A “theoretical link” between special access and an AT&T forbearance petition due later this month might mean political hot water for Commissioner Robert McDowell, a lawyer involved in the AT&T proceeding told us. AT&T seeks relief from cost-assignment rules requiring Bell companies to keep records that, among other tasks, separate interstate and intrastate costs (CD April 15 p8). Two orders are circulating on the eighth floor, one to approve and one to deny. McDowell is seen as the swing vote on the AT&T petition. As a Republican, he is seen as favoring forbearance. However, some data AT&T wants to stop collecting could be used in a special access action McDowell and other commissioners want to resolve, the lawyer said. And McDowell has called for more special access data in public statements, he said. The conflict theory is “plausible,” said Stifel Nicolaus analyst David Kaut. But McDowell might be able to work with Commissioner Deborah Tate on a compromise carving out data useful to the special access proceeding, he said. Tate’s position on AT&T forbearance also is unclear, Kaut said. Republican Tate is seen as likely to grant forbearance. However, as a former state commissioner, she could embrace states’ opposition, he said. Then again, the apparent conflict might not be the “dilemma” some think, said Earl Comstock, an industry consultant. One shouldn’t assume “all Republicans vote for AT&T,” he said. If McDowell deems the AT&T data useful for the special access proceeding, he said, he'll vote to deny forbearance. Meanwhile, an FCC source pooh-poohed the theory, saying the forbearance and special access proceedings are “a little too disjointed” to figure in McDowell’s decision. Still, the McDowell office hasn’t made up its mind about the AT&T petition, the source said.
States are urging the FCC to reject AT&T accounting rules forbearance (CD April 15 p8). In a Tuesday letter to FCC commissioners, state members of the Federal-State Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations said granting the petition would “dump existing separations procedures in half of the country.” Commissioners also got mail from the Ohio Public Utilities Commission, which said granting forbearance would remove safeguards the FCC implemented in an August order.
Eighth floor lobbying is heating up over an AT&T forbearance request due for April 24 FCC review. AT&T seeks relief from cost-assignment rules requiring Bell companies to keep records that, among other tasks, separate interstate and intrastate costs (CD April 9 p9). Wednesday to Friday, AT&T lawyers paid five visits to commissioner offices, including meetings with Commissioners Michael Copps and Deborah Tate, as well as with aides to Copps, Tate, and Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. Also Friday, the opposition united against AT&T in a rendezvous with Copps and aide Scott Deutchman. CompTel, NuVox, Covad, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, XO Communications and the Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee sat in. Monday, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association entered the fray, opposing forbearance, according to an ex parte. Cost allocation rules from which AT&T seeks forbearance protect “rural consumers and rural incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), who depend on AT&T’s facilities to provide reasonably comparable services to their customers,” NTCA said. “Forbearance will cloud ILECs ability to negotiate rates, terms and conditions with AT&T” that are just, reasonable and non-discriminatory, it said.
The Internet voice industry is divided on a popular proposal to base universal service fund contributions by carriers on phone number count rather than interstate revenue. Vonage and other interconnected VoIP carriers support a numbers approach as making the fund technology- neutral. Others say a numbers world would force overhaul of business models at Google’s GrandCentral and other enhanced service providers. That shouldn’t be, Feature Group IP CEO Lowell Feldman said in an interview. Ten-digit phone numbers represent “1970 technology, not 2008 technology,” he said. “The numbers scheme is really a sleight of hand to try to force the industry to always use numbers.”
