FCC Puts Hold on Wholesale Phone Rates
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WASHINGTON Aug. 20, 2004 - Federal regulators Friday imposed a six-month freeze on the rates regional phone companies may charge their competitors to use networks to provide local service.
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AT&T Inc , Verizon Wireless and  Deutsche Telekom's  T-Mobile USA on Tuesday announced  flat rate plans for unlimited calls in the United States,  raising investor concerns that a price war could break out and  sending shares lower.
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Sources say FCC on Tuesday will further exempt Internet calls from state rules and taxes. But is cable a fly in the ointment?
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San Diego Gas &amp; Electric Co. customers won a reprieve yesterday when the state utilities commission delayed a decision that could shift $1 billion in crisis-related power costs to local consumers and cause a major rate increase.
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Consumers who use wireless or  Internet-based telephones could see their bills rise, as the  U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved on Wednesday an  interim new plan for funding phone service subsidies.
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A U.S. appeals court on Thursday  gave the Federal Communications Commission time to come up with  new final rules for big local U.S. telephone carriers sharing  their networks with rivals after temporarily freezing wholesale  rates.
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Blog: Barring a last-minute industry compromise, new royalty rates--which Internet radio operators argue could cripple their services--are slated to kick in Sunday.
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Wireless carriers are fighting state and local laws that, in their view, force them to "hide" government taxes and fees from their customers. So far, they haven't been totally successful.
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Sources expect that on Tuesday, the FCC will exempt more Net phone calls from state telephone rules and taxes, even as the cable industry tries to grab VoIP's coattails.
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update A price war is brewing in the world of Internet telephone services, as providers try to win over consumers who now have a host of options when it comes to making calls.
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Washington - Phone calls made over the Internet cannot be regulated by states, the Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday.
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(InfoWorld) - U.S. consumers should be allowed to take phones along with them when they switch wireless carriers, and spectrum to be auctioned through the U.S. Federal Communications Commission should include rules requiring the winning bidders to sell access to competitors at wholesale rates, some U.S. lawmakers said Wednesday. Some members of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet also questioned what they called huge early termination fees on wireless telephone contracts. But other lawmakers and executives with wireless carriers questioned the need for new wireless regulations, saying an already competitive market protects customers. The U.S. wireless industry is "vigorously competitive," with four national and several regional carriers, said Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican. New net neutrality and open access rules that would require carriers to open up their networks to new devices and applications could slow wireless innovations, he said. "We should take care to not adopt policies that would set back the highly competitive wireless market," he added. "No matter how you slice it, forced network neutrality smothers investment in a competitive market and in the end will leave consumers worse off with probably fewer choices." But other members of the subcommittee, mostly Democrats, questioned why phones can't switch between wireless networks. U.S. customers should also be able to run any applications they want on wireless networks instead of having limited choices approved by the carrier, said Representative Mike Doyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat. "It's time for consumers to become the deciders of what they want their phones to do," Doyle said. Apple's recent launch of its iPhone demonstrates the "promise and problems" of the U.S. wireless industry, added Representative Ed Markey, the subcommittee chairman and a Massachusetts Democrat. While the iPhone has innovative new technologies, U.S. customers can use it with only one wireless carrier, AT&T, he said. Other lawmakers called on the FCC to go farther than requiring device portability and application choices when it sets the rules for the use of spectrum to be auctioned in the 700MHz band. Part of the 60MHz of spectrum to be auctioned by early next year should include requirements for the winner to offer the spectrum at wholesale rates to other wireless and broadband providers, said Representative Chip Pickering, a Mississippi Republican. A wholesale rule would allow new wireless broadband providers to spring up all over the country, Pickering said. The 700MHz spectrum, now used by U.S. television stations for over-the-air broadcasts, would allow for long-range wireless broadband services, many experts say. The wholesale rule wouldn't put new regulations on existing wireless services, Pickering said. "What's wrong with that?" he asked. There's nothing wrong with a carrier voluntarily deciding to wholesale its spectrum, said Steven Zipperstein, general counsel for Verizon Wireless. "We don't think a business model should be hardwired into the auction by regulatory fiat," he said. Ed Evans, CEO of startup carrier Stelera Wireless, questioned whether a wholesale business model would succeed in the new spectrum. "You're going to give up a scarce resource ... that you're not going to be able to recoup the value on," he said. "You're going to prohibit other people from deploying proven technologies in that same area." But Jason Devitt, cofounder and former CEO of Vindigo, a company that distributes local guides on mobile phones, said the U.S. needs a more open wireless system where application providers don't have to work out deals with wireless carriers. "We have a regulatory system that doesn't work," said Devitt, now CEO of Skydeck, a wireless startup. "I'm mad as hell that I require permission to innovate in the wireless market." While wireless customers usually have to switch devices when they switch carriers, U.S. television subscribers don't have to buy a new TV set when they switch from cable TV service to satellite, added Timothy Wu, a professor at the Columbia Law School and supporter of open access rules. "There's something strange about this industry," he said. "Even the rules of personal property ... seem to be suppressed."
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gardel writes &quot;Voxilla reports that a VoIP price war was declared today. An announcement that AT&amp;T would drop its prices for its CallVantage Service from $34.
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said yesterday he did not know how soon it would consider AT&T's proposed $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth after the deal was left off the agenda for Wednesday's meeting because of a continuing stalemate between the commission's...
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By Christian Hill, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.  Feb. 14--Qwest pushed for a bill Tuesday that it says would hold down soaring cable TV rates in Washington by creating competition.
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The Federal Communications Commission seized regulatory control over Internet-based telephone services on Tuesday by issuing an order that sharply limited the role of state regulators.
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WASHINGTON The Associated Press reports some details are coming out today about proposed federal rules for regional phone companies.