The House Commerce Committee Wed. unanimously passed a cellphone privacy bill that would make it illegal for online companies to sell phone records without consumers’ permission. The bill would expressly outlaw “pretexting,” the practice of impersonating another’s identity to obtain someone’s records over the phone. The measure also includes a narrow law enforcement exemption so police can obtain data for investigations. “I look forward to quickly moving this bill to the floor,” said Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.).

The diverse demands made in comments on a petition by Fibertech networks asking the FCC to adopt best practices for pole and conduit access shows why the FCC shouldn’t pass “specific, detailed rules,” USTelecom said in a filing at the Commission. For example, USTelecom said, McLeodUSA and segTel argue pole owners should be required to allow attachers to use boxing and extension arms to access poles even if the pole owner hasn’t previously allowed that technique. “This demand calls into question engineering and safety determinations that each pole owner must make,” the group said: “Many owners do not use boxing or extension arms for their own attachments or allow their use for others’ attachments because they pose significant risk of danger to their employees who must access the poles.” USTelecom said “this is exactly the type of situation contemplated when the Commission decided not to adopt specific, detailed attachment rules.”

The telecom industry’s campaign for an FCC crackdown on phantom traffic appears to be growing, but the agency remains mum on whether it plans to take action. The Commission is wrestling with whether the issue should be split from the broader intercarrier compensation (ICC) proceeding, said FCC and industry sources. Two industry groups are pushing proposals at the agency -- USTelecom, which has gained a number of supporters, and the Midsized Carrier Coalition, which includes companies such as CenturyTel and Consolidated Communications.

Broadband deployment will wither without reform of local video franchising, AT&T and a telecom trade group said in answer to an FCC inquiry. USTelecom, speaking for Verizon and other Bells that sell video service, urged standardization of the process for awarding local pay TV permits, but cable firms and cities across the country said local franchise authorities fairly award video licensees to new entrants.

A consensus of opinion among senators failed to emerge Tues. during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on net neutrality that considered a swirl of industry promises, academic arguments and economic analyses of the complex issue. Some committee members said premature legislation could hurt more than help, but worried the U.S. is falling behind globally in broadband deployment. Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said net neutrality needs to be defined before the committee can move forward with legislation. Sen. Burns (R-Mont.) said the debate should play out in the marketplace.

President Bush said Fri. he would name CompTel Senior Vp Robert McDowell to be FCC commissioner, a move that had been long rumored. “If confirmed, Rob McDowell will be a great asset to the Commission,” FCC Chmn. Martin said. Confirmation of McDowell finally would give the FCC a full complement of 5 commissioners and Martin a Republican majority of 3. The nomination would fill out a 5-year term ending June 30, 2009.

The Senate Commerce Committee released its witness list for the Feb. 7 hearing on net neutrality: Google Vp Vinton Cerf; NCTA Pres. Kyle McSlarrow; USTelecom Pres. Walter McCormick; Vonage Chmn. Jeffrey Citron; Kyle Dixon, senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation; Lawrence Lessig, law professor, Stanford Law School; Gregory Sidak, law professor, Georgetown U.; and Gary Bachula, vp-external affairs, Internet2.

USTelecom told the FCC that the Dept. of Justice and VeriSign objected on “fallacious grounds” to USTelecom’s request for a delay in CALEA compliance for broadband Internet access and VoIP service. USTelecom said it asked the FCC to delay the start of the 18-month compliance clock because carriers don’t have “meaningful direction” about “what capabilities industry should standardize.” DoJ’s response “implies erroneously” that USTelecom is seeking to make broadband and VoIP providers exempt indefinitely and VeriSign “maintains manufacturers and trusted third parties can provide adequate solutions,” USTelecom said in a Jan. 30 filing. Neither argument is valid, for 3 reasons, the association said: (1) Broadband and VoIP providers must have answers regarding the scope of their CALEA capability requirements before they can implement those requirements.” (2) “Standards-based vendor solutions are not widely available.” (3) “Trusted third party solutions have not been endorsed by DoJ or the [FCC] and trusted third parties are not accountable for CALEA violations.” VeriSign said opponents ignore industry’s collaboration with the FBI for several years to develop CALEA capabilities for broadband and VoIP - which have become standards for use by vendors and product providers. “There is no broadband or VoIP provider who cannot become fully compliant today,” VeriSign said.

A request by Fibertech networks for FCC adoption of best practices for pole and conduit access attracted predictable comments on Jan. 30. CompTel said the FCC should grant the petition and adopt rules proposed by Fibertech as industry standards. “The problems identified by Fibertech are nowhere near as thorny and politically intractable as the other rights-of-way and building access issues that have plagued the Commission and the industry since 1996,” CompTel said. They are “reasonable and urgently needed,” the company told the FCC. USTelecom said Fibertech hasn’t shown the current system of access ILEC poles and conduit “is broken,” the FCC already has rules that work and the Fibertech proposal “would likely lead to a barrage of requests for rules that are tailored to accomplish a host of different desires from other companies seeking pole and conduit access.” USTelcom said “the premise of the petition… is that current rules… provide utilities and ILECs with too much latitude to use their processes to delay competitors’ deployment of services and impose unnecessary costs on new entrants.” However, USTelecom said, Fibertech hasn’t demonstrated that premise is true. Fibertech had listed a group of best practices for possible FCC adoption, such as: (1) “Permit installation of drop lines to satisfy customer service orders without prior licensing.” (2) “Require ILECs to share building-entry conduit with CLECs.” (3) “Allow utility-approved contractors to work in manholes without utility supervision.”

Responding to a USTelecom request, the FCC Wireline Bureau extended the comment deadlines for a rulemaking aimed at crafting new rules for distributing universal service support to Qwest and other “non-rural” carriers (CD Dec 12 p2). Non-rural carriers tend to be bigger companies with more urban than rural customers. The FCC pushed the comment deadline back 45 days to March 27, with replies May 26. USTelecom had asked for a slightly longer extension -- 2 months instead of 45 days for comments. The association sought delay because the rulemaking involves complex issues and telecom companies would need more time to gather and analyze data before commenting.