Deregulation advocates in Wisconsin are pushing to update state telecom laws even before the new state legislature and governor take office in January. Groups like Wisconsin Technology Council and Wired Wisconsin cited recently updated telecom laws in other Midwestern states, saying modernizing the law would create or retain 50,000 jobs, in addition to having a $2.6 billion economic impact.

An NTIA report on contraband cellphones in prisons said cell signal jamming, which is strongly opposed by wireless carriers, presents many problems and, in the case of state or local prison officials, would be a violation of the Communications Act. The report said managed access technologies “hold promise as a solution.” Cellphone detection also may offer a solution, the report said. NTIA took comments, conducted tests at its lab in Boulder, Colo., and participated in a field test at a prison in Cumberland, Md., in preparing the study.

Verizon Wireless used Alltel’s license to obtain high-cost Universal Service Fund support without getting permission from state regulators, U.S. Cellular, Allied Wireless, Commnet Wireless, and Viaero Wireless said in an ex parte filing published Tuesday. The wireless companies said “the core issue is whether Verizon Wireless was ever properly designated by state authorities” and that using Alltel’s high-cost support caused “ongoing harm … by driving up statewide support levels, causing steep reductions under the cap.” The high-cost issue involves tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, in USF support, one industry official said.

A group of small wireless carriers asked the FCC to reject a TracFone petition seeking new rules for eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) under the Link-Up program. The Competitive ETC coalition accused TracFone of seeking a competitive advantage. TracFone, which provides pre-paid wireless service, asked the FCC for a ruling that ETCs may not receive support for providing Link-Up benefits unless they routinely charge customers for commencing service, and may not expand services they offer under the program to wireless service without obtaining approval from the proper authority.

The amount of regulatory activity at the FCC and the convergence of telecom and energy could mean a busier 2011 than 2010 in telecom for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, said Tony Clark, the group’s recently elected president, in an interview. He forecast progress in revamping the Universal Service Fund and the Intercarrier Compensation regime. Meanwhile, smart grid will be a significant issue for state commissioners next year, said the North Dakota Public Service Commissioner.

As cable operators look to expand their business services efforts by pursuing larger commercial customers with up to 250 employees, they need to prepare themselves for a market vastly different than the one most of them have been used to, according to industry experts. Operators have had considerable success in reaching smaller businesses (CD Dec 28 p3).

The FCC’s new net neutrality rules are largely a non-issue for many satellite companies, said industry executives. Although some of the same issues affect satellite networks as impact terrestrial services, including limited spectrum and network management, most satellite companies don’t expect to discriminate among content based on its source, they said. While satellite broadband companies had some initial concerns over universal service fund implications of a Title II net neutrality push, which never came, they're largely unaffected as well (CD Dec 17 p5).

Negotiations among commissioner offices on the Comcast-NBC Universal order are unlikely to get started in earnest until next week, FCC sources said Monday. Advisers to the commissioners, many of whom are taking this week off, will likely use the next few days to start to delve into the main details of the order, which was circulated Thursday, but which runs several hundred pages, officials said.

The record shows a growing threat to the Internet if the FCC failed to impose net neutrality rules, according to the text of the order, which the commission released late last week. The FCC approved the order Dec. 21, over the strong dissents of Commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker (CD Dec 22 p1), who questioned whether the Internet is at risk. In a series of footnotes, the order rebuts arguments made by the two Republicans in their dissents.

Thanks to impressive gains by the nation’s leading MSOs, the U.S. cable industry stands poised to produce at least $5 billion in commercial services revenue in 2010, up about 25 percent from approximately $4 billion in 2009.