The past week was rife with developments concerning both government operations and telecom interests, including news that federal authorities launched an investigation into TeliaSonera's business transactions. Here are some of the recent noteworthy events to transpire in the telecom policy sector:
U.S. cedes control over Web domain duties
For years, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has had an exclusive arrangement with the U.S. government, fostering concerns that the Commerce Department retained a privileged position when managing domain name registrations. Those fears were further sparked following news of the NSA's widespread surveillance program. According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. authorities acquiesced to these worries, announcing that the federal government would give up its oversight of Icann.
The current contract ends in September 2015, and the U.S. government stated that it would seek to establish a new structure for monitoring Icann operations that better incorporates the opinions of other entities and takes international concerns into account. The forthcoming reconfiguration will itself be crowd-sourced with input gathered from governments and organizations across the globe.
"The Internet was built to be borderless and this move toward a more multistakeholder model of governance creates an opportunity to preserve its security, stability and openness," said Google vice president Vint Cerf, according to the source.
Justice Department launches investigation
A consortium of foreign investigative offices gained the support of the U.S. government recently when TeliaSonera announced that the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission opened their own probes into its dealings. The Wall Street Journal reported that the investigation is centered on the Swedish telecom's 2007 acquisition of an Uzbekistan wireless data license as well as spectrum frequencies.
The brunt of the investigation will be focused on determining if corruption within both the Uzbekistan government and TeliaSonera played a role in the transaction. The Swedish, Dutch and Swiss governments had previously launched their own probes, but the U.S.'s involvement should add some muscle to the proceedings. According to Reuters, several high-ranking officials within the telecom have been removed from their positions following preliminary internal audits. Although U.S. officials have yet to comment on the investigation, their interest in the case may be related to the possibility that improper business practices abroad constitute an affront to American interests.
Vermont telecom group aims for federal funding
When the FCC gave the go-ahead for telecoms to pilot broadband expansion programs, major carriers such as AT&T were first to pounce on the opportunity and begin setting up tests. However, smaller organizations have since expressed their interest in participating in similar projects, with the Vermont Telecommunications Authority being the latest example. According to Vermont Public Radio, the VTA filed the formal documentation needed to put itself on the FCC's radar regarding the acquisition of funding for such a test. VTA Executive Director Chris Campbell told the news outlet that his organization's initial plan was to use more than $40 million in federal grant money to invest in network infrastructure that would support rural communities.
Coverage still lacking
Regional interest in the program should come as good news to industry members who remain skeptical of the potential to build-out broadband and wireless network capabilities across the entire country. Writing in Newsweek, investigative journalist David Cay Johnston highlighted several instances in which the interests of major carriers have come in conflict with those of consumers located in remote locations. The piece found that a substantial portion of the country currently lack access to broadband services – and in some instances, never will.
"Small business customers, people who work at home and rural communities across the country need to wake up before it is too late," Regina Costa, telecommunications research director for the Utility Reform Network in California, told the source. "Verizon and AT&T are aggressively moving to dump a large percentage of their landlines and force customers to wireless networks [that] are expensive, restrictive, incompatible with medic-alert services, less reliable for 911 calls and will not hold up during power outages—and in a lot of places wireless just won't work."
