Despite improvement in EU-U.S. trade, roadblocks remain to trans-Atlantic business related to telecom and intellectual property (IP) rights, the European Commission (EC) said Wed. in its latest annual report on U.S. barriers to trade and investment. The U.S. has made “significant commitments” on European service provider market access, but the EU “remains concerned” about steep hurdles European and foreign-owned firms still face, the Commission said. The report emerged as the sides agreed to lift longstanding public procurement sanctions, some involving European telecom.
The U.S. needs communications systems that are “operable and interoperable” during crises, the White House said in a report issued Thurs. White House homeland security advisor Frances Townsend’s report analyzed the U.S. response to Hurricane Katrina and suggested how to improve operations.
Industry Canada, which in 2005 issued a BPL consultation paper (CD Dec 2 p5), expects BPL rules to debut this year, Jean-Claude Brien, dir.-spectrum engineering, told us in an interview. Instead of a rigid timeline for the BPL rulemaking, he said, the agency has one “dictated by general interest in the technology, consumer demand, requests for trials and other factors.” Brien said it would be “premature to speculate” on how the change in federal govt. in Canada will affect the BPL rulemaking. BPL isn’t a political matter but an “operational issue,” so the transition shouldn’t affect the proceeding, a Canadian regulatory source said.
German Economics Minister Michael Glos voiced surprise this week over EC criticism of Germany’s proposal not to regulate DT’s next-generation network, MarketWatch reported. On Feb. 17, Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding wrote Glos she’s paying special attention to the proposed revision of Germany’s telecom act -- particularly new section 9a, which provides for nonregulation of new markets. The Commission is concerned about a “regulatory moratorium” because it raises serious questions about the relationship of competition, new markets and investment that should be addressed by the EU, not nations, Reding said. The legislative proposal suggests new markets be regulated only if development of sustained competition would be obstructed long run otherwise. That runs counter to the EU’s package of e-communications directives, Reding wrote: The law shouldn’t allow a monopoly to be revived, even for a limited time. She said also said Art. 9a: (1) Fails to make clear that consultation must take place before the German telecom regulator decides a new market exists. (2) Doesn’t clarify that “new market” and the duration of any regulatory moratorium must be defined by the regulator in close cooperation with the Commission. (3) Uses “sustained competition-oriented market,” an expression unknown in the EU regulatory framework that should be replaced with “effective competition.” Finally, Reding wrote, the Commission has already launched 2 EU Treaty violation procedures against Germany for infringing EU law by restricting the telecom regulator’s discretion. It’s the regulator -- not the legislature -- that must determine if and how regulation should be imposed, she said, and Art. 9a must be drafted to ensure that principle applies to new markets. Germany lags significantly behind other EU countries in broadband partly because it lacks essential regulatory measures such as bitstream access, she added. Glos said Tues. his office is surprised because the revised telecom bill was based on preliminary working-level talks between his department and the Commission, MarketWatch said. But the official said he would look into Reding’s concerns. The Head of the Federal Network Agency, Matthias Kurth, said “more transparency and sincerity” is needed in the debate to counter the impression that his agency favors “one single company and risk[s] the balance between competition and innovation.” The public consultation is aimed at defining “new market” and embracing the discussion started by the EC. The consultation should help clarify the issue for fixed net and broadband providers in Germany and across the EU, said Kurth. The Federal Network Agency will accept statements until April 19 from interested parties on 9 questions, on the agency’s website, about the definition and treatment of “new markets.” -- www.bundesnetzagentur.de/media/archive/5120.pdf.
Social obligations imposed on VoIP won’t go away but will only pile up, Microsoft Compliance Mgr. Scott Forbes said. A “perfect storm” of circumstances favors regulation, Forbes said last week at the RSA Conference in San Jose: (1) VoIP’s rising popularity. (2) A growing focus on social obligations rather than regulation for competition in telecom. (3) High visibility, notably in coverage of fatalities from failed bids to use VoIP for 911 calls. (4) Financials like Public Safety Answering Points’ money needs and incumbent providers’ scant VoIP revenue. “In 2 years, we've had more regulation on VoIP than we had in telephony in 100 years,” Forbes said. Federal policy-making aims to “create a playing field where everyone looks the same” among wireline voice service providers, he said. Rather than stick VoIP in a standard regulatory silo by Telecom Act title, the FCC is using “piecemeal, incremental regulation,” Forbes said. The FCC has focused on a subset of Internet voice it defines as “interconnected VoIP,” but DoJ’s stance on CALEA compliance and draft federal bills on customer proprietary network information seek more general regulation of VoIP, Forbes said. Today’s noisiest issues are the least important, he said, referring to data protection, disability access and competition. “The big 3” are law enforcement and emergency services access and universal service, which Forbes defines as relating mainly to “enormously expensive” network build-outs in the Midwest’s low-density “square states,” he said. “The FCC is very much engaged” in such matters, and on CALEA and other issues, DoJ and the rest of the Administration mainly get what they want from the Commission, Forbes said. The crucial definition of “call identifying information” for purposes of VoIP CALEA compliance awaits a 2nd FCC order on the topic, probably in 3-6 months, he said. That order likely will put off the compliance deadline, Forbes said. When the order is challenged in court, Congress probably will respond by rolling VoIP obligations into a broader law applying CALEA to all electronic communications, he predicted. And VoIP will be subject to universal service fund contributions, Forbes said. Beyond these matters, policy-makers have yet to settle crucial questions on VoIP, he said: Municipal Wi-Fi, ad-supported VoIP businesses, call encryption, replacing phone numbers in caller identification, trusted 3rd parties and hybrid networks that include conferencing, wired-wireless convergence and so-called leaky PBXs.
Swiss Federal Communications Commission Pres. Marc Furrer is backed as a candidate for Secy. Gen. of the ITU. He and other candidates will be judged in the Nov. plenipotentiary, when member states elect the body’s top management.
Local video franchising isn’t the only video service entry barrier phone companies face, NARUC panelists said Wed., the final day of the group’s winter meeting in D.C. But local franchising does need resolution before policymakers can address other video competition issues, they said.
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.
Rep. Boucher (D-Va.) asked NARUC to take a position on broadband network neutrality and universal service reform. In a Tues. talk at the NARUC winter meeting in Washington, D.C., Boucher urged NARUC to “get involved. You have a special understanding of the situation and we want your advice and guidance.” NARUC also heard from industry panelists and Sen. Wyden (D-Ore.) on network neutrality.
An FCC-sponsored panel Mon. kicked off a 5-month probe of what failed and what to change in emergency communications and other networks based on lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Comr. Copps urged the panel be fearless and press hard: “If you ruffle feathers, so be it.” Chmn. Martin expects a list of recommendations of changes the FCC can make on its own and changes it must undertake with other agencies, he said.