Public broadcasters agree that getting a trust fund is a top legislative priority in the next Congress, but they appear unable to come up with a unified proposal. The Assn. of Public TV Stations (APTS), which has spearheaded the trust fund proposal so far, says it backs a system based on the voluntary, early return of stations’ analog spectrum. The fund should be in addition to federal appropriations, should be used to create digital educational content and should go to stations, it said.
The merger of Sprint and Nextel -- expected to be announced as early as today (Wed.) in N.Y. -- likely faces few regulatory hurdles. Nonetheless, questions remain about competition in individual markets, the future of 3G competition and the 2 companies’ significant combined stake in MMDS spectrum, among other issues.
The FCC asked for comments on progress made by states in prompting E911 solutions for multiline telephone systems (MLTSs). The agency said it had left the problem to the states and wants information and comment about state statutes and regulations. MLTSs -- which serve office buildings, university campuses and other multiple phone sites -- make locating E911 calls difficult, the FCC said in a Dec. 10 notice. That’s because the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) that gets the call often can’t identify the specific phone being used by the caller. Instead the call may be attributed to the MLTS’s outgoing trunk. The Commission said it was particularly interested in any state actions “based on model legislation such as that proposed by the National Emergency Number Assn. and the Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials.” Comments are due 45 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register.
European telecom regulators Mon. formally unveiled a work plan for 2005 that includes reports on key broadband, VoIP and wholesale international roaming (WIR) issues. Because of overlap between the European Regulators Group (ERG) and the Independent Regulators Group (IRG) -- both made up of national regulatory authorities (NRAs) -- the groups agreed on a common agenda, the ERG said. ERG 2005 Chmn. Jorgen Andersen had previewed the plan this month at the European Competitive Telecom Assn. annual regulatory conference (CD Dec 9 p9). As expected, the program includes activities in 3 categories. The first involves items with well-defined topics and “clear deliverables derived from major common concerns of the NRAs,” the ERG said. Here, the groups intend to produce reports on: (1) An analysis of Europe’s wholesale broadband market, for use in the review of the common position on anticompetition remedies. (2) Results and experiences of NRAs with the telecom market analysis required under the European Union’s e-communications regulatory framework. The ERG will also continue work on short and long-term issues related to a common position on a regulatory approach to VoIP. A draft common position was presented at the Dec. 2-3 plenary, but it’s not ready for publication, the ERG said. Regulators agreed a basic regulatory approach with thresholds for new entrants should be investigated. The approach would allow lighter regulation of smaller operators at first, particularly on numbering and emergency services. A draft common position could be up for discussion at the Feb. plenary, the ERG said. As part of its 2005 work plan, the group will also decide whether its remedies paper should be updated, and will try for common ground both on a market definition of WIR and on the need for regulation. A 2nd category of work involves issues expected to be triggered by legal obligations of the European Commission (EC). The group will issue opinions on the need for revision of the EC’s recommendation on relevant product and services markets, and on Commission plans to revamp the universal service directive, among other things. The 3rd category of work comprises ERG activities that support its mission and the successful execution of the work program. Here, regulators will continue to benchmark mobile termination rates, set principles of implementation and best practice on price control, and collect and publish data needed for other items in the work plan, the ERG said. Also Mon., the ERG launched a consultation on revisions to the significant market power concept under the new regulatory framework. Comments on both documents are due Jan. 17 -- erg-secretariat@cec.eu.int. A public hearing on both is set Jan. 14.
The Senate sent telecom legislation to President Bush on Wed. evening in a literal 11th-hour vote. By approving HR-5419, the Senate approved 3 legislative measures and ended weeks of political infighting about everything from Congressional Budget Office scoring to appropriators’ authority and boxing regulation. Sources said the White House would sign the act, which includes the spectrum relocation trust fund, E-911 funding and a temporary fix to accounting problems in the E-rate program. The junk fax bill, HR-4600, was the only legislation that had a reasonable chance to pass and didn’t. “The legislation brings needed changes that will promote homeland security and increase wireless broadband opportunities,” FCC Chmn. Powell said.
BRUSSELS -- European telecom regulators plan to address 4 hot issues in 2005, European Regulators Group (ERG) Chmn. Jorgen Andersen said here Wed. Speaking at the European Competitive Telecom Assn. annual regulatory conference, Andersen for the first time publicly unveiled the ERG’s proposed work program for next year, which includes VoIP, broadband, competition remedies under Europe’s new e-communications regulatory framework, and wholesale international roaming (WIR).
The CE industry and govt. agencies are bracing for an upsurge in electronics waste (e-waste) legislative activity in the states next year with the National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI) deciding to wrap up its activities this month. Created at the behest of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to come up with a national e-waste solution, NEPSI has come up empty after a 3-year dialog among industry, state and local govts. and environmental groups. When the EPA pulled out in Nov. 2003, it considerably weakened NEPSI and left it without a source of funding.
A Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) group trying to develop a consensus position on enhanced 911 (E911) geographic area requirements conceded Mon. that efforts have fallen short. The chmn. of the group said during a NRIC meeting at FCC hq he would ask NRIC to ask the FCC for another 60 days to try to reach a compromise.
Although Europe’s e-communications sector is growing, serious problems remain, the European Commission (EC) said Mon. While competition is increasing in most electronic communications markets, regulation needs improvement in several key areas, the EC said in its 10th annual report to the European Council, European Parliament, European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on carrying out the e-communications regulatory framework. Incumbent telcos said the report showed the time is right for regulatory rollbacks, while new players urged govts. to stop market abuses they said block innovation.
A coalition of leading universities, hardware makers and local emergency districts is developing a new generation of Internet-based 911 technologies and standards. The I-911 initiative is a 2-year, $1.2 million project that will investigate open-standard VoIP location approaches as well as IM and on-scene video. The project is funded in part by the NTIA and coordinated by the Internet 2 Consortium.