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Telecommunications Reports presents....

TR DAILY
June 6, 2001
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Table Of Contents
Click here for the full issue:
http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td060601/index.htm

VERIZON PLANS PENNSYLVANIA InterLATA BID
THIS MONTH AFTER PUC GIVES CONDITIONAL SUPPORT
http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td060601/Td060601.htm

NEW COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY SEEKS MEETINGS WITH LAWMAKERS
http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td060601/Td060601-01.htm

TWO ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS CHALLENGE
FCC's ANTENNA LICENSING PROCEDURES
http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td060601/Td060601-02.htm

TIA PARTNERS WITH USAID TO BOOST OVERSEAS TELECOM SALES
http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td060601/Td060601-03.htm

FCC OPENS AUCTION OF VHF, LMS LICENSES
http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td060601/Td060601-04.htm

NEWS IN BRIEF
http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td060601/Td060601-05.htm


***************************************************************
VERIZON PLANS PENNSYLVANIA InterLATA BID
THIS MONTH AFTER PUC GIVES CONDITIONAL SUPPORT

Verizon Pennsylvania, Inc., plans to accept conditions that the
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission imposed today on its
support for the company's planned application to provide
interLATA (local access and transport area) services in the
state.   The company expects to file its application later this
month with the FCC, which, under the Telecommunications Act of
1996, will consult with the U.S. Department of Justice and the
relevant state regulators before issuing a decision.  The state
regulators' role is to advise the FCC on whether a Bell company
has complied with the local exchange market-opening mandates of
the Act.

In a 3-2 vote, the PUC told Verizon that it must agree to a
permanent performance assurance plan with "self-executing"
remedies based on the New York model already accepted by the FCC.
The company also must withdraw its pending judicial challenge of
the PUC's authority to impose remedies aimed at preventing
backsliding on local exchange market-opening commitments.  The
PUC said the company must agree to increase certain penalties
from $5,000 to $25,000.  And the commission said Verizon must
agree to increase remedies for failing to provide accurate
electronic billing to competitors; the company could face
payments as high as $100,000 per affected competitive local
exchange carrier for missing an electronic billing standard.

Commissioners Nora Mead Brownell and Terrance J. Fitzpatrick
dissented.  Commissioner Brownell said, "I cannot, in good
conscience, affirm that these markets are open as envisioned
under the Act."  Both dissenting commissioners listed several
areas in which Verizon had failed to show that local markets are
open to competition.  But Colleen McCloskey, senior vice
president-state government relations and external affairs at
Verizon, said she believed those concerns were addressed by the
conditions the PUC laid out.

Ms. McCloskey noted that New York, Massachusetts, and
Pennsylvania comprise the lion's share of Verizon Communications,
Inc.'s access lines.  Verizon already is providing interLATA
service in New York and Massachusetts.  Winning approval in
Pennsylvania would mean the company is making substantial
progress toward meeting an FCC requirement for Verizon's
regaining control of Internet backbone service provider Genuity,
Inc.  Verizon spun that unit off last year as a condition of the
FCC's approval of a merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp.,
which formed Verizon.

A WorldCom, Inc., spokesman told TR, "We agree with the [PUC]
dissenters.  We hope the FCC will recognize that problems still
exist and force Verizon to fix them prior to allowing it to offer
long distance."


***************************************************************
NEW COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY SEEKS MEETINGS WITH LAWMAKERS

FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy, still in her first week
on the job, already is sending letters to members of Congress
seeking meetings to discuss the Commission's work.  In an
interview today with TR, she said she viewed her new role as an
interpreter of Congress's statutory mandate.  The public never
has a chance to vote for FCC Commissioners, unlike members of
Congress, she noted.

Many of the predictions and assumptions made about the pace of
technological and market change when the Telecommunications Act
of 1996 was passed were wrong, Ms. Abernathy said.  But that
doesn't mean the Act has been a failure, she added.  She cited
increasing choices for consumers as one of the positive gains
made since 1996.

The commissioner, who was director-government affairs at
Broadband Office, Inc., emphasized the importance of information
provided by Congress, industry officials, consumer groups, and
state regulators.  Despite her experience in various industry
segments, she's "not an engineer or an economist," she said.  She
appreciates organized presentations and creative ideas, she
added.

See Monday's TR for a full transcript of the interview.


***************************************************************
TWO ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS CHALLENGE FCC's ANTENNA LICENSING
PROCEDURES

Two environmental groups have launched an attack on the FCC's
antenna licensing process, saying the agency should assess the
"direct, indirect, and cumulative effects" before issuing new
licenses.  Friends of the Earth and the Forest Conservation
Council issued their appeal in petitions asking the FCC to deny
33 antenna license applications.

