Top Banner
SHUGHART THOMSON & KILROY’S TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES PRACTICE GROUP TELECOM REPORT Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C.’s Telecommunications and New Technologies Practice Group has substantial experience in regulatory and enforcement proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and state regulatory agencies, and in litigation involving telecommunications matters in the federal and state courts. We present below for your information various recent regulatory and court rulings affecting the telecommunications industry. We are available to assist you in such matters. What’s in this edition: U.S. Court Of Appeals For The Eighth Circuit Upholds FCC’s Preemption Of State Regulation Of Voice Over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) Services...........................................Page 2 Copyright © 2007 Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C. 2057112.01 Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C. Telecom Report Volume V, Issue 3 March/April 2007
19

Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

Sep 14, 2014

Download

Documents

 
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Page 1: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

SHUGHART THOMSON & KILROY’S TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND NEWTECHNOLOGIES PRACTICE GROUP TELECOM REPORT

Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C.’s Telecommunications and New Technologies Practice Group has substantial experience in regulatory and enforcement proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and state regulatory agencies, and in litigation involving telecommunications matters in the federal and state courts. We present below for your information various recent regulatory and court rulings affecting the telecommunications industry. We are available to assist you in such matters.

What’s in this edition:

U.S. Court Of Appeals For The Eighth Circuit Upholds FCC’s Preemption Of State Regulation Of Voice Over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) Services.................................................................Page 2

FCC Classifies Wireless Broadband Internet Access Service As An Information Service.......Page 6

FCC Initiates Inquiry Into Broadband Market Practices..........................................................Page 7

FCC Announces Rule Making To Evaluate Access To Multiple Dwelling Units For Video Providers....................................................................................................................................Page 8

QWEST Rebuffed In Attempt to Collect Access Charges From ATt&T For IP Telephony....Page 9

FCC Announces Proceedings On Broadband Data And Deployment………………………. Page 10

Copyright © 2007 Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C. 2057112.01

Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C.Telecom Report

Volume V, Issue 3March/April 2007

Page 2: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT UPHOLDS FCC’S PREEMPTION OF STATE REGULATION OF VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL

(“VoIP”) SERVICES

In a decision issued March 21, 2007, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, et al. v. Federal Communication Commission, et al., No. 05-1069, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit denied petitions to review that challenged the FCC’s Order preempting state regulation of telecommunication services which utilize Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”). The FCC had preempted state regulation of VoIP after determining that (1) it would be impractical, if not impossible, to separate the intrastate portion of VoIP service from the interstate portion, and (2) state regulation of VoIP would conflict with federal rules and policies. The FCC’s Order came as a result of a petition filed by Vonage Holdings Corporation (“Vonage”), which had been ordered by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (“MPUC”) in 2003 to comply with Minnesota regulations applicable to telephone service and cease and desist from offering Vonage’s Digital Voice services within Minnesota until it did so.

As you know, VoIP is a an Internet application utilizing “packet-switching” to transmit a voice communication over a broadband Internet connection. VoIP is different from the “circuit-switching” application used to route traditional landline telephone calls. In circuit-switched communications, an electrical circuit must be kept clear of other signals for the duration of the telephone call. Packet-switch communications travel in small digital packets along with many other packets, allowing for more efficient utilization of circuits. Packet-switching is more cost effective then circuit-switching.

VoIP communications also differ from traditional circuit-switched telephone communications in other respects. First, the end-to-end geographic location of traditional landline-to-landline telephone communications are readily known, so it is easy to determine whether a particular telephone call is intrastate or interstate. VoIP-to-VoIP communications, however, originate and terminate at an Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses which exist in cyberspace, but are tied to no identifiable geographic location. Thus, a VoIP customer residing in Minnesota but visiting New York State could connect a laptop computer to a broadband Internet connection there and communicate with a next door neighbor in Minnesota via computer. The next day the same caller could be in Los Angeles and talk to the same person who now happens to be in Los Angeles as well, all using VoIP. The Internet would recognize both communications as taking place between the same two IP addresses, but when considering the geographic locations of the caller and the recipient of the call, the first call would be interstate (New York to Minnesota) while the second call would be intrastate (Los Angeles to Los Angeles).

