Ms. Buyer is a regular columnist for the THE BULLETIN of the Bar Association of Erie County and is a contributor to No Jitter. Previously, she has written numerous commentaries on telecommunications law for other legal and telecommunications publications including, among others, The Daily Record, Communications Convergence and Computer Telephony. Her articles cover a broad range of topics highlighting current telecommunications issues including federal and state telecommunications policy, litigation, wireless technologies, spectrum policy, FCC initiatives, and industry consolidation. Martha Buyer has also contributed to the ABA Journal Report.
AT&T recognized that the winds from Washington were not blowing favorably.
Yesterday, while in the midst of doing something else, I noticed news flashing across my screen that the AT&T had withdrawn its offer of $39 billion for T-Mobile USA. This is very big news for a number of reasons.
The FCC will create two funds: the Connect America Fund, which will provide support to traditional landline broadband services; and the Mobility Fund.
For almost as long as the Universal Service Fund has been in place (since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 created it), there has been talk of its reform--both from those who contribute to the fund and the recipients of that funding. Particularly within the past five years, as voice services looked less like traditional analog voice and more like data, the calls for reform have morphed into downright bellows.
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