New at Leap Wireless: Keith Buckley, ex-Telecom New Zealand, as senior vice president, supply chain management; Kirk Golbach, ex-Wells Fargo, as Midwest region vice president… Jacqueline Welch, ex-Rock-Tenn Co., joins Turner Broadcasting as senior vice president, human resources… Mark Mercer, ex-Time Warner Cable, becomes vice president of Berliner Communications Cable Services Group… Elizabeth Fleming, South Carolina Public Service Commission, to chair NARUC Committee on Critical Infrastructure, replacing Jim Sullivan, Alabama Public Service Commission… Krish Prabhu, ex-Tellabs, and David Roberts, Carlisle Cos., join ADC board… Cable network mun2 names Alex Alonso, ex-Carat, vice president-marketing… Robert Mayer, USTelecom, elected chairman, Communications Sector Coordinating Council… Film maker Jesse Dylan joins Public Knowledge board.

The duty to prevent identity theft is partly shifting to companies, such as telecom firms and ISPs, that aren’t typically thought of as “creditors” but must comply with new credit transaction rules. Panelists on a USTelecom-hosted webinar said companies that let customers pay after receiving services -- such as ISPs, telephone or cable providers that bill at the end of the month -- and even companies that bill in advance but continue providing service if the customer doesn’t pay on time -- are considered creditors for the purposes of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. They were to have Red Flag policies and procedures in place by Nov. 1, but the FTC granted a six-month reprieve Wednesday because so many companies said that they were unsure how the rules applied to them or that they were unaware of the rules because they usually aren’t covered by FTC regulations and so hadn’t followed the rulemaking. During the webinar, John Kuykendall, director of regulatory affairs at John Staurulakis, Inc., said his company searched in vain for a template or guidebook to help its small clients develop policies. “We concluded there is not [a template]. Because each one of the programs must be specific to each company… those rules are indeed company-specific,” he said. JSI developed a questionnaire to help companies determine which red flags are most likely to pop up in their line of work and how best to handle them, he said. Companies must think about how customers open accounts -- in person, online, on the phone -- and what personal information they collect from customers. Tom Oscherwitz, vice president for government affairs and chief privacy officer at ID Analytics, said companies must also prepare for what happens after the deadline. Developing a policy isn’t enough, he said. They must update policies and procedures periodically, and also think about how to put the rules into practice. ID Analytics performed a study of red flag hit rates and found 33 percent of 700,000 applications received in a 30-day period had an identity theft red flag. There will be lots of false positives, he said, and businesses must handle the red flag hits without slowing down operations to the point of alienating customers. Handling the flags identified in its study could cost between $347,000 and $1.5 million monthly, depending if they're handled interactively or manually, he said. When one in six Americans moves each year, there are sure to be address discrepancies, he said. ID Analytics looked at three data aggregators and found that only 14 percent of the time was a valid address consistent across all three aggregators. In a separate interview, Ed Goodman, general counsel and chief privacy officer for Identity Theft 911, said larger organizations appear to be more prepared for the new rules, because they generally already have fraud detection systems in place. Smaller, rural ISPs and cable providers might not be ready, he said. Goodman said companies scrambling to meet the deadline should make sure to at least have something in place. “Your initial program can be pretty thin, to some degree,” he said. The FTC expects that companies will refine and build Red Flag programs over time, he said. Goodman agreed there will be false positives but said the costs from identity theft probably outweigh the costs of even a robust Red Flag program.

USTelecom backed AT&T on its request to reverse several Universal Service Administrative Co. findings from recent audits of AT&T’s Indiana, Kansas and Oklahoma companies (CD Aug 20 p8). Qwest supported AT&T in separate comments, and no one opposed. The audit findings “are not reasonable interpretations of the requirements of the Lifeline program and represent substantive changes from the FCC’s settled interpretation of these issues,” USTelecom said. “These issues are of concern to all USTelecom members regardless of company size.”

A variety of pay-TV companies failed to get FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to seek a vote on their request that the agency prevent cable operators from withholding from rivals content not distributed by satellite. In Monday letters to Martin, the Broadband Service Providers Association and Coalition for Competitive Access to Content sought a vote on a ban. Oct. 9, Martin told coalition members that commissioners would meet Nov. 4, that group said. But Tuesday, when Martin unveiled items he wanted commissioners vote on by Election Day, the list included no cable-related items (CD Oct 15 p1). “We want to make one final request that the terrestrial loophole be included in the preliminary agenda for this meeting,” wrote John Goodman, coalition president. “The best opportunity to demonstrate that there are enough votes to close the loophole is to have the issue on the preliminary agenda.” The need to close the terrestrial loophole lacks the “recent visibility” of other subjects before the regulator, but “all past FCC actions in his area would indicate an expected bipartisan support” among members, said Goodman. AT&T, Cincinnati Bell, DirecTV and USTelecom belong to the coalition. The broadband association, whose members include RCN and SureWest, said “the most important foundation for video competition is assured access to must have programming.” Its letter to Martin, signed by executive director Goodman, said small, independent pay-TV companies “disproportionately” face hurdles getting terrestrially delivered programming. “We fully recognize that closing the loophole is not the only active competitive issue” among pay- TV companies, said Goodman. “We have provided our support for the Wholesale Untying and other policy issues.” Martin also is said to be keen on requiring wholesale programming unbundling.

