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TOP OF THE NEWS
COMPTEL CEO Invited to Participate in Senate Hearing on the State of Wireline Communications
The hearing will be webcast live via the Senate Commerce Committee website.
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COMPTEL PLUS
Take Advantage of Registration Discounts
By registering early, you'll be ready to start networking and planning meetings with current and prospective customers on August 5, when the COMPTEL PLUS Business PLANner opens.
The COMPTEL PLUS Business PLANner is an interactive meeting planning application that is available to registered COMPTEL PLUS attendees. By leveraging the Business PLANner, you can increase the return on your travel investment by scheduling multiple meetings with existing and prospective clients in a single location - the COMPTEL PLUS Fall 2013 Convention & EXPO, September 23-26 at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando.
COMPTEL PLUS Hotel Accomodations
Rooms at our host hotel, the Gaylord Palms, are going fast.Once you've registered, book your room today. The COMPTEL PLUS rate is $235 per night.
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AT THE FCC
COMPTEL Comments on Direct Assignment of Number Resources to Interconnected VoIP Providers
COMPTEL last week filed comments in the FCC's NPRM on the direct assignment of number resources to interconnected VoIP providers. COMPTEL noted that "it does not oppose, as a general matter, interconnected VoIP providers having direct access to numbering resources," since most interconnected VoIP providers already have such access. However, COMPTEL urged the Commission to "ensure that all providers obtaining direct access to the numbering resources are subject to all the same statutory and regulatory requirements with respect to the use and the cost of administering such numbers, as well as ensure that the critical competitive and consumer protection provisions of the statute are preserved once the industry transitions to an all-IP network."
COMPTEL added that "in order to accomplish these objectives, the Commission must confirm, at least with regard to facilities-based 'managed' VoIP providers, that these interconnected VoIP providers are telecommunications carriers." COMPTEL believes that to the extent the Commission fails to classify other forms of interconnected VoIP providers, such as over-the-top providers (OTT), as telecom carriers, "the Commission must take action to exercise its ancillary authority to extend any remaining protections/obligations to these other forms of interconnected VoIP providers prior to modifying its numbering rules."
FCC to Review and Modernize E-Rate Program
At its monthly meeting last week, the FCC initiated a thorough review and modernization of the E-rate program designed to provide students and teachers access to high-capacity broadband. The changes focus on three goals: increased broadband capacity, cost-effective purchasing, and streamlined program administration.
The proposal also seeks comment on a variety of other issues, including the applicability of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) to devices brought into schools and libraries and to devices provided by schools and libraries for at-home use; adjusting to changes in the National School Lunch Program that affect E-rate; additional measures for protecting the program from waste, fraud and abuse; wireless community hotspots; and the adoption of E-rate program procedures in the event of a national emergency or natural disaster.
Enforcement Advisory Issued on Rural Call Completion
The FCC's Enforcement Bureau last week issued an Enforcement Advisory to remind providers of long distance services of their
obligations when served by the Commission with an informal complaint about rural call completion.
A provider served with an informal complaint in connection with a telephone call originating on its long distance network must submit a written response explaining that the provider: (a) has satisfied the complaint, or (b) is unwilling or unable to do so. A provider does not satisfy its obligation to respond by claiming, for example, that it has no duty to investigate the problem because the complainant is not the provider's customer.
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ON THE HILL
COMPTEL Joins Letter on Patent Lawsuit Abuse
On July 17, COMPTEL joined 50 organizations on a letter urging Congress to address the abuses of the legal system by patent trolls. The letter noted that since 2005, the number of defendants sued by patent trolls has quadrupled. Last year, they sued more than 7,000 defendants and sent thousands more threat letters. This activity cost the U.S. economy $80 billion in 2011, and productive companies made $29 billion in direct payouts.
The letter noted that "managing frivolous patent suits unfortunately has become an expensive distraction for a large cross section of American business. Instead of focusing on innovation, job creation and economic growth, we are forced to deal with legal games that have serious consequences."
House Seeks Answers from Leading U.S. Communications Companies on Billing PracticesFour Democratic Members of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee are asking the nation's leading wireless and wireline providers about recently reported billing practices indicating the companies are nickel-and-diming consumers to boost revenue. Often referred to as "below-the-line" fees, these administrative, recovery or service fees are being added to consumer bills and generating hundreds of millions of dollars for U.S. communications companies.
Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and her fellow Subcommittee Members Reps. Mike Doyle (D-PA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Jim Matheson (D-UT) are leading the inquiry. They sent a letter last week to AT&T, AT&T Mobility, CenturyLink, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Communications, and Verizon Wireless. The letters were accompanied by examples of a wireline and a wireless provider adding "below-the-line" fees.
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IN THE MEDIA
COMPTEL Article in Summer Edition of Skinny Wire
An article entitled "The More Things Change, The More They Remain the Same," authored by COMPTEL CEO Jerry James, is featured in the Summer edition of Skinny Wire, a magazine produced by Walker and Associates. The article examines how last mile access and interconnection remain a constant requirement as providers evolve to next-generation networks.
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COMMITTEE MEETINGS
All COMPTEL Committee meetings are held at the Association's headquarters, 900 17th Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20006, unless otherwise noted. All times listed are Eastern. For more information, call 202-296-6650.
July 23 Regulatory/Legislative Committee Meeting 2 p.m. Contact Karen Reidy July 30 Regulatory/Legislative Committee Meeting 2 p.m. Contact Karen Reidy
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