The groups say the environmental assessments prepared for those
projects fail to include the information and analysis mandated by
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Council of Envi-
ronmental Quality regulations, and FCC rules.  In addition,
applicants failed to meet the requirements of the Endangered
Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act, the groups allege.

The companies seeking permission to build the new antennas
dismiss the charges.  They say their applications fully comply
with applicable regulations.  The environmental groups fail to
provide any specific justification or evidence against their
projects and lack standing in the proceeding, the companies say.
The groups' challenge should be raised in a formal rulemaking
proceeding, they add.

"Of course the Commission must consider and evaluate good-faith
challenges to environmental compliance," American Tower L.P. said
in defense of its plans for a Maryland antenna tower.
"Complaints as vague, insubstantial, and deficient as those in
the present petition, however, are unfair, waste already strained
compliance resources of both Commission and applicants, and can
cause serious harm to a given tower project or even to [the]
overall industry, through unnecessary construction delay and
regulatory uncertainty."

A spokeswoman for the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
said today that agency officials were reviewing the environmental
groups' petitions.


***************************************************************
TIA PARTNERS WITH USAID TO BOOST OVERSEAS TELECOM SALES

The Telecommunications Industry Association has signed a
memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) to help U.S. telecom equipment
vendors increase sales in developing countries.  USAID will
provide access to its "global technology network" (GTN), which
assists U.S. small and midsize companies by matching prospective
buyers and sellers.

TIA said the agreement should increase the volume of new business
leads and deals in emerging markets.  "TIA and GTN share the
common goals of promoting economic development through business
enterprise," said TIA President Matthew Flanigan.


***************************************************************
FCC OPENS AUCTION OF VHF, LMS LICENSES

An FCC auction of 16 VHF (very high frequency) public coast
licenses and 241 location and monitoring service (LMS) licenses
opened today.  Net bids totaled $284,805 by the time bidding was
done for the day after the fourth round.  There are seven
eligible bidders in the sale.

Telesaurus Holdings GB LLC was the top bidder for in the LMS
auction, offering $158,535 for 106 licenses.  SMR Systems, Inc.,
led in the public coast auction, bidding $17,550 for six
licenses.  The licenses were unsold at two auctions in 1998 and
1999 (TR, Dec. 21, 1998, and March 8, 1999).


***************************************************************
NEWS IN BRIEF

Robert D. Strain has been named executive vice president and
general manager of the space systems group at Orbital Sciences
Corp.  He has been the head of Orbital's electronics and sensor
systems group (ESSG) since 1996.  James R. Thompson will serve as
acting head of ESSG until a successor can be found.  Mr. Thompson
is Orbital's president and chief operating officer....

Tony Werner has been appointed executive vice president-strategic
technology at Qwest Communications International, Inc.  He was
president and chief executive officer at Aurora Networks, Inc.
He also was chief technology officer at AT&T Broadband until
November 2000....

The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association has
elected a new executive committee for 2001-2002.  Richard
Ekstrand, president and chief executive officer of Rural Cellular
Corp., is chairman; Timothy Donahue, president and CEO of Nextel
Communications, Inc., is vice chairman; Mohan Gyani, president
and CEO of AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., is secretary; and Terry
Addington, president and CEO of First Cellular of Southern
Illinois, Inc., is treasurer....

Mark Floyd has been elected to the board of Carrier Access Corp.
He is president-access solutions for Siemens AG's Information and
Communication Networks Group....

Roderick Nelson has been elected to the board of Tropian, Inc., a
Cupertino, Calif.-based wireless semiconductor chip maker.  Mr.
Nelson is chief technology officer at AT&T Wireless....

Nassau County (N.Y.) Executive Thomas S. Gulotta has signed a
measure prohibiting the use of handheld mobile phones while
driving.  The legislation passed the county's legislature 19-0
last month (TR, May 14).  It carries fines of up to $100 per
violation.  Mr. Gulotta said he agreed to sign the measure after
its sponsor, Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D.), offered to amend
it to allow mobile phone users to manually activate and
deactivate their phones while driving.  The law takes effect July
1....

The Industrial Telecommunications Association has asked two
members of Congress to amend legislation that would require
states to restrict the use of mobile phones in vehicles or risk
losing federal highway funding (TR, May 28).  ITA sent letters
June 5 to Rep. Gary Ackerman (D., N.Y.) and Sen. Jon Corzine (D.,
N.J.) asking them to amend their bills (HR 1837 and S 927) to
exclude the use of two-way radios for business communications.
Such regulations would hurt businesses nationwide, ITA said....

