The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a notice extending the comment period for its interim final rule on the mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) program for farm-raised and wild fish and shellfish (fish ad shellfish covered commodities).
The FCC late Wed. made significant changes to the 800 rebanding order. They included approving an order that had been circulating for a week (CD Dec 16 p8) providing $452 million in additional credits for the spectrum the carrier will turn in to the FCC under the plan. The next major move will be Nextel’s. The carrier must say by Feb. whether it accepts the order’s terms. Few doubt Nextel will accept.
With the incoming 109th Congress expected to pass telecom reform legislation, wireline and wireless lobbyists see issues of state jurisdiction playing a role in the debate. Edward Merlis, USTA senior vp-govt. and regulatory issues, said state jurisdictional concerns are one reason he believes Congress, not the FCC, is the only body able to make the needed changes to the telecom regulatory regime. Bobby Franklin, CTIA vp-govt. affairs, said the issues raised in the VoIP debate during the last Congress are likely to be raised in other telecom contexts next year, including wireless.
Cable companies are planning to increase rates in 2005 about the same percentage as last year, but many hikes will exceed the annual 3.2% inflation rate, according to our spot check of the largest MSOs. Although companies said they're offering more services and higher quality along with price hikes, consumer groups are disgruntled with the pace of increases and packaging of high-end service.
The FCC’s new UNE rules are likely to raise consumer telecom prices, Rep. Conyers (D-Mich.) said Thurs. at an event sponsored by the Phoenix Center. Conyers, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said he'd like to see Capitol Hill get more active in telecom issues. In addition, he commented on the Trinko decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court said antitrust suits can’t be filed in Telecom Act disputes. “Yesterday’s FCC decision and the Trinko decision tell us where we're going. There’s a regulatory mentality cutting through many parts of the economy like a butter knife,” Conyers said. “There’s a corporatization aspect going on. We're actually going back to where we were before the breakup of the Bell System, and I think that’s sad and frightening.” In a swipe at Chmn. Powell, Conyers said “if I could choose which Powell would be leaving the government you might be surprised who I would have chosen.”
Cal. became the first state to set energy efficiency standards for CE products as the Cal. Energy Commission (CEC) adopted new regulations Wed. by a 5-0 vote. Claiming the move will hamstring technological innovation, the industry also worried this would fuel legislation in other states. Advocates called the step a major boost to energy efficiency efforts and said the Cal. regulations would guide lobbying efforts next year.
Cal. became the first state to set energy efficiency standards for CE products as the Cal. Energy Commission (CEC) adopted new regulations Wed. by a 5-0 vote. Claiming the move will hamstring technological innovation, the industry also worried this would fuel legislation in other states. Advocates called the step a major boost to energy efficiency efforts and said the Cal. regulations would guide lobbying efforts next year.
The FCC voted 3-2 to reduce Bell requirements to share unbundled network elements (UNEs). The FCC: (1) Eliminated the UNE platform (UNE-P) as a CLEC entry strategy, although it extended the transition to a year from the 6 months proposed in the Wireline Bureau’s original proposal. (2) Dropped dark fiber loops from the list of elements the Bells must share. (3) Slightly reduced the number of situations when the Bells must share high-capacity loops and transport.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a fourth version of its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and responses regarding the mandatory advance electronic cargo information requirements for truck carriers. This fourth version contains a further revision to FAQ 19. See future issue of ITT for full summary. 4th FAQ (dated 12/14/04) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/communications_to_industry/advance_info/truck_faqs.ctt/truck_faqs.doc.)
LA JOLLA, Cal. The CTIA will spend tens of millions of dollars rallying masses of wireless users and industry employees to lobby the FCC, Congress and particularly the states against regulation and taxation, CTIA Pres. Steve Largent said Tues. The CTIA executive committee Dec. 7 authorized “a very thoughtful, technical and advanced sort of advocacy campaign,” which will make use of “the most powerful weapon we have, which is the 172 million subscribers we have,” Largent told the Yankee Group’s Wireless Leadership Summit here. He also called a combination of Sprint with Nextel or Verizon “positive for the industry.”