The Tulsa World had an interesting piece on the 2008 Mid-America Regulatory Conference that will be held from June 14-18 in Oklahoma City. More information about the conference can be found at www.marc2008ok.com

These are the state regulators that deal with utilities including cable and telephone companies that provide local and long distance phone service, wireless phone service, and television and internet services.

As pointed out in the newpaper article, some notable names in the communications industry will be on hand to comment on the state of the industry, including Randall Stephenson, Chairman and CEO of AT&T, and executives from Embarq, Sprint/Nextel, Quest, Cox Communications, and XO Communications. Curt Stamp, president of the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance is also scheduled to speak.

According to the conference schedule, there will be a session on June 18 entitled “Telecommunications Wrap-Up – ETC: what is the right number and its impact on USF?”

An “ETC” is an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier and USF is an acronym for Universal Service Fund. Click here for a good primer from the Kansas Corporation Commission on what ETC’s are all about and their connection to USF’s . These issues are especially important for the states represented by the Mid-American Communications Alliance.

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