Likewise, in VoIP-to-landline or landline-to-VoIP communications, known as interconnected VoIP service, the geographic location of the landline part of the call can be determined, but the geographic location of the VoIP part of a call can be anywhere in the world where the VoIP customer obtains broadband access the Internet, not necessarily in geographic

22057112.01

Page 3: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

location associated with the customer’s billing address or assigned telephone number. Moreover, using the North American Numbering Plan (“NANP”), the industry’s system of using a three digit area code followed by a seven digit telephone number, or a VoIP customer’s billing address as “proxies” for the originating or terminating points of interconnected VoIP communications causes some interstate calls to appear to be intrastate in nature and vise versa. In the example used above, if one assumes that the caller and the recipient had Minnesota billing addresses and NANP numbers with Minnesota area codes, both communications would appear to be intrastate Minnesota calls, if the billing addresses or NANP numbers were used as proxies for the original and terminating points of the communications, even though the first call was made between New York and Minnesota, and the second call was made within Los Angeles.

Additionally, the use of proxies as substitutes for the actual originating and terminating points of VoIP communications is further complicated by the fact that VoIP customers can choose NANP numbers with area codes different from those associated with their billing address. Thus, a VoIP customer could choose an area code for Washington, D.C., even though the customer resided in New York. In such a case, the call in the example above between New York and Minnesota would appear to be a Minnesota intrastate call if the customer’s billing address in Minnesota were used as the proxy for the original point because the customer lived in Minnesota, but would appear to be an interstate call between Washington, D.C. and Minnesota, if the NANP number were used as a proxy for the originating point.

There are two kinds of VoIP calls. First, a VoIP call can be “nomadic”. Nomadic VoIP services are the type described above, where a VoIP customer can use the service “nomadically” by connecting with a broadband Internet connection anywhere in the world to place a call. A VoIP call can also be “fixed”. In this type of VoIP call, the VoIP services used from a fixed location. For example, cable television companies offer VoIP service to the customer, but when they do so, the ensuing transmissions use the cable line running to and from the customer’s residence. Thus, VoIP service is “fixed”. As a result, the geographic originating point of the communications can be determined. When VoIP service is a “fixed” service rather than a “nomadic” service, the intrastate and interstate portions of the service can be more easily distinguished. This later issue has been one which has already been presented to the federal courts. You may recall a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri which ruled in the case of Comcast v. The City of St. Louis, that Comcast failed to allege that its service could not be separated between interstate and intrastate calls, and therefore, the court refused to issue an injunction against the Missouri Public Service Commission from regulating Comcast’s Digital Voice as an intrastate service. (See January 2007 Telecom Newsletter, Vol. IV, Issue I.)

After Vonage received the MPUC order, it filed a petition with the FCC requesting the FCC to preempt the order on the grounds that Vonage was a provider of “information services” rather than a “telecommunications carrier”, and thus exempt from state regulation for its Digital Voice service. In the alternative, Vonage requested the FCC find that its Digital Voice service fell under the “impossibility exception” under Section 2(b) of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 152(b). This section allows the FCC to preempt state regulation of a service which

32057112.01

Page 4: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

would otherwise be subject to dual federal and state regulation where (1) it is impossible or impractical to separate the services of intrastate and interstate components, and (2) state regulation interferes with valid federal rules or policies.

Vonage also filed suit against the MPUC in the federal District Court in Minnesota seeking to enjoin enforcement of the MDUC’s order. The District Court granted a permanent injunction which barred the MPUC from enforcing its cease and desist order, concluding that Vonage was providing “information services” rather than “telecommunication services”, and therefore, not subject to state regulation. The MPUC appealed this ruling to the Eighth Circuit.

While the MPUC appeal of this District Court decision was pending, the FCC issued the referenced Order addressing Vonage’s petition. In the Order, the FCC adopted Vonage’s alternative position, which was, irrespective of whether Vonage’s services should be characterized as “telecommunications services” or “information services”, it was appropriate to preempt state regulation because it was impossible or impractical to separate the intrastate components of VoIP service from its interstate components, and state regulation VoIP interfered with federal policies.

In support of its Order on preemption, the FCC recognized that communications over the Internet were different from traditional landline-to-landline telephone calls because of the multiple service features which come into place during a VoIP call. The FCC also recognized that the a VoIP call requires accessing different websites or IP addresses during the same communication and performing different types of communications simultaneously, none of which the provider has the means to separately track or record by geographic location.

