The FCC should use phone numbers for Universal Service Fund contribution, said the USF by the Numbers Coalition. Members from AT&T, Verizon, CTIA, USTelecom and IDT met last week with Amy Bender, aide to Chairman Kevin Martin. Group members not represented at the meeting are NCTA, GCI, Megapath and the VON Coalition. The FCC assesses USF contributions based on a carrier’s interstate revenue. The coalition wants contributions based on how many phone numbers a carrier owns. That would be easier, provide certainty to consumers and stabilize USF funding, said the coalition.

The FCC finding against Comcast network management may prompt other ISPs to limit the amount of bandwidth broadband customers can use or at least test such caps, said cable and telco officials. The FCC order against Comcast’s blocking of peer-to-peer file transfers deals only with that company, but it may spur a variety of ISPs to change their broadband policies, such as by improving disclosure to customers of network management, said executives and analysts. The order, approved 3-2, said Comcast must fully disclose its network management and stop treating P2P traffic differently than other Web usage (CD Aug 4 p1).

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin apparently deems it a priority to bar programmers from forcing pay-TV companies to carry multiple networks so they can distribute one they want, said communications lawyers on both sides of the matter. Martin recently signaled in private that he’s weighing a broad order (CD July 10 p2) to ban compelled wholesale bundling, forbid cable operators from withholding their networks from rivals and require cable operators to make quick decisions on whether to carry independent programmers, they said. But the Media Bureau doesn’t seem ready to circulate a draft order, cable lawyers said. The document probably will reflect arguments in recent filings by small cable operators, Free Press and other groups, cable lawyers said.

USTelecom debuted a toolkit that aggregates material on national and regional emergency preparedness and response related to telecom infrastructure. The resource explains the roles federal agencies, states and the private sector play, and includes links to situation updates, reports, activities and other public and private information. “As anyone familiar with the vast emergency response networks of our nation can attest, this was no small undertaking,” said USTelecom CEO Walter McCormick on Wednesday. “But at every turn, whether meeting with government officials or our own member companies, it was reinforced just how unique and valuable this educational resource could be. By facilitating access to timely, essential public information, this toolkit can help strengthen understanding of the many different mechanisms in place both to safeguard our nation and to facilitate timely recovery of critical infrastructure.” The toolkit can be found at the USTelecom Web site. USTelecom is distributing a CD-ROM version to member companies, safety agencies and executive and legislative branch staff, it said. Also on Wednesday, USTelecom launched a “social media newsroom” on its Web site. The space includes a blog, press releases, videos and links to USTelecom Facebook and MySpace pages.

Unsatisfied by counterparts’ recent deal with cable Internet service providers, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wants Comcast to give in to his demand to block child pornography. Cuomo told Comcast in a letter Monday that it has until Saturday to commit to Cuomo’s code of conduct, which hasn’t been released publicly. Verizon, Time Warner Cable, Sprint, AT&T and AOL have signed on to the code (CD July 11 p4). Otherwise, Cuomo said, he will take “legal action” against Comcast. Last week, NCTA signed agreements on blocking child porn with 48 state AGs. Cuomo didn’t sign that pact. Comcast has “continued to drag its heels when it comes to taking every necessary action to eliminate” child porn on Usenet newsgroups and Web sites, Cuomo said. His code of conduct is designed “as narrowly as possible” to ensure that participating ISPs remove only “felonious material,” he said. Cuomo disclosed that he subpoenaed Comcast May 6 and began talks with the company “several weeks ago” about adopting the code. He played down the NCTA’s effort, saying “cable industry trade groups have recently signaled some interest” against child porn. “These efforts fall well short of the full range of measures” in his code, Cuomo said. Comcast can expect legal action by New York if it lingers “at the back of the pack in the race to fight this scourge,” he said. Comcast probably will fall into line, it indicated. The company said in a written statement that it appreciates Cuomo’s efforts and “we expect to become a signatory to his agreement.” But Comcast also praised “his Attorney General colleagues,” who signed an “unprecedented and highly praised” agreement against child porn. The NCTA agreement drew praise from Hill and federal agencies, with plaudits voiced by Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., sponsors of a child-safety bill, and FCC Commissioners Robert McDowell and Deborah Tate. USTelecom declined to tell us whether the same state AG coalition as reached out to NCTA has approached it, or whether it’s heard from Cuomo’s office. The group shares “the concerns of the state Attorneys General and FCC commissioners” about child porn, it said. Some of its members “already signed on to these agreements,” it said: “We strongly support these goals.” It’s unclear what USTelecom meant in referring to plural “agreements,” since Cuomo is the only state AG known to get telcos’ cooperation. California ISPs at first strongly resisted state officials’ demands that they do as Cuomo wants. But ISPs recently said they plan to announce cooperation with California (CD July 11 p4).

House Commerce Committee Democrats want to kill the “deemed granted” forbearance provision, but Republicans think the rule is a goad to agency action, members said Tuesday at a Telecom Subcommittee hearing. “We need to work to reform the process, not gut the language that makes” forbearance rules work, said Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. But Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., said some companies have “gamed” proceedings with late filings, shortchanging analysis and public input.

The House Telecom Subcommittee Monday announced witnesses for a Tuesday hearing on telecom competition and forbearance. Witnesses include TW Telecom president Larissa Herda; Matthew Salmon, president of CompTel; XO Communications CEO Carl Grivner; Cathy Avgiris, a senior vice president at Comcast; and Jonathan Banks, a senior vice president of USTelecom.

The FCC should overhaul intercarrier compensation this year, USTelecom said, supporting an AT&T proposal (CD July 18 p8) filed last week. “Addressing the problems in the system is crucial to ensuring that our industry can continue providing service and investing billions of dollars every year in broadband networks,” said USTelecom President Walter McCormick in a written statement. “We support Chairman Martin’s interest in addressing this issue, and we look forward to commission action in this area in the fall.”

A broad coalition of industry, labor and public interest groups is urging Congress to adopt broadband legislation (S- 1492, HR-3919) before Congress adjourns, said a letter sent Monday to House and Senate Commerce Committee leaders. A national broadband policy “could have dramatic and far- reaching economic impacts,” said the letter, signed by more than 30 phone, cable and rural interests. The letter signals stepped-up lobbying to get the legislation approved before the 110th Congress ends.

Federal appeals judges shouldn’t stay an FCC ruling that would force Verizon to change its retention marketing practices, FCC General Counsel Matthew Berry argued in a brief to the District of Columbia Circuit Court. “Unlike the typical stay request, Verizon asks not that the Court preserve the status quo in the wake of a newly imposed regulatory requirement, but that it in effect bar the application of established rules with which Verizon complied for more than eight years and with which every other carrier in the industry continues to comply,” the brief said. Consumers Union, CompTel, NCTA, Bright House, Comcast and Time Warner Cable also opposed Verizon’s stay request. USTelecom filed a brief supporting Verizon, it said.