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convention 2011 The 2011 annual convention will be held at Harvey's Lake Tahoe, August 16-18, 2011. Hot August Nights classic car show will be held in Reno through August 14th. Mark your calendar and extend your vacation!
Industry
News
CC
Communications Corporation Selects CommSoft’s Billing Suite for Voice, Video,
Internet, and Wireless Services
RENSSELAER, NY – September 8, 2010 – CommSoft, a leading
provider of BSS/OSS and service activation software, announced today that CC
Communications has selected CommSoft’s billing suite, which includes
iCommVergence,
CommForce, and CommBI.
With
iCommVergence, CommSoft’s flagship BSS/OSS solution, CC
Communications will bundle, market, bill, and manage converged services.
CommForce will assist CC Communications in delivering cutting-edge technology to
the rural communities it services and will allow them to dynamically manage
mobile technicians and increase their efficiency while improving customer
service. CommBI, a flexible and scalable business intelligence and reporting
tool that is integrated with
iCommVergence,
will help CC Communications’ management create their own dashboards, filter
information, and examine key performance indicators for further analysis and
strategic planning.
“We have been a CommSoft customer for several years with some
of their stand-alone products, and we decided to move forward with them because
of their fully-integrated suite of solutions,” said Don Travis, IT Supervisor,
CC Communications. “They give us the ability to provide better customer service
and to bring more efficiency into the organization.”
“We are elated when a customer broadens their relationship
with CommSoft,” said Jim Jackson, CTO, CommSoft. “It shows that they trust our
solutions as their company continues to grow and change with the times.”
About CC
Communications
CC Communications is deeply rooted in the
history of Churchill County, Nevada. Since 1889 it has been serving Churchill
County, first as the local telegraph company, then as the local telephone
company, and today as a full service state of the art telecommunications
provider. CC Communications serves the residents and businesses of Churchill
County with local and long distance telephone service, cellular and wireless
services, Internet access including dial-up, and Broadband High-Speed and
Digital Television. For more information, go to
www.cccomm.net.
About CommSoft
CommSoft provides communication service providers with
software solutions to conduct their customer care, billing, and provisioning
operations accurately and seamlessly. Video, Voice, and Data services can be
bundled, activated, and billed with ease. Our BSS/OSS system allows you to
provide convergent bills and enjoy more solution depth than any other provider.
Our powerful service activation engine integrates with virtually any network
device or system. Our CABS, financials, web care, and workforce management
solutions complete this offering. Stand-alone or together, our systems help you
to provide any telecom service out there. For more information, go to
www.commsoft.net. Study Says Cable Tops Telcos in Voice Satisfaction (Source: BloostonLaw 9/22/10) Carrier Evolution reports that
according to a new JD Power and Associates Study, customer satisfaction with
residential voice service continues to climb "largely due to gains in
satisfaction with the customer service experience." According to the study,
cable operators topped phone companies in satisfaction with phone service in all
major market areas studied. Cablevision's Optimum Voice came in first place in
the East, Bright House Net-works came in first place in the South, Wide Open
West took the top spot in the North Central region, and Cox Communications saw
the top spot in the West.
