The FCC decision not to act on a Verizon forbearance petition seeking regulatory relief regarding charges to business customers for high-speed data was a win for Verizon -- but how big remains unclear, analysts said Tues. The exact relief provided by the FCC is uncertain because the Commission has released statements and a news release, but no order yet, analysts said.
Howard Buskirk
Howard Buskirk, Executive Senior Editor, joined Warren Communications News in 2004, after covering Capitol Hill for Telecommunications Reports. He has covered Washington since 1993 and was formerly executive editor at Energy Business Watch, editor at Gas Daily and managing editor at Natural Gas Week. Previous to that, he was a staff reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Greenville News. Follow Buskirk on Twitter: @hbuskirk
Rather than establish a simple test, the FCC should examine the relationships between designated entities (DEs) and major carriers case-by-case before deciding whether to allow an auction bidder to qualify for DE credits during this summer’s advanced wireless services auction, DoJ said in a filing at the Commission.
The FCC Fri. approved launch of a new bureau, the Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau, which will take in parts of 7 bureaus and offices (CD Feb 28 p1). Congress must be formally notified of the reorganization at the FCC and the Commission must secure support of a union that represents employees, but no other Commission vote is required. The FCC also sought comment on a proposal that would allow public safety agencies to provide video and other broadband applications, in addition to voice communications, using 700 MHz spectrum.
In a potential breakthrough, the National ITFS Assn. (NIA) and the Catholic TV Network (CTN) will offer in a filing at the FCC today (Fri.) to accept 20-year lease terms for education spectrum, in the interest of getting the FCC to vote out the stalled Education Broadband Service (EBS) item. The groups are willing to negotiate even longer lease terms, though they disagree on the details. Until this point, they have argued that lease terms should be no longer than 15 years.
The need for federal action to remove roadblocks such as slowed post-Katrina communications repairs will be a “major finding” of a pending Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee report, Chmn. Collins (R-Me.) said Wed. The report, due within weeks, will address the need to improve first responders’ interoperable communications, she said.
The FCC should quit telecom merger review, leaving it to Dept. of Justice antitrust experts, former FCC chief economist Michael Katz said Wed. at a D.C. conference sponsored by FCBA and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. In addition to his FCC stint, Katz once was a deputy assistant attorney gen. in DoJ’s antitrust unit.
A NARUC forum’s intercarrier compensation (ICC) reform proposal is drawing opposition from NASUCA, wireless carriers, CLECs and VoIP providers. NARUC said it wants parties to study the proposal and comment at month’s end, but sources said the latest ICC reform proposal already faces some of the same opposition fatal to earlier bids at compromise.
The FCC should require telecom operators to provide voicemail to customers displaced by disaster or simplify the process of porting phone numbers for those who have to abandon wireline phones, Pulver.com said. Pulver was joined by Evslin Consulting in a petition filed Mon. at the FCC. The proposal covers both wireline and wireless operators.
Cantor Fitzgerald is launching an online tool for buyers and sellers to trade wireless spectrum rights through its Spectrum & Tower Exchange. Cantor Fitzgerald is one of the firms that has been leading in the development of a secondary market for spectrum in the U.S., following the FCC’s secondary markets order 1- years ago. Darrin Mylet, vp- wireless service at Cantor, told us Mon. the U.S. secondary market is potentially highly robust because of all the frequencies that are subject to leasing. “It’s a very inefficient market that’s mostly done by specialists in different frequencies,” he said. “We're trying to create a more open market for spectrum… What are the terms and conditions associated with me buying a specific license?” Cantor maintains a database listing thousands of licenses. The trading tool helps potential buyers find a license in a specific area or sellers find a lessor. Cantor charges a transaction fee when a deal is completed. “There’s a lot of inventory of spectrum,” Mylet said. “There’s a lot of action. There’s a tremendous number of deals being done. We hope to make them get done in a way that is more efficient.”
The IEEE 802.11 Working Group voted Fri. to establish the 1.0 draft of the 802.11n specification as the official standard. Bill McFarland, CTO for equipment maker Atheros, told us the group’s tentative acceptance of the draft was an important step toward certification for 802.11n, the next generation of the Wi-Fi standard, which is capable of throughput rates well above 100 Mbps, allowing such advanced applications as multimedia networking. McFarland said he expects the first products based on the draft standard to hit store shelves midyear. “There were not any significant technical changes,” McFarland said. “There were editorial changes. There was the addition of explanatory text and there were the addition of a number of appendices… What the vote really represents is the belief that the draft is now complete -- both consistent and technically accurate. And it has all of the necessary things in it that are required to become an IEEE standard.” The draft needed 75% approval to move forward and won approval from 87% of industry representatives at the meeting, McFarland said. Over the next 40 days members will review the draft; proceeding toward IEEE ratification, expected next year, would require another favorable vote at a May meeting. McFarland said small changes to the draft are likely, but it seems “very stable and complete at this point.”