PCCA Journal 2nd Quarter 2014 - page 20

PCCA Journal|2
nd
Quarter 2014
20
rural areas, requiring more payouts because many of the calls
requiring a move start from these smaller carriers.
The court rejected the claims made by the carriers, stating
that after “considering those claims, we find them either
unpersuasive or barred from judicial review.”
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn issued a statement
commenting on how pleased she was with the decision. “Af-
ter years of good faith efforts faltered, voting to approve the
comprehensive reform of universal service and intercarrier
compensation continues to be one of my proudest moments
at the FCC,” Clyburn said. “The reforms are changing the
lives of millions of Americans who will receive broadband for
the first time. I am extremely pleased that the Tenth Circuit
Court of Appeals has affirmed the FCC’s decision. I look
forward to working with the chairman and my colleagues as
we tackle the next steps of reform.”
NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association issued the fol-
lowing statement from its CEO Shirley Bloomfield regarding
the ruling: 
“While today’s court decision is disappointing, NTCA—The
Rural Broadband Association continues to work with the FCC
and Congress to address many of the concerns rural carriers
have raised over the last two-plus years about aspects of the
2011 Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation
reforms. Through hundreds of meetings with commission-
ers and staff and engagement with members of Congress, we
have already achieved several key course corrections since
2011, including the elimination of the quantile regression
analysis caps and reinstatement of safety net additive sup-
port.
“The court decision could have helped to address several
still lingering concerns with respect to intercarrier compen-
sation changes and the establishment of more proper and
sufficient universal service budgets, but those are matters we
will now look to address through further engagement and po-
tential course corrections in ongoing conversations with the
FCC and Congress. We also expect that certain of the court’s
findings—such as the states retaining the authority to define
network edges for interconnection and the need for the FCC
to re-examine its budget in a few years—could be helpful in
those conversations.”
A
T&T and DIRECTV on
May 18 announced
that they have entered
into a definitive agree-
ment under which
AT&T will acquire DIRECTV in a stock-
and-cash transaction for $95 per share
based on AT&T’s Friday closing price.
The agreement has been approved
unanimously by the Boards of Directors
of both companies.
Of particular interest to PCCA
members, the press release announc-
ing the sale said that AT&T will use the
merger synergies to expand its plans to
build and enhance high-speed broad-
band service to 15 million customer
locations, mostly in rural areas where
AT&T does not provide high-speed
broadband service today, utilizing a
combination of technologies including
fiber to the premises and fixed wireless
local loop capabilities. This new com-
mitment, to be completed within four
years after close, is on top of the fiber
and Project VIP broadband expansion
plans AT&T has already announced.
Customers will be able to buy broad-
band service stand-alone or as part of a
bundle with other AT&T services.
Following is more information from
the press release.
The combined company will be a
content distribution leader across mo-
bile, video, and broadband platforms.
This distribution scale will position the
company to better meet consumers’
future viewing and programming pref-
erences, whether traditional pay TV,
on-demand video services like Netflix
or Hulu streamed over a broadband
connection (mobile or fixed) or a com-
bination of viewing preferences on any
screen.
The transaction enables the com-
bined company to offer consumers
bundles that include video, high-speed
broadband, and mobile services us-
ing all of its sales channels—AT&T’s
2,300 retail stores and thousands of
authorized dealers and agents of both
companies nationwide.
“This is a unique opportunity that
will redefine the video entertainment
industry and create a company able to
offer new bundles and deliver content
to consumers across multiple screens—
AT&T to Acquire DIRECTV
Telecom News
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