McCormick Supports Updating Communications Accessibility Law June 10th, 2010

The telecom industry strongly supports a House bill that would update the nation’s laws providing accessibility to communications for disabled Americans, USTelecom President and CEO Walter McCormick said today at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing. The Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009, HR 3101, would ensure that video description capability is made widely available not just for TV broadcasts, but also for certain video programming distributed over the Internet.

The bill reflects 15 months of detailed consultations between industry and the disability community, McCormick said. The proposed bill addresses the industry’s shift to IP-based communications. Among its highlights are enforcement procedures that would put remedies for noncompliance on a fast track; Lifeline and Linkup support for Internet access services for those who meet those programs’ eligibility requirements; and establishment of a committee to provide advice to the Federal Communications Commission and Congress on steps needed to ensure interoperable real time text communications in a national IP-enabled network for public safety.

“What our industry has found in the course of the last 25 years is that both we and the disabled community benefit from the certainty and focus that a sound and sensible legal roadmap for achieving accessibility provides,” McCormick said. “We believe that with such a roadmap, talented engineers and business people across the Internet landscape will respond in good faith to the challenge.” With Americans becoming increasingly reliant on communications devices and networks in their daily lives, it is essential that people with disabilities have access to the latest technologies.

USTelecom Welcomes FET Repeal Bill. June 24th, 2009

Today Representatives John Lewis (D-Ga.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Penn.) introduced the Telephone Excise Tax Repeal Act of 2009 (H.R. 3011) to repeal the federal excise tax on communications services.  In 2006, after several federal court defeats, the IRS stopped enforcing the toll portion of the tax.  However the remaining portion of the tax still applies to customers who subscribe solely to local phone service.

USTelecom CEO Walter B. McCormick Jr. applauded the bill’s release:

“We applaud Congressmen Lewis, Heller, Connolly and Thompson for introducing this important bill to completely repeal the federal excise tax on communications services.  While the courts have found much of the tax to be unenforceable, consumers who subscribe to standalone telephone service – most often lower income or elderly customers – are still penalized by this regressive, outdated tax.  There is strong bipartisan support for repealing the federal excise tax on communications and we will work closely with Congress to end the tax this year.”

USTelecom Webinar: Broadband Grants & Loans March 5th, 2009

Today USTelecom conducted a webinar titled: “Broadband Grants & Loans: What You Need to Know.”

With interest high and details fluid as the backdrop, USTelecom’s VP of Policy, Dave Cohen gave an excellent overview of the current state-of-play of the stimulus package as it relates to broadband deployment. Dave covered the RUS and NTIA programs that will be managing the monies allocated to broadband deployments. Joining USTelecom on this webinar was Raquel Noriega from ConnectedNation.org. Raquel gave an overview of how broadband mapping will play a role in deployments that rely on stimulus funding.

Miss the webinar?  It’s now available for on demand viewing.

USTelecom Supports Financial Stabilization Legislation October 1st, 2008

Despite this week’s passage of broadband mapping legislation, which is a critical first step in developing a national broadband policy, the much larger issue on everyone’s mind in Washington right now is on negotiating the terms of emergency legislation to stabilize the U.S. financial system.

Today, USTelecom President Walter McCormick sent a letter to members of Congress calling on them to act expeditiously on the matter.  “Failure to act will jeopardize not just the financial industry,” McCormick wrote, “but also the telecommunications industry and our customers.”  Noting the substantial contribution of the broadband industry to the U.S. economy, McCormick continued, “This investment on broadband represents 20% of the nation’s overall private sector investment. This investment in our future – and the productivity enhancements and improvements to the quality of life that it provides – is being put at risk by Congressional inaction.”For the sake of USTelecom’s members, their customers, and the economy, McCormick concludes, “We ask that Congress support bipartisan Congressional leadership efforts to stabilize the nation’s financial markets. It is imperative that you act responsibly, and act now.”

Congress Passes Broadband Mapping Legislation October 1st, 2008

Following passage in the House of Representatives on Monday, yesterday the Senate passed S. 1492, the “Broadband Data Improvement Act,” known more generally as broadband mapping legislation. The bill updates the FCC’s broadband data collection standards and authorizes the Department of Commerce to undertake a program of public-private partnerships to increase broadband deployment and adoption. Lauding Congress’s approval of the bill, USTelecom President and CEO Walter B. McCormick stated:

We are very pleased that Congress has acted on this critical legislation that will increase broadband adoption and bring broadband service to underserved and unserved parts of the country. As this legislation acknowledges, using public-private partnerships to accelerate investment and deployment depends on accurate broadband mapping and effective targeting of resources.

USTelecom is pleased to have played a role—through Congressional testimony, work with various members of Congress and their staffs, and advocacy—in the ongoing effort to bring about broadband mapping legislation, which is a critical first step in developing a comprehensive national broadband policy.

