The Ala. PSC adopted a new price regulation scheme for the state’s telecom carriers that allows more pricing flexibility for the companies that face more competition. This plan replaces a generic one-size-fits-all cap system for ILECs adopted in 1995. It also eases regulation for CLECs that are just starting out in the state and provides a new expanded local calling option for all consumers. For BellSouth, the plan caps basic retail rates at present levels for 2 years, then allows rate changes of up to 5% every 2 years. until it hits statewide caps of $18 per residential line and $40 business. Vertical services can rise up to 5% per year to a cap equal to the highest retail rate in any of the BellSouth home states. Rates for all other services can rise by 5%-15% annually, depending on the level of competition in a market. Other incumbents that are subject to competition will come under the same cap program as BellSouth. Incumbents with exemptions from competition will be under a less-flexible regime that caps all retail rates at present levels for 3 years, then allows basic local rate increases of only 1% per year while other services can rise only 2% per year. But if they give up their exemption and open themselves to competition, they can shift to the more flexible cap system. For all incumbents, the new rules prohibit rate increases in exchanges where service quality is below state standards, and prohibit any rate increases for Lifeline, 911 and certain other public interest services unless costs increase. The adopted final plan provides 2 different classifications for CLECs: Those with more than 5% of the state’s access lines have to have a state certificate and give 10 days notice of price and service changes, 5 days notice of new services and 25 days notice when terminating a service. CLECs with less than 5% of lines and all interexchange service providers must have a state certificate, give the PSC 1 day notice of price and service changes and give customers 7 days notice before putting changes into effect. The new regime prohibits below-cost pricing by any telecom carrier unless it’s matching a competitor’s rate. The PSC also added a provision for comprehensive review of the plan in January 2006, a year after implementation. It also added a new expanded local calling option for all incumbents that allows customers to purchase 1,200 min. of LATA-wide calling for $22 monthly. Telcos can charge less than the $22 cap but not more. This expanded local plan is to be implemented by April.

Telecom Act revision should be legislation of few words and fewer regulations, BellSouth Chmn. Duane Ackerman told an American Enterprise Institute/Brookings Institution forum Tues. If Congress concludes competition between multiple facilities-based networks works better than traditional regulation -- which Ackerman believes it will -- telecom reform “could be dealt with in a very short bill in a matter of months, not years. This is not complicated.” Ackerman emphasized that telecom reform must be simple, to avoid lengthy litigation like that over the Telecom Act of 1996.

Telecom carriers in many states foresee a relatively low-key year as the state legislatures convene for their 2005 sessions starting next month. But they expect Tex., Mich. and Ill. to be hot spots. Carriers said statutory changes the past several years have moved many state telecom issues out of the legislative arena into the regulatory, as previous legislatures gave regulators broader discretion to address deregulation, consumer protection, infrastructure development and other issues.

The Senate sent telecom legislation to President Bush on Wed. evening in a literal 11th-hour vote. By approving HR-5419, the Senate approved 3 legislative measures and ended weeks of political infighting about everything from Congressional Budget Office scoring to appropriators’ authority and boxing regulation. Sources said the White House would sign the act, which includes the spectrum relocation trust fund, E-911 funding and a temporary fix to accounting problems in the E-rate program. The junk fax bill, HR-4600, was the only legislation that had a reasonable chance to pass and didn’t. “The legislation brings needed changes that will promote homeland security and increase wireless broadband opportunities,” FCC Chmn. Powell said.

At our deadline, Congress had taken no action on pending telecom legislation and appeared unlikely to do so. Conflicting stories and behind-the-scenes finger pointing highlighted the debate this week, but congressional and industry sources attributed the collapse of legislation to one central theme: Political infighting and retaliation.

A Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) group trying to develop a consensus position on enhanced 911 (E911) geographic area requirements conceded Mon. that efforts have fallen short. The chmn. of the group said during a NRIC meeting at FCC hq he would ask NRIC to ask the FCC for another 60 days to try to reach a compromise.

A coalition of leading universities, hardware makers and local emergency districts is developing a new generation of Internet-based 911 technologies and standards. The I-911 initiative is a 2-year, $1.2 million project that will investigate open-standard VoIP location approaches as well as IM and on-scene video. The project is funded in part by the NTIA and coordinated by the Internet 2 Consortium.

