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Vol. 10, No. 12   March 31, 2014
In This Issue
IP TRANSITION
AT THE FCC
IN D.C.
COMPTEL PLUS
ON THE HILL
MEMBER PROFILE
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Tell Us What You Think - Take Our Survey Today
 
Your opinion counts when it comes to improving your experience at the COMPTEL PLUS Convention & EXPO.

If you attended or exhibited at COMPTEL PLUS in Las Vegas earlier this month, we want you to participate in our survey. 
 
Complete the attendee survey or exhibitor survey by April 11, and you will be entered to win a $100 Amex gift card. 
MEMBER NEWS






For more information about submitting member company news, please contact Gail Norris.
UPCOMING EVENTS

April 17-18
FCC DEADLINES

April 7

April 10

April 21

October 6

November 17
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TOP OF THE NEWS

COMPTEL Comments on AT&T's Proposed IP Trials 

In comments filed today regarding the wire center trials proposed by AT&T in Carbon Hill, Ala., and Kings Point, Fla., COMPTEL highlighted how AT&T's plan does not live up to its stated intent or the criterion laid out by the FCC in its Technology Transitions Order for experiments related to the transition of wholesale customers. 
 
COMPTEL wrote that AT&T's proposal "lacks the necessary elements to spur a voluntary transition by wholesale customers to IP services. It also fails to offer a framework to demonstrate how competition could be fostered in an all-IP world. Namely, AT&T does not identify any replacement products (or 'catch products' as AT&T refers to them) that meet the criterion established by the Commission in its Technology Transitions Order and that will allow AT&T's wholesale customers to continue to effectively serve their end-user customers in an all-IP world." 
 
COMPTEL added that "as structured, AT&T is proposing to pull the foundation of business competition out from under the business market, without creating a replacement structure to protect business customers from seeing their choices dwindle and their prices climb."
AT THE FCC
COMPTEL Responds to FCC Process Reform Report
Today, COMPTEL filed comments on the FCC's Report on Process Reform, supporting many of its recommendations for improving the efficiency and transparency in the manner in which the FCC conducts business. In it comments, COMPTEL: 
  • Supported the recommendation that Petitions for Rulemaking and Petitions for Declaratory Ruling be put out for comment immediately upon receipt or dismissed on an expedited basis if procedurally unsound in an effort to reduce processing delays.
  • Supported the recommendation that the Commission create a centralized list of all proceedings, whether docketed or not, searchable by docket number, party name and subject matter. The list should include the name of the Bureau or Office to which the proceeding is assigned and the number of days since the Petition or Application was filed in order to give both the Commission and the public greater insight into the workings of the agency than exists today.
  • Supported the recommendation that the Commission act on Petitions for Reconsideration within six months. Rather than deeming a Petition denied if the Commission fails to act within 180 days, COMPTEL suggested that the Petition should be deemed granted if the FCC fails to act in order to provide an additional incentive to accelerate the speed of decision-making.
  • Supported the staff's recommendation to post logs that would allow FOIA requesters and the public to determine the status of pending FOIA requests.
  • Encouraged the FCC to use input from multi-stakeholder groups to help inform the development of policy and rules.
  • Supported the recommendation that all policies intended to require or prohibit specific conduct must be expressed authoritatively and unambiguously in rules, thereby ensuring that regulated entities have clear and proper notice of their legal obligations.
  • Argued that eliminating the backlog of petitions for review of USAC determinations that are long overdue for decision should be a priority for the Commission. On a going forward basis, the FCC and the Wireline Competition Bureau should strictly comply with the 90 day time deadlines set forth in Section 54.724 of the rules and should create a publicly available index of all pending Petitions for Review of USAC decisions and the dates they were filed in an effort to enhance accountability and transparency.
IN D.C.

Kronenberg to Speak on "Future of Competition"

On April 1, Angie Kronenberg, COMPTEL's chief advocate and general counsel, will be a featured speaker at the CommLaw Conspectus Annual Symposium on "Telecomm in the 21st Century: Technology Revolution and Regulatory Evolution."  The event takes place from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. at the Wiley Rein Main Conference Center in Washington, D.C.
 
Kronenberg will be on a panel discussing "The Future of Competition in an IP World," with Harold Feld, vice president of Public Knowledge; Robert Quinn, senior vice president, Federal Regulatory and chief
privacy officer at AT&T; and Michael Romano, senior vice president of Policy at NTCA, The Rural Broadband Association.  The panel will be moderated by Russell Hanser, a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP.
COMPTEL PLUS
Archived COMPTEL PLUS Sessions Now Available Online
Did you miss some sessions during the COMPTEL PLUS Spring 2014 Convention & EXPO? Are there topics you really want to learn more about that were on our Spring agenda?

If so, you can catch up on all the topics featured during the COMPTEL PLUS in Las Vegas by visiting our session archives. There you can download audio files and presentations for each session.

Also in the archives, you'll find videos of COMPTEL CEO Chip Pickering's opening remarks, the keynote discussion with Windstream President & CEO Jeff Gardner and the Future of the Copper Network general session.
ON THE HILL
House, Senate Host FCC Appropriations Hearings
Last week the House and Senate Appropriations Committees held hearings on the FCC's 2015 budget.  To view statements by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Ajit Pai, as well as other statements and webcast, visit the House and Senate committees' websites.

Subcommittee Hearing to Focus on Internet Governance 
On April 2 at 10:30 a.m., the House Energy & Commerce Committee's subcommittee on Communications and Technology will host a hearing on "Ensuring the Security, Stability, Resilience, and Freedom of the Global Internet."

Witnesses in the first panel include Larry Strickling, assistant secretary for Communications and Information Administration at NTIA; Fadi Chehadé, president and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); and David A. Gross, partner at Wiley Rein, LLP. In the second panel, witnesses include: Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice; and Carolina Rossini, project director of the Latin American Resource Center, Internet Governance and Human Rights Program at the New American Foundation.

For more details, visit the subcommittee website.
MEMBER PROFILE
Magic Telecom Delivers Expertise in VoIP Services
Magic Telecom, which is division of Voxbeam Telecommunications that was founded in 2010, is an expert in VoIP services in the United States. Magic is a facilities-based CLEC in 23 states and uses an extensive managed network of interconnections with diverse wireless, wireline and VoIP carriers to provide high-quality voice termination and origination products. Magic Telecom provides easy to use SIP trunking services to handle all of its customers' U.S. traffic requirements. With DIDs in more than 8,000 rate centers, Magic Telecom partners with calling card operators, hosted PBX providers and VoIP resellers. 
 
Visit the COMPTEL website to learn more about Magic Telecom.

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

April 1             Regulatory/Legislative Committee Meeting
2 p.m.              Contact Karen Reidy

April 8             Regulatory/Legislative Committee Meeting 
2 p.m.              Contact Karen Reidy
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