Telecom Policy Report articles from September 2004

Telecom Policy Report archives from September 2004

Special Access Issue Forced To Center Stage.
September 8, 2004... Business User Groups Embark On Crusade To Sway FCC Policy American businesses are growing increasingly uneasy about the lack of competition in the U.S. telecommunications marketplace. In fact, large U.S. businesses -- companies that...

Qwest's Rate Hike Request Sparks The Debate.
September 8, 2004... For the third time in less than two years -- and the second time in six months -- Qwest, with the FCC's approval, has increased rates for special access in Metropolitan Service Areas (MSAs) where it previously received the federal regulator's...

Multiple User Groups Weigh In With Pleas To FCC.
September 8, 2004... Multiple sources within the telecom companies that protested Qwest's request for increases in its special access rates concede that their opposition was doomed even before it began. They say that the Michael Powell-led FCC has repeatedly...

The BOC Wins A Battle, But The War Goes On.
September 8, 2004... The Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) have long argued that the market for special access is highly competitive. In fact, Qwest, in its recent successful effort to win FCC approval to raise its rates for special access services, made that precise...

Call For Entries.
September 8, 2004... Telecom Policy Report is a proud sponsor of this year's Telecom Marketing Awards competition, the telecom industry's only awards program dedicated solely to recognizing outstanding marketing efforts by telecom professionals. These highly...

Caucus Chairman Menendez Favored By Bells.
September 8, 2004... For telecom companies looking to influence legislative initiatives aimed at revamping the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the office of Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) may be a good place to start. Menendez is the current chairman of the...

FCC Eyes Deadline For Transition To Digital TV.
September 15, 2004... Broadcasters Resisting Plan Calling For Return Of Spectrum FCC officials, now enthralled in a debate over proposed policies affecting digital television (DTV), may be nearing a decision on a national deadline for the "switch-over" to DTV....

Alternative Policy Proposal: Summary of New America Foundation's DTV Transition Plan.
September 15, 2004... While the New America Foundation believes the FCC Media Bureau's DTV transition proposal is a step in the right direction, the think tank's experts say the plan doesn't go far enough. Hence, the Foundation makes the following suggestions: ...

The Non-Carriers' Viewpoint: Consumer Electronics Association Weighs In.
September 15, 2004... Are over-the-air broadcasters trying to "slow-roll" the transition to digital television? The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) seems to think so. In comments it filed with the FCC last week, CEA noted that the broadcasters' own trade...

The Media Bureau's 10-Point Plan For DTV Switch-Over.
September 15, 2004... The FCC Media Bureau's proposal for expediting the switch-over to DTV consists of the following 10 points: 1. On a fixed date no later than Jan. 1, 2009, broadcasters' must-carry rights on cable and satellite would switch from their analog...

ALTS' Clarification Request Draws Fire From Verizon.
September 15, 2004... Verizon is pressing the FCC to reject a request from the Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS) seeking clarification of the agency's interim order on unbundled network elements (UNEs) as to whether the order allows state...

Group Expected To File Formal Plan Within Two Weeks.
September 15, 2004... The Intercarrier Compensation Forum (ICF) is very close to having a finalized version of a formal proposal for reforming the interexchange access regime ready for review by the FCC, according to sources close to the group. In fact, one key...

Rockefeller, Byrd Rail Against Bush's Telecom Policies.
September 15, 2004... Two U.S. senators are sharply criticizing the Bush Administration's telecom policies, blaming the White House for a decision by AT&T to close a customer service center in Charleston, W. Va. Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Robert Byrd...

Hoyer Gets Past Old Rivalry To Achieve Leadership Status.
September 15, 2004... Congressional sources close to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer say the Maryland Democrat found himself in a slightly awkward position in early 2002, when he suddenly found himself playing second fiddle to his former political rival, Rep. Nancy...