A cellphone survey by the N.D. PSC shows 305,504 cell phone subscribers in the state, out of a total population of 634,000. That translates to about 48% of the population carrying cellphones. The study, based on data collected by the county auditors who collect cellphone 911 fees, also showed rural areas have some of the highest penetration rates. Rural Foster County, population 3,760, had 2,604 cellphone subscribers, or 69% of the population. Fargo/Cass County, the state’s most populous area at 123,000, had 84,682 subscribers, also 69% of the population. Comr. Tony Clark noted that rural areas came in with very high percentages of cellphone users, which might influence where cellphone companies choose to locate additional towers. The survey results were sent to the cellphone companies to help them with their network planning.

The VoIP industry has made significant progress on 911 in the past year, the VON Coalition said Wed. Celebrating the first anniversary of the original 911 agreement with NENA (CD Dec 2'03 p1), the Coalition released a survey saying all the respondents that offer residential VoIP service also offer 911 service that allows a caller to connect to an emergency answering center. The survey covers 14 VoIP providers that either signed the original VON-NENA agreement or are VON Coalition members. It found that 60% offer E911 access with automatic call-back number and location information to emergency call centers similar to traditional wireline service. It said 30% expected to offer this service within a year, and 10% to roll out new services as the next generation I2 service is developed. “In just a year, the VoIP industry is stepping forward, making great progress and providing 911 solutions compatible with traditional E911 functionality -- a level of functionality that took the wireless industry more than a decade to begin offering,” said NENA Dir.-Operations Issues Rick Jones. He said NENA looked forward to “continuing to work collaboratively with the VoIP community in the weeks ahead to find additional steps we can take together in order to ensure continued progress on delivering E911 for VoIP.” The study also found: (1) 56% of VoIP companies allow call routing to the 10 digit number for the PSAP, and several companies provide both a 10 digit solution for nomadic users and an E911 service for fixed users. (2) 63% provide 911 as a standard feature with their service. (3) 75% of those that signed the agreement with NENA collect and remit state and local 911 fees for VoIP customers, and 25% indicate they will when they gain access to incumbent trunking and other databases. (4) All will adopt more-advanced 911 solutions within a year after standards and solutions are developed; 63% expected to do so immediately, 38 in 6-12 months. (5) All inform customers about the level of 911 service provided and 75% also inform the emergency response centers about their approach to 911 service. (6) More than 1,000 calls to 911 have been delivered to emergency personnel since Dec. 1, 2003, when the agreement was signed. (7) All believe that when fully implemented, IP-based 911 solutions can be more robust than the solutions provided by the current network.

Another obstacle has emerged for the beleaguered spectrum trust fund legislation. Senate and industry sources told us that Senate Appropriations Committee ranking Democrat Byrd (D-W.Va.) has placed a hold on the bill, which has now been paired with E-911 and universal service fund (USF) legislation (HR-5419). Sources said Byrd’s hold is due to the same concerns that appropriators always had over the bill: The usurping of Appropriations Committee jurisdiction. The bill, which seeks to reimburse Defense Dept. and other govt. users for portions of the 3G spectrum they now occupy, would essentially appropriate money from spectrum auctions in advance. House appropriators had similar concerns over HR-1320, the original spectrum trust fund bill, that were eventually resolved before the House passed the bill in 2003. That bill is now part of HR-5419, a catch-all bill passed by the House 2 weeks ago, and includes state funding for E- 911 deployment and an exemption from Anti-Deficiency Act requirements on USF. The Senate Commerce Committee has passed spectrum trust fund legislation, but it never moved to the Senate floor. During deliberations on the bill, Senate Appropriations Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said he had concerns that the bill would usurp appropriators authority. But sources said Byrd’s hold wasn’t the main obstacle for HR-5419. Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) is also holding up the legislation because House leadership won’t take up his measure to establish a national boxing commission. One industry source said differences with Byrd, which were based on substance, are likely to be easier to resolve than the differences between McCain and House leadership, which sources said appear to be political.