AT&T explained in a blog post why it’s the leading recipient of Universal Service Fund money, even as it advocates an overhaul of the program. News coverage suggesting a contradiction misses the point, wrote AT&T Vice President Hank Hultquist. “AT&T’s wireline footprint covers about 30% of the country’s rural homes, yet AT&T receives about 4% of the total USF high cost support for it doing so,” he said. “A group of smaller companies, which collectively cover about 38% of the country’s rural homes, receive almost 60% of the total USF high cost support.” Most of the wireline support that AT&T receives is for work in two states, Mississippi and Alabama, Hultquist said. “I want to be clear that AT&T is not seeking to change the fund so that it would receive support similar to that received by these smaller companies,” he said. “What AT&T has advocated for is a system where support is determined for all providers based on geographic areas relevant to investment decisions."
Google representatives met Friday with state officials to discuss complaints about the company’s Street View software having collected data it shouldn’t have, a company representative told us. “As we've said before, it was a mistake for us to include code in our software that collected payload data, but we believe we did nothing illegal,” a spokesman said. “We're continuing to work with the relevant authorities to answer their questions and concerns.” A 38-state coalition is investigating allegations that Google failed, before putting Street View into use, to test it, which should have shown that the program gathered data sent on wireless computer networks.
The digital transition prompted many TV stations to jump ship from the formerly desirable VHF channels, and that reordering should affect the regulatory fee structure, commenters told the FCC. The commission agreed the changes will affect how much stations must pay and adjusted its assessment method, though not in the wholesale fashion some commenters wanted. The change is one of the issues noted in the commission’s report on assessment and collection of regulatory fees for 2010, released Friday. The commission said it must collect $335,794,000 in regulatory fees for 2010, down from $341,875,000 in 2009. The fees are meant to cover the cost of the commission’s enforcement, policy and rulemaking, user information and international activities. The commission said it used the same assessment methodology it used last year.
A bill to permanently reauthorize Radio Free Asia (S-3104) would require a $38 million appropriation for 2011, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report released Friday. That’s the same amount President Barack Obama asked for, CBO said. The bill would cost $188 million from 2011 to 2015, assuming appropriation of needed amounts, it said. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., introduced the legislation in March (CD March 17 p18) . Radio Free Asia, which uses radio and social media websites to send news to Asian countries lacking a free press, is currently scheduled to stop getting funding in September.
The National Broadband Plan “relegates” rural areas to “second class broadband capacity,” wrote Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and 21 other senators in a letter Thursday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. The plan sets a goal of 100 Mbps for 100 million homes by 2020, and a short-term goal of at least 4 Mbps through universal service. The difference in goals could widen the digital divide between rural and urban areas, the senators said. The bipartisan letter was signed by several high-ranking senators, including Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and Max Baucus, D-Mont. OPASTCO, the Western Telecommunications Alliance and the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association said they agree with the senators. Reps. Betsy Markey, D-Colo., Sam Graves, R-Mo., and 38 others in the House sent Genachowski a similar letter last month (CD June 1 p4) .
A spike in smaller nanosatellites and picosatellite launches will lead to a 38 percent increase in low earth orbit satellites from 2010-2014 compared with the previous five years, said Teal Group. It expects 416 low earth orbit satellites to launch on 184 launch vehicles in that period. Upcoming replacement and expansion of Globalstar, Iridium and Orbcomm’s mobile communications constellations will also contribute to the increase, the group said. The forecast is based on the company’s worldwide mission model online that tracks proposed missions.
Acting on the National Broadband Plan would hurt rural areas, said Reps. Sam Graves, R-Mo., Betsy Markey, D-Colo., and 38 other House members. In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the legislators said the plan “sets the United States on a course toward a greater digital divide between urban and rural areas.” The plan sets a goal of 100 Mbps for 100 million by 2020, and a short-term goal of at least 4 Mbps through universal service. Having separate goals goes against the original intent of the Universal Service Fund, the legislators said. “Our grave concern is that implementing the NBP as recommended will not provide all Americans with adequate broadband service because it puts at risk the regulatory structure and support that rural communications providers need to maintain and expand their networks,” they said. “We request that you seriously consider these concerns and that you take the appropriate steps to modify the plan’s recommendations to ensure all Americans play a role in, and benefit from, the global communications leadership Congress envisioned this plan evoking.” Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said earlier this month he’s writing a similar letter with colleagues in the Senate (CD May 20 p10) . NTCA, the Western Telecommunications Alliance and the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies said Friday that they backed the House letter. The FCC declined to comment.
A new FCC survey shows that “bill shock” is a major concern to wireless customers, said Joel Gurin, chief of the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. The commission will consider imposing rules on carriers, but no decision has been made, Gurin said. CTIA went on the attack immediately, asking why the FCC seems intent on micro-managing a competitive industry.
T-Mobile USA reported a net subscriber loss of 77,000 in Q1, a sharp reversal of an increase of 415,000 a year earlier. But parent Deutsche Telekom rebounded to a net profit of $972.8 million from a $1.4 billion net loss from a year earlier, when its earnings were weighed down by goodwill charges on its U.K. business.
A Senate bill introduced Thursday would waive collection of co-payments for telehealth and telemedicine visits of veterans. The bill (S-3325), by Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, would amend Title 38 of U.S. Code. It was referred to the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.