FCC asked for comment on MPower Communications’ request for clarification of total element long-run incremental cost (TELRIC) methodology as it applied to loop conditioning charges. Comments are due April 16, replies May 7.
FCC voted Fri. to detariff international long distance services and gave carriers 9 months to transition to new arrangement. Action wasn’t surprise because FCC had voted to detariff domestic long distance service last year and carriers urged agency not to wait too long to take similar action for international services. Carriers had argued that it would be confusing to have one set of rules for domestic calls and another for international. FCC said carriers could detariff before end of 9-month transition period if they wished. Domestic detariffing goes into effect July 31 and some carriers have said they would like to do same thing for international at same time to avoid confusing consumers.
After struggling with technical difficulties of handling coin sent-paid calls through telecom relay services (TRS), FCC released proposal Fri. that it said finally would enable persons with hearing or speech disabilities to make TRS calls on payphones. New rules would enable TRS user to pay no more than person making non-TRS calls, Commission said. Americans with Disabilities Act requires common carriers to provide people with disabilities with services that are “functionally equivalent” to those available to those without disabilities. Attempt several years ago to require such equivalency for calls made with coins from payphones resulted in multiple suspensions of requirement. New proposal requires that phone carriers: (1) Not charge TRS users for making relay calls from payphones that otherwise would be local. (2) Enable TRS users to use calling cards, collect or 3rd party billing for toll calls from payphones. Users would be charged whichever was lower -- coin phone rate or rate from those other payment methods. (3) Conduct consumer education programs for TRS users. With TRS, callers type their conversations on text telephones called TTYs. Those messages are sent to TRS centers where they are read and forwarded verbally to persons at receiving end of call.
In long-awaited move to free up more spectrum for advanced wireless services, FCC approved notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) Fri. that begins process of tapping Ch. 52-59 in 700 MHz band for auction. Lower channels in that band must be auctioned before Sept. 30, 2002, one year after Sept. 12 auction for Ch. 60- 69. Commission approved item, with Comr. Tristani dissenting in part on voluntary band-clearing proposals to help relocate incumbent broadcasters ahead of 2006 digital TV deadline. FCC didn’t address budget blueprint by President Bush that would delay several wireless auctions, including proposed move of Ch. 52-59 auction until 2006.
Loral Space & Communications wants FCC authority to launch and operate hybrid Ku-band/C-band replacement satellite at 37.5 degrees W. Earlier, FCC considered and rejected arguments that Orion or Loral had rights to C-band authority at 37.5 degrees W. Petitions to deny are due April 16.
FCC denied request by Viacom for postponement of deadline for company to come into compliance with TV ownership cap as condition for transfer of CBS Corp. and other subsidiaries to Viacom. In its application for interim relief, Viacom had contended that it was likely to prevail in pending challenge to lawfulness of rule itself and argued that it would suffer irreparable injury as result of complying with condition. Rule prohibits grant, transfer or assignment of any TV licence to any entity if it would result in its having cognizable interest in TV stations with aggregate national audience reach exceeding 35%. FCC said to be successful in such request for relief, Viacom must demonstrate: (1) It has substantial likelihood of succeeding on merits. (2) It would suffer irreparable harm with grant. (3) Grant wouldn’t substantially harm others. (4) Relief would be in public interest. Commission concluded that Viacom had failed to demonstrate that postponement was justified. In dissent, Comr. Furchtgott-Roth said that while he reserved judgment on ultimate review of 35% ownership cap, he believed that facts before Commission and recent decision by U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., invalidating Commission’s cable ownership cap warranted interim relief sought by Viacom.
XM Satellite Radio received FCC authorization to modify satellite. Authorization will allow XM to modify certain technical aspects of SDARS system in order to achieve 1/3 increase in system capacity and improve service, FCC said.
In future carrier networks, many OSS applications will communicate and cooperate through bus architecture, Telcordia executives said Thurs. at FCC Office of Engineering & Technology tutorial. “Today 5 [service] processes means 6 OSS vendors and 13 OSS applications,” Telcordia Chief Strategist for Operation Solutions Mike Swartz said. Rather than close coupling of processes in monolithic OSS suite, applications will be connected to one another only as needed through computer mediator or what Telcordia calls Common Clearinghouse. Shared architecture touted by company also creates opportunities for “off-the-shelf” OSS, thriving market Telcordia leads. Swartz said OSS was $20 billion market. Today, 25% is spent in-house by carriers, down from 50% in past. Future OSS must be fast, efficient and support diverse services, Telcordia Vp-Solutions Design Steve Cohen said: “Unlike old stable regulated markets, new service lead times are driven by competitive offers in the marketplace.”
Impediments to DTV transition may be “too great to overcome” without additional govt. intervention, Rep. Dingell (D-Mich.) said at House Telecom Subcommittee hearing Thurs. He said “under normal circumstances” it would be best to allow “unfettered marketplace” to determine outcome of transition, but private sector resolution of must-carry, copyright protection and technical standards issues were impeded by govt.-mandated 2006 transition deadline and return of analog spectrum, he said.
Consumers and small businesses would suffer if FCC limited use of unbundled network elements (UNEs) as some have requested, coalition of companies that use UNE platforms (UNE-P) said at news briefing Thurs. FCC is expected to act in 2 or 3 months on year- old petitions seeking elimination of switching from list of UNEs that Bell companies have to share with competitors. Such action in effect would eliminate UNE-Ps as options because switching is needed as part of platform. Result would be cutback in competition and less choice for consumers because UNE-P companies are more likely to serve residential and small business customers, said Joe Gillan, consultant for group, known as Promoting Active Competition Everywhere (PACE) coalition. He said coalition’s 9 member companies alone served 750,000 customers. MCG Capital CEO Bryan Mitchell said capital markets had turned to UNE-P companies as better risks because they promised faster cash flow than companies that had their own switches and transport facilities. Financial markets aren’t willing to wait as long for results from CLECs as they once did, Mitchell said. “Our enthusiasm [for facilities-based CLECs] has waned in a rather complete fashion,” he said. “People failed to consider the amount of money [needed to build] duplicative networks.” UNE-P entry “energizes capital markets,” he said. PACE members said at briefing that it wasn’t fair for opponents to paint UNE-P companies as riding on ILEC facilities rather than investing in their own equipment. They said all 9 PACE members had invested in facilities, just not necessarily transport facilities. For example, Z-Tel Network Services Pres. Robert Curtis said his company invests in high-tech software because it offers customers Web-based phone services. Peter Karoczkai, senior vp of InfoHighway Communications, said his company used UNE-P as part of broader mix of integrated services to small and midsized businesses. He said company had ATM switches, point-of-presence equipment and other facilities and was colocated in several ILEC central offices. PACE companies have more than $1.8 billion of invested capital in such areas as back office systems, software and advanced data services, group said. Eliminating UNE-P would cut back on deployment of advanced services and frustrate innovation, they said. UNE-P is one of “most misunderstood of telecommunications strategies,” Curtis said. He said there were 2 kinds of investment -- building new infrastructure or taking advantage of ILEC infrastructure and investing in innovative customer applications. PACE members criticized Allegiance Telecom and several other facilities-based CLECs for urging FCC to halt use of UNE-P as transport strategy. “Don’t be confused by their motive,” said PACE attorney Genny Morelli. “It’s a capitalist motive” to keep competitors out of market, she said. “I would ask Allegiance, what are you afraid of.” Petitions seeking restrictions on use of UNE switching were filed by ILECs, primarily, although Allegiance, Time Warner Telecom and XO had lent support to movement, PACE members said.