NORTHPOINT MARCHING FORWARD DESPITE ATTACKS AT FCC
Northpoint said it will cut cable and satellite bills in half by Christmas if it gets FCC license for Multichannel Video Distribution and Data Services (MVDDS), in latest round of comments. Northpoint was supported by 10 companies and others, but continued to face strong attacks from rivals.
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Northpoint accused AT&T, Boeing and DirecTV of attempting to block and delay service. Northpoint CEO Sophia Collier said: “Boeing should do it’s own R&D and not try to take technology from a small company.” Northpoint told FCC “same industry giants” opposing its entry into market had called for “licensing process where they would be eligible to receive licenses without an auction” while Northpoint had been “singled out” for competitive bidding.
SBCA asked FCC to reconsider decision to authorize MVDDS systems, but said if it did move forward with MVDDS service, Commission should follow normal application processing procedures. SBCA said proceeding shouldn’t be defined by Northpoint technology and auctioning licenses wouldn’t deprive Northpoint of any value in its technology.
EchoStar said Commission should move with “extreme trepidation” in implementing plans for MVDDS, citing consumer survey by Zogby that said reduced reliability of DBS service because of presence of Northpoint in band, “would strike at the core of what most consumers care about.” Company also believes auction is required by law. Pegasus advocated organization of consortium or negotiations by service operators in using spectrum.
AT&T pressed Commission to use auctioning procedures to license MVDDS and opposed eligibility restrictions. National Rural Telecom Cooperative (NRTC) said viability of sharing spectrum still was subject to host of questions. Former Northpoint ally Skybridge suggested frequency sharing between NGSO FSS systems and MVDDS systems was based on false assumptions fraught with factual and regulatory inconsistencies and utterly failed to define workable sharing regime. Skybridge said it was clear transmitter power Northpoint had long characterized as typical would be exceeded routinely, making interference more likely.
Center for Media Education, Consumer Federation, Consumers Union, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, League of United Latin American Citizens and Media Access Project urged Commission to grant license to Northpoint, saying: (1) Congress had eliminated price regulation of cable industry even though FCC had found virtually no price competition in MVDDS. (2) Rate increases for cable had been nearly 3 times rate of inflation since Telecom Act. (4) DBS wasn’t disciplining cable prices. (5) MVDDS wireline competition through telecom or other system overbuilders wasn’t increasing.