Cable still is dominant technology for delivery of video programming, although its market share continues to decline, FCC Cable Bureau said in its 8th annual report to Congress on status of competition in delivery of video programming. Report said “alternatives continue to develop” while cable holds 78% of multichannel video subscribers, down from 80% year earlier. Report came as both cable and satellite service providers jockeyed for position amid pending FCC proceedings on proposed limits on vertical and horizontal ownership. Findings also could play role in pending Comcast acquisition of AT&T Broadband as well as EchoStar takeover of DirecTV.
Sinclair Bcst. pushed case to overturn FCC decision on ownership cap, in oral argument at U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., Mon. Under what Media Access Pres. Andrew Schwartzman called “unusually harsh questioning,” by Judges David Sentelle, Judith Rogers and Stephen Williams, Sinclair argued that FCC order that limits ownership to maximum of 2 stations, where there are 8 independently owned TV stations -- “8 voices rule” -- was unconstitutional. Determination on legality of common ownership of TV stations should be left to Dept. of Justice on market-to-market basis under antitrust laws, Sinclair argued.
FCC should deny Verizon’s Sec. 271 petition for N.J. because company hasn’t sufficiently developed local competition to merit entering long distance business, Sprint said in comments filed with Commission Mon. “If the [Bells] are allowed to enjoy the Sec. 271 ‘carrot’ before local competition is fully established, they will have little incentive to cooperate with competitive LECs thereafter,” Sprint said. It said recent decision by U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., remanding part of FCC’s decision permitting SBC entry in Kan. and Okla. (CD Dec 31 p2) made clear that Commission had to consider state of local competition in evaluating Sec. 271 petitions. Sprint concluded: “The CLEC industry is in a state of crisis, and the [Bells] have failed to establish themselves outside their territories. In New Jersey, residential competition, provided almost exclusively over resold Verizon facilities, has not been firmly established.” Mon. was deadline for comments on N.J. petition.
Since Telecom Act, cable rates have risen 35.7% while consumer prices for all other goods and services as measured by Consumer Price Index have risen 14.5%, according to data from Bureau of Labor Statistics. Asked why prices have risen 21.2% more than inflation, industry representatives said programming costs have gotten out of control and consumers are getting more channels and choices for their money. That doesn’t appease consumer groups, especially as many people are seeing their prices for basic or expanded basic service rise roughly 5% this month. Jan. typically is time of year when MSOs institute any price increases.
Comsat continued challenge to regulatory fees for satellite space stations before U.S. Appeals Court, Washington, D.C., Mon. At issue are fees charged to Comsat for use of Intelsat facilities. Comsat was assessed proportionate share of Sec. 9 space station annual regulatory fee applicable to Title 3 authorizations to launch and operate geostationary satellites. FCC attorney Grey Pash argued that case was more about language and procedure than rulemaking. Judges seemed more interested in language of law and suggested much of dispute revolved around what Judge David Sentelle called “semantics.” Comsat attorneys said company was “tied down” to specific requests and had been turned down. “We don’t have a responsibility to file for reconsideration” as Commission suggested, they said.
Marching orders from FCC Chmn. Powell -- besides removing obstacles to broadband and pushing it forward -- center on reducing interoperability of emergency response and law enforcement communications and reducing interference, FCC Office of Engineering & Technology Network Technology Div. Chief Jeffrey Goldthorp told Wireless Communications Assn. session in San Jose Mon. He said FCC’s Homeland Security Policy Council priorities were: (1) Reviving Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC), focusing on curbing and recovering from physical and cyberthreats. (2) Considering media counterpart to NRIC. (3) Working with other agencies to ensure network reliability, redundancy and protection. (4) Pushing E911 aggressively. (5) Working out wireless priority access balancing customers’ and govt. needs. Near term, Goldthorp said, council will promptly consider: (1) Measures to give adequate spectrum to public safety uses and minimize interference with them, especially in 800 MHz band. (2) Verizon’s request for priority access waiver. (3) Wireline providers’ bids for waiver extensions to restore equipment damaged Sept. 11.
FAA is moving forward with next stage of its Next Generation Air-Ground Communications (NEXCOM) system, integrated voice-data network project that agency anticipates “will be incrementally phased into full-scale operation over a number of years.” Release late last week of updated system requirements document (SRD) and minimum threshold document (MTD) is most recent development in its long-term planning strategy to deploy NEXCOM network. FAA said SRD “serves as the focal point for all system requirements affecting the development of the hardware and software necessary” to introduce VHF digital voice capability into nation’s aeronautics communications network. Evaluation of SRD will be carried out with assistance of industry. FAA said collaborative process would identify contractor needs and capabilities as well as ensure future FAA compliance with FCC and other federal agency regulations: “The NEXCOM system must meet all regulatory requirements that are determined to be appropriate. This determination will be made based on knowledge of regulatory requirements and the evaluation of the SRD as it applies to these requirements.” FAA is seeking comments on document by Feb. 8. It also will accept and discuss comments in one-on-one meetings Jan. 22-25, which require reservations. FAA is referring all inquiries to the NEXCOM program contracting officer.
