Telecom reform’s timing and format remain murky, but Congress will participate actively, the Congressional Research Service said. In a new report, CRS said it’s hard to say whether Congress will deliver a comprehensive bill or keep introducing “incremental” measures eventually incorporated into a single bill, the report said. Neither is it clear whether consensus can be reached on the need to revise the ‘96 Telecom Act, the report said. Major issues expected to be addressed include: (1) Broadband Internet regulation. Two matters are at stake: The “digital divide” and regulatory treatment of broadband. Digital divide activists want the U.S. to underwrite broadband deployment in underserved rural areas, but opponents question the efficacy of intervening in the marketplace. Debate on regulating broadband technologies focuses on whether to apply legacy rules to new entrants. (2) Broadcast indecency. Pending bills would hike fines levied on violative broadcasters, apply them to performers as well as broadcast licensees and extend indecency rules to cable TV. Some say fining performers could violate the First Amendment and want pay TV exempt from indecency regulations. (3) DTV. Key issues include subsidy of converter boxes for analog TVs left dark by the digital transition, requiring cable to carry broadcasters’ multicast programming streams and letting cable downconvert digital signals for analog households. (4) FCC restructuring. Proposals fall into 2 categories: procedural changes affecting day-to-day operations and Congressionally mandate policy changes affecting agency oversight of services and industry. Some on the Hill favor changing Sunshine Act laws that keep to 2 the number of commissioners who can confer outside an official meeting to discuss FCC policy. But even with strong interest in FCC reform, “substantive changes which some believe are needed to enable the FCC to effectively regulate the converged telecom industry may remain difficult to achieve.” (5) Intercarrier compensation. Reform, while needed, is unlikely due to concern that change would hurt some carriers and consumers by shifting costs from carriers to consumers, unfairly burdening low- income consumers and putting pressure on the already troubled Universal Service Fund. It’s also hard to pursue reform without state input, since rate setting comes under state regulatory commissions. (6) Media ownership rules. Congress may provide guidance as the FCC revises its regulations to fit a 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, decision overturning FCC rules relaxing multi-ownership restrictions. What’s at stake is whether the rules block mergers that could be beneficial in promoting more in- depth local news coverage versus creating behemoths that reduce the number of independent voices in the market. (7) Municipal deployment of broadband. Fierce debate over public-sector provision of what some deem a private-sector service will continue, with Congress pressed by both sides to act on the issue. (8) Public safety communications. The public safety community wants Congress to assure release of spectrum at 700 MHz for public safety. Other issues include pressure for laws that require the FCC to support 911 call centers, expand emergency alert networks and assuring access to wireline and wireless lifeline telecom services. (9) The “Savings Clause” and Monopoly Issues. The ‘96 Telecom Act’s antitrust “savings clause” figured prominently in a 2004 Supreme Court decision that the act doesn’t create new claims that go beyond existing antitrust standards. The case stirred controversy because it involved a CLEC’s access to Verizon’s network, with the House Judiciary Committee chmn. and ranking member opposing the opinion while the House Commerce Committee chmn. supported it. Congress has 4 options: leave it alone, clarify the savings phrase, amend the enforcement provisions or characterize a violation of a competitive obligation as evidence of an antimonopoly violation. (10) Universal Service Fund reform. The Senate and House Commerce Committees want to figure out how to ensure proper management of the fund and overcome fraud, waste and abuse.

Congress should “support and codify” the FCC’s requirement that interconnected VoIP providers offer 911 service by Nov. 28, a public safety group said in a letter to Hill leaders. The Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) also praised the Commission’s ongoing efforts to ensure VoIP E-911 service availability nationwide by the Nov. deadline, in a separate letter to the FCC. APCO applauded VoIP industry efforts to implement 911, but said it was “very concerned” that many customers were still unable to reach the appropriate PSAPs.

The FCC asked for comments on: (1) A joint petition by CTIA and Rural Cellular Assn. seeking relief of a requirement that wireless licensees using handset-based E- 911 Phase II location technology achieve 95% penetration of location-capable handsets among subscribers by Dec. 31. Specifically, the petition seeks a waiver of Sec. 20.18(g)(1)(v) of FCC rules for carriers that have met and continue to meet the 100% location-capable handset sale and activation requirement, until the carriers meet the 95% penetration threshold as a result of handset replacement and churn. (2) A Sprint Nextel petition for waiver until Dec. 31, 2007, of the Dec. 31, 2005, deadline for 95% penetration of E-911 compliant handsets. (3) An Alltel petition for waiver until June 30, 2007, of the E- 911 handset penetration deadline. Comments are due Oct. 21, replies Oct. 31.

TracFone Wireless asked the FCC for “slight” changes in conditions set in a recent order (CD Sept 7 p2) letting the carrier receive Universal Service Fund support. “Strict compliance” with the conditions would be “burdensome” and wouldn’t provide “any greater assurances of emergency service availability than would the approach” it wants, TracFone said. TracFone needs FCC approval for its proposal to move forward with ETC designation petitions in 8 states. The FCC has said it would consider the proposal in the context of TracFone’s ETC designation proceedings.

