SAN DIEGO -- With net neutrality the burning issue at CompTel’s spring conference, FCC Chmn. Martin diplomatically said he'd with neither Bells nor CLECs. The jury remains out on points each side claims to know everything about, he said. And Martin warned against the Commission’s adopting rules preemptively. He briefly defended his Verizon forbearance decision, an anathema to the CompTel crowd. Competitive carriers voiced displeasure with the ruling and with what they call a trend toward a reconstituted AT&T monopoly, this one without the safeguards of regulation.
The FCC decision not to act on a Verizon forbearance petition seeking regulatory relief regarding charges to business customers for high-speed data was a win for Verizon -- but how big remains unclear, analysts said Tues. The exact relief provided by the FCC is uncertain because the Commission has released statements and a news release, but no order yet, analysts said.
SAN DIEGO -- Net neutrality stirs more Commerce Committee disagreements than any other issue, Sen. Stevens (R-Alaska) said Mon. in his keynote address at the CompTel spring show here. Briefing CompTel members on issues the committee is tackling, Stevens praised the ‘96 Act but said any rewrite must address the extent to which courts struck down the original. He said he and Co-Chmn. Inouye (D-Hawaii) expect to have a bill before the committee right after the Easter recess.
The universal service fund (USF) has hidden costs well beyond what subscribers pay into the program, since taxes usually reduce use of services, Jerry Ellig, senior research fellow at George Mason U.’s Mercatus Center, said Thurs. during a USF discussion at the Digital Age Communications Act conference. A new study puts those hidden costs at $2 billion a year, about 1/2 what the program brings in, Ellig said.
A NARUC task force presented its proposed agreement on intercarrier compensation (ICC) reform in a closed door meeting at the FCC. Sources familiar with the presentation Wed. said the proposal would “harmonize” access charges significantly, dividing carriers into 3 groups and providing different compensation rates for large, medium and small carriers.
Telecom reform is possible if Senate Commerce Committee members can strike a deal on fixing the Universal Service Fund (USF), Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said Tues. at a hearing on rural telecom. “We're close to getting some consensus that USF is going to survive; it’s going to be workable; it isn’t going to be a tax… and it’s going to be managed by the industries involved,” Stevens told reporters. He made clear USF shouldn’t come under Anti-Deficiency Act requirements that funds be in hand before agencies commit to spending them. Stevens said he expects to mark up a bill before Easter.
If Howard Stern had told CBS Radio in 2004 he was interested in jumping to Sirius when he was negotiating his contract with the satellite radio provider, it would have “pursued a satellite radio project jointly” with him. So says the 43-page suit filed last week against Sirius, Stern and Don Buchwald, Stern’s agent and manager. CBS Radio seeks damages for the value of the airtime it says Sirius “misappropriated for its own use through… unfair competition.”
The Universal Service Fund (USF) needs close scrutiny, and random audits might be a way to root out abuses, Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said Thurs. at the 2nd of 2 hearings on the fund. “I've been thinking about asking the committee to put into the bill a random audit of costs of all recipients -- a sort of little GAO,” Stevens said. The program couldn’t be comprehensive, but it could put recipients on notice that they need to use funds responsibly, Stevens said.
The FCC Thurs. extended provisions of its Oct. 2005 order providing limited USF benefits to victims of Hurricane Katrina (CD Oct 18 p2). Provisions of the order had expired Wed. Thurs.’s order provides evacuees and others affected by Katrina 3 additional months to qualify for 300 min. of free wireless service and a handset under the federal Lifeline program, with a maximum value of $130. It also extends until Sept. 30 the filing window for schools and libraries directly affected by the storm to apply for 2006 funding under the federal E-rate program. The Commission also waives the “two- in-five” rule for affected schools, which blocks applicants from receiving funds for internal connections for more than 2 out of every 5 funding years.
Satellite broadband providers should be “allowed to operate free from unnecessary common carrier obligations,” the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) told the FCC last week. Commenting on the Commission’s Broadband NPRM (WC 05-271), the SIA said it “stands with the diverse array of commenters that have urged the Commission to refrain from imposing common carrier obligations on broadband Internet access service providers.” The SIA urged the Commission to preempt state regulation on the issue and “to act affirmatively” to ensure healthy competition. Satellite broadband remains especially valuable to rural residents, SIA said: “Large portions of the U.S. are not now, and may never be, served by either cable or DSL due to the cost of wiring remote areas or technical limitations.” Satellite broadband shouldn’t be hindered by the common carrier obligations proposed in the NPRM, which would “stymie competition and innovation among satellite broadband providers,” SIA argued. The Assn. said it “urges the FCC to observe its historical policy in favor of minimal regulation of satellite services.” In a similar vein, the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) told the FCC it welcomes lawmakers’ efforts to reform the USF contribution methodology. But the SIA wants reform to be “competitively neutral” so as to promote broadband deployment to all Americans, including satellite broadband, the Assn. said in a different ex parte to the FCC. The SIA told the FCC it supports a retail numbers-based USF system. Each phone number in retail use, regardless of service technology, should pay the same USF contribution, the SIA said in an ex parte to the FCC. That way, retail service providers can pass the USF obligation to end users on a “competitively neutral” basis, the SIA said. But the Commission shouldn’t impose USF charges on Internet access connections, SIA argued. USF should be collected from broadband VoIP providers using telephone numbers for voice services over the Internet, but not for Internet access connections alone, they said.