An appeals court in Philadelphia rejected challenges to an FCC order that reduced regulation of wireline Internet access by reclassifying it an “information service.” The U.S. Appeals Court for the 3rd Circuit found the August 2005 order to be “based on a reasonable interpretation of the Communications Act” and “a proper exercise of agency discretion.” DSL is the most common wireline Internet access service.

DALLAS -- There’s “absolutely no harm” to competitive providers if incumbent telecom carriers remove copper wire when they install fiber, USTelecom Vice President Robert Mayer told competitors at CompTel’s convention Wednesday. If a customer wants to go back to a CLEC, the copper feeder wire can be put back, he told the audience. FiOS installers “work to protect the wires,” he said. “I think this is much ado about nothing,” Mayer said of petitions asking the FCC to require incumbents to leave copper wires in place. Although “maintaining a legacy network makes little economic sense,” the wire will be restored on request, so “I don’t think you need safeguards.” The issue arose when Verizon began installing its fiber-based FiOS system, said participants on a panel with Mayer.

DALLAS -- Pole attachment rates are too high, unevenly applied to different parts of the communications industry and could put some providers at a disadvantage in offering broadband services, panelists complained at the CompTel convention Tuesday. Electric-utility companies that levy the charges because they own many of the poles are “passionate” about this issue “and we need to be, too,” said Time Warner Telecom Vice President Don Shepheard. Utilities are concerned but not for the same reasons, responded Jack Richards, a Washington attorney who represents electric utilities. Electric utilities are already subsidizing the companies that attach their lines to the poles, he said.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 17-4 to provide $400 million in tax credit bonds for projects that would include rural broadband. The package could be added to the farm bill (S-2419), said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “As the Senate edges closer to considering its version of the farm bill, this funding comes at an opportune time and gives us some important assistance” in investments that are needed, Harkin said in a written statement.

The telecom and high-tech industries support a four-year extension of the Internet tax moratorium offered in a bill (HR-3678) by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich. “While we prefer a permanent extension, we believe that HR-3678 is a step forward and thus a bill we can support,” said a letter to Conyers’ office from Don’t Tax Our Web coalition leader Broderick Johnson. A permanent extension would be the first choice, but given the political situation the industry prefers an extension to nothing being done, industry and Hill sources said.

The telecom industry argued vehemently against modifying special access rules in a House Telecom Subcommittee hearing Tuesday, as Democratic leaders pushed for new pricing policies. Democratic leaders also condemned the FCC’s forbearance petition policies as lacking transparency, preventing Congress from exercising “appropriate” oversight. “Unacceptable,” House Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D- Mich., said in a back-and-forth discussion with Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke.

USTelecom President Walter McCormick Monday praised a broadband mapping bill (HR-3627) that would provide grants to public-private partnerships that would identify regions that don’t have service. Introduced by Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, the bill calls for spending $40 million 2008 to 2012 on projects to identify gaps in broadband coverage and develop business plans for improving technology use. “This goal is essential to the economic, security and quality of living aspects of our nation,” McCormick said in a speech to the Ohio Telecom Association. The mapping project, based on an often-praised project in Kentucky that helped increase broadband usage, has won bipartisan support in Congress. House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., also has been working on a mapping bill, but it hasn’t been introduced. Space, who isn’t on the committee, has been active through his post on the Agriculture Committee in promoting rural broadband use. The telecom industry has been leery about mapping projects for fear that competitive data could be revealed, but Kentucky’s effort was a compromise that the industry endorsed. Space’s bill would attempt to replicate Kentucky’s efforts across the country. “If industries and companies are to have the ability to compete in the modern economy online, they must first have the access necessary to get there,” Space said. His bill would map resources and build demand through education efforts.

The FCC may not vote in October on whether to let high-technology companies use the so-called white spaces between TV channels for portable broadband devices (CD Sept 14 p1), said Chairman Kevin Martin. Martin would like action next month, but the vote’s timing depends on whether the agency conducts more device tests, he said. A vote could occur on circulation outside the October FCC meeting, he told reporters after speaking at a DTV education workshop. Martin spoke with reporters Tuesday after appearing at a DTV education workshop.

Carriers of various sizes told the FCC they back a bid by Windstream to convert to price cap regulation (CD Aug 8 p9) -- but for different reasons. Big companies like Verizon saw Windstream’s regulatory shift as raising a prospect of savings in access charges and Universal Service Fund contributions. Midsized rural companies saw a chance to follow Windstream’s lead and gain flexibility themselves.

Public safety groups and industry officials said they support an E-911 bill (HR-3403), with the exception of USTelecom, which couldn’t commit to full endorsement of the measure, they told the House Telecom Subcommittee Wednesday. The bipartisan bill, which has been in the works for more than two years, would facilitate deployment of IP-enabled 911 and E-911 services. While there is still squabbling over details, the hearing paved the way for a markup and final passage, lawmakers said.