Bringing BPL regulatory policy into focus

Presented on February 18, 2005

BPL Today assembled a panel of top experts at the state and federal level to bring you up to speed on the latest policy issues and developments:

• Michigan Commissioner Laura Chappelle will discuss the white paper to be released that week by the NARUC BPL task force she leads.
  
  
• Broadband legal expert Sean Stokes advises municipal clients, including APPA, on utility communications.
  
  
• FCC's Bruce Franca will share the latest insights from FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology.
  
  
• Brett Kilbourne brings his expert analysis to developing policy trends that affect the BPL industry.
  
  
• Moderator: Sam Spencer, Editor, BPL Today

This exciting 90-minute audio conference answers major regulatory questions affecting the BPL industry today:

• As the BPL's regulatory questions move to the states, are there clues now as to what to expect?
  
  
• Are policy questions slowing BPL deployment?  Should they?
  
  
• Do landlord or developer business models protect utilities from regulatory concerns?
  
  
• What can the NARUC BPL Task Force white paper tell us about what's ahead at state utility commissions?
  
  
• Do muni's have a legal angle to counter incumbents pushing state legislation blocking competition?
  
  
• As IP networks send voice and data across state and national borders, who should regulate?
  
  
• Will the nature of IP communications give FCC grounds to preempt state authority?
  
  
• As FCC pushes facilities-based competition - are states leaning that way too?
  
  
• What's OET doing to prepare for possible complaints from ham radio operators?

Meet the speakers

Laura Chappelle
Commissioner
Michigan Public Service Commission

Laura Chappelle was appointed by Governor John Engler to the Michigan Public Service Commission on January 16, 2001 and served as Chairman of the Commission until August, 2003. Her appointed term ends on July 2, 2007.

Since joining the Commission, she has taken an active role in issues relating to the development and implementation of the first FERC-approved "multi-state entity," state retail electric choice markets and regional wholesale markets. She was also a key advisor in the drafting and implementation of Michigan 's recent, nationally recognized "broadband" law, that, in part, coordinated and streamlined local and state right-of-way regulations.

Prior to her appointment to the Commission, Chappelle served as deputy legal counsel for Governor John Engler and was his regulatory affairs coordinator. She also served as the regulatory affairs advisor to the House of Representatives, legislative aide for Senator William Van Regenmorter, attorney for House Speaker Paul Hillegonds and was an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Saginaw County Prosecutor's Office.

She is currently the vice-chair of the NARUC Committee on Electricity, chair of the Broadband over Power Line Task Force, treasurer for the Organization of Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator States (OMS), a member of the Advisory Council to the NAESB and the co-chair of the Future of Transmission Working Group through the CECA.

Bruce Alan Franca
Deputy Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology
Federal Communications Commission

Bruce Franca is the Deputy Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) OET is responsible for managing non-government uses of the radio spectrum and directing research and scientific studies on radio matters. OET is also responsible for providing technical advice to the Commission on evolving communications technologies and standards, as well as administering the Commission's experimental licensing and equipment authorization programs.

Franca joined the FCC in 1974 as an engineer in the Aviation and Marine Division of the Safety and Special Radio services Bureau (now Wireless Telecommunications Bureau). He joined the Office of Engineering and Technology as Deputy Chief in 1987.

During his tenure at the FCC, Mr. Franca has been involved in a number of significant echnical matters including the development of the Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) and Personal communications (PCS) Services. He also led the FCC's technical efforts with regard to Digital television (DTV) and the development of the DTV Table of Allotments.

Brett Kilbourne
Director of Regulatory Services & Associate Counsel
United Telecom Council

Brett Kilbourne is currently the director of regulatory affairs at UTC where he provides legal guidance to utilities on telecommunications issues both pending before federal and state agencies and being considered in Congress. Besides offering special expertise on pole attachment, rights-of-way and related issues, Kilbourne coordinates the work of UTC's Power Line Section as well as the United Power Line Council, a new association dedicated to driving the development of broadband power line solutions.

Prior to joining UTC in October 1998, Kilbourne was employed at BellSouth Corporation from 1994-1998 in its Washington, DC office, where he assisted the legal department on a variety of common carrier, wireless and cable issues. He was also employed at the law firm of Baker & Hostetler from 1991-1994 where he assisted the communications practice, primarily on broadcast and cable television matters.

Kilbourne also is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association and the bar of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

Sean Stokes
Principal
The Baller Herbst Law Group

Sean Stokes is a principal of The Baller Herbst Law Group, a national law firm based in Washington, DC, and Minneapolis, MN, that specializes in representing public power utilities and local governments in matters involving telecommunications; cable television; high-speed broadband communications; internet access; wireless telecommunications; barriers to the public-sector entry communications and bankruptcy.

His clients include the APPA, regional and state utility associations, and numerous individual local governments and public power utilities around the country, including the majority of the planned or existing municipally-owned fiber to the home systems.

Working regularly with multi-disciplinary teams of legal, financial, engineering and other technical experts, Stokes also assists utilities and government entities in making comprehensive telecommunications and cable plans, developing state-of-the-art telecommunications systems, searching for strategic partners, and integrating ordinances, franchises, licenses, pole-attachment agreements and related documents.

As a litigator, Stokes has been involved in numerous cases involving complex factual, legal and policy issues. These include successful challenges to Virginia's and Missouri's municipal barriers to entry into telecommunications. The Missouri decision was recently reversed by the United States Supreme Court.

His writings and speeches include: "Keynote: Triple Play the Rules of the Game," Light Reading Triple Play Dec. 2004); "Municipal Entry," (APPA Legal Seminar, Nov. 2004); "Municipal Network Experiences and Challenges," (OIDA Getting to Big Broadband Workshop, Mar. 2004); "Policy Issues and Other Moving Targets," (OPTICOMM Community Networks Workshop, Oct. 2003); "Anticipating Anticompetitive Practices," (LSI's Municipal Broadband Conference, Jul. 2003); "Community Broadband Guidebook" (APPA Apr. 2003) (co-author); Recent Lessons from Communications Bankruptcies (APPA Legal Seminar, Oct. 2002); The Case For Municipal Broadband Networks: Stronger Than Ever," NATOA J. of Mun. Telecom. Policy (Fall 2001) (co-author); "Cell Tower and Pole Attachment Issues Affecting Municipalities" (NATOA's Litigation & Regulation Seminar, June 2000); "Developing Public Communications Networks: Legal Barriers To Overcome"(APPA Legal Seminar, October 1999); "The Public Sector's Authority to Engage in Telecommunications Activities," Journal of Municipal Telecommunications (April 1999) (co-author); "Reforming Telecommunications: How Utilities Fare On Capitol Hill," Public Utilities Fortnightly (June 1994). Mr. Stokes served on the "Industry Advisory Panel" to the Electric Power Research Institute's 1994 study of the "Business Opportunities and Risks for Electric Utilities in the National Information Infrastructure."