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Telecom Mergers On California Agenda
by Chloe Albanesius
The California Public Utilities Commission on Friday will address the mergers of AT&T with SBC Communications and MCI with Verizon Communications.
California is the last of 36 states required to approve the deals. Arizona and Ohio most recently approved them earlier this month.
California Commissioners Susan Kennedy and Michael Peevey, both Democrats, last month issued a preliminary approval of both deals, provided that the companies increase their charitable contributions to communities with less communications access and contribute $60 million to an infrastructure fund for emerging, high-speed Internet technologies.
A subsequent proposal from Commissioner Geoffrey Brown, also a Democrat, would remand the AT&T, SBC proceeding for further review. He also submitted two proposals on the MCI/Verizon deal -- one that would approve the merger subject to conditions and another that would remand the proceedings for evidentiary hearings.
Google To Connect Its Hometown
The Mountain View City Council on Tuesday approved a plan by the Google Internet firm to provide free, wireless Internet access to the town's 70,000 residents.
The firm, which has its headquarters in the California town, was granted a five-year, nonexclusive contract to attach wireless technologies to the city's streetlight poles. Google will pay about $12,600 to lease space on the street lamps and will reimburse the city for annual utilities costs, which likely will be between $3,000 and $4,000.
Google also will be responsible for establishing a "hotspot" with Wi-Fi wireless technology in the Mountain View Library.
San Francisco, meanwhile, is considering the company's Wi-Fi plan for that nearby Silicon Valley city.
Prosecutors Want Smoking Warnings On DVDs
More than 30 attorneys general have joined forces to require movie studios to include public-service announcements against smoking on all digital videodiscs that depict smoking.
Thirty-two officials requested the change Wednesday in a letter to executives at Walt Disney, DreamWorks, Fox, MGM, Miramax, New Line Cinema, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. The letter cited a Nov. 7 article from the journal Pediatrics that "found that adolescents with the greatest exposure to smoking in movies were almost three times more likely to try smoking than their peers in the least exposed group."
Studios "can dramatically increase the number of young people who will receive that anti-smoking message by attaching it to DVD, video and other home-viewing-format movies ... where smoking is depicted," said Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican.
"Given the increasing number of movies on DVDs, videos and other media, the timing is right to ask each of these studios to take this specific action to help protect kids from the effects of smoking in the movies they watch at home," added Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, a Democrat.
Wyoming Panel Passes Internet Tax Measure
A joint Wyoming committee this week approved a bill designed to facilitate the collection of sales taxes on Internet sales, cellular telephone calls and prepaid phone cards.
AP reports that the measure would make Wyoming compliant with the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, a multi-state effort to collect taxes on online sales. It is estimated that the bill would help the state save nearly $2 million each year.
If Wyoming wants to be involved in SSTP, "we need to pass this bill," said state Rep. Rodney Anderson, a Republican. State Sen. Jayne Mockler, a Democrat, questioned why lawmakers did not just use existing SSTP language rather than write their own statute.
Dan Noble, administrator of the state Revenue Department's division on excise taxes, warned that the state could face a lawsuit if it appears that Wyoming is letting other states write its tax policy.
He also said several companies have expressed interest in providing tax-collection software to the state, but it would take about a year to create a network.
Gov. Granholm Goes To Washington
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Wednesday met with the state's congressional delegation in Washington to discuss the nation's manufacturing sector and intellectual property rights.
"If there are going to be American-made products in the global marketplace tomorrow, we have to support our American manufacturing community today," Granholm, a Democrat, said in a statement.
The state's representatives in Congress are interested in strengthening current trade laws and intellectual property protection, according to the governor's office. They also pledged to draft a letter to President Bush encouraging greater federal investment and incentives for health information technology.
Virginia Wins Emergency Accreditation
Virginia on Wednesday became the fifth state to be certified by the voluntary Emergency Management Accreditation Program, which signifies state emergency-management plans that meet national standards.
Certified states must comply with 54 national standards in 15 areas, including communications and warning, planning and procedures, resource management, training, exercises, and evaluations and corrective actions.
"Solid management matters, and this is critically important when it comes to protecting our citizens in times of emergency or disaster," Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, said in a statement. "We learned a great deal from Hurricane Isabel [in 2003] and certainly from the nation's experience with [Hurricane] Katrina [this year], and this accreditation is another assurance that the commonwealth is on the right track."
Other states to have won accreditation are Arizona, Florida, North Dakota and Pennsylvania. The District of Columbia, which borders Virginia, also has been accredited by the emergency group.
Town Renamed 'Dish' To Get Free Satellite
A Texas town has renamed itself Dish in order to receive 10 years of free, basic, satellite-television programming from EchoStar Communications' Dish Networks.
Commissioners in the town previously known as Clark voted on Tuesday to legally change the municipality's name. The rural agricultural and ranching community is located about 25 miles north of Forth Worth.
Under the deal, Dish Networks will provide the town's 125 residents with 10 years of top 60 programming, free standard installation and a free digital video-recorder satellite TV receiver. The town will change signs to reflect the name change, including those at the town hall, town entrance and city limits.
Mayor Bill Merritt said he accepted the company's offer in an effort to "attract new people and businesses."
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