“It’s critical that the universal service system adapts to keep pace with the dramatic changes driving the sector,” said USTelecom President Walter McCormick as the telecom association Thursday filed comments on three universal service proceedings. USTelecom urged the FCC to cap high- cost support and “gradually remove access support” for competitive eligible telecommunications carriers. The FCC should phase out support for multiple wireless lines in one household, and look at end-user rates when it calculates high-cost support for fixed line ETCs, USTelecom said. The association supported using reverse auctions to “reduce the number of wireless competitive ETCs to one per geographic area” and determine their support. USTelecom also urged the FCC to target USF subsidies at high-cost wire centers within large study areas and “begin the transition to project-based support to build out service in areas lacking wireless coverage.”

Sprint Nextel said it told FCC staffers in a recent meeting on phantom traffic that rules addressing traffic identification “will not resolve the fundamental issue raised in this docket, namely reform of the broken intercarrier compensation system and the development of a unified compensation regime.” Sprint responded to a USTelecom filing urging the FCC to update the principles in its call ID proceeding to reflect the current telecom market. “A carrier’s intent in choosing a particular transmission route would be extremely difficult to determine,” Sprint said. “Indeed, the appropriate rating and routing of calls is one of the central issues within this docket and the source of many disputes within the current dysfunctional intercarrier compensation regime.”

LAS VEGAS -- Proliferation of multi-standard devices that get mobile TV reduces the need for a for a single standard for delivering mobile TV, speakers told an NAB convention panel organized by the FLO Forum. “Almost every single receiver device is multi-standard,” said Vinod Valloppillil, Roundbox vice president of product marketing. Conforming a device to multiple standards has costs, but they are “trending toward zero,” he said.

Verizon’s use of information from cable operators to lure defecting phone customers back to the Bell broke no FCC number porting rules, the Enforcement Bureau said. In a recommendation to the full commission that was released at 7:45 p.m. Friday and that some found surprising, the bureau said three cable operators had failed to prove that Verizon marketing efforts violated sections 222(a) and (b) of the Communications Act. The provisions define what telecommunications carriers can do with information obtained from competitors. The bureau said it will judge later whether Verizon broke section 201(b) rules on customer retention practices. It asked commissioners to approve a broad notice seeking comment on that question.

BT Group promotes Ian Livingston to CEO, replacing Ben Verwaayen effective June 1… AT&T names John Donovan, ex- VeriSign, chief technology officer… Patrick Sullivan, ex- Kajeet, becomes Telecom Industry Association director- technical and government affairs… Windstream names Clint Highfill, ex-USTelecom, director of federal affairs and legislative counsel.

Telecommunications executives will discuss video and broadband at NAB’s annual show in Las Vegas. USTelecom President Walter McCormick will give an April 14 keynote on “the state of broadband,” the telecom group said Monday. The same day, AT&T’s Dan York, executive vice president of programming, and Verizon’s Terry Denson, vice president of programming and marketing for FiOS TV, also will speak.

News Corp. and Viacom executives are among those who met with FCC officials in March to oppose making cable programmers let pay-TV companies distribute their channels separately and not offer price breaks for multiple channels. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is believed to want to circulate an order in 2008 imposing so-called wholesale a la carte (CD March 30 p2). Thursday, Viacom officials met with an aide to Commissioner Deborah Tate to explain why they believe the agency lacks congressional authority to impose wholesale a la carte. They cited sections 628(b) and 628(c)(2)(B)(iii) of the 1992 Cable Act. “If Congress has not granted the Commission authority to regulate packaged sales and volume- based pricing by vertically integrated cable programmers and broadcasters, then certainly it did not intend for the Commission to regulate the sales practices of independent programmers,” said Viacom’s ex parte. News Corp. executives told an aide to Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein that there’s no proof that rules are needed to force the sale of individual channels to TV sellers. “No party has market power, and the competitive free market works to ensure that programmers and cable systems reach mutually beneficial agreements,” said a News Corp. ex parte. Officials from AT&T, DirecTV, RCN, USTelecom and other members of the Coalition for Competitive Access to Content met with aides to all five FCC members to argue against early termination of a rule, expiring in 2012, preventing cable operators from withholding from other pay-TV companies channels the operators have stakes in.

The FCC removed definitions of broadband from its advanced services report after FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell objected. Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein dissented to the entire report, in which the majority said broadband deployment nationwide is occurring in a “reasonable and timely fashion.” Also at the meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a ban on phone companies signing exclusive contracts in residential multiple tenant environments.

USTelecom debuted a Web site on broadband policy and proclaiming the group “The Broadband Association.” The public shift from voice to broadband is simply “calling it what it is,” USTelecom President Walter McCormick said in an interview. “The future of communications is in broadband,” he said. The phrase “Broadband Association” helps identify USTelecom’s membership and reflects changes in the kinds of companies coming to trade shows and working on policy, he said. USTelecom recently recruited Japan broadband giant NTT as a member. And the entertainment industry is taking an increasing part at USTelecom conferences, McCormick said.

The FCC extended to April 22 the due date for reply comments on a pole attachment rulemaking (CD March 11 p1). The Commission doesn’t “routinely” grant extensions, but in this case found an extension would serve public interest. “The Notice raises numerous and complex issues and… many stakeholders have filed commensurately detailed and closely- argued initial comments,” the FCC said. The extra 15 days “will give parties sufficient time to prepare and file reply comments without significant loss of momentum in addressing the issues.” A number of electric utilities asked for the extension. USTelecom opposed providing more time.