Texting While Driving Up In California Views Sought On Pole Attachment Recon Pleas FCC Releases Common Carrier Statistics Report TELECOM BUSINESS Calix Buying Occam Networks For $171M Motorola Acquires Aloga CAPITAL MARKETS Intelsat Plans $900M Bond Sale Blyk Raises $22M Of Venture Funding PERSONNEL, AVG Technologies COO Crosslink Capital Partner Cox VP LEGISLATION . HERO OE UC One ereretorenaieeeasietsie BOUCHER ADMITS TIME IS RUNNING OUT ON USF REFORM MEASURE The chairman of the House communications, technology, and the Internet subcommittee acknowledged that his Universal Service Fund reform bill which received a hearing in front of the panel he heads up today faces little chance of being approved before Congress adjourns for the year. Rep. Rick Boucher (D., Va.) told TRDaily in a brief interview after the meeting that lingering concerns by some lawmakers about whether HR $828, the Universal Service Reform Act of 2010, would increase the size of the more than $8 billion USF program, combined with a dwindling amount of days left on the legislative calendar, will likely again postpone his six-year-long effort to revamp USP. “We have to satisfy members of the subcommittee, and there are some who still have questions. We need to resolve those,” he said. “I don’t have a prediction for the moment on how long that is going to take. We will move on this legislation when we are ready to do that. That means when we have the same consensus among the members that we now have among the interested external parties.” Any bills that are not enacted into law by the end of the legislative session will need to be reintroduced next year. Chairman Boucher and the legislation’s chief co-sponsor, Rep. Lee Terry (R., Neb.), have rolled out slightly different versions of the same bill three times in recent years. ‘Questions about the program’s finances were raised at the hearing today by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R., Fla.), the panel’s ranking member, who noted a recent FCC report predicts continued growth in universal service, something he and many legislators have spoken out against. He noted that he and others were concerned that language in the bill would cause USF costs to increase dramatically since no cap on the program is included. OSTP0001037‘Asked by Mr. Stearns about her thoughts, Carol Mattey, deputy chief of the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau, told the GOP lawmaker, “I do not believe that whole fund will shrink. We submit our projections to the Office of Management and Budget and believe it will grow.” That said, she noted the agency had not conducted an indepth analysis of the bill. Chairman Boucher, speaking after the hearing, stressed that the FCC report cited by Rep. Steams did not address the legislation specifically, and said it was his belief the bill would reduce USF costs, “That report is not based on this bill,” he stated. “It’s based on general concerns the Commission has tong had about the ever-increasing contribution factor - that is a concern that I share - and the fact that cost savings are going to be necessary to” reduce it. Some within telecom circles came to the aide of the bill's sponsors when it came to showing the legislation would reduce USF costs. Kathleen Grillo, a senior vice president at Verizon Communications, Inc., told lawmakers, for instance, that the company had previously estimated that conducting competitive bidding for wireless providers looking to serve a given area could result in a cost savings of between $200 million and $500 million per year. Industry officials testifying at the meeting were unanimous in their support of the legislation, which they see as a careful balancing act between the concerns of rural incumbents and more urban carriers. They said the bill takes the necessary steps to extend the reach of broadband, while fixing problems with USF's contribution system and placing tighter rules on the number of carriers that can qualify to offer high-cost service in a given area. “The bill represents a laudable effort at compromise between many different viewpoints and interests ‘on important issues,” said Shirley Bloomfield, chief executive officer of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, testifying on behalf of the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies and the Western Telecommunications Alliance. “Your work in crafting such a compromise and ability to find some common ground on such a complex and controversial topic is a testament to your efforts to serve the ‘American public and your dedication to advancing telecommunications policy to reflect better the needs of a broadband-focused world.” But those representing sectors not chosen to testify expressed regret at their exclusion. “It is disappointing that the rural and regional wireless industry was not asked to lend their voice in today’s hearing,” said Steven Berry, president and chief executive officer of the Rural Cellular Association. “Numerous studies have shown that consumers are continuing to choose wireless over wireline services. In meetings with Committee members, RCA has shared our views that reverse auctions are harmful to rural wireless carriers, and we oppose that provision of the legislation.” Reps. Boucher and Terry officially rolled out their long-awaited USF reform legislation in late July (TRDaily, July 22). The latest attempt by the two lawmakers at revamping the program includes for the first time language that would end support for wireline incumbent carriers in rural areas where there is significant landline competition, as well as revamping the program cost model to take into account both voice and broadband service offerings. OSTP0001038The legislation largely follows the path set by a draft USF bill released by the two lawmakers last November that called for monies to be used to support broadband deployment, as well as broadening the base of contributors and more tightly controlled distributions through implementation of competitive bidding for wireless providers (TRDaily, Nov. 6, 2009). But it also addresses issues raised during a November 2009 subcommittee hearing as well as those raised by stakeholders who had concerns about the growing size of the USF, the sponsors said. - Ted Gotsch, OCC SRE e REESE EE ESHER SH eRE ES EEE HEH eH EHO LAWMAKERS SEEK PROPER BALANCE ON ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT Federal antitrust law gives government enforcement agencies sufficient authority and flexibility to address new competitive issues arising in the digital marketplace, the Federal Trade Commission's chief antitrust staffer told House members today, as lawmakers questioned where the proper balance between overenforcement and underenforcement lies. “Some have argued that there should be different rules for markets with rapid development,” FTC Competition Bureau Director Richard Feinstein said today during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee's courts and competition policy subcommittee. Current antitrust laws “are flexible enough to meet the challenges of dynamic markets,” he added. Subcommittee ranking minority member Howard Coble (R., N.C.) said, “I’m in favor of strong antitrust enforcement because I think it helps ensure competitive markets.” However, he added, “I am aware that some scholars are concerned about the effects of antitrust enforcement in developing markets.” Rep. Coble also expressed an interest in the extent to which “other values,” such as the privacy of information collected by companies online, play a part in antitrust enforcement. Rep. Coble asked Mr. Feinstein to what extent antitrust agencies take into account intellectual property (IP) and privacy concerns “as separate and apart from” competitive issues. ‘Mr. Feinstein said that the FTC “absolutely” takes intellectual property “into account in our antitrust enforcement. IP is “paramount in the pharmaceutical sector and very important in this sector, too,” he added, He said that if privacy issues were being affected by a merger, that would be “relevant for us to consider.” Subcommittee Chairman Hank Johnson (D., Ga.) emphasized the need to find a middleground between “too loose a rein that lets the horse run free” and overly aggressive enforcement that could put “these markets in danger of losing the spirited competition that has characterized their early days.” He added, “| for one don’t want businesses to fear our actions today. ... We want to partner with businesses, not be their nanny.” John Conyers (D., Mich.), the chairman of the full committee, emphasized that today’s hearing is just “one of a series of hearings that will be held on this subject. Would that one hearing could deal with its complexity,” he added, saying that things change so rapidly in the digital market that “what we hear today could be out of date by the end of day.” ‘OSTPO001039