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Tel-Intelligence is the electronic newsletter of the TeleCommUnity
Alliance.
Tel-Intelligence offers a bi-weekly look at activity within TeleCommUnity,
analysis and updates of leading congressional telecommunications
proposals, and links to industry news stories that impact local
governments. With its insights into congressional activity and the
state of telecommunications, Tel-Intelligence has become “must
read” materials for local governments.
How to Subscribe: As of June 2003, Tel-Intelligence
is only available to members of the TeleCommunity Alliance. To learn
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and receiving this valuable resource, click here.
View a recent sample of the newsletter below.
SAMPLE
Tel-Intelligence - The TeleCommUnity Alliance Newsletter
February 13, 2004
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Within the TeleCommUnity...
TeleCommUnity
Analysis: An Eventful Week
This past week, I sent an email around to share with TeleCommUnity
members just how full the telecommunications plate is in Washington.
On February 12, TeleCommUnity Chair Marilyn Praisner delivered that
same message much better while testifying before an NTIA panel on
the spectrum needs of the public safety community. Before delivering
her formal remarks, our chair provided the panel some perspective
on the life of a local government official and just where telecommunications
issues fit in such an agenda:
My calendar
this week included two County Council committee meetings, each
three hours long, focused on meaty issues such as affordable housing,
government assistance for first time home buyers, and procurement.
There was a day-long County Council meeting to address how to
close a 200 million dollar budget gap, and how to fund a private/public
partnership arts center. There were meetings with: a developer
who wants to build a new shopping center, larger than the community
wants; representatives from a hospital that needs to expand and
is facing neighbor opposition, and a full day in Annapolis to
meet with other officials on the State's interoperability initiative∑.
This litany is not to evoke sympathy -- everyone is busy. It's
hopefully to give you an appreciation of the myriad of issues
confronting local elected officials every day. With so many issues
on their plates back home, local elected officials may not be
at the table when public safety spectrum is discussed at the national
level.
Despite her
caveat as to the type of time local government officials might have
to address new challenges; I still must sound the "Call to
Arms" alarm. Washington is set to rewrite the Communications
Act. The rewrite could take place in 2004, not necessarily in legislation,
but in the actions of the FCC and technological advancements making
possible services such as VoIP.
A New Era
in Telecommunications
The news coverage of congressional and FCC reactions to the Super
Bowl half-time shenanigans has masked that both entities are set
to consider changes in policies of a magnitude beyond any in recent
history.
Changes that started two years ago with the FCC's cable modem order
may culminate in a late 2004 or early 2005 VoIP decision that will
usher in an era of broadband services being categorized as interstate
information services, governed only by the light touch of Title
I of the Communications Act. The result of these decisions could
have devastating effects on consumer safeguards, universal services,
e-rates, E-911, law enforcement surveillance rights and introduce
great uncertainty into the world of rights-of-way management. If
those were not enough of a threat, there are many in Congress who
seek to exempt Internet transactions or services, including accessing
the Internet over the tradional public switched telephone network
or cable infrastructure, from taxation or regulatory oversight.
Should you feel that I am guilty of hyperbole, consider that all
five FCC Commissioners in opening the VoIP docket on February 12
stated that they were entering the most important telecommunications
docket since the creation of the telephone. Chairman Michael Powell
likened the docket to "the curtain going up on the digital
age" and called it "the most important and difficult item
in communications history."
So if it seems like there are a lot issues coming at you all at
once, and that we are in a crisis/opportunity du jour mode, don't
touch your dial. Things are just that crazy, and the messages from
Washington are just that cloudy. And we haven't even yet begun to
talk about spectrum needs and "first responder funding."
More than staying tuned, we need everyone to stay involved.
ACH-2
While local government would prefer that the Internet Tax Freedom
Act ("ITFA") not be revived, the Internet Access Tax Ban
Extension and Improvement Act ''("ACH-2",) filed February
12 by Sens. Alexander, Carper, Hutchison, Hollings and seven other
senior members of the senate, represents the next best alternative.
