States in requiring voice- over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) carriers to implement 911emergency-call handling functions (TPR, April 6; May 23), Canadian regulators last week followed their U.S....

Adelstein's Curiosity Piqued By DE Rule.
October 24, 2005... While he backs spectrum allocations and auctions leading to what the FCC calls new advanced wireless services (AWS), including third-generation (3G) wireless systems (TPR, Oct. 3; Aug. 8), FCC Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein appears to be...

At Press Time: FCC In-Fighting Ends, 'Mega-Mergers' Get Unanimous Nod.
October 31, 2005... All treats, no tricks...at least, not that we know of yet. After heated debate and last-minute changes that delayed its scheduled vote last Friday, today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously approved $34 billion worth of...

At Telecom '05: FCC Chair Targets Cable-Franchise Practices.
October 31, 2005... As if on cue with the telco-generated video franchising rancor building steam all this year, the Federal Communications Commission may soon be looking into whether municipal governments and other local authorizing agencies are giving...

At Telecom '05: Martin And The Direction Of The USF.
October 31, 2005... Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin's speech last week at the United States Telecom Association's Telecom '05 convention in Las Vegas touched on video franchising, integrated service offerings,...

At Telecom '05: Olive Branches For Muni Nets?
October 31, 2005... Recent telco lobbying efforts to bypass local franchising and to either ban or restrict municipal government networks have been widely construed by many officials to be outright carrier attacks on local authority, but at last week's United...

House Committee Clears DTV Bill, But Hits Static.
October 31, 2005... The House of Representatives digital television (DTV) transition bill last week moved through the Committee on Energy and Commerce with additional spending amendments as well as the existing 700MHz band spectrum-allocation provisions and the...

The Feds: 'Encouraged But Concerned'.
October 31, 2005... U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary Michael D. Gallagher last week told Telecom Policy Report that the Bush administration is "encouraged by the debate" in the U.S. Congress on the proposed digital television (DTV) transition...