CHICAGO - Network neutrality rules could slow or “halt” progress toward a fully connected world, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said in a keynote speech Wednesday at Supercomm. “While this future is imminent, it is not inevitable, and the decisions we make today - as an industry and as a country - will determine whether the benefits of these transformational networks will be felt sooner or much, much later.”
CHICAGO - Network neutrality rules could slow or “halt” progress toward a fully connected world, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said in a keynote speech Wednesday at Supercomm. “While this future is imminent, it is not inevitable, and the decisions we make today - as an industry and as a country - will determine whether the benefits of these transformational networks will be felt sooner or much, much later.”
Judges seemed skeptical of Rural Cellular Association arguments that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit should throw out the FCC’s interim cap on universal service payments to competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (CETCs), imposed in May 2008. RCA attorney David LaFuria told judges during oral argument Monday that the commission had imposed the cap without a factual or logical basis, without showing an emergency requiring bold action.
The FCC’s National Broadband Plan probably will conclude that Americans are getting less broadband than they pay for, judging from hours of presentations Tuesday at the commission’s monthly meeting. Another likely conclusion is that universal broadband won’t come cheap: The cost could soar to $350 billion, based on commission estimates.
The FCC’s National Broadband Plan probably will conclude that Americans are getting less broadband than they pay for, judging from hours of presentations Tuesday at the commission’s monthly meeting. Another likely conclusion is that universal broadband won’t come cheap: The cost could soar to $350 billion, based on commission estimates.
FCC and Hill policymakers should consider the role private investment plays in broadband penetration as work goes forward on a national plan, analysts said at an American Consumer Institute (ACI) seminar Tuesday. The plan needs to weigh how public policy goals of increasing broadband speed and access are tied to industry’s financial underpinnings, said panelists. “Much of the debate at the FCC so far has been very general … there have been no big ideas,” said Larry Darby of ACI, a non-profit that supports research into market solutions when analyzing consumer issues.
FCC and Hill policymakers should consider the role private investment plays in broadband penetration as work goes forward on a national plan, analysts said at an American Consumer Institute (ACI) seminar Tuesday. The plan needs to weigh how public policy goals of increasing broadband speed and access are tied to industry’s financial underpinnings, said panelists. “Much of the debate at the FCC so far has been very general … there have been no big ideas,” said Larry Darby of ACI, a non-profit that supports research into market solutions when analyzing consumer issues. “We need to be careful about thinking of broadband in an isolated context,” said Timothy Horan, telecom analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. “From USF to voice, frankly it’s based on what networks looked like 60 years ago.” Tax incentives for broadband should be considered as the government weighs moving forward with a national broadband policy plan, said Debbie Goldman, telecom policy director of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). While supportive of the $7.2 billion in spending for broadband grants and loans, Goldman said she’s worried about how that investment will play out, whether it will lead to new jobs or just the hiring of temporary workers, and whether the projects will add to meeting long-term goals for higher speeds and greater access. CWA believes every $5 billion invested in broadband infrastructure would create 97,500 new jobs in the telecom and IT industries. Additional direct government spending on broadband isn’t likely, said Anna-Maria Kovacs, a telecom analyst who said she doesn’t invest personally in the companies she studies. “The $7.2 billion is pretty much all of the investment we're going to see. The rest must come from the private sector,” Kovacs said. For that to happen, investors will need to feel confident that they can recoup on investments. What makes investors nervous is uncertainty about regulation, she said.
Industry executives and others sought new broadband pricing, spectrum and subsidy program policy, at an FCC broadband workshop late Wednesday. Better access to spectrum, capital and network backbone are among the biggest needs in reaching the unserved and underserved, they said.
Verizon Wireless said it would support legislation or an FCC rule mandating roaming agreements under certain conditions for a minimum of two years. The commitment came in a letter it sent to House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., late Wednesday. Waxman didn’t have a response to the letter, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Verizon said its offer came after a “dialogue” with committee staff on in-market roaming arrangements. Waxman wants carriers to expand roaming, he’s made clear at hearings and in past legislation.
The FCC will likely get lengthy input on a vast array of controversial telecom issues, as it attempts to develop a national broadband plan, said industry officials we polled for reaction Thursday. In a 52-page notice of inquiry released Wednesday (CD April 9 p1), the FCC asks questions on universal service reform, open networks and nondiscrimination, the role of competition, how to define broadband, and several other big issues. The FCC is required under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to deliver its national broadband plan to Congress by Feb. 17.