Telecom isn’t considered critical enough to be listed among priorities under the Stafford Disaster Relief & Emergency Assistance Act, meaning telecom firms don’t have precedence for restoration of commercial power after natural disasters. Besides facing zero priority, telecom companies in Gulf states ravaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were hobbled in service restoration efforts by EPA limits on diesel storage and generator exhaust emissions and security issues, our inquiries revealed.

State commissions in La., Miss., Ala. and Tex. are starting to tackle the regulatory aftermath of this summer’s hurricanes, as telecom carriers continue to restore service and rebuild destroyed facilities. Regulators in states hardest hit by Katrina and Rita are focusing on recovery. Some issues have seen fast action; others won’t be faced for some time.

R.I. launched a 4-county E911 pilot project testing use of pictometry technology to give emergency service personnel more data on location originating 911 calls. The technology, being tested in Cranston, Providence, Warwick and Newport Counties, provides dispatchers and emergency services with photos of the location and immediate surroundings when an address is entered. The system permits views from 4 angles. The aim is to improve response time while reducing unnecessary risk to crews by providing vital data before they arrive.

TracFone Wireless outlined “suggestions” on how it could comply with the conditions in an FCC order granting the carrier’s petition for Lifeline support. The FCC last month decided to forebear enforcing a rule barring firms that don’t own facilities from participating in the Lifeline program, in response to a TracFone petition -- but imposed E-911 conditions and required the company to submit a plan for implementing those conditions (CD Sept 7 p2). “Strict compliance with a requirement to get PSAP certification [regarding] 911/E-911 compliance for every market where TracFone would offer Lifeline service would be cost prohibitive, duplicative and unnecessary,” TracFone said. It said where it offers service through a carrier using a network-based solution for E-911, such as Cingular or T-Mobile, TracFone would confirm that the carrier has a PSAP certification and ensure that all Lifeline customers in that market are served over that carrier’s network. Where the underlying carrier uses a handset-based solution, such as Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular and Alltel, TracFone said it would: (1) Provide the FCC a certification from a phone manufacturer that the handset used to provide Lifeline service has a GPS chip and is E-911 compliant. (2) Make sure all Lifeline customers in such markets get E-911 compliant handsets. (3) Confirm that the underlying carrier has on file with the FCC a current quarterly 911/E-911 compliance report for the PSAP. TracFone also proposed it be allowed to offer Lifeline service in areas where 911 is available, even if E-911 isn’t. It said it’s better if Lifeline customers can call 911 during an emergency and state their locations than if they don’t have phones. TracFone stressed that the suggestions outlined “should not be viewed as TracFone’s proposals for complying with the conditions set forth in the September 8 order.” It said it will submit a detailed compliance plan by Oct. 11.

Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) plans to mark up a bipartisan E-911 bill (S-1063) under which VoIP providers would have to give customers access to E-911 services, a panel spokeswoman said. The bill, introduced in May by Sens. Nelson (D-Fla.), Burns (R- Mont.) and Clinton (D-N.Y.), has a companion House version (HR-2418) sponsored by Reps. Gordon (D-Tenn.), Shimkus (R- Ill.) and Eshoo (D-Cal.). The Senate bill might be part of a budget reconciliation package set for Oct. 19 markup, or be considered with emergency communications measures that target hurricane relief. “We're definitely working on it,” a source said.

NENA defended the most recent recommendations by the Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) on E-911 wireless location accuracy measurement in a letter to FCC Chmn. Martin. The letter came after the Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) last month criticized the results of the NRIC working group (CD Sept 16 p5), of which both are members. APCO told the FCC its most-recent round of negotiations with the rest of the NRIC working group failed after “the wireless carriers have been unwilling to accept an accuracy requirement other than state-level,” despite APCO’s “significant concessions.” But NENA Pres. David Jones said in the letter the working group’s new clarified recommendations “would be of great benefit to public safety.” The most recent recommendations recognize that location measurement can’t be done at a PSAP level due to technological limitations, and provide for a “clearly defined process” to monitor carriers’ progress toward PSAP-based location measurement. The recommendations also include a requirement to adhere to specific trouble resolution and mitigation procedures. Jones stressed the importance of preserving the value of the existing recommendations: “Coupled with the important elements already contained in the NRIC 1A recommendations, further clarification… can only be thought of as a great benefit to the public safety community.” Jones also said E-911 was “truly a public-private partnership in which all parties must work together in the spirit of collaboration and cooperation. All parties will not agree 100% of the time, but we cannot tolerate an adversarial mentality. We must cooperate in the overall deployment of wireless E- 911, where only 50% of the PSAPs in this country are currently able to receive Phase II wireless 911 calls.”