Copies of the bill were forwarded before introduction, and may be
found on the TeleCommUnity web site at http://www.telecommunityalliance.org/issues/internettaxation.html.
-- Gerry Lederer, TeleCommUnity consultant
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On Capitol Hill ...
Tauzin Resigns Commerce Committee Chairmanship,Will Not Run In Fall
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman W.J. "Billy"
Tauzin (R-LA) says he will resign his committee chairmanship in
two weeks and will not seek re-election to the House this year.
In a February 3 letter to Speaker Dennis Hastert, Tauzin said his
"duty now is to turn over the gavel to its next generation
of leaders who can focus exclusively on the committee's great future."
His letter to the speaker came less than a week after he told a
Louisiana newspaper of a "high probability" that he would
not seek re-election. Tauzin, who has been rumored as a potential
candidate for numerous top industry jobs in recent months, said
he would resign the chairmanship February16 but remain a member
of the panel and the House. The House Republican Steering Committee
named Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who heads Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee
on Energy and Air Quality, as Tauzin's successor. -- Washington
Post, Washington
Times, Associated
Press, Congress
Daily, Wireless
Week, February 4, 2004
Hutchison Supports Two-Year Ban On InternetTaxes as Alternative
to S.150
An aide says Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) has decided to support
a proposed alternative to legislation that would broaden and permanently
extend the expired moratorium on certain Internet taxes. The moratorium
expired Nov. 1 of last year, and a proposal to make it permanent
(S. 150) did not reach the Senate floor. The stalled bill also would
broaden the definition of "Internet access" to prohibit
taxes on telecommunications services currently subject to taxes,
such as high-speed Internet access over the digital subscriber lines
typically offered by telephone companies. But Hutchison offered
her support for an alternative that would simply restore the lapsed
moratorium for two more years without broadening it. -- Technology
Daily, February 4, 2004
House Panel Pushes For Overhaul Of 1996 TelecomAct
Members of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee say Congress
must begin laying the groundwork this year for a massive rewrite
of the 1996 Telecommunications Act to update federal policies for
Internet-based telephone services and other rapidly emerging technologies.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), chairman of the Telecommunications and the
Internet Subcommittee Chairman,said during a February 4 hearing
that the committee would hold hearings this year on how best to
retool the 1996 law. He predicted that the rewrite will take more
than one year and said it "should really start in an earnest
way" when the 109th Congress convenes in 2005. Rep. Cliff Stearns
(R-FL) said that while consumers have benefited under the law, regulatory
uncertainty has been an "obstacle" to long-term investment
in telecom technologies. -- Congress Daily, February 5, 2004
Aides Say TeleCom Act to be Rewritten
Telecom companies and end-users have received their first warnings
that a re-write of the U.S. Telecommunications Act of 1996 is on
the horizon. "I think it is inevitable that we will see a new
bill," said Bill Bailey, senior counsel for the Senate Commerce
Committee. Bailey works directly with Arizona's Republican Senator
John McCain, who heads the telecommunications committee. "Sen.
McCain wants to take a new look at the Act," Bailey added.
There is some agreement in the House of Representatives, as well.
An aide to Rep. John Dingle, the ranking Democrat on the corresponding
committee, also said it is time to revisit the Act ˆ just eight
years after it became law. "The Act mainly dealt with how the
Bells would get into long distance and how the long-distance carriers
would get local access," said Greg Rothschild, who works for
Dingle on the House Commerce Committee staff. "The 1996 Act
has little to say about things like VoIP, DSL services, and cable
modem." The consensus is that the Act will come under revision
sometime around 2010 or 2011. -- Total Telecom, February 2, 2004
Senators Criticize Administration's Funding Level for First
Responders
Leaders of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee have criticized
the Bush administration's fiscal year 2005 funding for first responders,
saying the administration should allocate more resources for them
and streamline the grant process for state and local officials.
"While our first responders have received more resources, they
need a streamlined grant process that includes greater flexibility
in how they can use federal resources," Sen. Susan Collins
(R-ME), the panel's chairman, told Homeland Security Secretary Tom
Ridge during a February 9 hearing on the agency's $40.2 billion
budget for FY 2005.