Qualcomm warned FCC Fri. that ultra-wideband (UWB) emissions in GPS spectrum would make GPS devices “useless” for meeting Enhanced 911 accuracy requirements for wireless phones. Test results show that if UWB device is within 14.5 m of GPS phone, “half the time that the caller dials 911 the caller cannot be located within the parameters that the Commission has set” for E911, said Jonas Neihardt, head of Qualcomm Washington office. New Qualcomm test results come within weeks of target that FCC had set for bringing up UWB as item at Feb. agenda meeting. Lab tests evaluated impact of UWB emissions on GPS-enabled phones, which are being used to pinpoint caller locations within accuracy requirements set by FCC. Tests found that UWB emission in GPS spectrum “significantly raises the noise floor of the GPS sensor to the extent that it will render the GPS device useless in reporting position location information” to public safety answering point, Qualcomm said in ex parte filing. Equipment-maker urged FCC to not allow UWB devices to operate within GPS band “until suitable measures have been taken to limit sufficiently the UWB emissions within the band.” Qualcomm said it also wanted Commission to wait on UWB operation in GPS spectrum until “empirical testing conclusively proves that there will be no further system degradation once these measures have been implemented.” Qualcomm said its tests using GPS-enabled PCS handsets found that single UWB devices degraded performance by: (1) Raising effective noise floor of GPS receiver. (2) “Significantly” reducing satellite availability. (3) Negatively affecting position accuracy. Qualcomm has been raising concerns at FCC about potential for UWB devices to create interference in GPS bands, but several sources said new data were more specific about interference details. “In this study, we are able to reach a greater level of granularity,” Neihardt told us. “The goal here is to understand the impacts so that we can all work to figure out an approach to mitigate this interference,” he said: “The goal here is not to stop UWB. The goal is to understand the problems that exist.” Others raised concerns about timing of Qualcomm’s submission. “After more than 3 years of proceedings, Qualcomm is choosing to file this at the last minute,” said Time Domain Vp- Corporate Strategy Jeff Ross, who said company still was reviewing Qualcomm data later Fri. Ross cited testing by Johns Hopkins U. (JHU) Applied Research Labs and Applied Research Labs at U. of Tex. (UT), NTIA and Stanford U. “When you take into account the level proposed by the FCC, the JHU/UT report implies that noise-coded UWB signals of the power levels proposed by the FCC will not cause interference by 1 to 1.5 meters.” Ross said: “If Qualcomm has reached another conclusion, we will be interested to see the science they used to arrive at that.”
Acting N.J. Gov. Donald DiFrancesco (R), on his last day in office Thurs., signed 2 telecom bills passed in last days of 2001 session: (1) SB-1358, which requires Board of Public Utilities to enforce FCC’s antislamming rules. (2) SB-2399, which institutes 24-hour toll-free hotline for filing complaints of computer crimes. In other states, Cal. Assembly Transportation Committee opens hearings today (Jan. 14) on bill (AB-911) to ban use of handheld mobile phones while driving. Because bill is carry-over measure from 2001, it must pass Assembly by end of Jan. or it dies. Cal. Assembly’s Education Committee will hold Jan. 15 hearing on bill (AB-878) to ease restrictions on wireless telecom devices for students at school. Current law allows school principals to let students carry pagers and mobile phones only if they're authorized by doctor as essential for student’s health. Pending bill would allow school boards to authorize student wireless devices for safety as well as health reasons. New bill in Wis. (AB-708) would require telecom providers to notify residential customers by mail and by phone if they accumulated more than $500 in charges in single billing period. Failure to provide notice within 14 days of $500 total could result in forfeiture of charges. Bill also would require PSC to establish streamlined alternative to traditional complaint process for resolving retail residential service and billing disputes, with burden placed on carrier to disprove customer’s allegations. New Mo. antispam bill (SB-665) would prohibit transmission of e- mailed ads (spam) that contained false or misleading information on subject, origin or transmission path of message. It would apply to spam sent from computer in state or to Mo. resident’s e-mail address. New Mo. Internet filter bill (SB-665) would require schools and libraries offering Internet access to install filtering programs that restricted minors’ access to pornographic Internet sites or offer Internet access only through ISPs that filtered content. Requirement wouldn’t apply to computers used exclusively by adults or employees. New S.C. bill (SB-823) would require hotels and motels to post at each phone rates they charged for local, long distance, toll-free and room-to-room calls along with rates for e-mail or fax messages and Internet access. Ill. House passed resolution (HR-605) asking FCC to grant permanent waiver of 11-digit dialing requirement for 224 overlay code atop suburban Chicago’s 847 code. New dialing pattern took effect Jan. 5.
Conn. Dept. of Public Utility Control (DPUC) became first state commission to seek authority for service-specific overlay area code. DPUC took advantage of Dec. FCC numbering policy change that lifted previous ban on service-specific and technology-specific overlay codes and allowed states to petition for such overlays. DPUC said it wanted to implement overlays atop both of state’s area codes, 203 (New Haven) and 860 (Hartford), to be used for wireless and other nongeographic-based services and for services by specialized carriers not capable of providing local number portability. DPUC said service-specific overlay would delay code exhaustion with minimal inconvenience to carriers and public. Agency said its overlay plan would be transitional and could be replaced with all-service overlay once number pooling capability was required of wireless companies and other specialized carriers.