The FCC should give Alaska a separate “transition path” for Universal Service Fund reform, General Communication said in comments posted to dockets 10-90, 09-51, 07-135, 05-337, 01-92, 96-45 and 03-109. “Alaska’s telecommunications networks are like none other in the country, and face challenges of distance, climate and supporting infrastructure unlike anywhere else in the United States,” General Communication said. Despite the company’s “substantial rural wireless deployments in 2009 and 2010, much of rural Alaska is still waiting to receive the 2G mobile voice services that the rest of the country has enjoyed for over a decade,” General Communication said. The National Broadband Plan recommended that the commission focus on broadband speed of 4 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up, but “those objectives will never be achieved in Alaska without hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investment,” General Communication said. Only “a fraction of Alaska has access to broadband with maximum advertised speeds of 3-6 Mbps for downloads and .786-1.5 Mbps for uploads,” the company said. “At a time when all indications show that achieving the Commission’s broadband objectives in Alaska will require several hundred million dollars in support just for capital investments, let alone operating costs, the interim proposals for both ILEC and CETC support would slash support for Alaskan telecommunications and broadband deployment,” General Communication said. If the FCC adopts all of the proposals for USF reform in its rulemaking notice, Alaska would lose about 75 percent of its universal service support by 2016, General Communication said. “Meanwhile, because of the way that the proposed interim Connect America Fund and Mobility Fund would be structured, virtually no funds from those new mechanisms can be expected to support Alaska telecommunications and broadband deployment services,” General Communication said. “Rural Alaska will never win a nationwide reverse auction pegged at supporting the lowest dollar per user deployments because Rural Alaska is both high cost to serve especially to connect over the middle mile and has extremely small population centers.” The better course is to preserve “existing support” for all eligible telecommunications carriers and high-cost programs on Tribal Lands “during the interim, and then move directly to a long term (not first phase) reformed Connect America Fund ('CAF'), as long as it can be tailored to Alaska’s unique challenges,” General Communication said.
Panasonic is signing a new 15-year lease that will move its U.S. headquarters to Newark, N.J., by 2013, the company said. The CE company will lease 250,000 square feet in a proposed 410,000 square foot building that will be built along a riverfront on land owned by SJP Properties and Matrix Development Corp. Panasonic’s plans to relocate 800 employees from its Secaucus, N.J., headquarters were unveiled at a news conference Wednesday that included Newark Mayor Corey Booker and Panasonic North America CEO Joseph Taylor. Panasonic’s headquarters’ complex in Secaucus is spread across several buildings and about one million square feet, including a 700,000-square-foot warehouse vacant for many years. Panasonic’s 800 employees are down from about 4,000 at the headquarters’ peak. Panasonic, which has been based in Secaucus since 1976, decided to move after being offered up to $102.4 million in potential tax credits. Panasonic will qualify for an Urban Transit Hub tax credit if it brings at least 250 jobs to Newark by 2016 and creates another 200 positions within 10 years, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority has said. If no new jobs are created, Panasonic will only qualify for 80 percent of the tax credit, the state agency said. Panasonic maintained that the 800 jobs were “at risk” if it moved outside New Jersey. The company had considered space in Atlanta, Brooklyn, N.Y., California and Chicago. The state authority found those positions to be “new” jobs. Panasonic’s landlord at the Secaucus facility, Hartz Mountain, sued the company in March in New Jersey Superior Court, maintaining the development agency acted outside its authority. Panasonic filed a motion asking to have the case decided by September. Panasonic’s lease in Secaucus expires in March 2013.
Washington, D.C., will roll out the nation’s first sanctioned online gambling hot spots this fall. House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Barney Frank, D-Mass., called the effort a victory and reaffirmed his commitment to repealing existing Internet gambling laws through federal legislation. But at the same time, the Department of Justice actively continues its campaign to prosecute online gaming sites. The disparate approach to online gambling is sending a mixed message to the online gambling industry as it tries to serve U.S. customers, industry officials said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has announced the designation of North Korean financial institution Bank of East Land (aka Dongbang Bank) pursuant to Executive Order 13551, which targets North Korea’s importation and exportation of arms, importation of luxury goods, and other illicit activities. As a result, U.S. persons are prohibited from conducting financial or commercial transactions with the designee, and any assets of the designee within U.S. jurisdiction are frozen. OFAC has also updated its Specially Designated Nationals list to include these designations.
The FCC’s proposal to revamp the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation apparently could benefit some states while hurting others, according to comments in the proceeding. But states in general supported retaining and enhancing a state role in any rewrite. The FCC is expected to complete some of the USF overhaul by late summer (see separate report in this issue).
During recent trade events1, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials provided an update on efforts to enhance air cargo security after the October 2010 incidents with explosives being shipped out of Yemen. Officials discussed how CBP has been receiving advance air cargo manifest data under an express operator pilot program, its plans to start a freight forwarder pilot program, and to have these programs eventually go global.
The National Nuclear Security Administration has concluded a week-long training course in countering the illicit movement of nuclear and other radiological material with the Government of Djibouti, which integrated training for customs and port officials with the in-country national authority and international community, such as radiological triage, radiation medical assistance, and atmospheric plume modeling. The Megaports Initiative work at the Port of Djibouti is part of NNSA’s SLD Program, which works collaboratively with foreign governments at land border crossings, airports and seaports worldwide to install specialized radiation detection equipment and associated communications equipment.
Vermont Senate passed a bill that would streamline the pole attachment approval process for telecom companies. S-78, sponsored by Sen. Vincent Illuzzi (R), aims at having full statewide broadband coverage by the end of 2013. Two parts of the bill will sunset in 2014. One sets shorter deadlines for the Agency of Natural Resources to issue stormwater permits in connection with telecom projects in waterways designated as “unimpaired” by pollution. The second sunsetting portion exempts some of the telecom construction activities from the state’s land use and development regulation Act 250 and municipal bylaws and ordinances.
Former Philips Consumer Electronics executive Frans Van Houten used his first quarterly earnings call Monday since taking the helm as Philips CEO on April 1 to announce the company’s departure from its beleaguered TV business. “TV had become a value detractor for Philips,” Van Houten said, so the company had little choice but to transfer the business to China’s TPV Technology under a joint-venture deal.
The Government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for April 14-15, 2011: