The FCC’s new Spectrum Task Force has a focused goal, to implement and update the National Broadband Plan, Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman said in an interview Tuesday. The task force may also spin off new ideas in keeping with the plan, for example on additional spectrum bands that could be targeted for reallocation for wireless broadband, she said. The commission unveiled the task force Monday (CD April 27 p10). The new task force differs from the Spectrum Policy Task Force, set up under former Chairman Michael Powell in 2002 to “assist the Commission in identifying and evaluating changes in spectrum policy that will increase the public benefits derived from the use of the radio spectrum.” Its report is at http://xrl.us/bhji9u.
The FCC’s proposed rule changes for the wireless communications band probably would fail legal challenge, and the commission should reject the proposal, Sirius XM told the commission in comments. The rules wouldn’t survive under the Administrative Procedure Act, and adopting them would violate Section 316 of the Communications Act because they improperly change Sirius XM’s licenses without individual hearing procedures, the company said. WCS spectrum should be reauctioned to avoid denying “the U.S. taxpayer the fair proceeds reflecting the true value of the spectrum,” since the changes would dramatically increase the spectrum’s worth, it said.
Dish Network and DirecTV said they'll work together on a new advertising platform meant to increase sales to national advertisers. The platform, called the Advanced Satellite Advertising Platform (ASAP), will give advertisers access to almost 30 million households, a major selling point. The platform will be interactive and it allows regional locators, product information and requests for additional information, the companies said Monday.
A recent lobbying push by free conference call providers is set on getting “the truth out” to Washington policymakers about how consumers benefit from a business practice that long-distance carriers decry as “traffic pumping,” Free Conferencing Corp. CEO Dave Erickson said in an interview. But House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., who’s working on a bill banning such arrangements, told us his views have changed “not at all.” Congress and the FCC are both mulling curbs on the practice, which involves revenue-sharing agreements under which rural local exchange carriers pay conferencing companies to send traffic to their exchanges.
The National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and TechAmerica called on the FCC not to rush to reclassify broadband as a Title II service in the wake of the Comcast decision. Each said it planned to file reply comments on the net neutrality proceeding to the FCC shortly before the deadline late Monday. Several groups put out statements to get their positions heard ahead of a likely deluge of filings. The FCC said it received more than 100,000 comments in its first comment round (CD Jan 19 p1).
Analysts are uncertain if any major U.S. telecom operators would plan consolidation with Canadian players if a restriction on foreign ownership there is lifted (CD April 26 p3). Small wireless deals are possible, they said. Some major U.S. telcos were mum on their plans.
The FCC’s long-awaited changes to an ownership form for radio and TV stations (CD April 9 p9) and their investors to fill out offer a mixed bag for industry and public-interest advocates, our survey of both sides found. The version of Form 323 unveiled by the Media Bureau earlier this month ought to make filing information about those who own more than 5 percent of each station or broadcast company easier because Excel spreadsheets can be uploaded to the commission’s Consolidated Database System where the documents will be filed, industry lawyers said. And the document ought to be searchable by keywords, making for an easier job when public interest groups and others want to do research on who owns what, some of those advocates said.
GENEVA -- Several major countries raised concerns during a council meeting last week with ITU’s efforts to spur telecom equipment interoperability with a conformance database, interoperability testing and other measures. Developing countries were largely supportive of the intergovernmental organization’s efforts, but commercial worries weren’t directly addressed. The ITU initiatives were prompted by a 2008 resolution agreed to by almost 100 countries (CD Oct 31/08 p10).
Wireless communications band licensees have long hoarded their spectrum without any serious effort toward deploying services and waited for regulatory relief to make service in the band possible, Sirius XM told the FCC in comments on potential buildout requirements for users of the band. The licensees have no reason to justify the inaction and have simply disregarded the buildout obligations when the spectrum was acquired in 1997 for $13.6 million, it said. “Simply put, WCS licensees have been egregious spectrum warehousers whose actions and words demonstrate a disregard for their buildout obligations, not to mention for the Commissions’ processes,” the company said in comments.
The FCC’s proposed net neutrality rules are “in big legal trouble” in the wake of the recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Comcast v. FCC, Commissioner Robert McDowell told reporters Friday. “The concept of a new regulatory regime is in real trouble.” McDowell is skeptical the commission should get more involved in the retransmission consent process, thinks TV spectrum reallocation won’t be held up by Comcast and hopes the regulator deals with an indecency complaint backlog, he said.