British Telecom (BT) must offer competitors true equal access to its network or face antitrust investigation, the U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) said Thurs. In a consultation document issued as part of the 2nd phase of its strategic review of Britain’s telecom sector, the regulator laid out 3 options for dealing with what it called “economic bottlenecks” in BT’s system. None would require a BT breakup. Ofcom suggested that if BT cleaned up its act enough to spur competition, some wholesale and retail markets could be deregulated. Competitive telecom groups said they were pleased with Ofcom’s approach, but warned that changing BT’s monopoly mentality would be challenging.
Customs Duty
A Customs Duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight.
Carriers remain split on a proposed FCC rule to apply federal wiretap requirements to VoIP and broadband service. In comments on the Commission’s CALEA proceeding, a broad array of lobbying groups drew lines in the sand on the role of CALEA on a new generation of IP- based communications products.
Vonage’s DigitalVoice VoIP service is interstate so it can’t be regulated by state PUCs, the FCC ruled Tues. The ruling, which asserts federal jurisdiction over Vonage-like services, came in response to a preemption petition filed last year by Vonage. Although referring to Vonage service, the decision applies to other types of IP- enabled services, the Commission said.
In a development raising red flags for wireless carriers, regulators in Neb. and Ohio suspended on a long- term basis a requirement that LECs port numbers to their wireless competitors. Sources said the decisions Tues. could add pressure on the FCC to issue an order on who pays the cost of transporting calls under its nationwide LNP mandate.
Pegasus added another twist to its relationship with DirecTV and the National Rural Telecom Co-Op (NRTC) when it said late Mon. that it filed a new lawsuit against the companies. Pegasus alleges DirecTV and NRTC have tried to “destroy Pegasus and steal its business for their own enrichment in violation of substantial fiduciary, contractual and other duties owed to Pegasus.” Among other things, the suit asks the court to prohibit NRTC and DirecTV from enforcing their 2003 settlement (CD Aug 12/03 p3) and to rescind that settlement completely.
The European Commission (EC) Mon. launched a consultation aimed at clarifying how European Union e- communications directives apply to VoIP. If VoIP is used to provide a service to the public (as opposed to use in a private or corporate network), it’s subject to conditions applicable to publicly available electronic communications services, the EC said. Those conditions differ from obligations of Publicly Available Telephone Services (PATS). However, the EC said, some issues linked to the provision of an e-communications service may “have the ‘look and feel'” of a PATS but not offer access to emergency calls. There are 2 broad regulatory approaches to such problems, the paper said: (1) Impose traditional public switched telephone network obligations on all new telephone-like services. (2) Make sure consumers are fully informed and can make their own choices about services, while encouraging suppliers to come up with technical solutions. The EC generally followed the 2nd route, proposing, among other things, that: (1) National regulatory authorities (NRAs) consider providing, on request, a standardized declaration to VoIP suppliers that decide to provide PATS, saying they're subject to the rights and duties required of all PATS providers. The declaration would help VoIP providers enforce rights associated with PATS and negotiate with other players, the EC said. (2) Member states consider recognizing that only those providers that own or control the underlying transport infrastructure are able to ensure PATS availability in cases of force majeure. (3) NRAs could require VoIP providers that include access to the public phone network to inform their customers about the impact of power failure on the service and how it’s different from traditional telephony. (4) NRAs could require VoIP suppliers that include access to the public telephone network to give customers precise information on how the provider deals with access to emergency services and caller location. (5) Market players offering VoIP-based services be encouraged to devise and rapidly implement solutions for handling calls to emergency services, transmitting caller ID and providing location information for emergency calls. The EC also sought feedback on potential interconnection, interoperability and access issues that could hamper VoIP rollout, and on numbering and extraterritorial provider concerns. The document will be reissued after the public comment period as non-binding guidelines, the EC said. Comments are due Aug. 31 -- infso-b1@cec.eu.int.
Sage Telecom said if any SBC state commission forces it to go public with all the details of its negotiated commercial interconnection agreement with SBC, there’s a “definite possibility” it would ask SBC to release it from the agreement in that state. The Tex. PUC has told Sage and SBC that they must make public all terms of their agreement by June 21.
Several subsidiaries of Pegasus Communications filed for Chapter 11 protection late Tues. in an attempt to halt “unlawful termination” of its DirecTV agreements, Pegasus said. The filing was made with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Portland, Me. The move followed an earlier announcement by DirecTV and the National Rural Telecom Co-Op (NRTC) which ended previous agreements between the 2 companies (including related distribution agreements with Pegasus), and forged new ones. DirecTV didn’t offer a new agreement to Pegasus, proposing instead to pay the company for “orderly transfer” of Pegasus’s subscribers to DirecTV (CD June 3 p8). Pegasus Satellite TV, Satellite Communications and Media & Communications all filed for voluntary protection, in addition to 25 other subsidiaries, according to an SEC filing from the company. Pegasus Communications wasn’t included in the action, the company said. “It is with the greatest reluctance that we have concluded that Pegasus Satellite [TV] must seek the protection of [Chapter] 11 in order to protect our customers, employees, business partners, creditors and owners -- while we seek affirmation of our rights,” said Pegasus Communications CEO Marshall Pagon. The company said the Chapter 11 filing will “seek affirmation” of the company’s rights and “damages resulting from NRTC’s and DirecTV’s actions to impair those rights, including NRTC’s breach of its duties to Pegasus Satellite [TV], NRTC’s majority owner.” Pegasus said the bankruptcy filing would “enable it to continue to provide uninterrupted service to its 1.1 million rural subscribers during the resolution of these disputes.” A DirecTV spokesman said the company would provide service to Pegasus’s DirecTV customers through the bankruptcy process. Pegasus didn’t indicate whether it had accepted DirecTV’s cash offer for subscribers. A Pegasus spokeswoman declined to comment. Meanwhile, Pegasus said in its SEC filing that DirecTV had filed a 2-count complaint against the company in the U.S. Dist. Court, L.A. One count deals with trademark infringement by Pegasus if the company were to use the DirecTV trademark after Aug. 31. A DirecTV spokesman said Pegasus hadn’t violated the trademark and there wasn’t an indication that the company planned to do so: “We're just seeking to protect our rights.” A 2nd count concerns breach of contract “based upon an alleged failure of the defendants to fulfill their ‘best efforts’ obligations under Pegasus Satellite [TV’s] agreements with the NRTC,” Pegasus said. Separately, a list of Pegasus’s unsecured creditors includes claims held by DirecTV. Pegasus indicated one claim of $62.5 million -- the amount of a judgment awarded DirecTV against Pegasus -- is disputed. A 2nd claim held by DirecTV totaled $3 million. Other unsecured creditors include NRTC ($48 million), The WB TV Network (disputed at $50,741) and 20th Century Fox TV Div. ($42,326).
The FCC handed down a $100,000 notice of apparent liability of forfeiture against CenturyTel Thurs. for “willfully and repeatedly” failing to route calls to ported numbers Nov. 24, 2003-April 14. Wireless carriers highlighted the order as a sign that the FCC was getting tough on wireline carriers that don’t follow the Commission’s local number portability (LNP) rules. The fine was mentioned prominently in a CTIA phone call Thurs. on wireless LNP.
The FCC waived for certain ILECs a rule that limits the period over which local number portability (LNP) costs may be recovered. The Commission, however, decided Tues. not to extend the waiver to allow additional end-user recovery for costs linked to future intermodal LNP requirements. Comrs. Copps and Adelstein issued separate statements voicing concern about the need for cost support data linked to additional LNP cost recovery.