The FCC’s failure to deal with VoIP endangers the commission’s broader Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation regime reforms, said Windstream Vice President for Federal Government Affairs Eric Einhorn Monday. The commission’s rulemaking notice isn’t definitive about VoIP traffic, he said at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ winter meeting, and without clarity nagging questions “could unravel the system before we even get to intercarrier compensation reform.” Einhorn was part of a panel on USF/intercarrier comp reform.

The judge who dominated questions in oral argument on Cablevision v. FCC asked many questions that appeared skeptical of the cable operator’s challenge to program access rules at the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit. Judge David Tatel asked the vast majority of the questions of the cable operator and the commission Monday. He and Judge Thomas Griffith asked how Cablevision’s challenge could get around a ruling that the NCTA lost at the appeals court about exclusive arrangements between cable operators and apartment buildings.

Efforts to repeal the FCC’s net neutrality order on Capitol Hill are unlikely to succeed, speakers said Monday at a meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ telecom committee. Nullification of the commission’s net neutrality rules through the Congressional Review Act topped communications and technology priorities for Republicans on the House Commerce Committee (CD Jan 20 p1).

The Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance is turning to Genevieve Morelli as president to help beef up its membership and lead the association through the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation overhauls, the group said Monday. Corporate acquisitions including Windstream-Iowa Telecom, CenturyLink-Embarq and the pending CenturyLink-Qwest deal are cutting into the association’s membership, said board Chairman Matthew Dosch.

EchoStar agreed to acquire Hughes Communications for about $2 billion, including Hughes’ debt, which is “expected to be refinanced in connection with the transaction,” the companies said Monday. The agreement, which has already been approved by the companies’ boards, faces federal regulatory approval, including from the FCC, the companies said. Industry observers said they didn’t see an obvious reason for regulators to block the deal, though it could be affected by other acquisition efforts. The deal includes Hughes Communications’ largest subsidiary, satellite broadband provider Hughes Network Systems, the companies said.

A draft FCC rulemaking notice on retransmission consent deals asks many questions about rules and practices covering the broadcast and pay-TV industries and draws few tentative conclusions, commission and industry officials said Friday. The notice circulated about 7 p.m. Thursday, FCC officials said. The agency confirmed that it’s on the tentative agenda for the March 3 meeting, as had been expected (CD Feb 8 p1). Cable, DBS and telco-TV companies and public interest groups had sought such a rulemaking, while broadcasters have said retrans works well now. Other media issues to be voted on at next month’s meeting are an order that may make it harder for radio stations to move and a rulemaking on video descriptions, agency officials said.

House Democrats may be headed for a split on Internet privacy issues. Two lawmakers offered bills that differ over tracking mechanisms. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., who was chairman of the former House Consumer Protection Subcommittee, reintroduced his bill setting up an opt-in system for data disclosure to third parties and safe harbors for companies participating in a self-regulatory opt-out system. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., introduced two privacy bills Friday to protect consumers from tracking and put them in control of their financial information.

The FCC may have punted on contribution overhaul in its Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation rulemaking notice (CD Feb 9 p1), but some changes it proposes will lead to increased calls for taking up contributions sooner rather than later, said Bingham telecom lawyer Andy Lipman. The notice, approved 5-0 Tuesday, makes it clear that the commission wants to ease intercarrier compensation payments down, he said. “In part, that’s going to be made up with additional USF funding, which will in turn lead to more pressure on the fund, which in turn will create more pressure for contribution reform.”

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration representative told the FCC’s Emergency Access Advisory Committee Friday that without a federal push there’s little chance a next-generation 911 (NG911) system will be interoperable. The committee was set up by the FCC to ensure that the network is fully accessible to people with disabilities.

The FCC is in discussions with Congress members who have raised security objections about the U.S. activities of Huawei and ZTE, fast-growing Chinese telecom vendors, a commission spokesman told us. The Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau is taking the lead, and Chief James Barnett is the point person, but other commission bureaus and offices also are involved, said spokesman Robert Kenny. A Huawei executive on Friday called network security concerns based on his company’s Chinese origins nonsensical in the global economy and a misplaced reflection of broader tensions between the two countries.