Claims that free conference calling services benefit incumbent local exchange carriers are misleading, said AT&T and Qwest executives, reacting to a recent report by Information Age Economics (CD March 4 p12). “The report makes a claim that free conference calling is good because it stimulates business,” said Hank Hultquist, an AT&T vice president. “If we really thought that were the case, it’s something we would have done on our own.”
Proposals to overhaul the Universal Service Fund mechanism including eliminating funding for voice-only networks will involve 10 years of transforming the high-cost fund into the Connect America Fund, the FCC said Friday. That’s intended to extend broadband service and provide ongoing support in certain areas without increasing the overall USF $8 billion cap, the agency officials told reporters. The proposed change is an attempt to transition from supporting voice telephone services to using funds to deliver broadband networks, said Omnibus Broadband Initiative Executive Director Blair Levin.
The Alliance of Rural CMRS Carriers asked the FCC to impose an interim cap on per-line universal support for all incumbent local exchange carriers, freezing payouts at March 2008 or March 2010 levels. The filing came almost two years after the FCC imposed a cap on universal service payments to competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (CETCs) in May 2008. Rural carriers lost a challenge to that order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The FCC has orchestrated a rollout that’s providing some illumination of issues leading up to the release of the National Broadband Plan, Stifel Nicolaus said in a research note. Reforming the $8 billion Universal Service Fund and making more spectrum available for wireless broadband “appear to be critical to FCC efforts to spur deployment in unserved areas and boosting speeds and competition where broadband service already exists,” it said. Using broadband to address “national purposes,” like education and health care, could drive up broadband use “that could boost the entire ecosystem.” Major FCC legislative proposals would be difficult to enact during this Congress, given industry and lawmaker divisions, analysts said.
The FCC shouldn’t rush to reclassify broadband as a Title II service, even if as expected the agency loses in the Comcast case now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said Helgi Walker, the attorney who argued the case for Comcast. She spoke during a discussion Wednesday hosted by the Federalist Society. The court’s decision is likely to be narrow enough that it won’t seriously undermine FCC authority in other areas, she said.
The FCC shouldn’t rush to reclassify broadband as a Title II service, even if as expected the agency loses in the Comcast P2P case now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said Helgi Walker, the attorney who argued the case for Comcast. She spoke during a discussion Wednesday hosted by the Federalist Society. The court’s decision is likely to be narrow enough that it won’t seriously undermine FCC authority in other areas, she said.
The European Commission wants feedback on whether to update universal service rules and extend them to broadband access, it said Tuesday. The rules, which are 10 years old, guarantee that people living in remote and rural areas or who have low incomes can connect to the public telephone network and that directory inquiry services and print versions of directories are available, the EC said. The EC wants input on: (1) Whether the basic concept of universal service remains valid in the digital environment. (2) Whether universal service requirements will help achieve the EU goal of broadband for all or whether competition on the open telecom market or some other policies will be more effective. (3) The right balance between a coordinated EU-level approach to broadband take-up and national flexibility. (4) How universal service should be funded in the future. Comments are due May 7. The consultation could result in legislative proposals before year’s end, the EC said.
The National Broadband Plan will take into account “the unique circumstances” faced by American Indian tribes, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Tuesday during a speech to the National Congress of American Indians meeting in Washington. The FCC needs different programs to promote broadband deployment in “Monument Valley” than in Silicon Valley, Genachowski said: “I get that.”
Broadcasters should seek a deal with the recording industry on performance royalties due to current “political realities,” said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher in a keynote at an NAB conference Tuesday. Broadcasters in the audience objected strongly to the concept. Boucher also praised the FCC’s proposed voluntary approach for taking broadcast spectrum, and said spectrum inventory legislation is nearing a full committee vote.
The European Commission wants feedback on whether to update universal service rules and extend them to broadband access, it said Tuesday. The rules, which are 10 years old, guarantee that people living in remote and rural areas or who have low incomes can connect to the public telephone network and that directory inquiry services and print versions of directories are available, the EC said. The EC wants input on: (1) Whether the basic concept of universal service remains valid in the digital environment. (2) Whether universal service requirements will help achieve the EU goal of broadband for all or whether competition on the open telecom market or some other policies will be more effective. (3) The right balance between a coordinated EU-level approach to broadband take-up and national flexibility. (4) How universal service should be funded in the future. Comments are due May 7. The consultation could result in legislative proposals before year’s end, the EC said.