The FCC’s decision on Pulver.com petition “doesn’t mean the Commission has made its mind up on the questions raised in the NPRM” opened last week (CD Feb 13 p1), FCC Chief of Policy Development Robert Pepper told reporters at a briefing Wed.: “I wouldn’t read to much into this. It doesn’t address many issues, such as 911 and CALEA -- that’s why the Commission has an NPRM… In Pulver.com, the Commission confirmed what was true for 20 years. It was a first easy decision.” The petition, granted by the Commission earlier this month (CD Feb 13 p1), had asked the FCC to rule that IP- to-IP service provided by Pulver.com was neither telecom nor telecom service. Wireline Bureau Senior Deputy Chief Jeff Carlisle said the Pulver decision was “useful in terms of setting up a flag -- okay here is an easy case, but the NPRM will address more complicated issues.” Pepper told us there were “some general principles in Pulver decision that speak to the question of why [and] how is Pulver’s service defined as an information service.” He said the principles the FCC used to define whether Pulver.com was an information service “could be applied in other cases, but not necessarily, because each petition is very fact-specific and will be evaluated separately and on its own merits… I can envision lots of things that would fit into information service definition based upon the principles that have been clearly articulated.” Pepper -- also co-chmn. of the FCC Internet Policy Working Group created by FCC Chmn. Powell last Dec. to address policy issues related to IP-based services -- said his group would hold a series of “solutions summits” in spring on 911/E911, CALEA and access for people with disabilities issues. The first meeting on 911/E911 is scheduled for March 18. Pepper encouraged the industry to address technical aspects of issues such as 911 and CALE, and come up with standards: “The industry has an enormous technical expertise and it’s not the same but it’s analogous to the standards setting process.” As an example, he cited an MOU between the VON Coalition and NENA on 911 solutions announced last Dec.: “So, it’s already an industry-led process. It would be wonderful if [the industry] would come together with a proposal that they can submit… and we could then open a proceeding based on what they come up with.” Pepper said his working group hadn’t developed any possible solutions since it was created in Dec. to address social policy issues: “What we want to do is hear from the industry… about defining what the issues are, setting up an agenda of questions that need to be resolved, and then ask the industry about what the best ways are to solve those. So, we are still in the stage of defining specifically those questions.”

The FCC proposed to require wireless, wireline, cable and satellite telecom providers to report information electronically to the Commission about “significant” disruptions to their communications systems. The proposal, adopted at the FCC meeting Thurs., for the first time would make wireless and satellite providers subject to the Commission’s reporting requirements. Currently, only wireline and cable telephony communications providers must report outages.

The first FCC “Solutions Summit,” March 18, will focus on 911 and E-911 issues “associated with Internet-based communications services, the agency said. The FCC’s Internet Policy Working Group (IPWG) will host the summit, which will discuss the challenges for emergency services in expanding emergency services access to VoIP users and increase the use of IP technologies in emergency services networks. IPWG didn’t release information on summit participants. The event will begin 2 p.m. at FCC hq.

Taking its first step into the murky issue of how to treat IP services for regulatory purposes, the FCC ruled Thurs. that an IP-based service offered by Pulver.com was a generally unregulated information service subject to federal jurisdiction. FCC commissioners and staff said the Pulver decision was a start in providing regulatory clarity for IP- based services.

FCC opted to retain existing emission limits as it proposed changes Thurs. in its Part 15 rules to foster broadband over power line (BPL) deployment. The nascent BPL industry welcomed the Commission’s proposals as a step toward lending regulatory certainty for investment and rapid deployment. While Chmn. Powell and 3 other commissioners expressed hope the proposed changes would balance the benefits of broadband deployment with the need to protect against harmful interference, Comr. Copps dissented in part for its failure to deal with policy issues.

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) offered policymakers a “blueprint” for assessing regulatory treatment of VoIP technology. ITI released a set of principles that encouraged policymakers to: (1) Establish a national policy because “the regulatory certainty necessary to attract investment and expand VoIP usage can best be achieved through a single national policy.” (2) Limit regulatory burdens and not “arbitrarily apply legacy regulations.” (3) Ensure realization of “public interest objectives” such as universal service, 911, disability access and law enforcement intercept ability. (4) Retain consumer protections against deceptive advertising. (5) Recognize variations among VoIP services when deciding “the appropriate level of oversight and regulation.” (6) Encourage consistent international guidelines. The council said those principles could foster technological innovation and stimulate broadband demand.

Qwest in Ore. and BellSouth in Ala. had opposite results from backup systems designed to keep phone service running in case of mishaps. In Qwest’s case, a flooding river south of Oregon City, Ore., over the weekend exposed a portion of a fiber backbone cable buried in the riverbank and debris washing downstream severed the cable. The cable was part of a “self-healing” fiber ring that Qwest had spent millions to install in the region. Qwest said the ring worked as intended, instantly rerouting to alternate pathways the voice and data traffic of the 250,000 customers in the affected area. It said no one lost service and calls in progress continued without interruption. Meanwhile, BellSouth said the cause of a baffling call misrouting problem that affected customers in the Huntsville metro area in northern Ala. Mon. was traced to a faulty switch data card in a Huntsville wire center, and a backup system that also failed. The intermittent glitch affected both landline and wireless calls. Users would dial a number and immediately be disconnected, in some cases getting a dial tone again. Businesses reported problems processing credit or debit card transactions, and some had to close. The problem also affected 911 centers in the area. BellSouth said the switch’s internal trouble-checking system caught the bad card and activated a backup, but the backup card also failed. BS said it was seeking the cause of the double failure. Service was normal by Tues.

Cable and telecom executives said VoIP had the potential to displace the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) as it operated today. Speaking at a Precursor Group investors conference Tues., Vonage CFO John Rego said he believed VoIP would completely replace PSTN within 20 years. No one on the panel disagreed with his assessment. Verizon Pres.-Network Services Paul Lacouture said he believed traditional circuit switches would be traded out and replaced over the next 2 decades. Consumers already are beginning to make their phone calls over VoIP, but they “just don’t know it” because the technology is invisible to them, he said.

Covad said it would offer VoIP services to business and residential consumers in most top metropolitan areas by the 4th quarter. It said it would start market trials by midyear and introduce 3 VoIP business products -- basic voice, small office/home office voice and virtual PBX. All 3 will include unlimited local calling with the option of bundled domestic long distance minutes or unlimited domestic long distance and will support international and inbound toll-free calling, Covad said. It said local number portability, emergency 911 and directory assistance would be standard. It said it planned to offer VoIP through direct sales as well as agents, resellers and wholesalers. The products will be bundled with Covad’s broadband Internet access, Web hosting and corporate e-mail hosting services. Covad also said it planned to invest in its broadband network to support the market entry of wholesale partners offering their own VoIP products, including quality-of-service standards and service level agreements.

As state lawmakers get down to the serious business of the 2004 sessions, a number of proposed measures have cleared important hurdles on the road to final passage. Bills seeing recent action would reform PSC procedures, wireless E-911 funding, spam, telemarketing, service quality and Internet porn.