The FCC determined that there were significant costs and operational complexities associated with modifying or obtaining a system to track, record and process geographic location information with respect to the service, which would substantially reduce the benefits and use of the service to the public.

The FCC also determined that state regulation of VoIP service would interfere with valid federal rules or policies. Thus, the FCC decided that if Digital Voice offered by Vonage were classified as a telecommunications service, Vonage would be considered a nondominant competitive telecommunications provider for which the FCC had eliminated entry and tariff requirements. In contrast, Minnesota law would compel tariff filings, and also has entry requirements which would require Vonage to obtain a Certificate of Authority from the MPUC before offering its services in Minnesota. The FCC eliminated tariff requirements for the purposes of promoting competition and the public interest, and Minnesota’s tariff requirements may actually harm consumers by impeding the development of vigorous competition. Likewise, the FCC determined that if Digital Voice were classified as an information service, the FCC has a long standing policy of non-regulation of information services, whereas any state regulation of an information service would conflict with that federal policy of non-regulation.

42057112.01

Page 5: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

Finally, the FCC decided that the practicality and severability of other types of IP-enabled services having basic characteristics similar to Vonage’s Digital Voice service would likewise preclude state regulation. Accordingly, the FCC stated that where other entities such as cable companies provide VoIP, the FCC would preempt state regulation to an extent comparable to what it did with respect to Vonage.

After the FCC issued its preemption of the Minnesota order at the request of Vonage, the Eighth Circuit concluded that the FCC order was binding with respect to the MPUC appeal of the District Court’s permanent injunction and barring enforcement of the MPUC order, unless and until the aggrieved party sought review of the FCC’s preemption order. After the FCC’s order was released, MPUC and others appealed the FCC’s order to various federal courts, which transferred the case to the Eighth Circuit.

The Eighth Circuit held that it was proper for the FCC to consider economic burden of identifying the geographic endpoints of VoIP communications in deciding whether it was impractical or impossible to separate the service into its interstate and intrastate components. Furthermore, the court held that service providers are not required to develop a mechanism for distinguishing between interstate and intrastate communications merely to provide state commissions with an intrastate communication they can then regulate. The Eighth Circuit also agreed that regulation of VoIP by the MPUC would conflict with federal policies

The Eighth Circuit Court also ruled that another FCC order that VoIP service providers should contribute to the Universal Service Fund and comply with its E911 regulations were not inconsistent with the FCC’s preemption of state regulation of Vonage, because in the case of the E911 Order, the FCC recognized the practical difficulties of accurately determining the geographic location of VoIP customers when they place the phone call. Thus, the FCC devised a temporary solution requiring VoIP service providers to have their customer register the physical location at which they would first utilize VoIP service, and to also provide a means for customers to update these registered locations. Under this temporary fix, responses to 911 calls would be routed to the registered location, which may not be the same as the actual location where the call was placed. Accordingly, the FCC had recognized the practical difficulties of determining the geographic location of nomadic VoIP calls. Furthermore, the FCC recognized the potentially limited scope of its preemption of state regulations of VoIP in the event technology is developed to identify the geographic location of nomadic VoIP communications. The court acknowledged that the FCC indicated that if such technology were developed, the preemptive effects of the Vonage order may no longer apply. Therefore, the court held that the FCC’s preemption Order was not inconsistent with its Universal Service and E911 Order.

If there are any questions about this Eighth Circuit decision, or the current status of VoIP communications, whether its provided by an entity like Vonage, or a cable television company, in which there may be differences in how the service is rendered, please give us a call.

52057112.01

Page 6: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

* * * * * *

FCC CLASSIFIES WIRELESS BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE AS AN INFORMATION SERVICE

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) declared on March 22, 2007 that wireless broadband Internet access service is an “Information Service” as defined in Section 3(20), 47 U.S.C. § 153(20), the Federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended. The FCC’s declaration places wireless broadband Internet access service on the same regulatory level as other broadband service such as cable modem service, wireline broadband (digital subscriber line or “DSL”), Internet Access Service and Broadband Over Power Line (“BPL”) enabled Internet access service, all of which the FCC has declared on “Information Service”). Accordingly, wireless broadband Internet access services will be free from unnecessary regulatory constraints.

