Telecom Policy Report articles from September 2006

Telecom Policy Report archives from September 2006

FCC Queries AT&T About HP Call-Data Scandal.
September 11, 2006... It didn't take long for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to jump into the mushrooming privacy scandal over Hewlett-Packard (HP) last week, admitting it had hired detectives to investigate board members and journalists secretly and...

Communications Bill Parked In Capitol's Political-Congestion Lot.
September 11, 2006... With the U.S. Congress back in session after its month-long summer recess, industry attention inside the Beltway is focusing on its sweeping communications-reform proposals, but the bill's contentious network-neutrality, video-franchise and...

Bush Team Seeks Hill Blessing On Telecom Surveillance.
September 11, 2006... President George Bush and members of his administration this past week started a full-court press to trumpet their progress in the U.S. war on terror, including an accelerated effort to secure U.S. Congress support for the warrantless...

Rural Rebuttal: Critical USF Study Is Based On Fiction, Not Fact.
September 11, 2006... An eight-page rebuttal to a critical study of the universal service fund's (USF) high-cost program is starting to circulate around the industry and Capitol Hill. It maintains that the senior-citizen-lobbying-group-sponsored work released in...

VAT Ruling Impacts U.K., Austrian Wireless Carriers.
September 11, 2006... A European Union jurist last Thursday backed up U.K. and Austrian government refusals to fork over more than $7 billion wireless operators want to reclaim as value added tax (VAT) assessments following their colossal expenditures on...

India Carriers Close To Receiving Slight Financial Breaks.
September 11, 2006... Amid a series of decision-making priorities brought on by national pro- competition and liberalization policies, India's telecom regulator reportedly is close to handing private carriers a break on operating-license costs and other regulatory...

Monday Morning Auction Update: Getting Wimpy After 105 Rounds.
September 11, 2006... The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hasn't yet called an end, but the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-1) spectrum auction last week showed signs of becoming a bit wimpy as dollar-volume increases slowed down considerably for the...

Monday Morning Auction Update: The End Is Near.
September 18, 2006... The Federal Communications Commission last Friday neared the end of its marathon auction of 1,122 Advanced Wireless Services spectrum licenses in the 1,710 MHz-1,755 MHz and 2,110 MHz-2,155 MHz bands, raising gross bids valued at nearly...

Shareholder Suit, Flack Attack Deepen HP 'Pretexting' Scandal.
September 18, 2006... Hewlett-Packard's participation in a scandal regarding fraudulent access to board-member and press call records continued to deepen over the weekend with a shareholder lawsuit filed against HP and its executives. In addition, the company...

Can Video Franchising Be Salvaged From A Floundering Telecom Bill?
September 18, 2006... The prospects of splitting off national video-franchise legislation from a sweeping Senate telecom-reform bill became a distinct possibility last week as less contentious elements of the larger measure - on enhanced 911 and public safety...

Sprint Nextel Inks New Broadcast Spectrum-Relocation Deals.
September 18, 2006... In the ongoing effort to work out spectrum-migration arrangements under regulatory auspices, Sprint Nextel this past week signed two more deals with major broadcasters regarding a framework for its payments and their move to new spectrum...

Local/State Groups Fight Carriers Over Telecom-Tax Fairness.
September 18, 2006... With the U.S. Congress still unsettled on sweeping communications-reform legislation that includes controversial taxation provisos (Telecom Policy Report, July 31), a fight between lower-echelon governments, and major wireline and wireless...

FCC Asks U.S. Court To Rehear Lost Truth-In-Billing Case.
September 18, 2006... The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has asked a U.S. court to reconsider an earlier decision ruling the regulator exceeded its authority in truth-in-billing orders that preempted state regulators on what types line-item details they...

FCC's Martin: No Net-Neutrality Provisos Needed.
September 18, 2006... Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin J. Martin essentially weighed in against the need for stronger network-neutrality regulations this morning during his renomination hearing at the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science...

Sees 4Q06 USF Revenue Demand Decreasing Again.
September 18, 2006... For the second quarter in a row, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this past week disclosed that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the fourth quarter of 2006 will decrease 9.1 percent; this follows...

House Widens HP Investigation As Company Forces Dunn Out.
September 25, 2006... A key House of Representatives committee investigating Hewlett-Packard's nefarious "pretexting" activities widened its witness list dragnet in a week of developments capped by the sudden resignation Sept. 22 of board chair Patricia Dunn, the...

FCC Nears OK On AT&T/BellSouth, But Disputes Remain Potent.
September 25, 2006... Reports are spreading like wildfire that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is preparing to approve AT&T's proposed $67.1 billion purchase of BellSouth sometime in October with minimum or no conditions. This could set the stage for...

The AWS Auction: With The Bill Almost Due, A Look At The Future.
September 25, 2006... Deadlines are fast approaching for the winners of the recent advanced wireless service (AWS-1) RF auction (Auction 66) to cough up the money. The highly successful auction grossed almost $13.9 billion, and it could have far- reaching...

WCB Cuts Some Slack For Universal Service E-Rate Recipients.
September 25, 2006... The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in recent weeks has been cutting school and libraries districts that receive universal service fund (USF) E-Rate subsidies some slack regarding some procedural and bureaucratic transgressions. One...

Senate Huffs And Puffs Over Laggard Telecom-Reform Bill.
September 25, 2006... Federal lawmakers appear to be posturing frantically over last-minute telecom-reform game plans as infectious odds making, nervousness from upcoming elections and looming congressional work deadlines make it tougher for comprehensive...

Ohio Advocate Seeks Stronger Overall Consumer Safeguards.
September 25, 2006... Having sparred consistently in the past with state regulators and incumbent telcos over light-touch rules and looser pricing oversight (TelecomWeb news break, June 23), Ohio's consumer advocate says the Buckeye State needs to rewrite existing...