Bills addressing E-911 funding bases, wireless services, and regulatory administration came into the state legislative spotlight as 2006 sessions entered their 2nd month. Those issues shared attention with bills on phone consumer privacy, VoIP taxation and telemarketing.

AT&T (formerly SBC) and CLECs XO and NuVox asked the Ohio PUC to reconsider portions of a Nov. 9 order that resolved dozens of disputes over changes to interconnection agreements to conform to the FCC’s various Triennial Review Orders (Case 05-887-TP-UNC). AT&T asked the PUC to reconsider a decision allowing CLECs to continue paying discounted rates for embedded high- capacity UNE facilities through the end of the applicable FCC transition periods even if CLECs agreed to alternative arrangements at market-based prices before the transition period was up. FCC rules establish transition periods of up to 18 months for embedded high capacity digital loops, transport and dark fiber when cost-based unbundling is no longer required in a wire center due to adequate wholesale competition. AT&T also wanted reconsideration of a decision to limit application of FCC rules regarding fiber loop unbundling at individual customer premises to mass market customers only. AT&T said the PUC is reading something into the FCC orders that isn’t there. Meanwhile, the 2 CLECs wanted reconsideration of PUC decisions to allow AT&T unilateral authority to set interim rates for routine network modifications on a basis other than TELRIC without PUC review, and adopting AT&T language putting a 10-circuit cap on the number of DS-1 circuits connected at a premises entrance facility.

Viacom, set to split off its CBS unit, would suffer under a family tier structure pushed by some lawmakers and FCC Chmn. Martin, said an analyst. Industry may unveil details on such a tier today (Mon.), cable sources told us last week (CD Dec 9 p6). “Concern regarding a ‘family’ tier of cable networks lends some uncertainty to growth potential at new Viacom,” wrote Stanford Group’s Fred Moran in an investor bulletin: “Should enough cable TV subscribers opt for a family tier which excludes MTV and VH-1, both subscription and advertising revenues at the Viacom cable networks could be impaired.” Shares of the split-off Viacom unit have risen since they began trading separately (CD Dec 6 p12), while CBS has declined, said Moran.

The Fla. PSC voted 2-1 to overrule a staff recommendation and let Sprint recover $30 million in extraordinary costs from 2004 hurricanes, granting all funds Sprint sought to recover from customers under a stipulated settlement with the Office of Public Counsel. The PSC authorized Sprint to levy an 85 monthly surcharge per line for 12 months. Staff had urged allowing recovery of $9 million, arguing a 2005 law expressed legislators’ intent to limit utility storm damage recovery from ratepayers, which should guide decisions on storm losses incurred before the law was passed. Sprint successfully argued that its losses and its application for recovery both preceded the 2005 law, which was not retroactive, so there’s no legal way to apply it to this situation.

The Pa. PUC voted 4-1 to free telecom carriers from filing mandatory reports on slamming, and to seek comment on also eliminating 3 other reports -- major outages, accidents and Lifeline compliance. Comments are due Sept. 28. The PUC acted under a 2004 state law limiting the number of mandatory telecom service reports to 9; the reports up for deletion aren’t listed. The PUC went against the recommendation of its staff, which favored keeping the reports under a legal clause that let the PUC add reports to the law’s mandatory list of 9. The staff said the reports, particularly outage reports, are essential for the PUC mandate of ensuring safe, reliable and affordable phone service. Comr. Bill Shane, who cast the lone vote to keep the 4 reports, said he was “disappointed” by the industry’s drive to eliminate the reports: “I am not willing to compromise on safety and reliability, and neither should any utility.”

Regulators are reviewing satellites’ relation to the Emergency Alert System and E-911 requirements. At the FCC, the International Bureau Satellite Division and the Enforcement Bureau Office of Homeland Security recently met with DBS and satellite radio firms to discuss the feasibility of satellite participating in the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Separately, the Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) is reviewing long term issues for E-911 services, including whether E-911 requirements can be extended to satellite telephony. Both reviews are addressing satellite system design’s uniqueness relative to the terrestrial infrastructure, and difficulties involved in extending emergency requirements to the skies.

A nomination council screening Fla. PSC candidates for the commission’s 3 vacancies forwarded 18 names, chosen from a pool of 131 applicants, to the newly formed Joint Legislative PSC Oversight Committee. The seats of Comr. Rudy Bradley and Chmn. Braulio Baez will become vacant at year’s end, when their terms expire. The 3rd vacant seat belonged to Comr. Charles Davidson, who resigned last month. These are the first PSC vacancies to be filled under rules adopted this year. The oversight panel will winnow the 18 semi-finalists to 9 by Sept. 15, with 3 finalists for each vacant seat, from whom Gov. Jeb Bush (R) must pick nominees for the vacancies. The 18 semi-finalists include Comr. Bradley, who sought a 2nd term despite 2002 ethics complaints about him. Still pending, those complained allege Bradley violated state rules by representing a Verizon position regarding a rate change as his own opinion, and by attending a Miami utility regulators’ meeting largely underwritten by regulated companies. Bradley told the nominating council he did nothing improper and they voted 7-1 to put his name on the list of 18 semi-finalists.

The VC-1 video encoding standard has met all requirements for Final Committee Draft Status, said the standards-setting body, the Society of Motion Picture & TV Engineers. VC-1, based on Windows Media Video 9, would be an alternative way to code and compress digital video. Among other uses, it’s expected to be employed to distribute video via the Internet, satellite and cable. It’s already the mandatory codec for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Supporters said the standard is progressing through the approval processes of other standards organizations, including ATSC and DVB, which set the competing DTV standards.

GENEVA -- Public safety answering points (PSAP) are struggling with 9-1-1 emergency wireless calls that are difficult to locate, officials said here Thurs. Officials added that if VoIP hits the mainstream and the mass market abandons landlines, the 9-1-1 system could be in real trouble,

Cal. PUC Comr. Susan Kennedy -- a national leader among deregulatory policy makers -- is pushing for the states to assert themselves on communications policy, even in gray jurisdictional areas, based on an “Internet freedom” principle to ensure access to VoIP. She’s also proposing her commission undertake a sweeping, possibly fast-tracked remake of the basic state regulatory structure. Kennedy is emboldened by the emergence of IP-based and other competitive services; growing receptivity among fellow state regulators to market-based premises; and what she sees as an FCC “void” creating an opening for state activism, she indicated in a speech this week.