Speakers strongly disagreed over whether the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires a rewrite or, as some preferred to say, an update. Representatives from the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute and Computer & Communications Industry disputed the idea that any real overhaul is necessary, while an analyst from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation insisted a full rewrite is warranted.
Speakers strongly disagreed over whether the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires a rewrite or, as some preferred to say, an update. Representatives from the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute and Computer & Communications Industry disputed the idea that any real overhaul is necessary, while an analyst from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation insisted a full rewrite is warranted.
USTelecom petitioned the FCC to give ILECs a break on various legacy rules so they can concentrate on the buildout of fiber and modern communications networks. The Monday petition has a list of rules for which it seeks commission forbearance.
USTelecom petitioned the FCC to give ILECs a break on various legacy rules so they can concentrate on the buildout of fiber and modern communications networks. The Monday petition has a list of rules for which it seeks commission forbearance.
An FCC order on circulation would generically ask the agency’s Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service to examine changes to USF contribution methodology without recommending how the group should proceed, said agency and industry officials in interviews this week.
An FCC order on circulation would generically ask the agency’s Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service to examine changes to USF contribution methodology without recommending how the group should proceed, said agency and industry officials in interviews this week.
The FCC must address the overall spending of the USF, not use “savings” from universal service reform to expand other USF programs, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said Friday in remarks to the commission’s Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC). O'Rielly said he wanted to lay down this marker as the agency takes up Lifeline reform. He also suggested that at least one of the CAC members should come from a group representing taxpayers.
NARUC planned Friday to comment on the FCC net neutrality NPRM, adding to the more than 1 million comments already filed on the NPRM. (See separate report in this issue.) NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay told us Friday he was still writing the group’s comments but said he anticipated they would “undoubtedly quote” a net neutrality resolution NARUC’s board passed Wednesday at its meeting in Dallas (WID July 17 p13).
NARUC planned Friday to comment on the FCC net neutrality NPRM, adding to the more than 1 million comments already filed on the NPRM. (See separate report in this issue.) NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay told us Friday he was still writing the group’s comments but said he anticipated they would “undoubtedly quote” a net neutrality resolution NARUC’s board passed Wednesday at its meeting in Dallas (CD July 17 p17).
For all the last-minute negotiations, partisan bickering and congressional pressure involved in Friday’s FCC E-rate modernization order (CD July 14 p1) -- not to mention the sweep of bringing Wi-Fi connections to millions of schoolchildren nationally -- several major issues facing the program were left on the table, advocates involved in the debate told us. “This was a tough sell, but the next set of deliberations will be even harder,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former West Virginia Democratic governor, who supported FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal. “There will be an incredible amount of debate."