Wireless broadband Internet access service is defined as a service that uses radio frequency spectrum, wireless facilities, and wireless technologies to provide subscribers with high speed Internet access. Wireless broadband Internet access service can be provided using mobile, portable, or fixed wireless technologies. Such technologies can transmit data over short, medium or long ranges.

The FCC specifically determined that the transmission component which underlines wireless broadband Internet access is “telecommunications”, and that the offering of this telecommunications transmission component as part of a functionally integrated wireless Internet access service is an “Information Service”. Previously, the FCC made this same analysis with the cable modem service in its 2002 Declaratory Ruling, on such service, and its ruling on wireline broadband Internet access service and BPL enabled Internet access. The FCC also determined that wireless broadband Internet access service using mobile technology is not a commercial radio service (“CMRS”), as that term is defined in Section 332 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. ¶ 332, which is implemented by the FCC’s rules and regulations in part 22 of the FCC’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. part 22.

The FCC released its Declaratory Ruling in this matter on March 23, 2007.

If anyone wishes to review the Declaratory Ruling, or has any questions about it, please let us know.

* * * * * *

62057112.01

Page 7: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

FCC INITIATES INQUIRY INTO BROADBAND MARKET PRACTICES

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) initiated an Inquiry into broadband market practices. More specifically, the FCC is seeking information in responses to a Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) on the behavior of broadband providers, including:

How broadband providers are managing Internet traffic on their networks;

Whether broadband providers charge different prices for different speeds or capacities of servers;

Whether the FCC’s policies should differentiate between content providers that charge end users for access to content and those that do not; and

How consumers are affected by the foregoing practices and activities.

The NOI also requests comment on whether the FCC’s 2005 Internet Policy Statement that set forth four principles to encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and inter-connected nature of the public Internet. You may recall that the FCC’s Internet Policy Statement was set forth in our Telecom Report (Vol. II, Issue 6, August 31, 2005). In this statement FCC announced the following four principles:

Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice;

Consumers are entitled to apply applications and services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement;

Consumers are entitled to connect legal devises to the Internet that do not harm the Internet; and

Consumers are entitled to competition among Internet network providers, application service providers, and content providers.

Additionally, the FCC’s NOI requests public comment on whether the FCC’s Internet Policy Statement should incorporate a new principle of non-discrimination, and if so, how would non-discrimination be defined, and how should the principle be articulated.

The docket number of this NOI is Docket No. 07-52. The FCC has not yet released the NOI, but when it does, it will provide response dates.

This NOI is related to the FCC’s NPRM to evaluate access to MDU or other real estate developments for video providers (see above). As such, it is equally as important for interested parties to respond to this NOI as it is to the FCC’s NPRM on MDUs.

72057112.01

Page 8: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

Anyone interested in getting more detail on this NOI, or responding to the same, please let us know.

* * * * * *

FCC ANNOUNCES RULE MAKING TO EVALUATE ACCESS TOMULTIPLE DWELLING UNITS FOR VIDEO PROVIDERS

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has adopted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (“NPRM”) that requests public comment on issues relating to the use of exclusive contracts for the provision of video services to multiple dwelling units (“MDUs”) or other real estate developments.

In the NPRM, the FCC requests public comment on the use of exclusive contracts and the MDU video provider in the marketplace, and the impact of such exclusive contracts on the goals of enhanced multi-channel video competition and accelerated broadband deployment.

The NPRM specifically requests comment on the following subjects:

The current environment for service providers attempting to obtain access to MDUs or other real estate developments, including use of exclusive contracts;

The impact of exclusive contracts on consumer choice and video competition, and whether the use of exclusive contracts reduces the likelihood of competitive entry;

The FCC’s tentative conclusion in the NPRM that the FCC has authority to regulate exclusive contracts for the provision of video services to MDUs or other real estate developments where it finds such contracts may impede competition and impair deployment of such services; and

The specific steps the FCC should take to insure that exclusive contracts do not unreasonably impede competitive video entry.

The FCC has not yet released the text of the NPRM, but will do so shortly. Comments will be due within thirty (30) days of the publication of the text in the Federal Register, with reply comments coming several weeks later.

