Minn. PUC hearing officer recommended Qwest be punished for violating Sec. 251 and 252 of federal Telecom Act because of what he called its “knowing and intentional” failure to file 25 local agreements or contract amendments it made with CLECs. Administrative Law Judge Allan Klein’s recommendation said penalties would be in order because Qwest had offered special deals to favored few partly to quell dissent at hearings on its request for PUC support of its Sec. 271 long distance entry bid. He suggested PUC had opportunity to be “creative in fashioning a remedy” that could be tied to Qwest’s Sec. 271 petition. Klein didn’t suggest specific penalties. PUC could fine Qwest up to $10,000 per violation per day and impose nonfinancial conditions to close case. ALJ said unfiled agreements or amendments affected compensation, service quality and other terms and conditions for interconnection, UNEs, resale, rights-of-way, numbering. Minn. Dept. of Commerce, which filed original complaint alleging secret Qwest-CLEC deals in Feb., said ALJ’s recommendation “captured Qwest’s lack of respect for the regulatory process” and reflected economic harm to competition because of unfiled deals. State Commerce Dept. said it would ask for maximum financial penalty, which would reach $50 million, plus nonfinancial remedies that could include functional or structural separation of carrier’s wholesale operation. Qwest said ALJ’s recommendation was wrong and should be rejected by PUC. It said filing obligations are “unsettled area of federal law” that ultimately must be decided by FCC, not state ALJ. Carrier also faulted process, saying author of key testimony against it didn’t appear at ALJ hearings and therefore couldn’t be cross-examined. ALJ’s recommendation isn’t final word on matter. Parties over next 3 weeks will file exceptions to recommendations, with PUC tentatively planning Oct. 24 vote on case. If PUC voted to convict, it likely would set separate proceeding to fix penalty. AT&T, which has complaints pending in other Qwest states alleging secret Qwest deals with CLECs, said it hoped Minn. ALJ’s recommendation would spur other states to scrutinize situation more carefully.
Yahoo Games on Demand service was introduced Mon., offering subscribers ability to rent and play PC games from major publishers including Activision, Eidos Interactive, Infogrames, Take-Two Interactive. Streaming service was unveiled by Yahoo as Commerce Dept. issued report saying “demand for broadband is robust” but “supply currently exceeds demand (in all but the most rural markets).” Report said online gaming “promises to drive demand for broadband” over next 3 years, at least in part via introduction of broadband-based game consoles such as Microsoft’s Xbox.
Telework from home is most significant driver for consumer broadband, new Commerce Dept. (DoC) Technology Administration (TA) report on broadband demand said. Online game-playing and music also show promise for demand, said report titled Understanding Broadband Demand. It said health and education applications also could spur demand for broadband because high speeds are essential for many of those applications. Report said demand for broadband was “robust” and twice said: “For broadband, the sky is the limit and it is not falling yet.” While lack of demand and price often are cited as major barriers to consumer adoption of high- speed Internet access, it said concerns about convenience and confidence also played role. “Stories of dissatisfaction with service providers are legion, with some complaining that companies make you wait at home all day or require multiple trips to install the technology effectively,” report said. It cited study that showed 51% of broadband users said they had encountered problems with service and support and 90% said they didn’t have enough confidence to purchase additional services. Concerns about privacy and security, and problems with spam (especially pornographic spam) also were curtailing consumer broadband adoption, it said. Business broadband users share same concerns over cost, convenience and ease of use, report said, with many businesses failing to see a return on such investment. Market forces are more likely than govt. action to accelerate broadband demand, report said, but govt. can take steps to “create an environment that supports innovation and demand in broadband markets.” Those steps include: (1) Supporting business investment in broadband equipment through actions such as creating favorable depreciation schedules. (2) Supporting R&D through vehicles such as tax credits. (3) Using e-govt. to help create compelling content. (4) Protecting intellectual property, which could help increase the pace with which movies and music moved online. (5) Opposing taxation of new content and services. (6) Promoting consumer confidence and cybersecurity. (7) Promoting efficient management of radio spectrum to create wireless technologies that could deliver broadband. Report also said state and local govts. should “consider bandwidth” when addressing rights-of-way, taxes, zoning, franchise agreements and other actions. Positively Broadband campaign said it agreed with report that speed was not enough to attract customers. “The public needs to see the right combination of price, performance and useful new applications in order to embrace this technology,” the Positively Broadband campaign said. The growth of online gaming could help increase demand, report said. It cited Aug. research by the analysis group Datamonitor forecasting online game market would grow to $2.9 billion in 2005 from $670 million in 2002. Report also said Nielsen NetRatings had found that online gaming sites attracted more than 28 million visitors in U.S. in April and said “new broadband-based gaming consoles such as the Xbox are certain to increase consumer demand for higher speeds.” Meanwhile, it said “at least one analyst points to online gaming as one of the greatest contributors to Korea’s broadband leadership. Even more compelling for consumers would be movies, music and games delivered online -- entertainment on demand or interactive media.”
Cal. PUC’s controversial decision to support SBC/Pacific Bell interLATA long distance entry contains seeds of what could blossom into federal-state legal conflict over whether FCC Sec. 271 long distance approval for interstate service automatically confers approval for intrastate long distance service as well. PUC’s 4-1 vote for Sec. 271 support (CD Sept 20 p3) also marked first time in recent history that compliance with certain 271 checklist points was in doubt because parties weren’t certain what compliance requirements were.
