CTIA Pres. Tom Wheeler wrote to FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Thomas Sugrue to clear up “misconceptions” Wheeler said were attributed to Sugrue on wireless local number portability (LNP) after FCC meeting Wed. Wheeler reiterated that CTIA opposed wireless LNP and stressed that number portability had been “failure” in wireline environment. Asked after FCC meeting about CTIA’s plans to challenge Nov. 24, LNP deadline, Sugrue said that agency would look at issue but that there didn’t appear to be Commission sentiment to change deadline (CD Jan 16 p1). Wireless carriers must implement LNP in top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas by that date. He said industry’s focus on issue appeared to be shifting from impact of wireless-to-wireless LNP to that of wireline-to-wireless. “Their original approach that it doesn’t apply to them seems to have shifted to ‘if it applies to us we want to change it’ as it applies to wireline to wireless portability,” he said. Wheeler told Sugrue: “Let’s be honest and admit that LNP has been a failure in the wireline environment.” Wireline LNP has cost substantial sums for consumers while delivering scant benefit, Wheeler said. “Wireline customers, especially residential wireline customers, have been forced to pay for number portability but have no competitive carrier they can port their number to,” he wrote. In wireless environment, he called LNP “regulatory shell game.” Although wireless sector is competitive, FCC keeps promoting LNP as way to bolster competition, Wheeler said. “Perhaps because it realizes that LNP is no more likely to change the level of competition in the wireless industry than it has in the wireline industry, the Commission now includes wireless-to-wireline competition in its competitive cost-benefit analysis,” he said. He said CTIA was challenging LNP deadline in U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., but that, barring ruling in carriers’ favor, they remained bound by that date. But he said if wireless sector must support LNP, FCC must ensure that “wireline customers have not just an inchoate right but the actual ability to port their number to a wireless carrier.” As carriers move toward LNP implementation, he said, they have “detected resistance” to idea “as the LECs remain bound to rate center boundaries and have asserted the need to negotiate new interconnection agreements as a condition precedent to intermodal porting.” Wireline-to-wireless porting issue is likely to remain deadlocked at FCC until Commission “asserts that LECs must port numbers to wireless carriers without regard to rate center or interconnection issues,” Wheeler said.
Country of origin cases
U.K. Office of Telecom (Oftel) said British Telecom (BT) shouldn’t be allowed as transit operator to cancel payments to operators terminating calls in case originating number operators (ONO) refused to pay BT. BT, which carries large amount of both interconnection and transit traffic, said it had lost tens of millions of pounds as result of ONOs insolvency. In dispute with 178 operators filed to Oftel Dir. Gen. last year, BT asked to eliminate its risk by enabling it to receive back or to cancel any termination payments to terminating number operators (TNO) in case ONOs missed their payments to BT. However, Dir. Gen. said BT’s proposal provided “one-sided” solution that would “free BT from the risk but does not ensure that the risk is minimized.” Oftel said BT was in best position to minimize risk because it had direct contractual relationships with ONOs that allowed it to claim money directly from insolvent ONOs. It also said BT had technical means to stop calls from insolvent ONOs.
Cal. administrative judge Thurs. scolded small ISP for offering her informal e-mail comments on controversy over attempts to settle Cal. ISP Assn. (CISPA) allegations of unfair DSL marketing practices by SBC Communications. But PUC Administrative Law Judge Dorothy Duda said in reply e- mail -- circulated, like original message, to those on case’s service list for documents -- she would grant Raw Bandwidth Communications’ late request to intervene, but only to comment on upcoming report from SBC and CISPA on settlement conference aiming to cure defects Duda had found in deal. Separately, SBC denied Raw Bandwidth allegations that Bell’s withdrawal of marketing funds and sales-support employees from DSL programs with ISPs demonstrated SBC’s settlement sales and marketing commitments to ISPs lacked credibility.
Verizon Wireless, Salmon PCS, Alaska Native Wireless (ANW) and VoiceStream PCS BTA I filed joint opposition this week at FCC to auction relief challenge filed by Eldorado Communications. Eldorado asked FCC Wireless Bureau to reverse decision to grant NextWave re-auction winners relief on their bid obligations. Eldorado also has filed challenge at U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., arguing that bureau decision should be overturned because it conflicted with federal statutes, FCC regulation and Commission case precedent. Verizon, Salmon PCS, which has financial backing from Cingular, ANW, which has financing from AT&T Wireless, and T- Mobile unit VoiceStream PCS all participated in Jan. 2001 re- auction and availed themselves of FCC order allowing them to dismiss pending license applications. They charged that Eldorado’s challenge at FCC was “a transparent attempt to hold Auction No. 35 participants hostage while Eldorado pursues its grossly untimed request for additional relief” for participants in original C-block auctions. Eldorado competed with NextWave in original C-block auction, later filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and returning spectrum to govt. Carriers argued that Eldorado lacked standing and its application for review should be dismissed. DCC PCS filed similar objection last week (CD Jan 15 p3). Carriers said: “The application in effect seeks a stay of the orders by which the FCC granted the requested dismissals of Auction 35 applications and made related refunds without Eldorado even attempting to satisfy the heavy burden it must bear to warrant such extraordinary relief in the context of its own defaults” in original C-block auction. Eldorado isn’t injured by relief granted to re-auction winners, filing said. Instead, it was put at disadvantage by earlier FCC decisions granting relief to initial round of C-block winners when they ran into financial problems. “But those earlier decisions are well beyond review, and any challenges at this time would be grossly untimely,” filing said. “Eldorado cannot be allowed to use decisions unique to Auction 35 as a means to rejuvenate long-expired appeal time frames applicable to those prior auction actions.”