Industry Canada approved Bell Canada Enterprises’ buyout by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan consortium, with conditions, Bell Canada said Wednesday. Bell Canada now has all needed regulatory sign-offs, but bondholders’ appeal of the Quebec Superior Court’s approval is still pending. After the appeal, to be heard April 28, financing will be the deal’s last hurdle. BCE still expects the deal to be completed in the second quarter. Industry Canada Minister Jim Prentice said conditions keep Canadians in control of BCE. “The conditions aren’t onerous,” said SeaBoard Group analyst Iain Grant. BCE and Industry Canada agreed Canadians must be in the majority on the board, executive committee and compensation committee. Those Canadians must be “independent” from non-Canadian shareholders, Industry said. At all shareholders’ meetings, Canadians must represent the majority of voting shares. Also, Industry Canada said the veto threshold for major decisions must be raised to C$150 million ($153 million). The Canadian Radio-TV and Telecommunications Commission forced similar conditions when it approved the buyout last month (CD March 31 p5).
U.S. telecom companies face barriers competing in China, Germany, Australia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Oman and Singapore, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Tuesday, announcing results of a 2008 annual review of telecom trade agreements. In China, U.S. companies face impediments accessing the telecom market due to high capitalization requirements and limits on joint venture partnerships, the report said. U.S. companies face difficulty accessing the Telstra network in Australia, elements of Deutsche Telekom’s network in Germany, and leased lines in Singapore, it said. There are problems interconnecting with CTE in El Salvador and Telgua in Guatemala, and delays licensing basic telecom service in Oman, said the report. It also raised concerns about Jamaica’s universal service program and Mexico telecom equipment testing requirements. Non-country-specific concerns include regulatory frameworks that hinder telecom competition, elevated mobile termination rates, continued barriers to VoIP use and conformity assessment requirements related to telecom and information technology equipment. The USTR said it’s seen some progress on concerns from previous reviews. For example, Columbia “drastically reduced its high licensing fee for long distance service,” while India killed its Access Deficit Charge, a fee that increased costs to U.S. carriers sending telecom traffic to India, it said. German competitive carrier association VATM is “glad” the USTR picked up the Deutsche Telekom issue, said Axel Spies, the Washington, D.C., representative for VATM. But USTR should also look into “vexing” issues concerning DT’s use of bundled offers and long-term contracts, and a German policy known as “regulatory holidays,” which exempt incumbents from regulation if they invest in infrastructure such as glass fiber networks, he said. A case on regulatory holidays is ongoing in the European Court of Justice, he said.
No opposition has been detected to a Qwest forbearance petition seeking relief from incumbent local exchange carrier regulation in Terry, Mont., FCC and industry sources told us. The “facts are compelling,” an FCC source said. The commission circulated a draft order last week after getting no comments opposing forbearance. It must rule by April 21. Competitive telcos, which historically oppose Bell forbearance requests, haven’t fought the Terry, Mont., petition. That’s because it’s a “purple cow,” an exceptional circumstance that won’t set precedent for forbearance petitions that have riled competitors, a competitive local exchange carrier source told us. The commission previously declared Qwest rival Mid-Rivers Telecom an incumbent LEC in the Terry exchange after finding it had replaced Qwest as the area’s dominant carrier.
FCC approval of an AT&T forbearance request due April 24 may hinge on commissioners’ reading of a condition in an August order letting Bells combine local and long distance divisions (CD Sept 4 p1), agency sources said. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has circulated two alternate orders, one approving and one denying, we're told. The orders combine related petitions by AT&T and BellSouth seeking relief from accounting rules (CD Jan 9 p9).
Municipal broadband goals can be accomplished despite setbacks, but probably not via Wi-Fi, panelists said Thursday at the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors conference. Muni Wi-Fi networks largely were “launched on hype,” said lawyer James Baller. WiMAX and other next-gen wireless technologies could make muni viable, other panelists said. On a larger scale, to compete globally the U.S. needs a national broadband strategy, Baller said.
The FCC has circulated a draft order denying Cablevision LightPath forbearance from Title II and Computer Inquiry rules for broadband services, an FCC source told us. It was unclear what relief Cablevision sought, or even what relief it needed, and the petition didn’t make an adequate showing for Section 10 forbearance action, the source said. FCC commissioners must vote on the order before April 15, or the Cablevision petition will be deemed granted.