FCC ordered Western Cable Service to begin carrying signal of KWOG (Ch. 51, Ind.) Bellevue, Wash., on its system serving Sequim, Wash., within 60 days. African-American Bcstg. Co., which owns KWOG, said station was entitled to carriage, and FCC agreed. Commission said it had received no opposition to KWOG complaint.
NTIA submitted ultra-wideband (UWB) policy recommendation to FCC Fri. that would restrict intentional emissions below 4.2 GHz, protect radioastronomy band and restrict peer-to-peer networking of UWB devices, sources said. Emissions limits in NTIA proposal reflect several stipulations laid out by Defense Dept. in letter earlier this month to NTIA, but proposal appears to have left unresolved differences among federal agencies on what emissions limits would best protect GPS. Industry source said proposal had left officials at agencies such as Dept. of Transportation upset because their demands for higher threshold for intentional emissions of 6 GHz hadn’t been heeded in final NTIA recommendation. NTIA recommendation came in advance of UWB item that’s expected to be on agenda for Feb. 14 FCC meeting.
Antitrust litigation is avenue for CLECs seeking more cooperation from ILECs they view as monopolistic, but successful litigation can be elusive, attendees said at pulver.com conference in Washington on antitrust Wed. Washington antitrust attorneys and executives of embattled CLECs discussed in detail how Goldwasser decision -- which states that regulators overseeing Telecom Act generally preempt antitrust litigation -- has limited ability of CLECs to counter alleged monopolistic behavior by ILECs. Discussion intentionally didn’t include any ILEC representatives, since attendees hoped they could pool their resources to find ways to go after ILECs in court on antitrust grounds.
Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) will focus on FCC rulemaking on broadcast and cable EEO rules in wake of Supreme Court decision not to hear appeal of lower court invalidation of rules (CD Nov 29 p11, March 23 p3), MMTC Exec. Dir. David Honig said: “This is not the end of the world, there is still another fight to be fought.” Court didn’t provide any explanation for decision to deny certiorari for appeal, which was announced day after Martin Luther King holiday. Honig said he didn’t expect court decision to have any effect on FCC rulemaking (CD Dec 13 p4), since Commission and govt. had argued court should hear case and uphold EEO rules. Denial of certiorari wasn’t surprise, Honig said, since Supreme Court hears only about 1% of all appeals submitted to it. Minority groups’ goal in rulemaking, he said, will be to get best rules it can and convince FCC to do best possible enforcement. Comments are due March 11.
Federal govt. working closely with high-tech industry should commit to “10-year vision” for next generation of Internet infrastructure, Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP) said Thurs. Group, composed of CEOs of major U.S. information technology companies, proposed that by end of decade 100 million homes and small businesses be able to receive 100 Mbps affordable broadband capacity. It also urged that 200 MHz of spectrum be allocated for broadband and that both wireline and wireless networks be interconnected. In report, Building the Foundation of the Networked World: A Vision for 21st Century Wired and Wireless Broadband, CSPP was very specific on its goals but said little about policy and technical decisions needed to build network.
FCC denied motion by Litigation Recovery Trust (LRT) requesting stay of Commission’s authorization issued Dec. 18 that allowed Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications and Comsat, together with Telenor, to assign various satellite earth, private land mobile radio and experimental licences and Sec. 214 authorizations held by Comsat to Telenor. Commission said LRT hadn’t met legal standards for stay based on 4-prong test that warrants stay. LRT said Commission exceeded its jurisdiction by: (1) Failing to present any interpretation of Act that would establish its authority to authorize assignment of licenses to company that is 79% owned and controlled by foreign govt. (2) Violated notice and comment requirements of Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by modifying existing rule. (3) Acted arbitrarily and capriciously by failing to present any rationale for its departure from established Commission policy. LRT also said it had new evidence on contract recently secured by Telenor to provide communications services to NATO. LRT said Telenor underbid incumbent carrier by $8 million and bid raised questions of subsidization of Telenor’s business operation by Norway. Commission said LRT didn’t provide sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation. It also said its decision was within its jurisdiction because Communications Act prohibits grant of licenses to any corporation directly or indirectly controlled by any other corporation of which more than 25% of capital stock was owned by foreign govt. FCC said it made no such finding. It said it found no merit in LRT’s claim that agency had violated notice and comment requirements of APA. Commission said allegation by LRT on contract that Telenor obtained through bidding process to provide NATO communications services wasn’t sufficient to indicate LRT would succeed in reconsideration proceeding. Commission also said LRT wouldn’t suffer irreparable harm in absence of stay, but grant of stay would cause harm to both Telenor and Comsat.
FCC extended comment deadlines on radio ownership rulemaking (MM 01-317) by 30 days at request of Clear Channel and other broadcasters. Mass Media Bureau Chief Roy Stewart agreed with broadcasters that extension could serve public interest by providing time for empirical studies of impact of change. New deadlines are March 13 for comments, April 10 for replies.
Broadcasters are urging FCC to hold oral argument on DTV must-carry rules, they said in ex parte filing and in meetings with Cable Bureau staffers. Broadcasters, who participated in earlier petition for reconsideration of must- carry rules (CS 98-120), said oral argument could be “particularly useful” in such cases. “The Commission’s decisions in this proceeding will have a lasting impact on the future of DTV and free over-the-air broadcasting,” broadcasters said in filing: “Setting aside a few hours for oral argument would do justice to the issues [and] to the importance of the DTV transition.”
Emergency must-carry petition filed by NAB and ALTV is beyond scope of Congress and would boomerang on their members by cutting off EchoStar subscribers’ access to local broadcasts in major markets and should be denied, Satellite Bcstg. & Communications Assn. told FCC in filing Wed. NAB and ALTV would “rather shoot themselves and their members in the foot for political gain than allow satellite carriers to bring local TV signals to as many subscribers as possible,” SBCA argued. Meanwhile, NAB and ALTV continued to push Commission to “block scheme” by EchoStar to require subscribers to install 2nd dish to receive local signals. Groups said they believed FCC rules prohibited satellite carriers from using 2 separate dishes to receive full package of local channels and subscribers shouldn’t be required to buy 2 dishes to receive signals for local channels.
FCC Cable Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree discounted idea that govt. should play significant role in deployment of broadband nationwide. Speaking at Broadband Outlook 2002 conference in Washington, he said there were several “grains of sand,” or myths, that should fall by wayside if broadband was to reach masses. First, he said, is that U.S. should follow S. Korean model. While broadband adoption rates are much higher there, Ferree said Asian country’s population was packed into small geographic area and mostly in multi-unit dwellings, making rollout much easier than in U.S., where large portions of population live in wide open spaces not easily reached by fiber.