In the wake of the financial crisis, government will probably try to do more telecom regulation, said panelists at a New York Law School Advanced Communications Law & Policy forum Friday. Comparing banking to the telecom industry is like comparing “apples and freight trains,” said James Gattuso, a Heritage Foundation senior research fellow. But after eight-plus years of market-based regulation, the “knee jerk reaction from government” may be that “we have to do something” different, said Republican Missouri state Rep. Ed Emery.

The FCC should regulate CenturyTel with price caps, wireline carriers generally agreed. In comments last week, USTelecom and the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance backed a CenturyTel petition to convert its rate-of-return regulated areas. But AT&T said it would back the change only if CenturyTel set its price caps using current rates multiplied by historic base period demand. CenturyTel had said it wanted to use 2008 projected demand. The National Exchange Carrier Association said it’s “prepared to make the necessary modifications to its tariff and rate calculations as appropriate and will coordinate tariff filing submissions with CenturyTel” once the FCC grants the carrier’s petition. NECA believes it could submit a revised tariff filing Dec. 17, with an effective date of Jan. 1.

Communications lobby spending is on the upswing in 2008, based on recent figures reported to Congress. The industry spent $194.7 million in the first half of the year, compared with $171.5 million in the same period last year. The industry has increased its spending every year since 2001, with a 40 percent gain from 2006 to 2007. Communications has ranked third or fourth among the biggest spenders by industry, according to CQ’s Political Moneyline rankings. AT&T was listed among the top 10 spending organizations every year since 2000.

Cable operators, incumbent telcos and network overbuilders are increasing broadband speeds to meet rising consumer demand for video streaming, content uploading, multiplayer gaming and social networking, executives told us. Prices at most companies we surveyed generally stayed the same or rose slightly as ISPs have promoted higher speeds in recent years to lure new customers and keep current ones. But analysts said few broadband subscribers seem to need the companies’ fastest broadband packages, because computers in some homes can’t process information quickly enough to make use of them and few people use online applications needing the speeds.

Verizon, AT&T and Qwest have to deal with questions on forbearance rules, retention-marketing practices and other matters in a Sept. 30 letter from House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich. Dingell, who introduced HR- 3914 to abolish the “deemed granted” rule, said the policy “perverts the forbearance process and does not serve the best interests of consumers.” He spoke out against the rule at a Telecom Subcommittee hearing in July (CD July 23 p1), but his bill hasn’t passed. The letter asked the carriers whether they have forbearance petitions that would come up between November and “well into 2009,” when only four commissioners’ positions probably will be filled. If that’s the case, is it “appropriate” for the FCC to allow deemed granted petitions without an accompanying written order,” Dingell asked. Verizon was asked whether its retention-marketing practices are “consistent” with section 222 (b) of the Communications Act, which prohibits carriers from using proprietary information received from other carriers for marketing purposes, the letter said. All the companies were asked whether they thought consumer privacy and retention-marketing provisions in the Communications Act should be changed. Noting Verizon’s possible plan not to maintain copper where it installs fiber (CD July 15 p8), Dingell asked the companies what their plans are in cases like that. Verizon was asked how it would reconnect customers to copper lines if they cancel fiber service and whether customers would have to pay the costs. The companies were asked whether the FCC should set a uniform rate for pole attachments and how it would be figured. On number porting, Dingell asked the carriers if a 48-hour interval for intermodal shifts is appropriate. USTelecom told the subcommittee in July that many of its members receive from competitors porting requests which “don’t fall within the four business day standard,” the letter said, asking the companies if they do, too. Would consumers be “well-served if the Commission established a two-day porting interval for the three largest incumbent phone companies,” the letter asked. Responses are due in three weeks. AT&T said it has no forbearance petitions pending. The company is reviewing the letter and “will respond accordingly,” a spokesman said. Verizon and Qwest said they were preparing responses to the letter.

Wireline and wireless providers should pay FCC regulatory fees under one umbrella, said the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance. In comments on an FCC rulemaking, ITTA and others urged it to recalibrate fees so they better reflect technology convergence and agency organizational changes.