N.H. PUC concluded it acted incorrectly last month when it reduced Verizon’s proposed rates for busy line verification and interrupt services without giving carrier opportunity to justify rate proposal. PUC in Doc. 01-008 had cut busy verification rate to $1.85 from proposed $2.50 and busy interrupt rate to $2.40 from proposed $5, based on staff recommendations. Both services currently are free. PUC also had added requirement that operators notify customers for indefinite period that fee would be charged for busy line services. Verizon protested action was improper without hearing and that PUC should have rejected or suspended tariff change proposal. On reconsideration, PUC agreed Verizon should have been given chance to present case for its proposed rates. Carrier has until April 26 to produce cost support for its original rate proposal and justification for limiting operator notice period.
Country of origin cases
Alcatel lawsuit against Loral for allegedly violating its contract by negotiating sale and improperly passing “confidential information” to rival Lockheed Martin (LM) may be decided by international arbitrator if 2 sides can’t resolve their differences, officials said. Complaint alleges Loral has “ignored contractual rights” of Alcatel, withheld information from Alcatel about Loral operations and held negotiations with 3rd parties such as LM. Suit is first public claim that Loral is negotiating with LM, though Loral CEO Bernard Schwartz in March 31 news conference at Satellite 2001 had mentioned sale or merger was possible (CD April 4 p4). Official close to LM expressed skepticism about Lockheed-Loral deal, saying: “You have to consider the source.”
Asia Cellular will receive $101.5 million settlement from insurance company, in claim for anomaly that caused disruption of power and service on Garuda 2 satellite. Problems with satellite antenna had caused Garadu 1 to operate below its original design capacity, but company said problems won’t hurt business. Payment on claim is expected to be completed by mid-May.
International Licenses was awarded assets of bankrupt Orbcomm for $13 million by U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Wilmington, Del., after Advanced Communications Technology (ACT) was unable to close $14.25 million deal, Orbcomm said. It didn’t say why deal with ACT didn’t go through. Company also held talks with EchoStar and Final Analysis after deal with ACT collapsed, Orbcomm CEO Scott Webster said. “International Licenses had the best deal,” he said. Court originally awarded ACT assets in March auction. Orbcomm had filed for bankruptcy after being unable to pay down $170 million debt. Former Orbcomm parent Orbital Sciences will own undisclosed minority stake under new ownership. Teleglobe, which had been majority shareholder, no longer will have interest in company, Orbcomm said. Orbcomm CEO Scott Webster said company would maintain offices near Washington’s Dulles Airport and continue to operate under same name. Investors in new company include at least 2 investment firms and Orbcomm service providers in Europe and Asia. Further details on transaction will be disclosed after deal closes, Webster said.
Successful DTV reception depends more on received signal strength than on modulation scheme or receiver quality, according to in-depth report by Advanced TV Systems Committee (ATSC) Task Force on RF Performance. Report suggests that perceived DTV problems may be result of inflated expectations, that broadcasters shouldn’t count on receiver improvements to solve any problems and that signal improvements, such as use of on-channel receivers, could provide big reception improvements.
Responding to congressional directive, FAA will call 2-day meeting April 25-26 at its Washington hq to get public comments on insurance requirements for commercial space launch and reentry activities. Meeting will be open to public and will allow agency to “explore the different issues,” including whether govt. should continue to insure launches against failures beyond required insurance, said Esta Rosenberg, FAA attorney. In addition to regular commercial launch insurance, govt. provides umbrella policy to cover “catastrophic failure” of communications or other satellite that causes more than $500 million damage, including to facilities on ground, said Clayton Mowry, exec. dir-Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA). Maximum govt. liability is $1.5 billion.
Regulatory authority over unwanted e-mails on wireless devices appears to be murky, with industry groups and consumer advocates questioning whether FTC or FCC potentially have mandate in that area and agencies themselves saying they don’t. Lack of clarity on regulatory purview is expected to drive at least some attention in Congress this year on wireless spam. While spamming incident involving short message service (SMS) on as many as 170,000 mobile phones in Phoenix has drawn widespread attention in recent weeks, analysts and industry representatives said problem still was rare in industry searching for broader consumer use of wireless Internet applications.
Panel of U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., judges seemed to have mixed views after hearing arguments Fri. about legality of FCC rule that exempts certain advanced services from Telecom Act requirement that ILECs must offer resale discounts to CLECs. Association of Communications Enterprises (ASCENT), representing CLECs, asked court to review decision by FCC last year that said ILECs didn’t have to offer discounts if CLECs planned to resell those advanced services to ISPs for use as part of ISPs’ service offerings.
Interagency task force led by Justice Dept. April 15 will publish final revised standards on federal appraisal of public lands, action that telecom and energy interests said could increase cost of using rights-of-way (ROW). They said such action also would violate restrictions last year set in 2001 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. Edison Electric Institute (EEI) spokesman said task force, known as Interagency Land Acquisition Conference, was attempting to slip under Congressional radar by publishing revised govt. land appraisal desk guide, rather than formal regulations, enabling federal appraisers to assess inflated costs on companies seeking to deploy fiber and other utility infrastructure on public land.
FCC Cable Bureau extended deadline for filing reply comments in Commission’s interactive TV inquiry. Instead of original April 20 deadline, new date is May 11. Cable Bureau acted after receiving petition for extension from consumer groups.