USTelecom “generally supports adjustments” to the Connect America Cost Model to “better reflect the special characteristics of particular insular areas,” the association told the FCC Friday (http://bit.ly/13aJ2Sq). The letter was in response to Alaska Communications Systems proposals of several Alaska-specific adjustments to the model, currently under development by the FCC Wireline Bureau. “USTelecom agrees with ACS that the CAM [cost model] currently does not fully reflect Alaska-specific cost inputs, and produces an unreasonably low amount of support for the ACS price cap LECs, which provide service only in Alaska,” the association said. “Adjustments to the areas of the CAM that ACS proposes to modify, together with an extension of the CAF Phase II build-out period, are necessary to bring the results of the CAM more closely in line with a sufficient level of support to provide broadband to locations in its service territory that qualify for support under CAF Phase II.” USTelecom also expressed its opposition to a “hold-harmless” approach that would give certain insular carriers model-based support while others receive frozen support. “Such an approach raises the concern that some support levels would not be fully justified by the cost characteristics of the recipient carrier’s service area,” it said.

Some Senate Republicans questioned the need for new regulations to govern telecom providers as they increasingly transition from copper wireline connections to IP-based connections, at a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing Thursday. Meanwhile, panel Democrats focused on what they called the persistent problems with call completion issues in rural areas. Next week, the Commerce Committee plans to mark up S.Res. 157 expressing the sense of the Senate that telephone service must be improved in rural areas and that no entity may unreasonably discriminate against telephone users in those areas. A committee spokesman did not confirm the date or timing of the markup.

Federal policymakers must act to ensure that the IP transition and USF programs operate smoothly and help citizens increase their connectivity, according to witness testimony that circulated Wednesday. The remarks from executives representing wireline carriers, a public advocacy official and a technology analyst came ahead of Thursday’s Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on the state of the wireline marketplace. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.

If the FCC’s quantile regression analysis (QRA) caps were in place from 2006-2012, they would have caused “tremendous financial uncertainty” that could have prevented carriers from investing in broadband, said industry-sponsored research. The study (http://bit.ly/1bhvQAv), by former FCC Chief Economist Simon Wilkie, examined the effects of the FCC’s 2011 modifications to the USF’s high-cost loop support mechanism. A better implementation would be to use the caps not as an immediate limit on support, but as a “trigger” for further individualized attention from the agency, Wilkie said. An FCC spokesman said the reforms “provide much-needed fiscal discipline” on the fund.

DENVER -- Industry voices and regulators both state and federal wrestled this week with the principles NARUC has begun to articulate as part of its telecom task force on federalism. President Philip Jones formed the group last November, and its members have produced two drafts of principles facing two rounds of comments so far. Stakeholders’ responses split, some praising the tentative principles of collaboration the task force advanced, while others suggested it misses the mark in its definition of communication and stances on such controversial topics as interconnection between Internet Protocol-enabled service providers. One goal of Wednesday’s NARUC sessions in Denver was to directly engage stakeholders that commented critically on the latest draft paper, task force member Chris Nelson, vice chairman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, told us last week (CD July 22 p18).

Remote peering could extend the life and value of peering and peering exchange points, said DrPeering International Executive Director William Norton in a Tuesday webinar sponsored by USTelecom. Norton said as the price of purchasing transit continues to fall, traditional peering has made less and less economic sense for companies focused on minimizing the cost of sending traffic to customers, since transit is an alternative to peering. But since remote peering can eliminate colocation costs, capital expenses and operational expenses associated with traditional peering at exchange points, it offers an alternative to traditional peering that could convince more companies to engage in peering. Remote peering can be deployed more quickly and less expensively, which could increase the amount of existing peers, increase the traffic available through peered connections, and make public exchange points more valuable, he said. One international company peering in Europe was able to save $1.1 million in capital expenditures and $15,000 per month in operational expenditures by choosing remote over traditional peering, he said. “It’s a new technology, but it’s being rapidly adopted by the masses.”

Q2 lobbying disclosure filings showed T-Mobile and Sprint continued to increase their spending versus the same period a year prior, according to documents filed Tuesday. T-Mobile spent $1.4 million, an 18 percent bump, while the former Sprint Nextel spent $650,000, 17 percent more than the same period last year. AT&T spent $3.74 million, a 7 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago. Verizon lobbying spend decreased 17 percent to $3.27 million. CTIA lobbying fell by nearly 21 percent to $1.89 million. USTelecom spent $1.3 million last quarter, a decrease of 6.5 percent. NTCA spent $270,000 in the second quarter, up nearly 23 percent. Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance Q2 lobbying spending decreased 44 percent to $19,000. The Telecommunications Industry Association spent $50,000, nearly 62 percent less on Q2 lobbying than one year ago. The Competitive Carriers Association spent $120,000 in Q2, a 14 percent increase. Netflix lobbying spending was up 122 percent in Q2 to $300,000. Comcast increased Q2 lobbying spending by 37 percent to $5.47 million. Dish Network spent $360,000, a 20 percent increase. NAB spent $3.19 million last quarter, a drop of nearly 3 percent. NCTA lobbying spending increased 2 percent to $4.66 million, while CEA lobbying spending jumped 34 percent to $1.1 million. CompTel spent $126,000, a nearly 10 percent drop. Facebook increased its Q2 lobbying spending by 10 percent to $1.06 million. Yahoo’s lobbying spending decreased 1 percent to $720,000. Intel spent $730,000, a 15 percent decrease from the same period a year before. The Recording Industry Association of America spent $1.25 million, a 6 percent increase.

July 21-24 NARUC summer meetings, Sheraton Denver Downtown -- http://bit.ly/123Joc5

Changing dynamics in Washington may influence the balance of federalism, multiple state utility commissioners told us. Commissioners from around the country will gather in Denver Sunday through Wednesday for NARUC’s summer meeting and will address questions of state-federal relations as part of NARUC’s Task Force on Telecom and Federalism and in policy debates. The state role remains critical, said the commissioners, stressing evolving technologies and consumer protections after years of what some consider federal and industry overreach. The five draft telecom resolutions being considered also speak to these changes, they said.

NCTA was among the 50 industry trade associations and public interest groups that urged House and Senate leaders in a letter Wednesday to pass legislation meant to address the problem of “patent trolls.” The number of defendants facing patent infringement lawsuits brought by patent trolls has quadrupled since 2005 and patent trolls’ activity cost the U.S. economy $80 billion in 2011, the groups said in the letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., have been seeking “comprehensive legislative solutions” through their committees, while individual members of Congress have introduced their own bills aimed at addressing the effects of patent trolls; the White House’s executive actions, mainly directed at addressing the problem through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and related legislative recommendations are also an encouraging step, the groups said. Other industry groups that signed onto the letter: the Application Developers Alliance, Association of National Advertisers, Competitive Carriers Association, CompTel, Computer and Communications Industry Association, the CEA, Direct Marketing Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Engine Advocacy, Information Technology Industry Council, Internet Association, Internet Infrastructure Association, MPAA, NAB, NCTA, NTCA, Online Publishers Association, Public Knowledge, the Software & Information Industry Association, TechAmerica, TechNet and USTelecom (http://bit.ly/12TfZ1M).