Category: Regulatory
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Congressional leaders ask FCC to Streamline Wireless Broadband Infrastructure Deployments
On May 29th, House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to streamline the approval process for upgrading existing wireless facilities. The letter asks Mr. Wheeler for clarification of Section 6409(a) – the spectrum provisions of the Middle Class…
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FCC Net Neutrality Proposal Stirs Up Controversy- Reclassify or Not?
On May 15th the FCC Commissioners narrowly voted to approve a framework for rules that would create an Internet fast lane, while trying to patch up the loopholes that would make that fast lane possible. The proposal from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler would ban broadband providers from blocking or slowing down websites, but leaves the door…
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Rural America Needs Advanced Services & Competition – Part 1
The above title is by no means an original thought; this belief has been documented in policy statements and legislation at the Federal and individual state level many times over the years. Technology and other social factors have resulted in many changes to telecommunications policy for the common good of our country. A significant number…
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Rural America Needs Advanced Services & Competition – Part 2
[Editor’s note: Mr. South’s first article provided a brief history of AT&T as as a regulated monopoly and the forces that drove to the 1984 break-up of “Ma Bell”. Part 2 examines the aftermath of the break-up, particularly its impact on telecommunication services to rural areas.] Click here to read Rural America Needs Advanced Services & Competition…
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FCC Set to Act on Net Neutrality at May 15th Meeting
On April 23rd, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said that he’d circulate his net neutrality proposal to other commissioners on Thursday of this week, in preparation for a vote at the FCC’s May 15 meeting. The draft rules will then be formally proposed and available for public comment. We’ve been waiting for a definitive…
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AT&T to Test All-IP Phone Network in 2 U.S. Cities
AT&T will begin pilot testing all-digital IP phone networks in West Delray Beach, Florida, and Carbon Hill, Alabama, as part of the U.S. carrier’s push to move away from legacy switched telephone networks (PSTN and POTS) in favor of all-IP delivery of voice, data and video. AT&T’s announcement: Testing the Next Generation of IP Networks, states that…