AT&T said it had signed an agreement with Intrado, a provider of 911 infrastructure, systems and services, to develop an emergency calling solution for its residential broadband VoIP service. The feature, which would allow AT&T to route 911 dialed calls from its IP network to public safety answering points but wouldn’t be able to identify a caller’s location, will be available in spring when AT&T will begin to provide residential VoIP service in select metropolitan markets. “It’s not an absolute solution, it’s an interim step,” an AT&T spokesman said. He said AT&T would continue to work with Intrado and the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) to “upgrade 911 technology. The ultimate goal is to have no difference” between the regular 911 services and the ones provided by VoIP.

Congress will look to rewrite at least portions of current telecom law as early as 2005, Senate Appropriations Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) told a USTA Leadership Conference Mon. in Washington. Stevens, who said he “hoped” to take the reins of the Senate Commerce Committee beginning in 2005, laid out a road map for telecom policy that would feature a significant effort to revise parts of the Telecom Act of 1996.

The Ala. PSC plans a Feb. 5 workshop session on whether it should require CLECs to file periodic reports on their collection and payment of E-911 fees to the Ala. National Emergency Number Assn. The PSC was acting on a May 2003 motion (Case 29017) by the 911 association, complaining of difficulties that its 64 member districts had encountered in collecting the E-911 surcharges billed and collected by CLECs. The 911 association asked that the PSC require that CLECs report on the number of access lines they served, broken out by month and by E-911 district, with duplicate copies to the PSC and the 911 association. Several CLECs objected, saying the requested reports would add an unnecessary administrative burden and would require them to reveal proprietary information. MCI suggested an alternative that would have all CLECs provide a single report and payment to a central 911 administrator that, in turn, would distribute the money to the appropriate localities.

FCC Comr. Abernathy called on the Commission to act on AT&T’s petition for exemption from paying access charges for calls that are routed primarily on Internet backbone “sooner rather than later.” In an interview with reporters after her speech at a conference on digital issues sponsored by the FCC and the Catholic U. Law School Thurs. in Washington, she said: “I have thought that maybe we can deal with that in a bigger proceeding, but the problem is… the present uncertainty may be distorting competition and the flow of capital… So, we should try to resolve that tension and provide at least some immediate clarity.”

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.) scheduled an Enhanced 911 (E911) roundtable, 9-11:30 a.m. Wed., Rm. 628, Dirksen Bldg. The roundtable comes as the Senate considers differences between legislation passed by the House (HR-2898) and Burns’s Senate version (S-1250). His bill, which cleared the Commerce Committee, would devote $500 million a year to deploying E911, while the House bill proposed $100 million. The Administration has expressed reservations about authorizing even the lower amount and has suggested several existing law enforcement grants that could be used to fund E911. The roundtable also will feature Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.), and Reps. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Eshoo (D- Cal.), who, with Burns, make up the Congressional E911 Caucus. Shimkus and Eshoo introduced the bill in the House. Burns said the roundtable would give caucus members a chance to speak with E911 experts about deployment. “While we remain confident that the legislation we introduced last year to provide grants for E911 deployment will pass soon, we know that legislation is only one step among many to advance access to E911 throughout the country,” Burns said.

The U.S. Dist. Court, St. Paul, last week denied all the motions in the Vonage v. Minn. PUC case (03-5287). Specifically, the court rejected: (1) Qwest’s motion to intervene and amend judgment. (2) The Minn. PUC’s motion for amended findings or a new trial. The court declined to amend any aspect of its order and concluded that a new trial was “not necessary… Whether calls come into contact with the PSTN… does not alter the court’s conclusion that Vonage’s services constitute information services.” The court also declined to alter its conclusion that state 911 regulations were preempted. (3) The Minn. Dept. of Commerce’s (MDOC) motion to intervene. The court concluded that MDOC’s motion was untimely. “Considering that the MDOC filed the complaint against Vonage with the MPUC, it was well aware of the contours and implications of this case,” Minn. Dist. Court Judge Michael Davis wrote in the court’s decision: “Vonage’s complaint and motion gave MDOC notice of Vonage’s intent to seek permanent relief, and thus its arguments to the contrary fail.” The court also concluded that MDOC didn’t have a ground for jurisdiction that was independent from the MPUC: “Although the MDOC has identified a distinction in terms of the statutory roles of the two agencies, the court does not consider that distinction sufficient to justify intervention.”

Bills to change the practices and structures of state commissions have popped up as the state legislatures get down to lawmaking. A bill to radically change the structure of the Colo. PUC was among 2004’s early casualties.

Congress isn’t expected to pass comprehensive legislation on communications issues this session, many sources said, but that doesn’t mean lawmakers won’t be busy in the communications realm. Most sources provided a laundry list of issues that would get at least some attention from lawmakers who return today (Tues.) for the 2nd session of the 108th Congress. While no large-scale bills are expected, Congress could pass legislation this year to restrict broadcast ownership, fund enhanced 911 (E911) and spectrum relocation, and renew the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA). But there’s likely to be a lot of talk on the Hill about communications issues, as VoIP, universal service fund (USF), broadcast decency and cable rates.

A federal telecom regulator and state PUC representatives clashed over whether a separate regulatory regime should be created for VoIP. In an audio conference Thurs. sponsored by Communications Daily parent company Warren Communications News, Jeffrey Carlisle of the FCC VoIP working group said a minimum regulatory environment for the service wouldn’t necessarily amount to separate treatment for VoIP, which NARUC Gen. Counsel Brad Ramsay said might be illegal. Ramsay had questioned whether VoIP operators should get lighter regulatory treatment than CLECs. Peter Pitsch, of Intel and pres. of the Voice On the Net (VON) Coalition,, said regulation of VoIP could be light if regulators resolved other issues such as access charges and universal service (USF.)

Carphone safety and inmate payphone bills with unusual twists were introduced as state legislatures around the country started taking up telecom legislation proposed for the 2004 sessions.