AT&T Not Worried About Outcome of Presidential Election

AT&T is “comfortable with any commissioner that’s got the appropriate background,” Cicconi said. Presidential contenders Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D- Ill., will eye strong candidates for the FCC, he said. Cicconi expects no radical policy changes either way, he said. “I saw a lot of continuity between Bill Kennard to Michael Powell, and frankly from Michael Powell to Kevin Martin,” he said.

The campaign won’t slow FCC progress on intercarrier compensation reform, Cicconi said. “The commission has its agenda and its procedures… I don’t think the election itself is going to be a factor in the timing,” he said. “There’s been a lot of work” and “a range of very thoughtful proposals,” he said. “We've got all the information we need [and] everybody agrees something must be done.”

Intercarrier compensation reform is needed urgently, Cicconi said. “If the system isn’t reformed and made more fair… it’s going to start to have fairly dramatic impact on certain segments of the industry.” Traffic pumping is an already apparent example of abuse, he said. The unfairness “will become more obvious as new technologies roll out,” he said. AT&T was “pleased” when Martin promised reform by mid- November (CD May 13 p2), Cicconi said. It’s “very possible” the FCC will adopt a single rate for terminating traffic, he said. A single rate makes more sense than today’s system of multiple rates, he said.

AT&T continues to work with Hollywood on a filter technology able to identify pirated, illegal material while it is passing through a network, Cicconi said. “Technical discussions are ongoing,” he said. However, “AT&T is not going to be an Internet policeman or enforcement agent for copyright holders,” Cicconi said. “That’s not our job, that’s not our function, that’s not what our customers want us to do.” If a pirate trap is found, the FCC and Congress would need to make policy judgments, he said. AT&T has been “very vocal” with the MPAA and RIAA on that point, he said.

The copyright filter, like any network management effort, “could be endangered” by net neutrality legislation, Cicconi said. “Having some common-sense standards out there, like the broadband principles, combined with the antitrust laws, is probably sufficient protection against any [net management] abuse,” he said.

Cicconi made light of a recent petition by Sprint, CompTel and others asking that the FCC reconsider an April grant of forbearance from cost-assignment rules to AT&T (CD April 28 p5). The rules required Bell companies to keep records that, among other tasks, separate interstate and intrastate costs. Sprint and CLECs are “free to file for reconsideration,” Cicconi said. “I don’t see the legal grounds for it.” They didn’t present a persuasive case to the FCC, he said. “We'll see how they do on reconsideration with the same arguments.”

AT&T wants regulatory parity among telecom carriers, said Cicconi. That’s partly why the Bell seeks forbearance from Automated Reporting Management Information System (ARMIS) requirements, he said. The agency now collects ARMIS data only from AT&T, Verizon, Qwest and some other price-cap incumbent LECs. The Bells, Embarq and Frontier also want out from under ARMIS rules. Should the FCC feel it still needs certain data, it should require CLECs and all other carriers to report them, Cicconi said. “One of the interesting things about the opponents… is they don’t apparently want to provide the same information to the FCC that they say we should have to provide.”