Verizon Charges Nextel With Secret FCC Deal.
September 22, 2004... Nextel Rebuts Allegations, Says Commission's Math Is Wrong Verizon Wireless, the mobile carrier arm of Bell Operating Company (BOC) Verizon Communications, is taking its arch rival, Nextel Communications, to task for allegedly meeting...

Is The Pot Calling The Kettle Black? Telecom Attorney Blows Whistle On The Bells.
September 22, 2004... It is ironic that Verizon or any of the other Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) would accuse a competing carrier of negotiating in secret with FCC officials, a long-time Washington, D.C.-based ratepayer advocate tells TPR. Telecom attorney...

FCC's Broadband Report Sets Stage For Lawmakers.
September 22, 2004... But Are Regulators Accurately DepictingThe Broadband Scene? If you ask the Republican majority at the FCC, broadband deployment is progressing quite well in the United States. Indeed, that's the conclusion reached by the FCC majority in...

SBC Gets Michigan's OK For Small UNE Rate Increase.
September 22, 2004... Trend Continuing Throughout Bell Company's Region SBC Communications got far less than what it was asking for in Michigan this week when regulators in that state granted the Baby Bell a marginal increase in the wholesale rates it charges...

SBC Pressing Hard For UNE Rate Hike In Wisconsin.
September 22, 2004... A proposal by SBC now pending before the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (WPSC) would significantly increase the wholesale rates SBC charges its competitors for access to a platform of its unbundled network elements (UNE-P). For...

Matsui's Leadership Role Attracts Telecom PAC Donations.
September 22, 2004... What attracts telecom-related political action committee (PAC) donations to the campaign of Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Calif.) has little, if anything, to do with Matsui's grasp of telecom issues. Matsui is chairman of the Democratic Congressional...

Call For Entries.
September 22, 2004... Telecom Policy Report is a proud sponsor of this year's Telecom Marketing Awards competition, the telecom industry's only awards program dedicated solely to recognizing outstanding marketing efforts by telecom professionals. These highly...

Policy Analysts Dissect The Promise Of VoIP.
September 29, 2004... Will Technology Finally Yield True Telecom Competition? The future of the rapidly emerging technology known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) could be in jeopardy if policymakers fail to craft rules designed to keep the competitive...

Scott Cleland: 'Telecom Act Didn't Work, But VoIP Will'.
September 29, 2004... Scott Cleland, CEO of investment advisor firm Precursor Group, agrees that the 1996 Telecom Act was about fostering competition, but adds that the law was "a competitive revolution" that happened "before its time." He sees VoIP as a catalyst...

Jessica Zufolo: Emerging VoIP Policy Is Driving Investment.
September 29, 2004... In terms of the broader trends that are influencing the direction of investment decisions, it should come as no surprise that the whole U.S. telecom sector appears positioned "directly in the eye of a massive evolutionary storm spurred by the...

Qwest's Support For Senate USF Bill Sours BellSouth.
September 29, 2004... The Senate Commerce Committee's 13-9 vote last week approving legislation that would adjust payments from the federal Universal Service Fund (USF) has BellSouth infuriated at its sister Bell Operating Company, Qwest Communications. S....

How S.1380 Would Re-Shuffle USF Disbursements.
September 29, 2004... State: AK FCC High Cost Support for Non-Rural Telcos: $0 High Cost Support for Non-Rural Telcos under Smith Bill: $0 State-by-State Impact of Smith Bill: $0 Other US Support for Non-Rural Telcos: $7,760,469 Total Non-Rural Support:...

Barton Signals Strong Desire To Revamp E-Rate Program.
September 29, 2004... The FCC's oversight of the controversial E-Rate Program is clearly gnawing at House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) --and it's doing so in much the same way that it did with Barton's predecessor, Rep. Billy Tauzin...

Hi-Tech PACs Consider Tom Davis An Important Ally.
September 29, 2004... Here's an interesting tidbit: Of the $117,697 in campaign donations that Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) has received from communications sector special interests thus far in the 2003-2004 election cycle, nearly half of it comes from stakeholders in the...