Surveying the Telecommunications Policy Landscape

1
Surveying the Telecommunications Policy
Landscape

• Mark Argenbright
• Director, Regulatory Affairs
• Cox Communications, Inc.

2
Cox Communications

• A multi-service broadband communications and
  entertainment company
• More than 6.2 million total residential and
  commercial customers
• 7th largest telephone company in the nation
  serving more than 2.6 million telephone customers
  across the country
• Operations in 6 states in the MARC footprint
• Arkansas
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Nebraska
• Ohio
• Oklahoma

3
Hit Parade of Policy Issues

• Interconnection Rights
• Universal Service Reform
• Intercarrier Compensation
• Customer Retention Activities

4
Interconnection Rights

• Ability acquire interconnection with the
  incumbents network is a necessity for
  competition to exist
• Should be available to all facilities based phone
  providers, under 251 252, regardless of circuit
  switched or VoIP based technologies
• State regulators have a role to play

5
Universal Service Reform / Intercarrier
Compensation

• FCC request for refresh of record in multiple USF
  and intercarrier compensation dockets highlights
  the nexus between these two policy areas
• Broad range of issues from access charge reform
  to USF contribution methodologies
• Fundamentally reform must balance the public
  policy goals with non-discriminatory treatment of
  parties

6
Customer Retention Activities

• As some markets experience elevated levels of
  competition, we are seeing more aggressive
  methods of customer retention
• Recent Recommended Decision by the Enforcement
  Bureau concerning retention activities would
  revise current practice
• RD also calls for NPRM for further investigation
• Care must be taken to make sure consumers dont
  end up as casualties