The N.M. Public Regulation Commission voted Tues. to intervene in an exchange sale dispute between Qwest and the Pojoaque Pueblo because the tiff could have adverse effects on phone and Internet service for 50,000 northern N.M. customers of Qwest and Windstream Communications. The dispute arose after the pueblo’s tribal govt. authorized Mescalero Apache Telecom to replace Qwest as the pueblo’s incumbent telecom provider in hopes of speeding delivery of advanced phone and Internet access services to pueblo residents. Pojoaque offered to buy from Qwest the pueblo’s “455” exchange prefix so it could be assigned to Mescalero, along with the Qwest switching office, on leased pueblo property, that serves the pueblo and about 3,500 other customers in adjacent areas. The parties couldn’t agree on price, and the pueblo told Qwest it wouldn’t renew the switching office lease. Qwest said it could shift service to its Santa Fe office and keep serving the pueblo from Santa Fe until Mescalero takes over service. But the issue isn’t just with Qwest’s own customers. The Pojoaque switching center also is a meet point between Qwest and Windstream networks handling traffic for about 45,000 Windstream customers across northern N.M. The PRC said if the Qwest/Pojoaque dispute led to a shutdown of the Pojoaque switching center, there could be adverse consequences for Windstream customers, and potential impairment of broadband development throughout northern N.M. The PRC said it intervened to ensure service in the region isn’t disrupted.
Sen. Enzi (R-Wyo.) Wed. introduced a remote sales tax bill, nearly identical to his previous efforts, which would authorize states party to the Streamlined Sales & Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) to require remote sellers to collect and remit taxes on purchases. The Sales Tax Fairness & Simplification Act would address a long-standing complaint by states that e-tailers and other remote sellers often only pay sales taxes on purchases by consumers in stores’ own states.
The Wireless Bureau has completed a review of winners in the 2006 Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) auction, granting all but one of the 1,087 licenses won in the auction, it said. The exception was Space Data in Alaska, subject to a Sept. 29 deadline for filing a certification to qualify for a Tribal Land Bidding Credit.
House Financial Services Committee Chmn. Frank (D-Mass.) hopes states’ rights language sways waffling legislators to back legalized Internet gambling. A bill he introduced Thurs. would reverse the thrust of last year’s gambling ban (WID Oct 16 p6). The law that President Bush signed made exemptions for state-run online gambling -- horse races and lotteries -- whereas Frank’s bill would let states, professional sports leagues and collegiate athletic bodies “opt out” of a federal regulatory regime, barring gambling websites from letting in users from certain jurisdictions or allowing bets on certain sports.
The FCC will look at how to improve its collection of broadband data in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) issued late Mon. The NPRM responds to concerns expressed many times by Comr. Copps that the Telecom Act-mandated Sec. 706 reports to Congress on broadband deployment aren’t based on appropriate measurements. The NPRM seeks comment on whether to change the speeds on which broadband data is based, how to improve data collected about wireless broadband service and VoIP, and “how the Commission can develop a more accurate picture of current broadband deployment,” including the use of “more accurate estimates of representative urban, metropolitan, exurban, low-income, tribal and rural areas.” It also will ask about price and international broadband deployment.
The FCC will look at how to improve its collection of broadband data in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) issued late Mon. The NPRM responds to concerns expressed many times by Comr. Copps that the Telecom Act-mandated Sec. 706 reports to Congress aren’t based on appropriate measurements. The NPRM seeks comment on whether to change the speeds on which broadband data is based, how to improve data collected about wireless broadband service and VoIP, and “how the Commission can develop a more accurate picture of current broadband deployment,” including the use of “more accurate estimates of representative urban, metropolitan, exurban, low-income, tribal and rural areas.” It also will ask about price and international broadband deployment.
Testifying at Wed.’s hearing of the House Telecom Subcommittee on the “Digital Future of the U.S.: Part II -- The Future of Radio": Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin; Greater Media CEO Peter Smyth, representing the NAB; Gene Kimmelman, Consumers Union vp; Geoffrey Blackwell, dir.-strategic relations & minority business development, Chickasaw Nation Industries and a member of the Native Public Media board of tribal advisors; and Robert Kimball senior vp-legal & business affairs, RealNetworks.
The satellite imagery industry saw further consolidation in Jan., just as competition intensified among the major Internet mapping services the industry supplies. Satellite picture provider and Google partner DigitalGlobe said it will buy competitor GlobeXplorer from Stewart REI Group for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock. The news came just after Microsoft revealed plans to integrate 400,000-plus square miles of GlobeXplorer aerial imagery into Virtual Earth, and as Apple unveiled its iPhone -- the first mobile phone incorporating Google Maps.
The satellite imagery industry saw further consolidation in Jan., just as competition intensified among the major Internet mapping services the industry supplies. Satellite picture provider and Google partner DigitalGlobe said it will buy competitor GlobeXplorer from Stewart REI Group for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock. The news came just after Microsoft revealed plans to integrate 400,000-plus square miles of GlobeXplorer aerial imagery into Virtual Earth, and as Apple unveiled its iPhone -- the first mobile phone incorporating Google Maps.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created an online XML database to warn of hazardous waste and other environmental dangers lurking in backyards. Launched early Wed., Envirofacts -- epa.gov/enviro/geo_data.html -- combines several EPA databases into a single file where users can download information about 1,600 so-called national priority Superfund toxic waste sites that can affect property values, quality of life and neighbors’ health. As the project develops, the EPA said, it expects the list to include 100,000 data points.