The European Commission is trying to gain power over telecom by swelling the bureaucracy, France’s top telecom regulator said this week in an interview with the financial newspaper Les Echos. It might have been appropriate to set up an agency to deal with spectrum management, network security at the EU level and related technical issues, but plans by Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding for a European Telecom Market Agency “go beyond this,” said Paul Champsaur, chair of the Regulatory Authority of Electronic Communications and Post. The new agency would remake the relationship between EU nations and the EC, he said, noting that the EU isn’t a federal state. Instead it functions through close cooperation among nations and EU institutions, he said. Champsaur said the EC ignored opportunities to use European Regulators Group expertise and failed to offer guidance on high-speed broadband, the distortion of competition between fixed and mobile telephony and other basic issues. The EC moved to harmonize international mobile roaming rates only when pressed by regulators, he said. Harmonization is needed, but only if regulators work under the EC, which should take the lead on major matters and make the final decisions, Champsaur said. All in all, Reding’s move to change Europe’s e-communications regulatory framework is “totally unhelpful,” he said. National regulators restated their opposition in a Nov. 6 letter to Reding, saying the ERG already had declared that it doesn’t favor “creation either of a new Commission veto on remedies or new layers of unnecessary centralism.” European Parliament members also fear a power grab, EurActiv reported. German MEP Angelika Niebler, chair of the Industry Committee, said details of the new authority need clarification, particularly regarding the EC’s plans for a gradual extension of the commission’s power. U.K. MEP Malcolm Harbour said Reding’s legislative package builds on the success of EU communications rules and tackles issues that lawmakers have demanded action on -- but the EC “has got carried away with big ideas of building a new power base, instead of leaving local regulators to get on with the job.” Lawmakers will demand answers about ETMA’s costs and benefits, he warned.
The European Commission Tuesday unveiled its plan to revamp EU telecommunications regulation, setting the stage for what is expected to be heated debate among governments and with the European Parliament. While many of the key proposals have been circulating for months, the regulatory package contained at least one surprise -- the proposal to merge the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) with a new European Telecom Market Authority (ETMA). The proposal is one of several likely to continue to spark criticism from various players in the e-communications sector.
Globalstar Communications will pursue legal options to overturn an FCC decision Friday to change the configuration of the L band to give Globalstar and Iridium equal amounts of spectrum at 1610 to 1621 MHz, William Adler, Globalstar’s vice president for legal and regulatory, told us. The new L- band plan “will provide certainty and stability for mobile satellite service systems operating” in the L-band, the FCC said. “By providing equal amounts of L-band spectrum for the exclusive use of CDMA and TDMA MSS systems, we provide more equitable distribution of spectrum resources.” The changes to the L-band will ensure “that both MSS operators have access to adequate spectrum to provide their services,” the FCC said. Iridium declined to comment on the FCC’s action because it hadn’t seen it, a spokeswoman said.
Do Not Call Registry violators promised to pay about $7.7 million in fines in six settlements, and the FTC is preparing to file another complaint in federal district court, the commission said Wednesday. The commission is cracking down because Americans “really own this registry and it’s really offensive to them… to get called,” FTC Chairman Deborah Majoras told reporters. She cited a recent Harris Interactive poll that found more than 70 percent of consumers have registered their numbers. Since the Registry’s inception in 2003, the FTC has filed 34 actions against individuals and companies that allegedly violated its provisions. Craftmatic ran a sweepstakes in which entrants could win an adjustable bed and submitted their phone numbers as part of required information. Craftmatic never revealed it planned to use those numbers to make marketing calls, and yet placed hundreds of thousands of calls, Majoras said. The company also placed millions of “abandoned calls” in which consumers answered but heard nothing but silence from the other end. Craftmatic agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle all FTC charges, she said. ADT Security Systems will pay $2 million to settle charges it and its affiliate, Alarm King, called consumers whose numbers were on the Registry, she said. The case shows that a company “can’t ignore or pretend it can’t control a marketing effort undertaken… on its behalf,” she said. AmericaQuest mortgage used “online lead generation” to illegally call consumers, Majoras said. Consumers interested in mortgage offers entered their data into sites that purported to provide information on mortgages but AmericaQuest was actually selling the data to lenders or sellers, she said. AmericaQuest will pay $1 million to settle charges. Guardian Communications, U.S. Voice Broadcasting and principal Kevin Baker allegedly violated Registry rules by “blasting” tens of millions of calls and failing to transmit its name in caller ID. The companies will pay $150,000 of a $7.8 million penalty, which was suspended due to the company’s lack of funds, Majoras said. The FTC is working with the Justice Department to file a complaint against Global Mortgage Funding, which called hundreds of thousands of registered numbers, didn’t transmit caller ID information and abandoned calls, she said.