FCC News
FCC Announces Financial "Blackout" Period From October 1-18, 2010 (Source: BloostonLaw 9/15/10) The FCC has announced that it will be implementing a new financial system in October. To prepare for cutover to the new financial system, the Commission’s current financial system will shut down on September 30, the last day of the government’s fiscal year. The FCC anticipates that it will take until October 18 for its new financial sys-tem to become fully operational. During the conversion, or "blackout," period, the Commission’s licensing systems will not have full access to up-to-date payment information; nor will those systems have access to current Red Light Display System statuses. Thus, applicants will not be able to view their current Red Light status or recent payment activity online during the conversion period. Similarly, Commission staff will have limited ability during the conversion period to access certain files and systems that track payments, and may, therefore, be unable to verify account statuses during the conversion period. Further, time-sensitive filings may encounter processing delays during the conversion period. Applicants, therefore, are urged to plan their licensing activities around the conversion period and submit any applications before commencement of the conversion to the new financial system, if they are facing a dead-line that may overlap with the conversion. Applicants also are advised to consult the Commission’s website for any updates or changes to the conversion period, as the above-listed date may change slightly, based on the progress of the conversion. Although the Commission will continue to act upon routine applications, as well as emergency and expedited applications, during the con-version period, Commission staff may be unable to con-firm recent changes and/or payments made to accounts. The FCC reminds applicants that, pursuant to the Com-mission’s rules set forth at 47 CFR 1.1910(b)(2), "any Commission action taken prior to the payment of delinquent non-tax debt owed to the Commission is contingent and subject to rescission." Should it be necessary to submit an application or filing, or remit payment during the conversion period, applicants are strongly urged to make such filings or payments via Fee Filer either as an online credit card transaction or as an Automatic Clearing House (ACH) payment. Applicants may experience a delay in the granting of applications during the conversion period; this is especially true if the applicant has remitted payment by check. The Commission will not process refunds or vendor payments during the conversion period until such conversion is complete and all systems are returned to normal operation. During the conversion period— • Licensees and applicants can continue to (subject to the caveats and limitations detailed above): • File applications electronically and make payment on-line via Remittance Over Secure Inter-net E-Commerce (ROSIE). • Use the Commission’s on-line Fee Filer system to pay their debts. • Mail applications, paper filings, payments of debts, monetary forfeitures, voluntary contributions and Form 159s to the FCC’s lockbox bank (U.S. Bank, located in St. Louis, MO). • File applications and filings with the Commission. • Contact the Revenues, Receivables Operations group and the FCC’s Financial Operations Help-desk for questions and concerns. Finally, the FCC’s licensing systems has dismissal periods in place for confirming application fee payments. These dismissal periods will be suspended during the financial system conversion period. Therefore, instead of dismissing applications after 10 calendar days (14 calendar days for International Bureau applications), applications will not be dismissed until system operations are returned to normal, so that Red Light Display System statuses can be verified and any recent payment (or lack thereof) can be confirmed. The Commission will notify its customers via its website upon completion of the conversion and return to normal operation.
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FCC Promises "Super Wi-Fi" In "TV White Spaces" (Source BloostonLaw 9/15/10) The FCC’s September 23 open meeting promises to un-veil what it calls "super Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity)"—an "expansion of the unlicensed airwaves, opening the door to supercharged Wi-Fi networks that will do away with the need to find a wireless hot spot and will provide the scaffolding for new applications that are not yet imagined," according to the New York Times. The Commission has apparently leaked this story to the Times and the Washington Post to drum up enthusiasm for its open meeting tentative agenda item on TV white spaces—a Second Memorandum Opinion and Order (MO&O) that the agency hopes will create opportunities for investment in advanced Wi-Fi technologies and a variety of broadband services by finalizing provisions for unlicensed wireless devices to operate in unused parts of TV spectrum (BloostonLaw Telecom Update, September 8). "We know what the first kind of deployments will be," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told the Times, citing wireless broadband networks that can cover entire university or corporate campuses, for example — what is referred to in the industry as "Wi-Fi on steroids." The stronger, faster networks will extend broadband signals to bypassed rural areas and allow for smart electric grids, remote health monitoring and, for consumers, wireless Internet without those annoying dead zones, the Times reported. "But this will also be a