LA QUINTA, California -- The Vermont Public Service Board will soon rule on state authority over VoIP services, PSB member Sarah Hofmann said on a panel at the NARUC annual conference. The ruling would come more than three years after a state court ordered the regulator to decide the classification of fixed VoIP as either a telecom or information service. While the telecom industry has argued that states may not regulate IP services, telecom consultant Earl Comstock -- formerly CEO of CompTel (now Incompas) -- said states wanting to regulate them need only assert themselves with fact-based determinations.

LA QUINTA, California -- The Vermont Public Service Board will soon rule on state authority over VoIP services, PSB member Sarah Hofmann said on a panel at the NARUC annual conference. The ruling would come more than three years after a state court ordered the regulator to decide the classification of fixed VoIP as either a telecom or information service. While the telecom industry has argued that states may not regulate IP services, telecom consultant Earl Comstock -- formerly CEO of CompTel (now Incompas) -- said states wanting to regulate them need only assert themselves with fact-based determinations.

Incompas said the FCC should impose wholesale conditions on Verizon buying XO to mitigate harms the group alleges would result from the proposed transaction. "The Commission should require that the combined company extend for up to seven years the terms of wholesale contracts pursuant to which XO is a seller and the terms for individual circuits that wholesale customers purchase from XO," said an Incompas filing posted Monday in docket 16-70. "The Commission should also prohibit Verizon from increasing for seven years the wholesale rates that XO currently charges customers for services provided pursuant to existing XO contracts or individual circuit arrangements, which generally are substantially lower than the wholesale rates that Verizon charges." The agency should also "prevent Verizon from using its increased market power to stifle competition in the provision of business services at bandwidths below 50 Mbps by imposing penalties on competitors that engage in pro-consumer technology transitions," Incompas said. "Verizon continues to assess shortfall liability for TDM services, even when a wholesale customer is replacing those services with purchases of Ethernet services that more than cover the shortfall, and even when the TDM tariff option includes circuit portability such that the wholesale purchaser’s spend is not tied to a specific end-user location." The group proposed Verizon/XO conditions to guarantee wholesale access to "unbundled DS1 and DS3 capacity loops" at discounted rates regardless of IP transition plans, ensure "special construction" charges are subject to the proposed conditions, and prohibit the combined company from changing "Ethernet over Copper" service terms and conditions and altering their geographic coverage for seven years, except in some specified cases. Verizon emailed in response: “The record contains a great deal of uncontested information documenting the benefits of this transaction -- including to our deployment of 5G. We don’t believe the requested conditions are warranted and we look forward to continuing to work with staff to conclude the proceeding.” Monday was Day 168 of the FCC's nonbinding 180-day review clock for the transaction.

Incompas said the FCC should impose wholesale conditions on Verizon buying XO to mitigate harms the group alleges would result from the proposed transaction. "The Commission should require that the combined company extend for up to seven years the terms of wholesale contracts pursuant to which XO is a seller and the terms for individual circuits that wholesale customers purchase from XO," said an Incompas filing posted Monday in docket 16-70. "The Commission should also prohibit Verizon from increasing for seven years the wholesale rates that XO currently charges customers for services provided pursuant to existing XO contracts or individual circuit arrangements, which generally are substantially lower than the wholesale rates that Verizon charges." The agency should also "prevent Verizon from using its increased market power to stifle competition in the provision of business services at bandwidths below 50 Mbps by imposing penalties on competitors that engage in pro-consumer technology transitions," Incompas said. "Verizon continues to assess shortfall liability for TDM services, even when a wholesale customer is replacing those services with purchases of Ethernet services that more than cover the shortfall, and even when the TDM tariff option includes circuit portability such that the wholesale purchaser’s spend is not tied to a specific end-user location." The group proposed Verizon/XO conditions to guarantee wholesale access to "unbundled DS1 and DS3 capacity loops" at discounted rates regardless of IP transition plans, ensure "special construction" charges are subject to the proposed conditions, and prohibit the combined company from changing "Ethernet over Copper" service terms and conditions and altering their geographic coverage for seven years, except in some specified cases. Verizon emailed in response: “The record contains a great deal of uncontested information documenting the benefits of this transaction -- including to our deployment of 5G. We don’t believe the requested conditions are warranted and we look forward to continuing to work with staff to conclude the proceeding.” Monday was Day 168 of the FCC's nonbinding 180-day review clock for the transaction.

Incumbent telcos, their rivals and others flooded the FCC with competing arguments regarding possible business data service regulation, in last-minute filings posted Monday and last week in dockets 16-143 and 05-25 as lobbying restrictions took hold a week ahead of a planned BDS vote at Thursday's commissioners' meeting. ILECs pressed the FCC to scale back proposed price-cap regulation of legacy TDM-based DS1 and DS3 (below 50 Mbps data speeds), including interoffice transport (see 1611080032).

Incumbent telcos, their rivals and others flooded the FCC with competing arguments regarding possible business data service regulation, in last-minute filings posted Monday and last week in dockets 16-143 and 05-25 as lobbying restrictions took hold a week ahead of a planned BDS vote at Thursday's commissioners' meeting. ILECs pressed the FCC to scale back proposed price-cap regulation of legacy TDM-based DS1 and DS3 (below 50 Mbps data speeds), including interoffice transport (see 1611080032).

The future of the FCC draft set-top plan is seen as bound up in the questions of how long Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel will remain in their seats, industry officials on both sides of the set-top issue told us. In the wake of Republican Donald Trump's win of the White House Tuesday, no one is sure what the answers to those questions are, many stakeholders agree. Rosenworcel has been seen as the swing vote on Wheeler's set-top plan (see 1611030055) since it was pulled from the September commissioner meeting (see 1609290076). The question of her reconfirmation during the lame-duck Congress and the amount of time Wheeler has left to convince her to vote for his plan are seen important factors in the fate of the item.

The future of the FCC draft set-top plan is seen as bound up in the questions of how long Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel will remain in their seats, industry officials on both sides of the set-top issue told us. In the wake of Republican Donald Trump's win of the White House Tuesday, no one is sure what the answers to those questions are, many stakeholders agree. Rosenworcel has been seen as the swing vote on Wheeler's set-top plan (see 1611030055) since it was pulled from the September commissioner meeting (see 1609290076). The question of her reconfirmation during the lame-duck Congress and the amount of time Wheeler has left to convince her to vote for his plan are seen important factors in the fate of the item.

Industry players look forward to working with the incoming administration and lawmakers on policies to encourage broadband investment and communications sector innovation, even after some criticized Donald Trump before he became president-elect (see 1611090038). Associations, lobbyists and others in telecom said Wednesday that they would work with the new administration regardless of political disagreements.

Industry players look forward to working with the incoming administration and lawmakers on policies to encourage broadband investment and communications sector innovation, even after some criticized Donald Trump before he became president-elect (see 1611090038). Associations, lobbyists and others in telecom said Wednesday that they would work with the new administration regardless of political disagreements.