"While response capabilities have improved, prevention lags."
Collins introduced legislation last year (S 1245) that would
streamline the grant process for first responders. The panel has
unanimously approved the bill. The Bush administration has proposed
$3.6 billion to fund grants for first responders through its Office
for Domestic Preparedness for FY 2005. That includes $1.4 billion
to prepare responders in urban areas that are considered more vulnerable
to terrorists attacks. Across the federal government, the administration
said funding for emergency preparedness and response programs would
rise to $8.8 billion, 23 percent more than in FY 2004. But Democrats
on the House Budget Committee have complained that the Homeland
Security Department's proposed first responder funding would be
14.7 percent less than what was appropriated in the current fiscal
year, and formula-based grants would drop 36.5 percent. "The
administration's fiscal year 2005 budget -- which includes a stunning
30 percent cut, government-wide, for first responders - is the latest
evidence of shortchanging the homeland side of the war against terrorism,"
said Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), the committee's ranking member.
"By all accounts, hundreds of thousands of first responders
in our country still lack the training and equipment they need to
adequately protect the American people." -- Telecommunications
Reports Daily, February 9, 2004
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In The News ...
BUSINESS
Banner Year Expected for Telecoms
At least one sector of the tech market is hearing the sound of cash
registers ringing as the recovery rumbles on: telecoms. Analyst
firm IDC predicts that the telecoms market will ring up more than
$1tn - yes, that's one trillion dollars - of spending in the course
of 2004. According to IDC's Worldwide Telecommunication Black Book
the sector as a whole will enjoy growth 4.4 per cent greater than
in 2003. The driver for the upturn will be data services. -- Silicon.com,
February 10, 2004
INTERNET
Court OKs California City's Attempt To RegulateCyber Cafes
A state appellate court has ruled that an attempt by city of Garden
Grove to heavily regulate cyber cafes is legal. Garden Grove Mayor
Bruce Broadwater said he was pleased with the ruling because it
reaffirms the city's authority to pass restrictions that aim to
"prevent serious acts of violence." After a series of
violent attacks at or near the city's cyber cafes, officials passed
an ordinance requiring cyber cafes to log customers, have an adult
and security guard present, limit business hours and videotape their
premises. The court, however, struck down the requirement that each
cafe have a conditional-use permit, which meant going through the
city's planning process. -- Los
Angeles Times
INTERNET VOTING
Michigan Internet Balloting Gets Vote of Approval
Michigan Democratic Party officials say the only U.S. presidential
contest in 2004 to use Internet voting was completed without a hitch.
Michigan's caucus, in which nearly one-third of the votes cast arrived
through the Internet, gave presidential contender John Kerry another
early victory over rivals Howard Dean, John Edwards and Wesley Clark.
"I think it was a success," said Jason Moon, a Michigan
Democratic Party spokesman. Of the nearly 163,000 votes recorded
in the caucus that closed on the evening of February 7, about 46,000
were made online. Of the total, Kerry garnered 84,214 votes, or
52 percent of the total. In addition to the online voting option,
Michigan residents could vote in person or through the mail. Michigan's
experiment comes as Internet voting is drawing both interest and
criticism. Four computer security experts recently warned that methods
of Internet voting cannot be secured against fraud and other security
risks. -- CNET
News, February 9, 2004
Pentagon, Meanwhile, Cancels Plans For Internet Voting In 2004
The Pentagon has canceled plans to let military personnel vote online
in the November presidential election. The program was designed
to enable military personnel and some civilians stationed overseas
to vote. "We've decided not use it in the November election,"
a Defense Department spokeswoman said February 5. "It was done
in view of the inability to ensure the legitimacy of votes that
would be cast using this program." She added that officials
will rethink the plan in the future "but only if the integrity
of the election results can be ensured." A group of four computer
scientists criticized the project in a January 20 report, saying
the system has numerous security problems. -- Washington
Post, Reuters,
CNET
News, February 6, 2004
POLICY
Group Says Municipal Telecom Networks are Bad Investments
A report released by a pro-business think tank finds municipalities
entering the telecommunications business are putting
their taxpayers at financial risk at a time when there are plenty
of private firms available to do the same job. The study by the
Progress & Freedom Foundation says that while local government-owned
telecoms have many advantages over private business -- including
subsidies, tax exemptions, low-cost borrowing, and easy access to
public rights-of-way -- many are producing "large negative
returns" and "will be an indefinite drain on taxpayers."
