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TOP OF THE NEWS
COMPTEL PLUS Online Registration Ends Thursday
By registering online now, you can take advantage of the COMPTEL PLUS Business PLANner to search the pre-registered attendee list and request meetings with prospective customers during the convention.
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COMPTEL PLUS
General Session to Explore Future of Copper Network
On Tuesday, March 18, COMPTEL PLUS will feature a special general session during which major carriers will explain their view of The Future of the Copper Network. With the industry using traditional copper networks, fiber networks, wireless networks and IP technology, there are widely differing views of the future direction of the copper infrastructure. COMPTEL CEO Chip Pickering will moderate this panel, featuring Bill Cheek, president of CenturyLink's Wholesale Markets Group, Garry Ludgood, senior vice president of Global Networks Field Op at AT&T, and Daniel McCarthy, president and COO of Frontier Communications.
COMPTEL PLUS Technology Track Shows How the Cutting Edge Can Give You a Competitive Edge
Technology can give your company the competitive edge to be successful in the marketplace. At the COMPTEL PLUS Spring 2014 Convention & EXPO next week in Las Vegas, a track of educational sessions will focus how you can leverage cutting-edge technologies. This track combines with two others, focusing on business and regulatory topics of interest to the competitive communications industry.
Sessions in the technology track, entitled "Cutting Edge Technology Trends for Gaining a Competitive Edge," include:
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AT THE FCC
Competitors Ready to Join Technology Transition Trials
COMPTEL last week acknowledged the commitment of competitive providers, such as member company Granite Telecommunications LLC, to engage in service-based trials with AT&T related to the technology transition.
In a March 6 press release, Granite acknowledged that it serves numerous business voice lines and offers additional services in the two wire centers - located in Carbon Hill, Ala., and Kings Point, Palm Beach County, Fla. - that AT&T has selected for the proposed first phase of its technology transition trial. Granite acknowledged that it is one of just a few competitive carriers serving customers in these locations, and the company will serve as a "bellwether for the trial's impact on competition."
Chip Pickering, COMPTEL's CEO, noted that the "presence of Granite in both wire centers that AT&T has proposed for its service-based experiments will provide an opportunity for the Commission to clearly see the impact of the technology transition on competition. Throughout these experiments, it will be vital to test the delivery of wholesale services, and whether competitive providers and their customers will receive functionally equivalent products to ensure that competition can continue to flourish. By having competitors willing to participate in these trials, we believe that it will become evident where service gaps exist, and how a robust wholesale market results in the development of valuable retail alternatives for consumers."
He added that "COMPTEL and its member companies, who have been pioneers in delivering IP-based services during the past decade, look forward to working with AT&T and the Commission to ensure that the enduring values of competition remain a central goal as technology transition experiments take place."
COMPTEL Supports Waiver of Rules Prohibiting Retention of Lifeline Eligibility Documentation
On March 4, COMPTEL,filed comments in support of TracFone Wireless, Inc.'s petition for waiver of Lifeline rules prohibiting retention of income-based and program-based eligibility documentation. COMPTEL noted that the rules should be waived not only for TracFone, but also for all other Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETCs) providing Lifeline service. FCC to Host Numbering Testbed Workshop On March 25, FCC's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will host an all-day workshop to facilitate the design and development of a numbering testbed. As announced in the Technology Transitions Order, the goal of the numbering testbed is to convene a community and provide common resources to enable research into numbering in an all-IP network, unencumbered by the constraints of the legacy network and technologies and ensuring that there is no disruption to them. The numbering testbed will operate under the auspices of the North American Numbering Council (NANC), which will provide a report to the FCC describing the testbed activities and making recommendations. FCC Provides Guidance to ETCs on Process to Elect USAC to Perform Lifeline Certification On March 5, the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau released a public notice that provided guidance regarding the process for eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) to elect the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to perform Lifeline recertification for their subscribers in 2014. ETCs must provide notice to USAC by April 1, 2014, if they intend to have USAC perform the recertification process on their behalf for 2014. Any ETC that used USAC to perform recertification in 2013 will be presumed to elect USAC to perform recertification in 2014, unless the carrier notifies USAC otherwise by April 1, 2014. ETCs that did not elect to use USAC last year and that do not make an election by April 1, 2014, will be responsible for conducting recertification of their subscribers.
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ON THE HILL
House to Host Hearing on Satellite TV and Localism
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MEMBER PROFILE
Vertek Accelerates Value for Clients
 Founded in 1998, Vertek Corporation helps its clients Accelerate to Value™. Vertek combines industry leading talent, proven and flexible solutions, and robust processes to provide end-to-end business process outsourcing, business consulting, business intelligence and software offerings that deliver high ROI and fast time-to-value for communication service providers (CSPs), managed service providers (MSPs) and large enterprises. Vertek's integrated solutions enable it to accelerate the implementation of strategic imperatives, mitigate crisis situations and smooth the way toward seamless best-in-class solution execution on behalf of its clients.
Visit the COMPTEL website to learn more about Vertek. For more information on submitting a member profile, or updating an existing one, e-mail Anna Bayer or call 202-296-6650.
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COMMITTEE MEETINGS
All COMPTEL Committee meetings are held at the Association's headquarters, 1200 G St NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005, unless otherwise noted. All times listed are Eastern. For more information, call 202-296-6650.
March 11 Regulatory/Legislative Committee Meeting
March 25 Regulatory/Legislative Committee Meeting
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