Telecom heavyweights asked California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to sign pending VoIP deregulation legislation. The Legislature approved SB-1161, which would prohibit the California Public Utilities Commission from regulating VoIP through 2020 unless a state statute or federal law allows it. “The Voice on the Net (VON) Coalition, which represents the nation’s leading companies developing and delivering Internet communications, writes to express its support for SB 1161, and ask that you sign the bill into law,” Executive Director Glenn Richards wrote in a letter sent to Brown Thursday. VON includes AT&T, Microsoft, Google, Skype, Vonage, Yahoo and several other companies and has advocated for the bill for months despite consumer advocates’ fears (CD June 25 p6). “SB 1161 rightfully leaves to the Legislature the opportunity to revisit the regulation of IP communications at any time, without any impact on existing telephone customers,” Richards said. “The bill is a win-win for businesses and consumers in California."
ASPEN, Colo. -- Tom Tauke critiqued what he called U.S. government’s “backwards looking” perspective on telecommunications regulatory policies. His comments came at the Technology Policy Institute’s Aspen Forum Monday. Tauke, Verizon executive vice president-public affairs, policy and communications, urged lawmakers to revise the “obsolete” 1996 Telecom Act and focus on policies that encourage growth and innovation. Representatives from Comcast and Google, speaking on the same panel, said they're encouraged by both presidential candidates’ perspective on technology, and Congress’ appetite to tackle legacy regulations.
The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) recommended testing requirements for backup power in light of 911 problems following the June 29 derecho wind storm that hit parts of the Northeast and Midwest. APCO also raised questions about Verizon’s response after problems emerged, the subject of an FCC investigation (CD July 3 p1). But industry commenters counseled the FCC against imposing backup power requirements or other new regulations on carriers as a result of the problems that followed the storm.
Lawmakers and rural telcos continued to protest the high costs and burdensome requirements of the FCC’s USF/intercarrier reform waiver requirements, which they say will curb broadband deployment in areas where people need it most. House and Senate members told us the FCC must do something to reduce the cost of waiver applications, which they said can exceed $100,000. A commission spokesman said it’s considering some changes to the waiver process, but emphasized that the waiver requirements are necessary to properly evaluate each company’s ability to use the money in a fiscally responsible way.
The Justice Department and FCC Thursday laid out terms for allowing Verizon Wireless to buy AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox, along with the marketing and other business agreements announced at the same time as the spectrum sales. As expected, DOJ’s focus was almost exclusively on the commercial agreements. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski concurrently circulated a draft order approving the Verizon/cable transactions as well as Verizon’s proposed spectrum swaps with T-Mobile and Leap Wireless. He said the T-Mobile deal removes many of the concerns about the spectrum sale. Opponents of the transactions were quick to say the conditions don’t go far enough. Jobs will be lost, the Communications Workers of America warned.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology gave T-Mobile USA “special temporary authority” to launch tests of spectrum sharing with federal government users in the 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz bands. The move by OET could generate some of the first real-world data on how well sharing would work, industry executives said. The Obama administration has been increasingly focused on sharing as an alternative to clearing spectrum for commercial use (CD July 23 p1).
FCC TV captioning waiver rules take effect Sept. 12, and didn’t need Office of Management and Budget approval because there were no new information collection regulations, the commission said in Monday’s Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bnkksr). The FCC’s rules were changed “to replace all current references to ‘undue burden’ with the term ‘economically burdensome'” as a threshold for captioning exemption requests, the notice said. Commissioners last month approved the change that implemented the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CD July 23 p22).
The FCC’s review of the Verizon Wireless/cable deals has reached its final stage, agency officials said Friday. An order approving the deals could circulate as early as this week, agency officials said Friday. Meanwhile, Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Brian Higgins, both New York Democrats, urged federal regulators to give Verizon Wireless’s proposed buy of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox extra-close scrutiny. That’s especially so given accompany marketing and other agreements, they said during a call with reporters Friday sponsored by the Communications Workers of America. A Verizon Wireless spokesman questioned CWA’s motives in turning up the heat on the deal as an order nears.
VoIP deregulation took another step forward at Wednesday hearing when the California Assembly Appropriations Committee voted 16-1 to approve SB-1161. The bill bans the California Public Utilities Commission from regulating VoIP service for the next eight years unless state statute permits it. It will now be considered by the full Assembly, after receiving Senate approval in late May and, in amended form, Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce approval in late June.
With a decision by federal regulators expected over the next few weeks, Verizon Wireless’s buy of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox has faced an onslaught of “grassroots” filings in recent days, most a sentence or two in length. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless and its partners in various proposed spectrum transactions fired back at the Rural Telecommunications Group, which last week asked for a timeout on the FCC’s review of the various deals (CD Aug 6 p1). Several critics of the deal told us Wednesday FCC staff signaled recently that with a decision on the transactions near, they should get any filings with proposed transaction conditions into the record.