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.
The FCC, states and cellular carriers should come to terms on early termination fees and remove that “distraction” for good, Nebraska Public Utility Commissioner Ann Boyle said on a panel Tuesday at NARUC’s winter meeting in Washington. The group seeks to draft consumer-protection standards for cellphone users.
The economy, wireless consumer standards, universal service and FCC reform lead the agenda for NARUC committee meetings next week in Washington, D.C. A panel on broadband stimulus will feature Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke. Other panels will feature congressional staffers, state regulators and executives. Former FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate will be among panelists on FCC reform. The Feb. 15-18 meeting will be at the Renaissance Washington Hotel.
NEW ORLEANS -- State phone regulators see December as a key month, said panelists at the annual NARUC meeting here. Nebraska Public Service Commission member Sue Vanicek said her state’s suit over its power to assess Vonage and other intrastate VoIP providers a 6.95 percent fee to support the state universal service fund will affect USF efforts by other states, as will an FCC ruling expected next month on changing the federal system for ensuring universal phone service and agency controls on intercarrier compensation.
Four members of the FCC pledged to work together on broad intercarrier compensation and Universal Service Fund reform, for a vote at the Dec. 18 FCC meeting. The four cited growing consensus on several issues teed up for decision, in a statement they all signed. But FCC Chairman Kevin Martin questioned whether his colleagues will really be ready to reach a decision in December. The letter was released just before midnight Wednesday, as the FCC responded to a writ of mandamus by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit addressing the so-called ISP remand (CD Nov 6 p1).
ORLANDO -- The telecom industry still is divided on how to revamp intercarrier compensation, indicated speakers at a CompTel panel on the topic. The FCC appears to be teeing up the topic for a Nov. 4 vote. But in a late Monday panel, officials from AT&T, XO Communications the VON Coalition and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates disagreed not only on overhaul proposals, but on whether the current system even needs fixing.