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.

Verizon and AT&T called on the FCC to reject a petition by CLEC Fones4All, which asked in July that it continue to benefit from UNE-P for customers it serves under the universal service fund Lifeline program. Ross Buntrock, the company’s attorney, told us the issue presented by Fones4All is similar to a request by TracFone, a wireless reseller, which asked for ETC status so it can also offer service through the Lifeline program. “We're saying [to the FCC] this has been used to provide lifeline service and we need to expand the lifeline program,” Buntrock said. “This is very much in line with what you said you wanted to do in TracFone.” Fones4All said in a filing that “it is time for the Commission to demonstrate that is serious about making basic telephone service available to all Americans.” But Verizon said Fones4All asked the FCC for forbearance only after it failed to work out negotiated rates replacing UNE-P. “Following the effective date of the [Triennial Review Remand Order] and the start of the 12-month period, Fones4All waited until Oct. 2005 before taking any steps to negotiate a lawful alternative for its embedded base of UNE-P arrangements in Verizon’s territory,” Verizon said. AT&T called the petition “utterly deficient” and said Commission rules don’t allow granting the CLEC the forbearance it requested.

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.

VoIP carriers would benefit from passage of pending telecom legislation, because even E-911 compliant companies face too many obstacles to getting linked with public safety access points (PSAPs), said Dana Lichtenberg, telecom aide to Rep. Gordon (D-Tenn.). This is in part because too many in Congress think the FCC’s VoIP E-911 order “is all that was needed,” she said. Lichtenberg -- speaking at an enterprise VoIP conference held Wed. by the Information Technology Assn. of America (ITAA) -- said Gordon wants more resources for PSAPs, since many of the failures to meet the recent deadline were theirs. She said at least some E-911 language, alongside cable franchising issues, will be in a “stripped down” version of coming House telecom legislation. She held out hope the bill would remain bipartisan.

Critics of a new VeriSign .com deal were condemning the pact before details of the ICANN vote on it went public Tues. night (WID March 1 Special Report). Opponents argued, as they have for months, that the contract for the popular generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) will hike fees for consumers and registrars without justification, and allow VeriSign to expand its market monopoly and control of the .com space in perpetuity.

VoIP carriers would benefit from passage of pending telecom legislation, because under current conditions even E- 911 compliant companies face too many obstacles to getting linked with public safety access points (PSAPs), said Dana Lichtenberg, telecom aide to Rep. Gordon (D-Tenn.). This is in part because too many in Congress think the FCC’s VoIP E- 911 order “is all that was needed,” she said. Lichtenberg, speaking at an enterprise VoIP conference held Wed. by the Information Technology Assn. of America (ITAA), said Gordon wants more resources for PSAPs, since many of the failures to meet the recent deadline were on their side. She said at least some E-911 language, alongside cable franchising issues, will be in a “stripped down” version of coming House telecom legislation. She held out hope the bill would remain bipartisan.

Broadcasters should devote 8-9 p.m. to family-oriented material in a “voluntary” effort against indecent programming, FCC Chmn. Martin told the House Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee Wed. But he told Committee Chmn. Wolf (R-Va.) broadcasters likely would be “hesitant” to adopt his idea due to competition from other media. “You have to ask them specifically,” Martin told Wolf, who pressed him on why broadcasters would be reluctant about the family hour. “I just don’t understand that,” Wolf said.

The Universal Service Fund (USF) should be tied to all forms of communication, Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said Tues. at a hearing on the fund’s contribution rules. “This technology is changing so fast” a law is needed that can work for some time, Stevens said. It doesn’t make sense for Congress to rewrite complex rules and then have to change them again because of technology changes. He said the Committee is determined to get a fair set of principles on “who pays in and who pays out” and to eradicate abuses in the program.