Consensus is building that Bush Administration needs to articulate national broadband strategy, but White House is getting varied signals on just what that policy should look like. Those contrasts were on display Tues. at forum sponsored by Computer & Communications Industry Assn. (CCIA). Twelve representatives of IT, content and telecom industries joined with FCC official at George Washington U. (GWU) Va. campus in Ashburn to debate broadband deployment and copyright protection, with many echoing IBM E-Commerce Program Dir. Greg Waddell: “By the end of ‘02, the Administration should have a clear 10-year vision for wired and wireless infrastructures [for broadband] and adopt them as part of an economic development strategy.” Progressive Policy Institute Vp Robert Atkinson agreed, although he told us after session that Bush Administration “doesn’t have the ideological ability” to craft broadband strategy that didn’t rely solely on free-market solutions. Several panelists said wireless would play critical role in broadband deployment, and with its management of spectrum, federal govt. would be key player in that rollout.

Competitive telecom companies, joined by some consumer advocates and regulators, predicted dire results if FCC modifies or eliminates equal access and nondiscrimination requirements written at AT&T divestiture 20 years ago and continued in Telecom Act’s Sec. 251(g). Telecom Act specified continuation of rules unless supplanted by other regulatory action. FCC asked for comment on whether there should be revision now that there was more competition. Equal access requirements approved by U.S. Dist. Court, D.C., which oversaw divestiture, instituted process of presubscription, still used today, in which customers’ home and business phones automatically connect to long distance companies of their choice. Equal access also assured dialing parity, directory services, network control signaling billing information and other access needs of long distance and information companies. In comments filed late Fri., Bell companies said those requirements, aimed at making sure they didn’t discriminate in favor of former parent AT&T, were outdated. However, long distance companies and CLECs warned that Bells still had monopoly and reason for putting rules in place remained -- companies providing long distance and information services were dependent on Bells for access to customers.

Issue of potential impact that communications towers have on migratory birds has emerged with increasing frequency in federal antenna siting decisions fought by environmental groups, according to industry sources and environmental groups. Ruling earlier this month by U.S. Dist. Court, D.C., may pave way for groups battling tower siting to sue under Migratory Bird Treaty Act, several industry sources said. Despite Commission ruling earlier this year that Friends of the Earth and Forest Conservation Council lacked standing to file petitions objecting to dozens of proposed antenna structures, groups since Jan. have filed new objections that highlight harmful impact to migratory birds. Meanwhile, several months after govt.-industry group set accelerated timeline for working out way to streamline siting decisions for communications towers, document is now before FCC after Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP)-led process didn’t produce agreement.

Primary House committee on intellectual property is likely this year to introduce bill addressing digital copyright issues and content protection, House Internet Caucus Chmn. Boucher (D- Va.) said Fri. He told reporters after speech at intellectual property conference that he had met Thurs. with House Judiciary Committee leaders, who had been poring over 140 public comments submitted recently on copyright and content protection with digital works. Boucher said no decision was made at meeting as to specific approach to issue, but there “was a consensus that a bill should be introduced this Congress.”

Primary House committee on intellectual property is likely this year to introduce bill addressing digital copyright issues and content protection, House Internet Caucus Chmn. Boucher (D-Va.) said Fri. He told reporters after speech at intellectual property conference that he had met Thurs. with House Judiciary Committee leaders, who had been poring over 140 public comments submitted recently on copyright and content protection with digital works. Boucher said no decision was made at meeting as to specific approach to issue, but there “was a consensus that a bill should be introduced this Congress.”

U. of Cal. prof. who finances tech policy centers is taking her battle against federally enforced content control technologies to grass-roots as well as to ivory tower. Pamela Samuelson, who teaches information management, urged audience of computer scientists on Berkeley campus last week to lobby Congress against mandatory controls as proposed by Sen. Hollings (D-S.C.) that she said would ban general-purpose computers as well as open-source players. She urged them specifically to target Sen. Feinstein (D-Cal.), co-sponsor of Hollings’ Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (S-2048).

