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Plenty of Cowboys, How About a Chief by Ken Pyle (ken.pyle@viodi.com), Viodi, LLC |
July 21st, 2004 Issue |
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During the 10 day long stampede, everyone in Calgary seems to turn into a cowboy or cowgirl. So, it was only appropriate that a Chief show up for OPASTCO’s summer convention in Calgary. No, this wasn’t a Native Canadian or American Chief, but instead it was William Maher, the FCC Wireline Competition Bureau Chief. Maher spoke for almost an hour on many of the concerns of facing independent telcos. The importance of the OPASTCO workshops and panels was driven home by Maher. He mentioned that he had sat in on the VoIP panel and was impressed that OPASTCO members are, “in the vanguard of telecommunications’ services.” He said that the FCC is listening to OPASTCO and its members and that, “the reality is that it still costs lots of money to fund rural networks, even with advances in technology.” His comments were proof-points that OPASTCO fills an important role in serving the telecom needs of rural America and Canada. I had the chance to talk to a friend who used to be with the FCC and what impressed him is that Maher has a real appreciation for the subtly and challenges of providing telecom service in rural locales. Maher explained how impressed he was with the service provided by a small Wyoming telco while he was vacationing last summer. He decided not to drop into their office to compliment them, as he felt they might not want a “surprise visit” from the FCC. The point he made is that the FCC recognizes the importance of OPASTCO members in helping to create a “connected society” that provides Universal Service. As the FCC looks at any telecom decision, he said that they are, “always mindful of changes that will impact rural markets.” At the same time, he suggested that Washington needs to be constantly reminded of the nuts and bolts issues. Maher stated that, “that they [the FCC] always remember that the fundamental goal of the telecommunications act is the Universal Service Mandate.” Further, shoring up the integrity of the Universal Fund is very important. He mentioned the e-rate program and said that it has largely been successfully, but there have been some “bad actors” which the FCC is actively pursuing. He did suggest that it makes sense to broaden the base of USF contributors and that some sort of parity in regulation between technologies is required. This is an on-going policy debate within the FCC, as there are six different groups within the FCC providing different guidelines for different technology. For instance, cable modems are covered by the Media Bureau within the FCC and not the Wireline Bereau. He suggested that narrow legislation might be required to solve this dilemma. One of the more interesting questions was posed from an independent telco that is providing DSL outside their exchange area to Verizon subscribers via a line-sharing arrangement. Apparently, in this particular instance, Verizon does not provide broadband service, so the only option customers have is through a non-facilities-based service from this independent telco/CLEC. They are concerned that the FCC’s decision to end mandatory line sharing will deprive customers of broadband. Although, Maher did not answer whether the FCC will reconsider this decision, he did say they were, “concerned with the tying of phone service to DSL by Incumbents.” He termed what was going on with efforts in Congress to explore how VoIP should be treated from a regulatory standpoint as, “educational.” The implication is no real legislation can be expected in this election year. All displayed trademarks, logos
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2004, Viodi,
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