Hulu.com confirmed it would offer consumers paid access to an expanded offering of online content in addition to the free content it already provides. The new service, called Hulu Plus, will offer more than 120 seasons and 2,000 episodes of at least 33 TV shows from Fox, NBC, ABC and other networks for $9.99 monthly. Significantly, Hulu Plus allows consumers to watch Hulu.com’s content on their wireless devices such as Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Members of the NoChokePoints Coalition used the pending termination of price controls on AT&T’s special access lines to urge the FCC to move ahead with its special access proceeding. The telco agreed to price controls when it acquired BellSouth. They no longer apply as of Thursday. Those who purchase special access from AT&T describe the rates the company charges -- and the new rates it will charge once it’s out of its agreement -- as exorbitant. AT&T has described the current rates as “temporary rate reductions” and said Tuesday any increases would be returns to normal rates.
Vermont regulators turned thumbs down on a FairPoint proposal for a new regulatory arrangement with the state as part of the company’s Chapter 11 reorganization. The settlement was negotiated with the state Department of Public Service. Earlier, the Maine utility commission approved a variation on the proposal that the Vermont board rejected. New Hampshire authorities are still reviewing the settlement version proposed there.
There’s precedent for the FCC to pause the so-called shot clock in its review of Comcast’s plan to buy control of NBC Universal, though doing so more than once as the commission has in this case is somewhat rare, veteran agency and industry officials said. That the FCC has twice paused the clock, moved back to day 37 and held there until the companies file additional materials, augurs that the commission will end the review before day 180, the agency’s goal in reviewing all deals, they said. Thorough review by the commission and Justice Department had been expected and doesn’t necessarily mean the deal won’t be approved (CD Jan 19 p8).
The president’s quest to get 500 MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband (CD June 28 p1) could be met by using allocations from various federal government agencies, including the Defense Department, and spectrum set for private use, broadcast and wireless lawyers said. Spectrum on the government side could also come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Justice Department, while mobile satellite service (MSS), D block and other spectrum set for private use also would help, they said. President Barack Obama’s memo outlining the White House’s commitment to identifying and reallocating federal and commercial spectrum has left those in the wireless and broadcast industries wondering how the administration and agencies will proceed, and which private sector entities are willing to let go of their spectrum.
Belgium, assuming the EU presidency July 1, will oversee several key telecom initiatives, including the creation of a multi-year radio spectrum policy plan and a pan-European broadband strategy. Political upheaval that resulted in a caretaker government may make the country less effective at pushing the issues than other nations, several observers said.
The FCC adopted video relay services (VRS) rates that are higher than those proposed by the National Exchange Carrier Association. The rates will be in effect from this July to next June. Providers under Tier 1 will be compensated at about $6.24 per minute, Tier 2 providers at $6.23 and at $5.07 for providers under Tier 3, an FCC order Monday said. The rate was established for an interim period of one year while the FCC seeks comment on a related inquiry, the order said. Industry officials had expressed concern over the rates proposed by NECA, which some had expected the FCC to codify in an order (CD June 10 p7). The commission also issued a notice of inquiry to address issues of fair compensation, VRS user data collection and other factors affecting market structure.
Final FCC action on program access cases against Cablevision may be in sight now that Verizon amended its complaint and after AT&T changes its own, which may occur soon, industry and commission officials predicted Monday. Action by Media Bureau staffers reviewing the complaints that the cable operator unfairly withheld HD streams from the telcos of two regional sports networks had been awaiting the revision by Verizon, they said. AT&T said Thursday it would make a supplemental filing within 10 days if Madison Square Garden (MSG), spun off from Cablevision, didn’t start good-faith talks (CD June 25 p11).
Bills on spectrum reallocation are coming soon from Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., they said after President Barack Obama committed to freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum over 10 years for wireless broadband. In a presidential memo Monday, Obama outlined a process to identify federal and commercial spectrum for reallocation, and use auction proceeds to support public safety. The effort will comprise administrative and legislative actions, and the White House plans to work with members of Congress, a senior administration official who refused to be named in stories told reporters on a conference call.
Advances in audio-visual compression technology and the advent of distributed transmission systems will not help the FCC reclaim spectrum from the TV band without significant hurdles, such as a second major DTV transition, executives from Fox and CBS said at an FCC engineering forum on the TV band Friday. HDTV sets and DTV converter boxes receive MPEG-2 encoded signals, and no further gains in MPEG-2 efficiency are anticipated, said Andrew Setos, president of engineering at the Fox Entertainment Group.