National Telecom Coop Assn. (NTCA) took on would-be competitors in filing with FCC Mon. about universal service portability, saying universal service never was meant to “artificially induce competition.” At issue is NTCA’s petition for reconsideration of FCC’s rural access charge reform order -- and opposition to it by Rural Consumer Choice Coalition (RCCC) and Competitive Universal Service Coalition (CUSC). “NTCA is not opposed to competition per se and objects to CUSC and RCCC’s characterization of NTCA’s petition as anticompetitive,” rural telco group said. “The Commission is not required to adopt universal service rules to create competition in areas where a competitive marketplace would not otherwise exist,” filing said. NTCA argued that giving carriers identical support could create “windfall” for some competitors because carriers’ needs weren’t identical. Competitors object to NTCA’s request that FCC reconsider decision to make portable universal service program known as Interstate Common Line Support (ICLS) fund. ICLS fund was created in access charge reform order, also known as MAG order (CC 00-256), as was requirement that it be portable, meaning it would be available to competitors. Such action would violate Telecom Act’s requirement that universal service be used only for “intended purposes” and that it be limited to “sufficient, not excessive, levels,” NTCA said. NTCA was among several groups of rural ILECs seeking reconsideration of MAG order.
Senate Appropriations Commerce, State, Justice Subcommittee scheduled respective hearings March 7, March 12 and March 21 on fiscal year 2003 budget requests for FCC, Dept. of Commerce, Dept. of Justice (DoJ). All hearings are 10 a.m. in Dirksen Bldg. FCC hearing is in Rm. 253, Commerce and DoJ in Rm. 116.
With Congress expected to approve FCC’s reorganization soon, FCC Common Carrier Bureau, to be renamed Wireless Competition Bureau, held private ceremony Mon. honoring bureau’s history. Employees with 20 or more years of service were honored and staff members played guessing game involving “secret facts” about those long-time employees, such as revelation by member of Competitive Pricing Div. that he once babysat Gwyneth Paltrow or by another that he went to high school with Clay Henry, S.C. firefighter who has gained celebrity for losing weight eating Subway sandwiches. Bureau Chief Dorothy Attwood recounted highlights of bureau’s accomplishments, accompanied by playing of appropriate songs, such as “8 Days a Week” as she described staff work on Sec. 271 applications or “Jive Talkin” by Bee Gees to accompany description of bureau’s accounting safeguards work with carriers. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” accompanied discussion of rural broadband policy goals and “Long Distance Runaround” by Yes was played during discussion of line items carriers put on phone bills to universal service contributions. “Keep Them Separated,” lyric from Offspring’s “Come Out and Play” was used in talk about separations reform.
FCC Wireless Bureau plans public forum Thurs. (Feb. 28) on issues related to acquisition and analysis of data on state of competition in Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) industry for Commission’s 7th annual CMRS Competition Report. Forum will be 1-5 p.m. at FCC hq. Three panels are scheduled -- “Overview: Wireless Service Provision and Consumer Information,” “Industry Research and Data Analysis,” “Service Rollout from a Rural Perspective.”
FCC approved series of new Emergency Alert System (EAS) codes, including Child Abduction Emergency code. New rules permit, but don’t require, use of new codes, although EAS equipment installed after Feb. 1, 2004, must be able to receive and transmit new codes. Order also increases time period within which monthly EAS tests must be transmitted to 60 min. from 15 min., and authorizes cable systems with fewer than 5,000 subscribers to install EAS system with only decoder, rather than both decoder and encoder. Commission also exempted low-power FM stations from EAS requirement until one year after agency certified LPFM decoder and exempted from EAS equipment installation rules repeater stations that rebroadcast 100% of hub station’s programming.
Comcast announced deal with Internet service provider United Online to offer its NetZero and Juno high-speed Internet services via Comcast cable modems, producing charges from public interest groups that Comcast was trying to keep Dept. of Justice (DoJ) from placing conditions on its proposed merger with AT&T Broadband. Comcast had said in earlier filings to FCC that it opposed open access requirements that would force it to open its pipes to 3rd parties. But Comcast Pres. Brian Roberts said in conference call that that had nothing to do with pending deal, which is contingent upon approvals of DoJ and FCC. “This is not done for anything but a commercial opportunity,” Roberts said. “If this was borne out of a regulatory solution, I don’t think both companies would be as excited as we are to get going.”
Citing Appeals Court remand of FCC ownership cap (CD Feb 20 p1), Viacom asked Commission to extend deadline for its divestiture of some stations until 12 months after new agency ownership decision is final. In petition, Viacom said interim relief “would merely preserve the status quo” while FCC complied with court order. It also said denial of extension would cause Viacom irreparable harm since it would have to divest stations reaching 4% of all U.S. households and 10% of Viacom’s total household reach. Viacom also said there was “substantial likelihood” FCC or court would repeal or modify ownership cap, since “no surviving rationale exists for retaining the rule.”
New positions at FCC Common Carrier Bureau: Attorney- Advisers Scott Bergmann and Jessica Rosenworcel named legal counsels to bureau chief; Legal Counsel Christopher Libertelli appointed special counsel to bureau chief… Appointments at Global Crossing: Carl Grivner, exec. vp- global operations, to COO; Anthony Christie, senior vp- global strategy, to senior vp-product management… Keith Jardine promoted to vp-Daniels & Assoc… Changes at Hallmark Channel: Andy Karofsky promoted to vp-mktg.; Shira Kalish, ex-MaxManager.com, named vp-ad sales & alliance mktg.
Amendments to Tauzin-Dingell data deregulation bill (HR- 1542) that House Rules Committee was considering last night included measures that either would deregulate Bells or preserve CLEC access to Bells’ facilities in event that bill is passed. Rules Chmn. Dreier (R-Cal.) had scheduled hearing after our deadline that was expected to choose 4-5 amendments out of 25 submitted by Mon. Amendments figuring prominently included compromise measure that would increase role of Dept. of Justice in reviewing antitrust implications of communications industry disputes. Some congressional CLEC supporters had quietly given nod to proposal by House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) and House Judiciary Committee Chmn. Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) that would bolster Justice involvement in such disputes, House sources said. Although House proponents have dropped their push for even more stringent DoJ oversight than called for in Tauzin- Sensenbrenner measure, another amendment was submitted that would preserve regulatory protections for competitive access to Bells networks, sources said.
Saying PTV’s efforts since 1999 to reach voluntary digital carriage agreements with cable operators “regretfully” had resulted so far only in carriage deal with Time Warner, Assn. of Public TV Stations (APTS) called for congressional intervention if voluntary industry resolutions aren’t achieved very soon. Current FCC rules that are “focused solely on broadcast construction deadlines and service rules” alone won’t lead to timely or successful digital conversion, group said, and industries critical to transition such as cable and equipment manufacturers must do their part. Calling for “limited, tailored, transitional” digital carriage requirement, APTS said 70% of households received local TV stations over cable, so it was not “remotely possible” to attain 85% DTV penetration level set by Congress to trigger the analog spectrum give-back without cable digital carriage during transition. In addition to reiterating its demand for clarification of primary video as meaning all free over-air signals, APTS called for setting requirement that all TV sets 13” and larger included DTV receivers. If left to market forces, DTV penetration would reach only 8.5% by 2006, it said, quoting study by Arthur D. Little. Study said that if all sets sold after Jan. 2004 had digital receiver, penetration would reach 75.5% by 2006 and incremental cost to equip sets with DTV tuners would be $8.40 per set.