BERKELEY -- U. of Cal. prof. who finances tech policy centers is taking her battle against federally enforced content control technologies to grassroots as well as to ivory tower. Pamela Samuelson, who teaches information management, urged audience of computer scientists here late Wed. to lobby Congress against mandatory controls as proposed by Sen. Hollings (D-S.C.) that she said would ban general- purpose computers as well as open-source players. She urged them specifically to target Sen. Feinstein (D-Cal.), co- sponsor of Hollings’ Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (S-2048). Samuelson said that although Hollings bill was unlikely to pass, Hollywood would be back year after year, with good chance of winning similar protections technology by technology, until eventually it had prevailed across board. Samuelson said countervailing intervention by consumer groups could win the day, however, and she was arousing interest among those organizations.

Colo. PUC Comr. Raymond Gifford had hard words for AT&T as he dismissed what he called carrier’s “overwrought” objections to Gifford’s recent fact-finding report to PUC that Qwest had satisfied certain key Telecom Act requirements for interLATA long distance entry. Gifford reported in Feb. that Qwest had demonstrated existence of residential and business local competition as required by Track A provisions of Sec. 272. He said record (Case 97I-198T) also demonstrated that Qwest’s long distance entry would be in public interest, as Sec. 271 requires, particularly given last winter’s adoption of Qwest Colo. wholesale performance assurance plan. AT&T objected to report’s conclusions in March 22 filing, alleging high Qwest access charges coupled with high unbundled network element (UNE) rates would allow Qwest to squeeze out both long distance and local exchange competitors after interLATA entry. Gifford dismissed AT&T’s claims, saying carrier had raised no new legal issues and offered no supporting facts or credible economic analysis to back up what he termed its “strident” price-squeeze assertions. Gifford took AT&T to task for “ill-advised aggressiveness and overwrought pleading [that] served to devalue the credibility of its position, particularly because of the hypocrisy it betrays as to the public interest standard. AT&T equates its interest with the public interest. These are 2 distinct things.”

House Commerce Committee approved indefinite delay of 700 MHz auctions Thurs., although Chmn. Tauzin acknowledged that Sen. Stevens (R-Alaska) continued to have concerns about any postponement. Tauzin’s bill (HR-4560) would direct FCC to delay upper and lower 700 MHz band auctions now set for June 19 without setting new deadline. But he told reporters after brief markup that he had talked with FCC Chmn. Powell about possibility of one-year delay and indicated he would consider request. That would be enough time for both House and Senate to take legislative action, Tauzin said. Powell has indicated in recent congressional testimony that without new legislation, he was reluctant to flout existing statutory mandates, including requirement to deposit proceeds from Ch. 52-59 auction in U.S. Treasury by Sept. 30. Some of most strident arguments for delaying bidding came from ranking committee Democrat Dingell (Mich.), who repeatedly called previous decisions to hold auctions to raise revenue “asinine” and said keeping June 19 date would result in “another auction debacle.”

IDT Winstar and Bell companies exchanged fire at FCC this week over terms of interconnection agreements to which RBOCs must be held for fixed wireless provider that has emerged from Chapter 11 protection. Last month, IDT completed acquisition of remaining stake in Winstar, giving it 100% ownership of company that filed for bankruptcy year ago. IDT Winstar filed emergency petition April 17 for declaratory ruling at FCC, citing “immediate threats” from Verizon and Qwest to deny or delay providing facilities. Winstar argued that Communications Act and FCC rules required those facilities and services to be furnished to company. But RBOCs countered that federal bankruptcy law required IDT Winstar to assume and cure past debt on contracts taken on by pre-Chapter 11 Winstar. Qwest told FCC this week: “IDT’s actions have been carefully orchestrated to migrate Old Winstar customers onto its purchased network under terms that disregard the bankruptcy laws, as well as Qwest’s tariff provisions and operational processes.” Meanwhile, General Services Administration (GSA) weighed in at Commission, contending uninterrupted service to federal customers provided by Winstar was “critical” and in some cases had national security implications.