according to author Thomas Lenard, a PFF senior fellow and vice
president-research. -- Telecommunications Reports Daily, February
11, 2004
PUBLIC SAFETY
Study Takes
a SWAT at E-911
Localities will fall far short of the FCC's goals for location-specific
wireless E911 capabilities, according to a new study issued today
by a leading nonprofit 911 organization. Only about half of the
public safety answering points in the nation will be E911 Phase
II capable by the end of 2004, according to a study commissioned
by the National Emergency Numbering Association. More alarmingly,
according to the study, only 80 percent of the nation will have
access to E-911 Phase II capable public safety answering points
by the end of 2007, awell beyond the FCC's initial goal of 2001.
-- Associated
Press, Wireless
Week, February 5, 2004
Kentucky Tries To Put First Responders On Same Wavelength
The state House in Kentucky has approved a bill to bolster wireless
communications among state and local emergency workers. First responders
to emergencies often are unable to communicate with one another
because they use different technology systems. The new bill in Kentucky
would require state and local emergency agencies to submit wireless
communications master plans to a state oversight committee for review.
Local plans could not be vetoed, but officials hope that the reviews
would help ensure that wireless systems are compatible. -- Associated
Press, February 7, 2004
Kansas House OKs Safety Fee on Cell Phone Use
The Kansas House has approved a new 50-cent monthly charge that
will appear on the state‚s cellular subscribers‚ monthly
bills. The funds from the new charge will be used to help emergency
responders buy equipment to pinpoint the location of someone that
uses a cell phone to call for help. If the measure becomes law,
wireless companies will start collecting the fee after July 1. --
Kansas
City Star, February 6, 2004
TAXES
Allen: VoIP Service Could be Excluded from Internet Tax Moratorium
Bill
Senator George Allen (R-VA) says he might agree to exclude voice-over-Internet
protocol (VoIP) services from a bill he has introduced to impose
a permanent moratorium on the taxation of many Internet-related
services. He indicated some willingness to bend on the VoIP issue
during a February 12 debate with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), sponsor
of a competing measure that would place a two-year ban on new taxation
of Internet services. The Washington-based Heritage Foundation sponsored
the debate. The bill sponsored by Sen. Allen (S. 150) would make
permanent a ban on taxation of Internet service that expired last
November. That measure is being countered by a proposal from Sens.
Alexander and Thomas Carper (D-DE) that would extend the moratorium
for two years. An analysis of the Alexander-Carper proposal by the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argues that it would restore
neutral tax treatment between various forms of broadband Internet
access and would "preserve taxes on Internet-related telecommunications
services not used to provide basic Internet access to end users."
That same analysis also argues that VoIP services would qualify
as tax-exempt under S 150 and migration of traditional phone customers
.to VoIP services would severely erode tax streams that state and
local governments now collect on telecom services. -- Telecommunications
Reports Daily, February 12, 2004
Tech Group Urges Ban on Internet Taxes
The Washington-area technology group CapNet is urging the Senate
to pass legislation to ban taxes on Internet access, claiming any
further increase in the cost of Internet access would contribute
to the "digital divide" in America. "For every cent
added to the cost of Internet access, many senior citizens, families
and individuals who live on fixed incomes might choose to take the
exit ramp off the information superhighway," CapNet President
Tim Hugo said in a February 9 statement. CapNet supports a bill
that would permanently ban taxes on access and other Internet-related
taxes. The group also backs a competing draft bill to ban the taxes
for two years and extend the moratorium to high-speed Internet services
offered over telecommunications companies' digital subscriber lines.
CapNet says new taxes on Internet access would slow growth in the
tech sector and subscriptions to broadband and multi-media services.
