The N.C. Utilities Commission denied an MCI petition to reconsider a Sept. decision allowing Alltel to withdraw a proposed interconnection agreement with MCI because the parties were too far apart for substantive negotiations. The pact (Case P-118, sub 14) was in arbitration before the NCUC because of a dispute over treatment of transit traffic. MCI said it agreed to removal of the disputed language and wanted to resubmit the pact, but Alltel chose to withdraw it and the NCUC allowed that. MCI sought reconsideration, arguing that federal law doesn’t allow unilateral withdrawal of interconnection agreements that were in the process of state review, and asked that either the original pact or the pact without the transit-traffic language be approved. Alltel said its withdrawal was legal because it had indications that MCI was planning to route ISP-bound and enhanced service traffic to local trunks based on the interconnection facility being used rather than by the originating points of the calls. Alltel said this would be a breach of contract. The NCUC said it allowed the withdrawal because MCI and Alltel were still fighting preliminary battles about basic definitions and procedural issues. It gave the carriers until Nov. 10 to report on progress toward a new agreement.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated a new shipper review for the antidumping (AD) duty order on fresh garlic from China with respect to the following company, which is both the grower and exporter, and review period:

Emotions ran “quite high” over mandatory retention of communications traffic data after a meeting last Thurs. between U.K. Home Secy. Charles Clarke -- who now heads the Presidency’s Justice & Home Affairs Council -- and European Parliament (EP) members, a parliament member told us. Clarke, who updated the EP panel on civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE) on Council efforts at data retention, left many MEPs fuming over a seeming “take it or leave it” attitude on the Council’s part, the MEP said. But another said refusal to compromise could hurt Parliament’s credibility for years.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the countervailing (CV) duty new shipper review of certain softwood lumber products from Canada for the review period of January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003.

The global effort to set ultrawide broadband (UWB) standards is winding down but it’s unlikely to result in total harmonization, several key players said. The U.S. has completed its work, and Europe and Japan are expected to adopt standards by March. But lingering concerns over interference with other spectrum users -- and the lack of a unified standard -- could slow uptake, experts said.

The global effort to set ultrawide broadband (UWB) standards is winding down but it’s unlikely to result in total harmonization, several key players said. The U.S. has completed its work, and Europe and Japan are expected to adopt standards by March. But lingering concerns over interference with other spectrum users -- and the lack of a unified standard -- could slow uptake, experts said.

The global effort to set ultrawide broadband (UWB) standards is winding down but it’s unlikely to result in total harmonization, several key players said. The U.S. has completed its work, and Europe and Japan are expected to adopt standards by March. But lingering concerns over interference with other spectrum users -- and the lack of a unified standard -- could slow uptake, experts said.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its antidumping (AD) duty changed circumstances review of certain softwood lumber products from Canada.

The PS2 version of Madden NFL 06 from Electronic Arts (EA) was again the top-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Oct. 16. In its 10th week, the SKU earned another $340,000, Rentrak said. EA had 3 other SKUs in the top 10: NBA Live 06 for PS2 at #2 (up one in its 4th week, $300,000), NCAA Football 06 for PS2 at #6 (up one in its 4th week, $200,000) and the Xbox version of Madden at #8 again in its 10th week ($190,000). No new games made the top 10. Activision had 3 SKUs in the top 10: Ultimate Spider-Man for PS2 at #3 (up one, 5th week, $250,000), X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse for PS2 at #7 (up 2, 5th week, $190,00) and the Xbox version of the latter at #10 (up 4, 4th week, $150,000). Midway Games had 2 SKUs in the top 10: The PS2 and Xbox versions of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks at #4 (up one, 5th week, $240,000) and #9 (up one, 5th week, $160,000), respectively. Ubisoft’s Far Cry Instincts for Xbox moved up one to #5 in its 14th week ($230,000)… EA’s The Sims 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack became the best-selling PC game in the U.S. during Sept., its first month available, according to NPD Group data. World of Warcraft from Vivendi Universal Games was again #2 and Atari’s Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 was again #3. EA had 3 other SKUs in the top 10: Battlefield 2 at #4 (down 3 from Aug.), The Sims Deluxe at #7 (up one) and The Sims 2 at #8 (down 2). The only other 2 new games in the top 10 were Sony Online Entertainment’s EverQuest: Depths of Darkhollow Expansion Pack at #9 and THQ’s Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Winter Assault Expansion Pack at #10.

Rent-Way said its 4th-quarter operating income would be below forecasts due to fewer-than-expected rental contracts and hurricane-related costs. The chain said its preliminary 4th-quarter core rental revenue was about $121.6 million, up 5% from a year ago. Shares of Rent- Way, which touched a year low of $6.11 on Wed., fell 2 cents to $6.44 in afternoon trading on the N.Y. Stock Exchange. Rent-Way’s losses for property damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were about $2 million, the chain said. This excludes the effect of insurance recoveries, which the firm pegs at $1.5-$2 million, in coming months, it said. Same-store core rental business revenue rose about 1.4% in the 4th quarter compared with the year-ago quarter.