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.) unveiled ambitious telecom technology agenda Wed. that included spectrum reform and E-911 as its “centerpiece.” Legislation to control spam would be first priority, but agenda also included several telecom-related measures: (1) Tax incentives for broadband build-out. (2) Wireless privacy. (3) Universal service reform. (4) Development of U.S.-Asia free trade network. “We can pass some of this agenda,” said Burns, who acknowledged passage of all items on the agenda would be difficult: “If we don’t offer something, we'll get none of it through.”
FCC should reform International Settlement Policy (ISP) to reflect existing international telecom market, many telecom carriers said in comments to Commission. They said agency should ensure that enforcement mechanisms were in place to address anticompetitive practices on some international routes. Some carriers also agreed Commission should adopt rule prohibiting U.S. carriers from increasing any international termination rate above existing commercially negotiated rate with particular foreign carrier. Parties also expressed concerns about “excessive” foreign mobile termination rates.
Eighth U.S. Appeals Court, St. Louis, upheld right of former Mercedes dealer to license toll-free phone number 1- 800-Mercedes to other dealers without permission of Mercedes- Benz USA and DaimlerChrysler. Affirming lower court opinion, appeals court said licensing toll free number didn’t constitute “use” of Mercedes trademarks. Case involved Donald Bloom, who was Mercedes-Benz dealer in Owatonna, Minn., in 1980s and acquired toll-free number 1-800-637-2333, which is one alphanumeric translation of 1-800-Mercedes. Bloom formed MBZ Communications in 1994 to license that vanity phone number to 6 Mercedes dealers throughout country. Through call routing technology, dealers received calls to that number that originated in area codes they specified. Mercedes terminated Bloom’s dealerships in 1997 and in 2000 filed suit. Court noted that MBZ didn’t register Mercedes’ mark, advertise it or incorporate it into Web page: “MBZ merely licenses a telephone number, one alphanumeric translation of which can spell 1-800-Mercedes… The number 1-800-637-2333 is neither phonetically nor visually similar enough to the marks such that it could be considered a reproduction or a colorable imitation thereof… Mercedes argues, rather arrogantly we believe, that this phone number isn’t the same as a domain name because everyone knows that 1-800-637-2333 really means 1-800-Mercedes. We doubt that this proposition is as self-evident as Mercedes believes.” Court also said that in cases where courts had ruled in favor of trademark holders, they “have fashioned limited remedies, enjoining only the advertisement of the alphanumeric translation of the number which incorporates the protected mark but not the use of the number generally.” Eighth Circuit decision (01-3700),released Jan. 9, was heard by judges David Hansen, George Fagg, Pasco Bowman.
RIAA announced accord Tues. with 2 high-tech groups on digital content protection, agreeing to oppose govt.-imposed technology mandates while objecting to changes in Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Accord, which includes Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP), finds itself at odds with BSA and CSPP member Intel, which supports bill by House Internet Caucus Co-Chmn. Boucher (D-Va.) and Rep. Doolittle (R-Cal.) to modify DMCA to permit users to circumvent copy-protection controls if doing so was exercise in fair use.
Changes at NBC Enterprises: Alan Seiffert, ex-NBA, named vp-business affairs; Betsy Braun, ex-Telepictures Productions, appointed vp-programming & development… Victoria Bassetti, ex-Senate Judiciary Committee, named vp- legal & public policy, EMI… Annette Erdmann, ex-Qwest, moves to Access Global Holdings as chief information officer… Lisa Dollinger, ex-Capstar, becomes senior vp- mktg. & communications, Clear Channel Radio… FTC Dir.- Office of Policy Planning Ted Cruz appointed Tex. Solicitor Gen… Linda Standen, ex-Pacific Bell, named vp-mktg., @Road… Changes at Internet Photonics: Peter Dale, ex-Narad Networks, named vp-cable business unit; Imaginary Universes CEO Stephen Dukes becomes chmn. of technical advisory board… Hallmark Channel promoted Elizabeth Yost to head of original programming & development and Marcey Mascotte to mgr.-original programming… Communications consultant James Maiella named Cablevision vp-communications for N.Y. metropolitan area.
With U.S. Supreme Court expected to rule relatively soon on fate of NextWave’s PCS licenses, some industry observers expect carrier could face challenges linked to drop in wireless spectrum values if court decided against FCC. Several analysts pointed to $750 million Verizon Wireless agreed to pay last month for NorthCoast PCS spectrum, including 10 MHz in N.Y.C., as sign of how far spectrum prices had fallen. Verizon had bid $4.1 billion in Jan. 2001 for 2 10 MHz licenses in N.Y. that since had been returned to NextWave. Others cited 28 of top 30 markets that NextWave spectrum covered, meaning that carriers still could pursue spectrum in market-by-market acquisitions.