On Wednesday, June 19, at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) UNITEL Insurance will host free webinar entitled "Trying to Gain Control of Employee Benefits Costs? COMPTEL and UNITEL Can Help."

Mike Reed, an account executive with UNITEL, will lead the webinar and discuss how UNITEL Insurance and Principal Life are offering COMPTEL members ways to enhance employee benefit flexibility, extend rate guarantees and potentially save money. 

If you are interested in learning more, register by Tuesday, June 18. For more information about the webinar, email education@comptel.org or call 202-296-6650. The UNITEL webinar is a part of the COMPTEL Webinar program, which is powered by Copper Services.

Today COMPTEL filed comments opposing TracFone Wireless Inc.'s petition requesting that the FCC open a rulemaking to amend its rules to prohibit in-person distribution of handsets to prospective Lifeline customers.

COMPTEL noted that a ban on the distribution of Lifeline wireless handsets by any means other than U.S. mail or overnight delivery service "goes too far, will do nothing to advance the Commission's goal of ensuring that only eligible applicants receive Lifeline benefits, and is likely to frustrate the ability of many otherwise eligible Lifeline applicants to obtain service." COMPTEL added that because the Lifeline fund does not pay for handsets, there is a serious question as to whether the FCC even has jurisdiction to adopt a rule regulating how handsets may be provided to customers.

COMPTEL Files Replies on Rural Call Completion
On June 11, COMPTEL filed reply comments in the FCC's proceeding on concerns about rural call completion. COMPTEL noted that while the FCC's proposed reporting, record keeping and data retention requirements for call answer rate data may confirm that a call completion problem exists in rural areas, they will not necessarily "ensure that telephone service to rural consumers is as reliable as service to the rest of the country."

COMPTEL said that the proposed requirements will be expensive and burdensome for providers, most especially smaller providers, to implement and suggests that the FCC should reject any call to eliminate the proposed safe harbors. And, to the extent that providers are able to meet the criteria for the proposed safe harbors, relief from some or all of the data reporting, record keeping and retention requirements is appropriate.

FCC Issues Local Telephone Competition Report
The FCC last week released its annual Local Competition Report, which provides a status of the industry as of June 2012.  Of particular note was that from June 2009 to June 2012, interconnected VoIP subscriptions increased at a compound annual growth rate of 18 percent, mobile telephony subscriptions increased at a compound annual growth rate of 5 percent and retail switched access lines declined at about 9 percent a year.  Additionally, cross-classified by technology, the 81 million wireline residential connections in June 2012 were: 

• 55.5 percent ILEC switched access lines, 
• 33.8 percent non-ILEC interconnected VoIP subscriptions, 
• 4.3 percent non-ILEC switched access lines, and 
• 6.4 percent ILEC interconnected VoIP subscriptions. 

Similarly, the 60 million wireline business connections were: 

• 58.5 percent ILEC switched access lines, 
• 30.6 percent non-ILEC switched access lines, 
• 9.9 percent non-ILEC interconnected VoIP subscriptions, and 
• 1 percent ILEC interconnected VoIP subscriptions.

FCC Reforms Video Relay Service Program

On June 10, the FCC released a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking implementing reforms to the Video Relay Service (VRS) program designed to reduce waste, fraud and abuse. Among other things, the FCC lowered the reimbursement rate for VRS services by 25 cents per minute. For more details, click here.  

On June 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will host a hearing on the nomination of Thomas Wheeler to be chairman of the FCC.

The hearing , which will take place in Russell Senate Office Building Room 253, also will be available via live webcast on the Senate Commerce Committee website. 

Leahy Secures Broadband Amendment to Farm Bill 

On June 10, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) won passage of his amendment to the Farm Bill to establish a pilot program within the Rural Utilities Service Broadband Program to invest in broadband projects offering ultra-high speed gigabit Internet service in rural areas. Leahy's amendment was approved in a vote of 48 to 38, just before the Senate gave final passage to the Farm Bill in a vote of 66 to 27.  

Leahy's pilot program will allow the Rural Utilities Service to invest in up to five ultra-high speed networks in rural areas over the next five years. Gigabit Internet speeds are approximately 100 times faster than the average high-speed Internet connection. High profile gigabit projects, including the Google Fiber project in Kansas City, are bringing public awareness to the capabilities of the next generation of broadband networks.

The COMPTEL PLUS Fall 2013 Golf Tournament will tee off Monday, September 23, 2013, at the Celebration Golf Club, giving COMPTEL PLUS attendees a chance to network in a fun, relaxed setting. The tournament is being sponsored by Edison Carrier Solutions, with holes sponsored by Peerless Network and Sprint.

Celebration Golf Club is a highly rated Orlando course that offers players challenges, such as strategic hazards and difficult greens, throughout a picturesque setting. The course was ranked as one of the "Top 25 Public Courses" in Golf World's Readers' Choice Awards, rated 4 ½ Stars and one of the Top 200 in North America for Service & Course Conditioning by Golf Digest's "Best Places to Play" and is among the  Top 25 Best Family Golf Resorts according to Golf Digest Magazine.

Golf Registration Now Open
Golf registration is available on a first-come, first-served basis. You must be registered for the COMPTEL PLUS Fall 2013 Convention & EXPO to participate in this tournament.  

To secure your tournament tee time, please fill out the entire golf registration form. If you do not have a verifiable handicap, please compute an honest average handicap. The entry fee is $155 per person and includes greens fees and cart, coffee, breakfast, lunch and prizes. Rental clubs are available for $40. 

For more information or if you have questions, email Tracy MacDonald or call 202-296-6650.

Register for COMPTEL PLUS
Early bird registration for the COMPTEL PLUS Convention is now open. If you register before July 12, you can save up to $330 off regular rates.  Also, don't miss out on reserving a room at our host hotel, the Gaylord Palms. Book your room today. The COMPTEL PLUS rate is $235 per night. 

President Obama last week issued a memorandum that directs agencies to increase collaboration and data sharing with the private sector and increase public-private R&D on spectrum-sharing techniques. The memo also supports sharing of federal spectrum with wireless carriers, seeks improved reporting on how agencies use frequencies and requires agencies to justify acquisition of systems and requests for new spectrum assignments.

Since 1986, Nashville-based Equinox Information Systems has been providing affordable, reliable business assurance solutions to virtually every sector of the telecom industry, including cable telephony, wireless, wireline, rural independent, CLEC and wholesale providers around the globe. Equinox's solutions target business challenges that affect profitability and network efficiency, including revenue management, mediation, fraud management, expense management, routing assurance, network analysis and custom application development. Because its solutions can be scaled and configured to work with any network architecture, Equinox is able to help a wide variety of customers in the telecommunications industry protect and optimize their revenue. 

Visit the COMPTEL website to learn more about Equinox.

For more information on submitting a member profile, or updating an existing one, e-mail Anna Bayer or call 202-296-6650.