Any Universal Service Fund reform should encourage participation by satellite broadband and other new technologies, the Satellite Industry Assn. told the FCC. The Commission fielded comments Wed. on using reverse auctions to improve USF distribution. Reverse auctions could “reveal various providers’ relative cost” of serving rural areas, SIA said, adding that satellite providers can serve rural communities efficiently and cheaply. To ensure satellite providers can participate effectively in reverse auctions, SIA said, the Commission should: (1) Not award set-asides, credits or other favorable treatments to incumbents. (2) Let satellite providers that provide broadband services on a non- common carrier basis keep that status. (3) Avoid restrictions such as service areas that give certain providers an edge over others. SIA also pushed for targeted USF pilot projects to prove satellite providers’ ability to bring telecom service to remote areas. “Reverse auctions could be used to award contracts to provide service to areas or individuals that currently lack access to any communications services,” SIA said. Pilot projects could focus on specific areas -- some tribal lands, for instance -- historically unserved by traditional telephony, SIA said.

On September 30, 2006, the House and Senate passed (agreed to) the conference version of H.R. 4954, entitled the "Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006" (SAFE Port Act), which is a measure intended to improve maritime and cargo security through enhanced layered defenses, and for other purposes.

Yahoo launched the beta version of sponsored search results for its mobile web service in the U.S. and U.K. Customers can click to go directly to an advertisers’ mobile web site or landing page or call the advertiser directly.

Yahoo launched the beta version of sponsored search results for its mobile web service in the U.S. and U.K. Customers can click to go directly to an advertisers’ mobile web site or landing page or call the advertiser directly.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a press release announcing the award of a contract with the Boeing Co. to implement SBInet along the U.S. northern and southern borders.

NASHVILLE -- FCC Chmn. Martin is circulating a notice of proposed rulemaking asking questions about cell towers and bird safety, an aide to Comr. Adelstein told PCIA Thurs. The NPRM is “balanced” and “open-ended” but tentatively will conclude that white strobe lights are the “preferred” lighting for towers based on FAA concerns, said senior legal adviser Barry Ohlson. But PCIA officials are questioning whether the FCC can doing anything about bird deaths.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted its September 2006 Modernization Monthly newsletter to its Web site. The following are "highlights" of some of the topics addressed in the newsletter:

ICANN made its first referral to a new registry service technical evaluation panel (RSTEP) for study of a proposed “wildcard” link. ICANN Mon. asked the panel to consider a proposal by registry Tralliance to shunt users who type in unregistered .travel domain names to a registration page and search engine. The request for a wildcard linking searchers for travel services and products to “search.travel” has been booed by ICANN’s Security & Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) and other experts. The registry, nevertheless, wants to move ahead, it said.

ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) needs revamping, the London School of Economics (LSE) said late Fri. GNSO has “responded to rapid changes in the operations and stakeholders of the Internet,” and succeeded in crafting policy development procedures for generic top- level domain name issues, but must become more transparent, representative, flexible and capable of finding consensus, the LSE said. The 6 GNSO constituencies -- intellectual property, business, non-commercial users, ISPs, registrars and registries -- offer a “potential home” for nearly all interests, they may reflect turn of the century conditions to the point that they lack flexibility to include potential new parties from commercial and civil society, the report said. “Worrying signs of dominance” of some constituencies by a few people and a tendency among constituency members not to participate in policy development are of concern, the report said. Constituencies and the GNSO Council display lack of transparency by allowing only ICANN “deep insiders” easy access to information, it said, noting the “arduous” process of reaching agreement on policy and the failure to subject GNSO policies to comprehensive impact assessments. The review said any changes to GNSO operations must adhere to 4 principles. Operations must be more visible to a wide range of interested parties, and constituencies and Council must be more representative. Structures need adaptability and should be able to serve old and new stakeholders. GNSO Council operations need revamping to make it easier to reach consensus, it said. Among the review’s 24 recommendations: (1) Halve constituencies to 3, on registration, business user and civil society. (2) Create direct ICANN membership for companies, individuals and other entities, assigning new members to one of the new constituencies. (3) End weighted voting in the Council for registration interests but give the Council and business users an effective veto over non- consensus changes. (4) Slash the number of teleconferences the Council holds and pay members’ expenses to meet face-to- face. (5) Set term limits of 3-4 years for GNSO Council members. (6) Raise the threshold for consensus on policy from 66% to 75%. Having 3 constituencies has merit “because lots of big media companies like Disney, Time Warner and News Corp. get 2 constituencies to control,” noncommercial Users Constituency Council representative Robin Gross said. But Gross blasted giving business and registration interests 5 votes each -- and a built-in veto -- to civil society’s 3: “Why should commercial interests get a veto right on public policy, but not public interests? This is not acceptable.” ICANN board member Susan Crawford called the report’s focus on the “impenetrability of ICANN’s work” refreshing. “It’s as if the LSE team went on a trip into a tangled terrain full of oral history and oddly-shaped reports. The civil and learned voice of the review expresses amazement at what they found in this strange land,” she blogged. Researchers were stunned at what they didn’t find, such as coherence, standardization and rational websites, she said. She hailed the current GNSO’s work, but added, “change is surely needed.”

Medley Global Advisors said small carriers Leap and MetroPCS made “the most impressive land grab” so far in the AWS auction, but the success of the 2 could lead to more problems later on. “The growing financial and spectral strength of Leap and MetroPCS is likely to further aggravate existing tensions with the larger carriers on which they rely on for roaming capabilities outside their existing coverage areas,” Medley said: “Disputes between Leap and national carriers like Sprint-Nextel and Verizon over roaming rates and contract terms have been ongoing for 2 years and may not get resolved any time soon, particularly in light of the strong performance of regional carriers in this auction.”