The Manhattan Institute's Center for the Digital Economy is holding a Conference on "Competition Policy in the Telecom Industry: When the Sherman Act Meets the Telecommunications Act, Who Wins?" The Conference will take place at the Harvard Club in New York City, from 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Please RSVP to 212-599-7000 ext. 411. For further details, please click HERE.

The Supreme Court of the United States has upheld the decision of the Federal Communications Commission to apply a forward-looking cost methdology -- the Total Element Long Run Incremental Cost, or TELRIC -- in determining the rates for access to unbundled network elements under the Telecommunications Act. The opinion is a defeat for incumbent local exchange carriers who had challenged rates calculated under TELRIC as excessive and unreasonable. The opinion may be found HERE and a news article summarizing the Court's holding and its likely implications may be found HERE.

The Legal Times published a column that discusses two recent DC Circuit decisions that could have very significant implications for telecommunications law beyond the media ownership issues involved in the two cases, and perhaps more broadly for other "regulatory review" efforts as well. The court interpreted the particular biennial review provision in the Communications Act under review to establish a deregulatory presumption. Please click HERE to read the article.

Forbes magazine has published a brief, interesting profile of FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell. The article notes that the "FCC is now embarking on five new 'proceedings'--rule-makings or, better yet, rule-easings--aimed at creating a looser regulatory framework that will give companies 'a clearer picture of what their risks are,' Powell says." The full article, Brett Pulley, "Command of the Airwaves," Forbes (4/29/02), is available HERE (requires free membership to the Forbes.com website).

For another recent perspective on Powell and the FCC, Wired Magazine published a similar article in its March 2002 issue. The full text of that article, Frank Rose, "Big Media or Bust," Wired 10.03 (Mar. 2002), is available HERE.

The Federal Communications Commission has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) about the regulation of cable modem service. See Appropriate Regulatory Treatment for Broadband Access to the Internet Over Cable Facilities, 67 Fed. Reg. 18,848 (Apr. 17, 2002). The Commission defines "cable modem service" as "a service that uses cable system facilities to provide residential subscribers with high-speed Internet access, as well as many applications or functions that can be used with high-speed Internet access." The NPRM requests comments about how the Commission should regulate cable modem service and, more specifically, "how the classification decision may affect State and local regulation of cable modem service." Comments are due on or before June 17, 2002.

The NPRM comes on the heels of a Declaratory Ruling in which the FCC ruled that cable modem service is neither a "cable service" as defined by the Communications Act nor a common carrier of "telecommunications service." Click HERE to read the press release which describes the Declaratory Ruling, issued March 14, 2002, in greater detail.

In a victory for the cable industry, the U.S. Supreme Court said January 16 that a federal agency can control rates that cable companies pay for high-speed Internet lines. The ruling, which some believe will allow the public better access to online services, gives the FCC authority to regulate utility pole rental rates for Internet lines. For more information, click HERE. The cases are National Cable Television Association v. Gulf Power Co., 00-832, and Federal Communications Commission v. Gulf Power Co., 00-843.