The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau said it has awarded
eight licenses in the "guard bands" surrounding public safety
spectrum in the 700 megahertz frequencies.  The licenses netted
$20.9 million in a February auction (TR, Feb. 26).  Nextel
Spectrum Acquisition Corp. and Pegasus Guard Band LLC each won
three licenses, while Access Spectrum LLC was the top bidder for
the remaining two licenses....

The American Public Communications Council has asked the FCC to
reconsider a recent decision that terminated a proceeding on
calling-party-pays (CPP) billing (TR, April 23).  In a petition
filed June 4 in Wireless Telecommunications docket 97-207, APCC
asked the Commission to adopt rules prohibiting CPP charges from
being billed to pay phone service providers.  Without such
provisions, pay phone providers "remain at risk of being
improperly billed," APPC said....

The FCC's Common Carrier Bureau has granted, for one year, the
National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.'s request for a
waiver of its annual election requirement for its board.  The
election was scheduled for October 2001.  The FCC is considering
changing the term limits and eliminating the election requirement
for NECA's board under the FCC's biennial review....

Shareholders of Chorus Communications Group Ltd. have approved
the company's takeover by Telephone & Data Systems, Inc.  TDS, a
Chicago-based provider of wireline and wireless telecom services
in rural areas, has agreed to pay $195 million in cash and assume
$31 million in debt to acquire Chorus, of Madison, Wis. (TR, Dec.
4, 2000).  The acquisition still requires FCC approval.  The
companies expect to complete the transaction in the third
quarter....

Cavalier Telephone, Inc., said it would acquire Newark, Del.-
based competitive local exchange carrier Conectiv Communications.
After the purchase, Cavalier said it would have 130,000 installed
telephone lines and 1,200 miles of fiber optic cable collocated
in Verizon Communications, Inc.'s central offices.  Cavalier, of
Richmond, Va., said its network would stretch from southern New
Jersey to Norfolk, Va.  The price was not disclosed....

AT&T Corp. has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. alleging
the software company infringed on an AT&T patent.  The patent in
question is one that AT&T acquired in 1984 for speech-coding
technology.  In the lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New York, AT&T said it notified
Microsoft in 1999 that its software programs were using AT&T's
patented technology.  AT&T said it was willing to grant a
license, but Microsoft refused.  Microsoft had no comment on the
lawsuit....

As expected, the House telecommunications and the Internet
subcommittee has scheduled a hearing for next week to review
enhanced "911" (E911) issues.  The hearing, titled "Ensuring
Compatibility with Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Systems:  A
Progress Report," will be held June 14 at 10:00 a.m. in room 2322
of the Rayburn House Office Building....

The FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology will host two
tutorials next week.  On June 11 from 10:30 a.m. until noon,
Jeffrey A. Bilmes, associate professor-signal and image
processing at the University of Washington, will present a
tutorial on the use of graphical models for speech recognition.
On June 15 from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., M. Niel Ransom, chief
technology officer at Alcatel USA, will present a tutorial on
voice over IP (Internet protocol) network technology.  Both
sessions will be in the FCC meeting room at the Commission's
Washington headquarters....

The Quality Excellence for Suppliers of Telecommunications
(QuEST) Forum will meet July 10-11 in Berlin, Germany.  QuEST is
a forum for a telecom industry initiative, TL9000, launched to
develop a standardized set of quality requirements.  Speakers
will include Meister-Scheufelen, Senat member of Berlin; George
C. Via, senior vice president-operations for Verizon
Communications, Inc.; Olga Striltschuk, corporate VP and
director-performance excellence at Motorola, Inc.; Steve Welch,
president-SBC procurement for SBC Operations, Inc.; and Timo
Hunnukainen, VP-quality at Nokia Mobile Phones.  For more
information, visit www.questforum.org, or call Jeff Weitzer at
414/765-8672....

The technology industry last year experienced its slowest growth
rate since 1994-1995, according to a report released today by AeA
(formerly the American Electronics Association).  The
"Cyberstates 2001" report "confirms that the current high-tech
slowdown began in 2000," AeA President William T. Archey said.
"And many current indicators point to a continued slowing of
growth for 2001.  Yet despite the present economic uncertainty,
some states have flourished," he said.  The 160-page report found
that all states, except for West Virginia, experienced growth in
high-tech employment between 1999 and 2000.  For more
information, go to AeA's Web site, http://www.aeanet.org, or call
800/284-4232.


********************************************************
TR DAILY Copyright 2001 Telecommunications Reports International,
Inc., (ISSN 1082-9350) is transmitted weekdays, except for
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