platform for innovators and entrepreneurs," Mr. Genachowski told the Times. "There is every chance of this leading to the development of one or more billion-dollar industries." Stating the obvious, the Washington Post noted: "Details of the proposed regulatory order haven't been disclosed, and the move faces some opposition from broadcasters, Broadway performers and ministers. Those critics, who have filed suit against the FCC to prevent the release of white spaces, say users of that spectrum could interfere with television channels and would throw off wireless microphones that operate on those frequencies." The Post added that Genachowski's proposal would re-serve two television channels in each local market for wireless microphones. News and sports broadcasters, church ministers and singer Dolly Parton have argued to the FCC that they need some spectrum reserved for their wireless microphones. That provision might not sit well with some high-tech companies that argue that priority for wireless micro-phones subtracts from precious airwaves that could be used for a new wave of mobile broadband devices and uses, the Post said. Industry analysts say that even with all the opportunity the spectrum could create, there is still much uncertainty. First, chipmakers need to develop chips that are compatible with the spectrum qualities. Then, device makers have to update their iPhones and Kindles to allow users to switch to white-space networks, according to the Post. Latest Annual Telecom Industry Revenue Report Released The FCC recently published its annual report providing a general overview of revenues in the U.S. telecommunications industry, which includes revenue data through 2008. The report finds that total industry revenue fell slightly from 2007, to $297 million from $299 million, and that 2008 revenue for incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) decreased to $90 million from $94 million in 2007. The full report and its highlights are available at the FCC website. Fourth-Quarter USF Contribution Factor Announced The FCC announced that the proposed fourth quarter 2010 Universal Service Contribution Factor will be 0.129 or 12.9 percent. For more information regarding the contribution factor, please refer to the related Public Notice. New Internet Subscribership Report Released The FCC has published its most recent report on Internet access service subscribership, which reflects data as of June 2009. The report examines Internet connectivity across a range of speed tiers and is drawn from information received via FCC Form 477. Both highlights and the full report are available from the FCC website. national Broadband plaN - USF Reform Rural Groups' Joint Testimony Supports USF Modifications in Universal Service Act of 2010
The House Subcommittee on
Communications, Technology, and the Internet
(Sept. 16) held a legislative hearing on H.R. 5828,
the Universal Service Reform Act of 2010. Shirley Bloomfield, chief executive
officer of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA),
testified also on behalf of OPASTCO and the Western Telecommunications Alliance
(WTA).
Further detail addressing each of these supported modifications can be found in
Bloomfield's testimony,
which is available on the House Energy and Commerce Committee website.
An archived webcast
of today's hearing and other witnesses' testimonies also can be found there. OPASTCO Urges FCC to Disregard NBP's Recommendations for High-Cost USF Reform OPASTCO (Sept. 8) filed comments with the FCC and asked that the Commission abandon the high-cost Universal Service Fund (USF) reform recommendations made in the National Broadband Plan (NBP) for rural local exchange carrier (RLEC) service areas. OPASTCO contends that implementing these recommendations would prevent the deployment of broadband to many rural consumers in a reasonable and timely fashion, as called for in section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Related, OPASTCO urged that the FCC not adopt other NBP recommendations, including freezing RLECs' existing high-cost USF support during the transition to the Connect America Fund, and eliminating rate-of-return regulation. Both recommendations would undermine high-speed broadband deployment and network maintenance in rural areas. OPASTCO, however, recommends strongly that the FCC expand the USF contribution base to encompass all broadband Internet access providers, and enact comprehensive intercarrier compensation reform. For more information, please contact Stuart Polikoff, OPASTCO's vice president of regulatory policy, at sep@opastco.org or 202/659-6598.
What's New at BroadbandUSA.gov Connected Nation Garners Additional $2.6 Million for Nevada Project
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October 6-7, 2010 -
OPASTCO Technical &
Marketing Symposium, Minneapolis, MN
October 17-19, 2010 - NTCA Region 9 Meeting,
The Davenport Hotel & Tower – Spokane, WA,
www.ntca.org/events
October 28, 2010 - USTelecom,
Telecom Finance for Non-Financial Managers Seminar. Washington DC
November 9-11, 2010 - TelcoTV 2010, Venetian Resort
Hotel/Casino, Las Vegas, NV
http://www.lightreading.com/live/event_information.asp?event_id=29388
November 14-17, 2010 - NARUC 122nd Annual Conference, "Keeping
the Focus: Serving the Consumer Interest in Changing Times," Omni at CNN
Center, Atlanta, GA
http://annual.narucmeetings.org/
January 11-15, 2011 - NTCA Wireless
Symposium, Hyatt Savannah, Savannah, GA,
www.ntca.org/events
Seminar Series for 2010
September 2010 August 2010 July 2010
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