The VoIP market will get a more favorable regulatory environment under the Obama administration, which favors net neutrality and broader broadband infrastructure deployment, lawyers said. They also forecast new market entrants in the next few years, a new competition model and closer consolidation review. But analysts worry the effects of a tough economy on VoIP providers.

The FCC Wednesday revised figures in a universal service fund audit of the schools and libraries fund provided semiannually to Congress. New data show that $1.2 million from 22 school and library fund beneficiaries is expected to be recovered, versus the $597,000 from nine institutions reported earlier. The Universal Service Administrative Co. provided incorrect data, a result of “substantive data entry errors,” the FCC said. The agency also corrected to 2009 the date in the earlier report that said FCC staff would visit “over 100 places before 2/17/08 to discuss the DTV transition.”

The VoIP market will see a better regulatory environment under the Obama administration, which favors net neutrality and broader broadband infrastructure deployment, lawyers said. They also forecast more market entrants in the next few years, a new competition model and closer consolidation review. Meanwhile, analysts worried over the impact of a tough economy on VoIP providers.

An overhaul of intercarrier compensation and the Universal Service Fund could upset broadband deployment and hurt companies in and outside the telecom industry, telecom interests warned in reply comments this week. Replies were due Monday on three FCC overhaul plans. Though many arguments were repeats from the initial comment round, some new faces appeared, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service, and associations for utilities and payphone providers.

The Alarm Industry Communications Committee said that if the FCC makes their members pay into the Universal Service Fund, the effect would be “devastating.” The group filed in a FCC docket seeking comment on various proposals for USF reform, which include proposals to base USF contributions on individual phone numbers. “The imposition of either an $.85/number or $l/number charge could have devastating effects on a rapidly growing sector of the alarm industry,” the group said. It noted that its service, connecting alarms to a central office, does not touch the PSTN and customers would not be able to make or receive calls. “The transmission between the customer’s premise and the alarm monitoring center is specified by the alarm company, and not the customer,” the filing said. “The panel dials a predetermined number which serves the alarm company and … the panels may not be used to dial the PSTN except with extreme difficulty, if at all.”

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin may still try to hold a quick December phone conference with the other commissioners to meet a Communications Act requirement that they hold a meeting every calendar month. Martin’s office sent around an e-mail Monday to his colleagues’ offices asking about their schedules the rest of the month, with an eye toward a meeting. No votes are expected if it takes place, FCC sources said Monday. A meeting may also be held Jan. 15, possibly to deal with proposed changes in the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation systems. Then again, the commission may not meet again until late January, after the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and after Martin’s expected departure. FCC officials expect to know more early next week. The three-week “white paper” deadline for document distribution for a Jan. 15 meeting would be Thursday. But that’s Christmas, and the FCC is closed, with the rest of the federal government. An FCC spokesman said Martin is willing to move on any items that other commissioners seek action on. “Several proposals and notices remain on circulation and any of the commissioners can act on those at any time,” the spokesman said.

Two associations for small rural carriers urged the FCC to reject the agency’s reverse auctions plan for Universal Service Fund distribution. Earlier this month, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin voted for that proposal, which is the second of three FCC plans to overhaul USF now out for comment (CD Dec 15 p3). Other commissioners haven’t voted yet. In a Thursday ex parte letter to the FCC, the Western Telecommunications Alliance and the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies said reverse auctions would thwart broadband investment in rural areas. Auctions “would generate significant unpredictability for rural carriers, which is the enemy of network investment,” OPASTCO and WTA said. And major lenders to rural incumbent local exchange carriers have said “the uncertainty of rural carriers’ cost recovery under a reverse auction mechanism would cause them to restrain the amount of debt made available,” they said. Also, auctions are a “'race to the bottom’ that will drive carriers to submit bids that are well below what they actually need to maintain and upgrade their networks to provide an evolving level of quality services in high-cost rural areas,” they said.

Free Press called for a $44 billion broadband stimulus plan of tax incentives and grants aimed at new investment. A report released Wednesday calls for building networks that can provide access at 100 Mbps and suggests that tax incentives go to companies building networks open to competitors. Building next-generation broadband and wireless networks in rural and unserved areas should be a priority, Free Press said.

Free Press called for a $44 billion broadband stimulus plan of tax incentives and grants aimed at new investment. A report released Wednesday calls for building networks that can provide access at 100 Mbps and suggests that tax incentives go to companies building networks open to competitors. Building next-generation broadband and wireless networks in rural and unserved areas should be a priority, Free Press said.

Free Press called for a $44 billion broadband stimulus plan of tax incentives and grants aimed at new investment. A report released Wednesday calls for building networks that can provide access at 100 Mbps and suggests that tax incentives go to companies building networks open to competitors. Building next-generation broadband and wireless networks in rural and unserved areas should be a priority, Free Press said.