This NPRM is an important FCC undertaking, and presents the opportunity for video providers, fiber optic companies, real estate developers, and other interested parties, to submit written comments making a record with respect to their position on whether the FCC should exert regulatory authority over exclusive contracts for the provision of video services to MDUs, including whether the FCC has authority to regulate companies involved in such controls, which are not telecommunication service providers or cable systems as defined in the Communications Act.

82057112.01

Page 9: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

If any of you are interested in filing comments for NPRM, please let us know as soon as possible.

* * * * * *

QWEST REBUFFED IN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT ACCESS CHARGES FROM AT&T FOR IP TELEPHONY

In Qwest Corporation v. AT&T Corp., et al., No. 05-1443 (March 14, 2007), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled against Qwest Corporation’s appeal of a decision of the federal District Court in Colorado that Qwest could not collect access charges from AT&T for IP Telephony. You may recall that AT&T began using phone-to-phone internet protocols (“IP Telephony”) to route some of its long distance calls over AT&T’s Internet backbone and through incumbent local exchange carrier’s local exchange systems in 1998. In the case of Qwest, AT&T routed the calls over AT&T’s Internet backbone through Qwest’s local exchange system. Qwest provides two relevant local exchange services to interexchange carriers. Access services and PRI services. Access services are used and the accompanying access charges are accrued for connecting long distance calls to Qwest’s networks. PRI services are used by IXE’s for end-user administrative purposes. Qwest access charges are priced significantly higher than its PRI charges. Qwest lists the rates for these services and tariffs follow the Fedral Communications Commission (“FCC”) for interstate communications and with the applicable state commissions in Qwest’s 14-state region for intrastate communications. More specifically, AT&T sent interstate calls through Qwest’s primary rate interface (“PRI”) services.

After the FCC ruled on a Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed by AT&T in 2004 that AT&T’s IP Telephony charges were not exempt from access charges on a prospective basis, Qwest brought action against AT&T for accrued access charges on the IP Telephony calls AT&T routed through Qwest’s PRI service, claiming that AT&T owed Qwest the higher access charges as opposed to the PRI charges. AT&T and Qwest, however, had entered into a Bill Period Closure Agreement (the “Agreement”) in 1992, which provided for billing monthly settlements related to access charges. Under the Agreement, all billing issues not encompassed by the Agreement were requested to be listed on a Supplemental Exemption form (the “Supplement”) associated with the Agreement that had been or could have been asserted for all periods prior to and including the billing period closed by the specific Supplement. If exemptions were not listed in the Supplements, they were forever waived and released by execution of the Supplement. Under the Agreement, Qwest submitted Supplements with exemption forms for billing periods in 1999 and 2000 regarding to AT&T’s IP Telephony, but later withdrew these exemptions. Qwest’s Supplements to the Agreement for the billing period July 2000 through February 2004 were submitted to AT&T without exemption forms relating to AT&T’s IP Telephony routing practices.

After the FCC denied AT&T’s Petition for Exemption From Access Charges in 2004, AT&T stopped routing long distance calls using IP Telephony in April 2004. In May 2004, Qwest filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in Colorado against AT&T to recover access charges from 2000 through 2004 relating to IP Telephony. A few days after the lawsuit was

92057112.01

Page 10: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

filed, Qwest and AT&T executed a Supplement covering the February 2004 billing cycle. The Supplement did not contain an exemption form relating to IP Telephony charges. Qwest later tried to attach an exemption form to the Supplement, claiming that lower level access billing personnel within Qwest mistakenly executed the Supplement without the exemption.

After Qwest filed the complaint, the U.S. District Court granted AT&T’s Motion for Summary Judgment on Qwest’s claims for relief relating to the access charges prior to March 2004, based upon the Agreement and the Supplement which did not contain exemptions for access charges.

Qwest appealed the U.S. District Court’s decision, claiming that AT&T’s attempt to enforce the Agreement and Supplement without the exemption violated the Filed Rate Doctrine. The Tenth Circuit determined that the Filed Rate Doctrine did not preclude a good faith settlement of a dispute regarding a federal tariff’s applicability in the absence of a regulatory or judicial ruling directly resolving the dispute. The court held that the Filed Rate Doctrine’s purpose is to prevent collusion and discrimination that justifies a strict application of the Doctrine. In this case, however, these policies are not implicated, and the court refused to invalidate the otherwise valid settlement of the access charge issue under the Agreement and Supplement, because Qwest failed to attach an exemption to the Agreement and Supplement reserving its right to collect access charges.