Calling Card Bill Could Cause Confusion September 23rd, 2008

Today, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce marked-up H.R. 3402, the Calling Card Consumer Protection Act. The goal of the bill—providing consumers with “clear and conspicuous” information disclosure about pre-paid calling cards—is certainly a worthwhile objective, but the problem is that the bill as passed by the Committee contains provisions that are likely to result in consumer confusion and higher costs.

Yesterday afternoon, USTelecom CEO Walter McCormick sent a letter to Reps. John Dingell (D – Mich.) and Joe Barton (R – Tex.), the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the committee outlining our concerns. Walter’s letter enumerated ways the bill’s goal of protecting consumers is undermined, including for example, a long and prescriptive list of disclosures that, under the approach contemplated in the bill, must appear on the calling cards themselves. He wrote:

Even if all these disclosures could fit onto a 2-by-3 inch calling card, as the bill requires, they would have to appear in a type size so small that the average consumer would derive little real benefit at all. Moreover, while it is clear from the two recent congressional hearings on this subject that the business practices of our membership in this area are not in question, the bill could subject telecom providers to duplicative and inconsistent regulation and enforcement from two different federal agencies and a multitude of state and local authorities.

In short, USTelecom wants to ensure that the legislation avoids duplicative FTC and FCC regulation and enforcement; inconsistent federal, state, and local enforcement regimes; and impractical disclosure requirements that are unfriendly to consumers.

FCC Releases Net-911 NPRM August 26th, 2008

Last night, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that covers the implementation of the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008.  I spoke a bit about the issue in last week’s Vidcast.  We’re currently looking over the NPRM to see what it includes, and we’ll be sure to give you an update when we’ve finished.The FCC is statutorily obligated to issue regulations to implement the bill no later than October 21, so the agency has abbreviated the standard comment cycle a bit. Comments on the NPRM will be due 12 days after publication in the Federal Register (which has not yet occurred) and replies 20 days.

USTelecom Vidcast: Robert Mayer on NET-911 August 20th, 2008

This week, the FCC is expected to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the implementation of the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008 (NET 911 Act). After the president signed the NET 911 bill into law earlier this summer, the FCC was given ninety days to implement it. In the newest USTelecom Vidcast Robert Mayer, USTelecom’s vice president for state and industry affairs, talks about the FCC’s plans for implementing the bill’s provisions.

More on Copper Theft August 13th, 2008

Materials theft–specifically copper theft–is a huge issue impacting towns all across the country. Apropos of my post from last week, just before Congress adjourned for the August recess, Rep. Bart Stupak (D – Mich.) introduced HR 6381, the Copper Theft Prevention Act of 2008. Although some worry that the bill will do little or nothing to mitigate the problem, the bill is intended to protect critical infrastructure–specifically the telecommunications, transportation, and electricity networks that rely on copper–and address the growing use of copper theft to facilitate drug use and other crimes by establishing documentation procedures for copper recyclers. The bill was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and we’ll be sure to keep you updated on its progress when Congress returns.

Changes to the Forbearance Process Should Keep Sight of the Goal July 24th, 2008

On Tuesday, I testified before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet at a hearing on “Issues in Telecommunications Competition.” The hearing focused largely on two things: H.R. 3914, the “Protecting Consumers through Proper Forbearance Procedures Act,” and number porting.

H.R. 3914, introduced in the House by Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), would amend the forbearance section of the ‘96 Telecom Act to remove a provision stating that if the FCC fails to act on a forbearance petition within a one year period (plus a possible 90-day extension), the petition is “deemed granted.” In effect, the bill would remove any statutory consequences for inaction by the FCC within the designated time frame. Congress put this provision in the ’96 Act recognizing that the pace of change in communications required the creation of a path to get quicker review of outdated rules. Traditional carriers use this process, as do newer competitors and wireless companies. Now, with 55 million broadband subscribers, a cable company predicting that it will become the third largest voice company by the end of the year, and people continuing to tradeoff fixed and mobile services, there isn’t any reason left to presume that old regulations serve competition and innovation.

As I told the subcommittee, USTelecom and its members certainly support the goal of improving the forbearance process,[ both through the FCC’s current forbearance proceeding and through the committee’s work]. Everyone wants to ensure that the process achieves its goal of removing regulatory burdens as they become obsolete in the rapidly changing marketplace, while providing competitors and the public with the clarity and transparency they deserve. The subcommittee members were clearly uncomfortable with the possibility that forbearance could be “deemed granted” based on a tied 2-2 vote, as it was on a petition filed by Verizon; they were equally concerned with the lack of transparency and lack of an Order provided by the FCC in that particular case.

The pace of change in communications continues to accelerate in our broadband world. Because of that rapid change, there must be some means for obtaining relatively quick review and elimination of rules and regulations that stand in the way of competition and the public interest; the FCC should have a compelling incentive to act expeditiously on petitions, whether it’s through a deemed granted provision or some other equally effective mechanism. We will work with the subcommittee to address that concern and as well as suggest other improvements to the forbearance process.

You can read my complete written testimony—which includes discussion of pole attachments, phantom traffic, retention marketing, and number porting—here.