Senate Commerce Committee approved granting FTC jurisdiction over common carriers, though measure was greeted with some scepticism from Republican senators who said it isn’t likely to pass full Senate. FTC official told us agency doesn’t anticipate House addressing issue this term, but said agency is pleased it moved this far in Senate because it bolsters common carrier case for next term.
STANFORD, Cal. -- While acknowledging that releasing White House cybersecurity report in draft form Wed. (CD Sept 18 p1) was “unprecedented,” White House Cybersecurity Czar Richard Clarke defended its lack of conclusions by telling high-tech audience here that now “everyone in the country can tell us what they think it [the nation’s cybersecurity strategy] should be.” More than 200 pages were excised from earlier drafts of National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace as it circulated among hundreds of companies and trade associations in recent weeks. That approach to plan’s formation reflected Clarke’s oft-stated point that nearly 90% of nation’s critical infrastructure was held by private sector, but it also reflected Administration position that cybersecurity was not area in need of immediate regulation.
NTIA plans to develop guidelines outlining how federal govt.’s Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) process works, including general time frames in which coordination applications are taken up, NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory said in interview. More broadly, Victory said that after more than year at helm of NTIA, spectrum management still remains her biggest priority, with 700 MHz likely looming as next biggest challenge now that federal govt. has taken first cut at allocating additional spectrum for 3G.
Telecom industry is generally pleased with existing framework set out by 1998 Basic Telecom Agreement negotiated after World Trade Organization (WTO) Uruguay Round, said Scott Shefferman, WorldCom assoc. counsel-international regulatory affairs. However, only some 80 of 144 WTO members have made commitments to open their markets to voice/data and long distance services and to ensure access to underlying telecom facilities other providers needed, he said at Services 2002 conference on WTO negotiations in services. Conference was sponsored by Dept. of Commerce, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and Coalition of Service Industries. Coming out of upcoming talks in Doha, Qatar, Shefferman said, his industry would like to see full market access and national treatment commitments from all WTO members. Audiovisual services industry’s goal for Doha Round is to secure open market commitments, not necessarily liberalization of those markets, said Bonnie Richardson, MPAA vp-trade & federal affairs. Virtually every country trades in audiovisual goods and services, she said, and many have imposed measures to boost their domestic production. Some of those rules don’t have “trade-distorting” effects, Richardson said. Even if they do, she said, audiovisual sector is willing to tolerate “psychological crutches” in order to convince other countries that trade commitments won’t hurt their local cultures. It’s “crucially important” that countries commit to open markets for e-commerce at next round of WTO talks in Doha, AOL Time Warner Vp-International Public Policy Laura Lane said. Despite ups and downs of stock market and high-tech businesses, “e-commerce is alive and well” and nations that have embraced open markets are experiencing tremendous growth, Lane said.
Cost-sharing proposals on international Internet connections, ICANN administration, structure of ITU and role of private sector are among issues that ITU Plenipotentiary Conference is expected to wrestle with later this month. Plenipot, Sept. 23-Oct. 18 in Marrakesh, is held every 4 years and is billed by ITU as “key event at which ITU member states decide on the future role” of organization.
Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) submitted to FCC analysis of impact of deployment of radio local area networks (RLANs) at 5 GHz, concluding that sharing between RLANs operating in mobile service and radars in radiolocation service was “feasible.” In 5150-5350 MHz and 5470-5725 MHz, “worldwide spectrum allocation for mobile service designated for use by RLAN devices should be supported,” WECA said. Spectrum at 5 GHz for wireless LANs has received close scrutiny as part of World Radio Conference (WRC) 2003 planning. NTIA has raised interference concerns, questioning maturity of studies on dynamic frequency allocation systems that could be used to support global harmonization of wireless LAN operations in this band. Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Hollings (D-S.C.) recently urged FCC, NTIA and Defense Dept. to craft U.S. stance for WRC that would consider international allocation of entire 465 MHz at 5 GHz for use by unlicensed broadband networks. Parts of band now in U.S. are allocated for both military and unlicensed broadband commercial uses, including DoD radars. WECA interference model examined sharing between RLAN devices and meteorological, radiolocation and aeronautical radionavigation radars at 5250-5725 MHz. WECA also provided interference analysis of sharing between RLANs and radars in band. “WECA believes that the interference model and the interference analysis are a critical advance supporting deployment of RLANs at 5 GHz,” group said in Sept. 3 filing. “For the first time, the industry has prepared a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the deployment of RLANs on a full range of government systems at 5 GHz.” WECA said that for most radar scenarios that were evaluated, predicted signal from future, high density population of RLAN devices is “found to be below receiver noise.” Draft U.S. proposal for WRC would provide that wireless LAN stations at 5150-5350 MHz and 5470-5725 MHz not cause harmful interference to other stations with primary allocations. Globalstar and ICO Global Communications have expressed concerns about possible primary allocation for these systems. Paper submitted by WECA examined sharing among airborne, maritime and ground-based radars and indoor and outdoor wireless LAN use. WECA analysis concluded that “potential interference levels caused by radar systems and seen by RLAN devices is, in the case of high-powered, high-gain radar systems orders of magnitude larger than the potential interference caused by RLANs and seen by radars.” WECA has separate petition pending at FCC for additional unlicensed spectrum at 5470-5725 MHz.