Verizon, Qwest to Fight FCC Rate Freeze
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Verizon Communications Inc. and other parties have asked a federal court to throw out a set of temporary regulations banning giant regional phone companies from raising the wholesale rates they charge competitors for at least six months. -The Washington Post
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By JOHN DUNBAR  WASHINGTON - Cable television rates keep going up while prices for other communications services are going down, says the nation's chief communications regulator, and he blames local governments for blocking competition.
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WASHINGTON -- Executives at the nation's two satellite radio companies released details of pricing plans Monday that would allow customers to choose which channels they want to receive if the two firms are permitted to merge.
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U.S. communications regulators on  Friday issued interim rules that would freeze for six months  wholesale rates for leasing access to the major U.S. local  telephone networks to try to preserve competition.
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By Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.  Feb. 2--Verizon Communications Inc. has a preliminary deal with cable  television regulators to start offering TV service in Washington County, a  long-anticipated challenge to Comcast Corp.   The pact, due for consideration Feb.
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Antitrust authorities at the Justice  Department on Thursday warned regulators against imposing  &quot;network neutrality&quot; regulations that would bar broadband  Internet service companies from charging extra to some content  providers.
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U.S. communications regulators on Friday issued interim rules that would freeze for six months the wholesale rates for leasing access to the major U.S. local telephone networks.
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has asked the Supreme Court to hear an appeal that could determine whether cable broadband providers can be forced to open their networks to other Internet providers.
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Verizon Wireless' request that a court review the FCC's decision requiring open access to spectrum it is about to auction has met strong resistance from Google and a host of other groups.
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Cable-modem service provider Comcast said Wednesday that it would welcome a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)&#160;investigation into its broadband traffic management practices.FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, speaking at the&#160;Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas&#160;on Tuesday, said the commission would investigate&#160;complaints that Comcast was blocking some peer-to-peer (P-to-P) traffic. An Associated Press investigation published in October found that Comcast was slowing traffic connected through the popular BitTorrent file-sharing program.A Comcast spokeswoman said Wednesday that the company had not yet received information requests from the FCC. Comcast, in a statement, also defended its practice of sometimes slowing P-to-P traffic during peak traffic times.&quot;We look forward to responding to any FCC inquiries regarding our broadband network management,&quot; David Cohen, Comcast&#39;s executive vice president, said in the statement. &quot;We believe our practices are in accordance with the FCC&#39;s policy statement on the Internet where the commission clearly recognized that reasonable network management is necessary for the good of all customers.&quot;Comcast will work with the FCC to better inform customers about broadband network management, the statement said. &quot;Comcast does not, has not, and will not block any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services,&quot; Cohen said.Martin also said the FCC would look into complaints that Verizon Wireless and other wireless carriers were blocking access to text-messaging on their networks. In September,&#160;Verizon Wireless denied Naral Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights group, access&#160;when the group asked to allow Verizon customers to sign up for its text-messaging alerts.&#160;Verizon reversed the decision a day later.A Verizon Wireless spokeswoman didn&#39;t immediately respond to a request for comments on Martin&#39;s CES speech.In December, eight consumer and public-interest groups -- including Public Knowledge, the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union -- filed a complaint with the FCC, saying mobile phone providers should not be able to block text messages from political groups and advertisers.Public Knowledge and Free Press, both critical of provider traffic blocking, praised Martin&#39;s CES statements. Public Knowledge is pleased that the FCC is &quot;willing to stand by their principles to protect American consumers,&quot; the group said in a statement. &quot;We look forward to FCC proceedings that will determine what are legitimate uses of power by telecom companies, and which are not.&quot;
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(InfoWorld) - Verizon Wireless has encountered strong opposition for its request that an appeals court overturn U.S. Federal Communications Commission auction rules on a portion of wireless spectrum. Verizon Wireless, in a brief filed Monday, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the FCC's decision to require so-calledÂ open-access rulesÂ on about a third of the 62MHz of spectrum in theÂ 700MHz band scheduled to be auctioned in January. The FCC voted in July to require that the winner of 22MHz of spectrum allow any wireless devices to connect to the network, meaning wireless telephone customers could bring their handset devices from other carriers. The FCC also prohibited the winning bidder on the 22MHz block of spectrum from blocking or slowing wireless and Web content from competitors. Those rules are "arbitrary, capricious, unsupported by substantial evidence and otherwise contrary to law," Verizon Wireless said in its brief. Verizon spokeswoman Debra Lewis said the company will let the brief "speak for itself." Media reform group Free Press, a supporter of the open-access rules, accused Verizon Wireless of sending "lawyers, FUD and money" in an attempt to overturn the FCC's decision. The FCC's open-access rules were a "small step on the long road to breaking up the anticompetitive, anticonsumer oligopoly that controls almost every level of the wireless marketplace," Free Press said in a statement. Frontline Wireless, another supporter of the open-access rules, said in a statement that Verizon's lawsuit "throws a wrench into the auction to promote competition and innovation for consumers." Google also criticized Verizon's lawsuit. The open-access rules are "a big step for consumer choice and competition," Chris Sacca, Google's head of special initiatives, wrote on Google's public policy blog. "Apparently, one of the nation's major existing wireless carriers doesn't think consumers deserve more choices." The wireless spectrum is a valuable public resource, Sacca added. "The nation's spectrum airwaves are not the birthright of any one company," he wrote. The 700MHz spectrum is being abandoned by U.S. television stations after Congress has required them to move from analog to all-digital broadcasts by February 2009. Many tech, broadband and wireless vendors are eyeing the spectrum for next-generation wireless and broadband services; wireless signals can travel about four times farther in the 700MHz band as signals in higher bands. Many groups calling forÂ net-neutrality laws for broadband providersÂ have suggested that the 700MHz band is the best chance in the coming years for a third broadband service that competes with cable and telecom providers. The open-access rules, similar to net-neutrality rules, could help foster a third competitor, but many open-access supporters wanted the FCC to also require the winning bidding to provide wholesale access to competitors at wholesale prices. Verizon Wireless and other critics have suggested the open-access rules will limit the options for the spectrum. The rules could drive down the price the U.S. government gets for the spectrum, and they could discourage the winning bidder from rolling out innovative new services on the spectrum, critics have said.
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LAS VEGAS - Cable met telecommunications Monday at the Telecom '04 trade show in Las Vegas as the top executives of Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. both urged decreased regulation of communications in a joint keynote appearance.
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Verizon Wireless is decrying a reported attempt by Nextel to reduce the price tag in its controversial spectrum deal with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
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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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Cable television rates keep going up while prices for other communications services are going down, says the nation's chief communications regulator, and he blames local governments for blocking competition.
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Massachusetts Electric Co. , the state's biggest utility, reached a $71 million agreement with Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly to freeze most rates through March 1 and offer all customers a monthly credit averaging 43 cents for the year after that. With the seven-year-old system of state-controlled &quot;standard offer&quot; power rates set to expire in March, the settlement pact is ...
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A divided Federal Communications Commission passed rules Wednesday restricting local phone competition. The move is expected to raise prices for many consumers across the country and for small businesses in larger cities.