FCC at our deadline Thurs. approved 2 key Bell applications for Sec. 271 authority to enter long distance business: (1) It voted 4-0 to approve BellSouth’s application for Fla. and Tenn., last remaining states in its territory without Sec. 271 authority. (2) It voted 3-1 to approve SBC’s application for Cal., biggest market in country. Comr. Martin dissented on SBC vote. Comr. Adelstein didn’t vote.
Country of origin cases
While CBS has “conferred with affiliates” and amended its contracts to comply with FCC rules, many issues “remain stalemated” with NBC, Fox and ABC and require Commission action, Network Affiliated Stations Alliance (NASA) said in latest ex parte filing at Commission. NASA said 3 networks had made “only cosmetic attempts to rectify” provisions in affiliation agreements that conflicted with Communications Act and/or FCC rules. Issue involves questions of network control over affiliates.
OPASTCO urged FCC to deny AT&T’s request that its phone- to-phone interstate IP telephony service be exempted from access charges. In comments filed Wed., OPASTCO said AT&T’s petition “fails to explain how an interexchange carrier’s use of IP technology to transport a voice call reduces a LEC’s cost of terminating that call in any way.” Such calls “should be subject to both originating and terminating interstate access charges in order to provide local exchange carriers with lawful and adequate compensation for the use of their facilities,” OPASTCO said: “The functions performed by both the terminating LEC and the originating LEC for phone- to-phone IP calls are no different than the access functions they perform for regular long distance calls transported without IP technology.” Other groups with rural interests expressed similar sentiments. Telecom Consulting Assoc., which performs financial, regulatory and marketing services for more than 50 rural LECs, said “AT&T has failed to prove that its provisioning of long distance services using IP telephony is substantially different from other forms of service, from a transmission perspective, and thus should be afforded the substantially different treatment requested by AT&T.” National Telecom Cooperative Assn. said AT&T’s petition “is a preemptive attempt to evade paying legitimate access charges and avoid making lawful universal service fund contributions… AT&T couches its petition as a request for exemption from existing access charges but, if adopted, it would have an increasingly severe effect on universal service and separations.”
N.J. legislature passed bill to establish state no-call telemarketing list. Final version of AB-727 contained almost none of exemptions in original draft. Bill sent to Gov. James McGreevey (D) would exempt companies contacting their existing customers, but would limit that exemption by allowing customers to tell companies they did business with not to telemarket to them again. Bill as passed also deleted provision requiring that state prove telemarketing violations were part of “pattern and practice” of violations in order to impose maximum penalties. Final bill retained provision banning telemarketing calls to wireless phones. List would be maintained by state consumer protection agency or 3rd party under contract with state. McGreevey is expected to sign bill.
In settlement both sides admit bears little relevance to market-driven royalty rates, small commercial Webcasters and copyright owners last Fri. formally ended their dispute over fees for certain digital performances and ephemeral copies of sound recordings. In document filed with U.S. Copyright Office, RIAA’s SoundExchange, which collects royalties accruing under certain statutory licenses, and Voice of Webcasters (VOW), coalition of small Webcasters, said they had reached agreement under Small Webcaster Settlement Act (SWSA) signed Dec. 4.
Prefiled 2003 bill in S.C. House would put unique twist on no-call telemarketing measures. Under HB-3013, telemarketers would be forbidden to call state residents unless they had put their numbers on official PSC-run state list of residents who wanted to receive telemarketing calls. Telemarketers would pay $200 for year’s worth of “pro-call” lists. Consumers would pay fee of up to $10 to be included on pro-call listing. Bill also would ban telemarketing calls before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m. and would ban telemarketers from circumventing caller ID service. S.C. lawmakers in 2003 also will see conventional proposal for state no-call list. Under prefiled HB-3012, PSC or its designated contractor would administer no-call list, with only exemption being for businesses calling their established customers. Violations would be unfair trade practice. Another prefiled S.C. bill aimed at telecom-based marketing would create state “no-spam” list. Modeled on no-call telemarketing legislation, HB-3140 would direct state’s ISPs to create and administer list of e- mail addresses of subscribers who didn’t want unsolicited advertising e-mails. List would be funded from subscription charges to e-mailers and fines from offenders. Bill also would require subject line in spam messages to be labeled “ADV:” or “ADV:ADLT” for sexually explicit products or services. Bill would provide fine of $200 per offending message on first offense. Another prefiled bill in S.C. on different telecom topic would prohibit toll charges on any call that originated and terminated in same county. Where multiple carriers served parts of same county, HB-3064 would require them to reach intercarrier agreement on toll-free countywide calling plan by July. If carriers couldn’t agree by deadline, bill would authorize PSC to impose its own plan for countywide local calling.