-- Technology Daily, February 9, 2004
To Tax or Not to Tax?
As we transition to a digital economy, one of the more contentious
public-policy issues is Internet taxation. Opponents of an Internet
tax moratorium argue that it‚s unfair to tax certain types
of telecommunications services, like the telephone line, but not
others, like Internet access. This is somewhat of a red herring,
as these taxation distinctions are made all the time. ... The issue
of whether to exempt VoIP is somewhat different. Companies like
Vonage already provide VoIP, and virtually all the major telecom
companies are following suit. Before long, many households and businesses
with broadband connections will ditch their old phone service and
make voice calls over the Internet. ... When Congress passed the
Internet Tax Freedom Act in 1998, broadband wasn‚t much of
a consideration. When Congress renewed it in 2001, few considered
VOIP. In a few years, the Internet and information technology landscape
will have changed yet again in ways that we may not be able to forecast.
It makes sense, therefore, to extend the Internet tax moratorium
for perhaps four or five years, rather than making it permanent.
One reason is that at some point, when most telephony is on the
Internet and most Americans have broadband, it may make sense tax
broadband services and use a portion of the revenues to fund a universal
service program to help lower-income Americans afford a broadband
"pipe." -- The
Hill, February 4, 2004
TECHNOLOGY
City Governments Map Trends
The bureaucratic, pothole-plagued world of big-city government is
making creative use of sleek, innovative technology. A software
package combines aerial photography, census figures, crime statistics
and other information from city agencies. Overlaid on an interactive
map, the program can aid emergency response teams and relieve civic
drudgery. For example, specialized mapping software helped New York
plot the addresses of people who had called to complain about having
lost their heat during a recent cold snap. That helped determine
precisely where the city should set up "heating centers"
where New Yorkers could huddle. -- Associated
Press, February 1, 2004
Ohio City Considers Electronic Tracking ofCats
Lost cats in Akron, Ohio, would have a better chance of finding
their way home under a proposed plan to implant microchips that
would electronically identify the cats' owners. City council member
Renee Greene has introduced a proposal to implant microchips beneath
the fur of 1,000 cats, giving the animals a permanent identification
tag. A runaway cat's owner would be identified by scanning the chip,
which would be about the size of a grain of rice, then checking
the scan against a voluntary registry maintained by the city. Buying
and installing the microchips would cost the city nearly $10,000.
The city council still must approve the legislation. -- Associated
Press, February 10, 2004
Airport Technology May Prevent Collisions
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta says a new computer system
that allows airport controllers to track vehicle movement on the
ground and spot potential collisions will help reduce travel delays
and increase safety. Mineta toured the new system February 9 at
Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport, the first in the nation
to use the technology creating a map of all ground operations. "If
planes don't move because of bad weather or congestion, the economy
doesn't move - and that is unacceptable," he said. The $4.5
million computer system has helped during bad weather when visibility
from the 210-foot tall tower is low, said Dave Brooks, an air traffic
control specialist and one of Mineta's demonstrators. It has been
operating at Mitchell since October, and will be put into place
this year at airports in St. Louis; Orlando, Florida; Charlotte,
North Carolina; and Providence, Rhode Island. -- Associated
Press, February 9, 2004
THE FCC
FCC Takes Initial Steps on VoIP
The Federal Communications Commission has taken the first steps
to determine the regulatory framework governing voice over IP by
issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for IP services and
declaring IP-to-IP calling an information service. "This NPRM
is really the curtain going up on a new era of communications. That‚s
both exciting and daunting," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said
February 12. "This is the most important item in communications
history, in some ways." Commissioners expressed intent to regulate
VoIP minimally, but each indicated VoIP providers should fulfill
social-policy obligations associated with E911, Universal Service,
disability access and law-enforcement access. -- Washington
Post, Telephony
Online, February 12, 2004
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Tel-Intelligence
is published biweekly. ©2004, TeleCommUnity Alliance, 1615
L Street, N.W., Suite 520, Washington, DC 20036. Phone (202) 429-8855.
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