Call us if you want more information on this decision.

* * * * * *

FCC ANNOUNCES PROCEEDINGS ON BROADBAND DATA AND DEPLOYMENT

On April 16, 2007, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) initiated two proceedings focused on evaluating broadband deployment in the United States.

The first proceeding is a Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the “Act”). This NOI requests public comment on whether broadband services are being deployed in the United States in a reasonable and timely manner. The second proceeding is a Notice Proposed Rule Making (“NPRM”), requesting public comment on ways to collect information the FCC needs to establish broadband policies in the future.

NOI

The NOI is the fifth FCC inquiry under Section 706 of the Act. This section requires the FCC to determine whether broadband services are being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion. In this NOI, the FCC requests public comment on how to define broadband in light of rapid technological change occurring in the marketplace, including the development of higher speed services and new broadband platforms. The FCC also requests public comment on the following significant issues:

102057112.01

Page 11: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

Availability of broadband including rural and other hard-to-serve areas;

Whether consumers are accepting new broadband services; and

A level of competition in the broadband marketplace.

The FCC is also requesting public comment on what actions, if any, the FCC should take to accelerate the deployment of broadband services, and comment on current investment trends in the broadband industry. Finally, the FCC requests comment on external data sources that address broadband prices and the extent to which consumers have a choice of competing broadband providers, on a house-by-house and business-by-business basis, as well as comparable data on speed, price, availability and adoption of broadband services in other countries. The comment date on the NOI is June 15, 2007, with reply comments through July 16, 2007. The docket number is WC Docket No. 07-52

NPRM

The NPRM requests public comment on whether the FCC should modify collection of speed tier information and how to improve the data it collects about wireless broadband Internet Access Services. The NPRM also requests public comment on how the FCC can best collect information about the number of subscribers to interconnected VoIP service. Last, the NPRM requests public comment on the FCC can develop a more accurate estimate of current broadband deployment, including by extrapolating for more accurate estimates of representative urban, metropolitan, low income, tribal, rural and ex-urban(?) areas. the FCC also wants to seek information on price, other factors that affect consumer decisions to subscribe to broadband services, and comparisons of broadband services in the United States and other countries. the docket number is WC Docket No. 07-51.

The comment date on the NPRM has not yet been established.

Each of these proceedings presents an excellent opportunity for those in the broadband industry to make their positions known, and we suggest that all participants in the industry consider filing appropriate comments with the FCC in response to each of these proceedings.

Let us know if you have any questions about the NOI or NPRM, as we have copies of the official FCC documents in these proceedings

Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C. provides this report for informational purposes only. Because the material provided herein is general, it is not intended to be legal advice and should not be relied upon or used without consulting a lawyer to consider your specific circumstances, possible changes to applicable

112057112.01

Page 12: Telecom New Technologies Report April/May 2007

laws, rules and regulations and other legal issues. Receipt of this document does not establish an attorney-client relationship.  We may have prior client relationships or other potential conflicts that would prevent us from representing you or from treating your communications as confidential.

For more information about Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy, P.C. and its Telecommunications Practice and New Technologies Practice, please consult our Web sites at www.stklaw.com or www.telecomattorneys.com.

For your convenience, we also have placed our Telecom Reports monthly from 2004 to the present under the “Newsletters” tab on our www.telecomattorneys.com Web site.

If you have any questions about this Report or our prior Reports, or other recent FCC or state regulatory rulings, or federal or state court decisions affecting telecommunications, or any of our services, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C.1050 Seventeenth Street, Suite 2300Denver, Colorado 80265303.572.9300 (telephone)

Michael L. GlaserDirect: 720.931.8133Email: [email protected]

Michael D. MurphyDirect: 720.931.8137Email: [email protected]

Phil BledsoeDirect: 720.931.1172Email: [email protected]

Howard GeltDirect: 720.931.8143Email: [email protected]

Copyright © 2007 Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C.

122057112.01

2007 © Shughart Thomson && Kilroy, P.C.2007 © Shughart Thomson && Kilroy, P.C.