R.I. PUC said it planned to decide by Jan. 15 whether to accept new price cap regulation plan proposed jointly by Verizon and state’s utility consumer advocate (Case 3445). At hearings on proposal Wed., Verizon and R.I. Div. of Public Utilities & Carriers said agreement would protect captive ratepayers, provide Verizon with revenues necessary to improve service and allow Verizon flexibility needed to respond to competition. But CLEC interests said they feared plan would crush local competition because cost floors for deregulated Verizon retail competitive services were set too low. They said plan would allow Verizon to establish classic price squeeze where CLECs couldn’t recover what they must pay for essential wholesale services from Verizon if they stayed competitive with Verizon’s retail rates. Consumer groups said residential increases allowed under plan would be hurtful to ratepayers unless their impact was offset by concessions such as service improvements, free intrastate toll calling allowances or expansion of free local calling area in Providence. Under proposal, Verizon would be allowed up to $1 monthly basic residential rate increase in 2003 and another $1 monthly in 2004. Company had wanted residential rates deregulated after 2 years, but had to compromise, agreeing to PUC review of any residential rate increases proposed after 2004. Rates for other retail services would be deregulated, except that prices couldn’t be set below cost floors. Plan would require that Verizon provide up to $4 million in funding to subsidize Internet access for state’s schools and libraries through 2004 or until alternative funding mechanism was established. Carrier had wanted its support of school/library Internet access to end in mid-2003 and have funding borne by all telecom carriers, but that proposal met strong resistance and had to be abandoned. Plan also would toughen somewhat Verizon service quality requirements. Hearing originally was called to consider cap plan Verizon proposed in July, but company said new agreement superseded previous proposal.
EchoStar agreed Tues. to terminate proposed agreement to take over Hughes Electronics and subsidiary DirecTV. Industry sources cited negative responses from Justice Dept. and FCC as possible catalysts for decision to cancel deal rather than complete re-application process at 2 agencies. Under settlement, EchoStar paid $600-million termination fee and agreed Hughes would retain ownership of PanAmSat. As result of decision, EchoStar will take $700-million writeoff in 4th quarter because of breakup fee and merger expenses.
To step up coordination between NTIA and FCC on spectrum policy, NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory and FCC Chmn. Powell met Tues., in part to update 1940s-era agreement between agencies. Meeting, at Commerce Dept., covered process for coordinating govt. and commercial spectrum use, “strengths and weaknesses” of different licensing models and emerging technologies, FCC said. Besides Powell and Victory, meeting included FCC International Bureau Chief Donald Abelson, Wireless Bureau Chief Thomas Sugrue, Office of Engineering & Technology Chief Edmond Thomas, Powell aide Bryan Tramont and Frederick Wentland, acting associate administrator in NTIA Office of Spectrum Management. NTIA and FCC are “pretty close” to finalizing changes in memorandum of understanding that outlines terms of interaction between agencies, NTIA Deputy Dir. Michael Gallagher said. Original 1940s document is short description of policy purviews of FCC and NTIA, including agreement that agencies will notify each other before they take certain steps “but that neither one of us has to wait for the other to act,” Gallagher told us. Only other substantive part of document is list of govt.-only frequencies, he said. “Nobody has re-examined the MOU in decades,” he said. “Things are very different.” Point of update is to memorialize kinds of “best practices” that NTIA and FCC engaged in on policy issues such as ultra-wideband, Gallagher said: “This is meant to appeal much more to the notions of leadership and teamwork and the need to be professional and timely from the top down.” Pending update also will touch on timing of information that’s sent between NTIA and FCC on policy issues, he said. Powell called NTIA and FCC “essential partners” in area of spectrum policy reform: “The pace of development in spectrum-based services is such that remarkable breakthroughs quickly seem mundane. Our spectrum policies need to reflect this dynamic marketplace and to be flexible enough to keep up with innovation.” Agencies said meeting, which lasted more than 2 hours, also touched on “alternative licensing regimes and the success of the unlicensed model” in promoting innovation. Gallagher said unlicensed spectrum policy issues were discussed in context of recent FCC Spectrum Policy Task Force report and how to find additional spectrum for new technologies. Sec. 112 of NTIA Organization Act of 1992 directs FCC and NTIA chiefs to meet twice yearly to discuss spectrum issues. Gallagher said NTIA’s April spectrum summit marked first meeting this year to meet that requirement, with Tues. discussions comprising second.
MobilCom Chmn. Klaus Ripken resigns, effective Dec. 31, no replacement named… Nicolas Dufourcq resigns as head of France Telecom (FT) Wanadoo unit and as exec. dir., FT’s fixed services and Internet branch, will be replaced as Wanadoo chmn. by firm’s Olivier Sichel… John Buchanan, ex- BP, joins Vodafone board… John DeLorenzo, ex-Paxson, named CFO, Entravision, succeeding Jeanette Tully, retiring Dec. 31… Robert Stephens, ex-TviFusion, appointed CFO, Brief Original Broadcasts… Kan. Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board’s consumer counsel Walker Hendrix resigned to take position with gas utility, will be replaced by David Springe on acting basis.