MCI announced Tues. it had retained law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to review “competitor claims” that it fraudulently mishandled call routing and access fees (CD July 29 p1). Responding to one particularly sensitive allegation, MCI said it was confident it had handled secure govt. calls properly.
DENVER -- FCC Comr. Martin told state regulators here that the underlying premise of the soon-to-be-released Triennial UNE Review order would be that competition came first, then deregulation. Speaking at the NARUC summer meeting, he didn’t provide any details of the order but said it would try to strike a balance between encouraging investment and promoting local competition. He acknowledged the order had taken longer than expected to produce, but said the Commission was working diligently to ensure it had specific guidance and criteria for the states. He said the federal-state partnership on the Triennial Review would be critical to its success.
AT&T urged the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, N.Y., Mon. not to approve MCI/WorldCom’s bankruptcy reorganization plan in light of the charges that emerged this weekend of alleged access charge fraud by MCI. AT&T told the court that MCI’s reorganization plan, if approved, would deprive AT&T of the ability to file racketeering and fraud charges against MCI, which it planned to do.
The European Commission (EC) said Fri. it would begin infringement proceedings against member states that had not implemented the new regulatory framework for electronic communications by the July 25 deadline. The framework covers all forms of electronic communications, such as telephony and Internet. “The Commission is determined to take action to ensure the full implementation of the new framework, and will start proceedings in the next few weeks against those member states that have not yet transported the regulations,” said Erkki Liikanen, EU information society commissioner: “We will ensure that the new framework is implemented quickly.”
Univision’s chief executive, who is pressing for a merger with Hispanic Bcstg. Corp. (HBC) at the Republican- dominated FCC, has emerged as one of President Bush’s top reelection campaign fund-raisers, records show. According to Bush 2004 campaign records, Univision CEO Jerrold Perenchio has earned the title “Pioneer” as a top fund-raiser. The designation means that the individual has raised at least $100,000 for the campaign by developing contributions from benefactors. Pioneers are an elite group: As of June 30, there were 35 in the country. There is only one designation higher than Pioneer -- the Rangers -- who have raised at least $200,000 and numbered 23 people as of June 30.
InFocus is readying flat-panel displays and other products as it seeks to expand beyond core business of front projectors. Company executives were short of specifics on product plans, including whether flat-panel displays would be LCD or plasma, but did say it would concentrate on 30"-and-up screen sizes.
Advancements in technology and communication involving different levels of govt. play a most important role in implementing homeland security, Rep. Rogers (R-Ky.), chmn. of Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, said at a National Chamber Foundation forum on how homeland security initiatives would affect the business world. He named the $900 million in appropriations for the Science & Technology unit of the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) in the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill that just passed the House (WID June 26 p8) as an example of how important the govt. saw improving technology to further secure the country.
Delegates made better progress than expected at last week’s “intercessional” meeting leading up to Dec.’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) but left several key issues unresolved, David Gross, State Dept. U.S. coordinator- international communications & information policy, said Mon. The week-long meeting produced a winnowed-down version of the draft principles govts. would be asked to adopt at WSIS, with a revised plan of action due out around mid-Aug., he told us. But the documents aren’t yet ready for prime time, Gross and industry groups said.
SES Americom’s American Govt. Services (AGS) is a recent inductee of the National Coordinating Center (NCC) for Telecom, SES said. As the 14th member of the organization, which includes AT&T, Sprint and Lockheed Martin, AGS is the only satellite carrier and expects to help the organization with the federal govt.’s national security and emergency preparedness communications service requirements, SES said.
The current formula for distributing federal homeland security dollars to first responders isn’t meeting the telecommunications and other needs of localities, several lawmakers said at a hearing of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security Thurs. Rep. Thompson (D-Miss.) said the Dept. of Homeland Security was “not assessing interoperability problems” and the current system of funding was “broken.” Committee Chmn. Cox (R-Cal.) said funding was “not reaching first responders effectively… These funds can no longer be distributed on political formulas,” and should be “based on real risk of attack.” A system that allocates $5 per person in Cal. and $35 per person in Wyo. “isn’t working,” he said. Cox said reducing the number of steps for allocating funds would “vastly speed up the process.” Ranking Democrat Turner (Tex.) said “the time for comprehensive change in our preparedness programs is now,” describing his plan to establish a “one-stop shop” for federal grants that emphasized telecommunications interoperability concerns. Jamie Metzel, project dir. for the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Emergency Responders, told the Committee: “The high estimate for establishing interoperable communications was $18 billion over 5 years, but we used a much lower number of $6.8 billion” and “America will roughly fall $98.4 billion short of meeting critical emergency responder needs over the next 5 years.” Speaking for the National Governor’s Assn., Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) said: “We can best ensure that we are able to invest wisely… based on a comprehensive and statewide plan.” George Jaramillo, asst. sheriff, Orange County, Cal., said: “I would reexamine the process that is being used to fund these grants and move federal dollars out to the states… I cannot emphasize enough how the lengthy process is creating difficulties.”