Commissioners are eyeing a ban on exclusive deals by apartment buildings for phone service, said FCC officials. They said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his colleagues agreed to issue an order on the deals in the course of approving an order Wednesday barring such arrangements for cable (CD Nov 1 p2). The newer order will cover wireline services sold to apartments and housing developments, said a source. Martin agreed to issue the order as part of eighth-floor discussions preceding last week’s action to ban current and future apartment cable exclusives, said FCC officials.
Commissioners overcame doubts about an FCC order banning exclusive deals between apartment buildings and cable providers because they decided the ban treats industry fairly, said agency officials. Commissioners unanimously voted for the order at Wednesday’s meeting, with Robert McDowell concurring out of concern it will draw lawsuits and conflict with states’ authority over the exclusive contracts (CD Nov 1 p2). At first glance, commissioners were suspicious of the order from Chairman Kevin Martin, thinking it might be anti-cable, said an FCC official.
The Federal Election Commission has confirmed that XM can air candidate-produced material on its POTUS-08 channel. In an advisory opinion, the FEC said airing material on POTUS, a channel covering the presidential campaign, isn’t an in-kind contribution, since XM has a press exemption. XM is pleased to “offer presidential candidates free air time to communicate with the American people,” it said. Candidate-produced material must identify its sponsor, the FEC said.
The House and Senate Commerce committees approved broadband bills aimed at helping facilitate services in rural and underserved areas. Bills reauthorizing the FTC’s do-not- call registry also were approved in both committees Tuesday. Separately, Senate Commerce approved a bill (S-1853) that would enable state and local governments set up their own wireless networks, and another (S-1675) setting standards for low-power radio. House Commerce passed bills ensuring that all voice providers could supply 911 services (HR-3403), and requiring the FTC to set up an Internet safety education program (HR-3461).
BOSTON -- Prepare for more VoIP regulation as the FCC more often treats VoIP as it does traditional phone service, panelists said Tuesday at the VON conference. The VoIP industry must pay more heed to rules emerging at the federal, state and international levels, they said. “You need good legal counsel to navigate these kinds of things,” said VON Executive Director Jim Kohlenberger.
The federal government, filing as an enterprise customer, told regulators in New York and Virginia that Verizon lacks enough competition to justify deregulation, two competitive telecom companies told the FCC Thursday. “Given that the U.S. government, acting as a consumer, has experienced first-hand the failure of market forces to discipline Verizon’s pricing and service quality, it is hard to fathom how the Commission could compound the problem by granting Verizon’s pending forbearance petitions,” Covad and XO Communications said in an ex parte. The letter referred to Verizon petitions to the FCC for forbearance on unbundling duties in six East Coast cities. Attached to the FCC letter were federal government filings in state proceedings reviewing Verizon’s request for pricing flexibility in New York and detariffing of retail services in Virginia. “These filings unequivocally confirm that the Verizon Telephone Companies continue to enjoy significant market power in the residential and enterprise markets and that competition is not sufficient to justify a grant of forbearance” at the federal level, Covad and XO said. Verizon requests for forbearance in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence and Virginia Beach, Va., are due for FCC action in December.