Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) inducted former FCC Chmn. William Kennard, ex-Comr. Benjamin Hooks and broadcasting pioneer John Oxendine into MMTC Hall of Fame Thurs. in reception at Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand law firm in D.C.
Two weeks past mandatory deadline set by Congress (CD Feb. 20 p3) to conduct tests and compile results, as of Fri. Northpoint was only terrestrial company that had submitted technology for testing by Mitre, officials said. Mitre had been hired by FCC to conduct testing of satellite and terrestrial equipment owned by DBS and terrestrial companies involved in dispute at Commission. DBS providers EchoStar and DirecTV also submitted equipment, but kept pressure on to have Mitre removed as testing company while challenging way tests were being conducted. Mitre is conducting tests at hq in Bedford, Mass. Congress had ordered FCC to complete tests by Feb. 19, but parameters for procedures weren’t finished in time to meet deadline. Northpoint CEO Sophia Collier told us she expected Mitre to release results of tests “on or around” April 9.
Timing of CTIA court challenge over scope of Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s (ACHP) authority to promulgate rules that bind FCC (CD Feb 26 p7) is unfortunate, said PCIA Senior Vp- Govt. Relations Robert Hoggarth last week. “We have worked very hard for the last 8 months” on draft agreement on streamlining wireless antenna collocation review procedures, Hoggarth said. Nationwide program agreement was drafted by staffs of FCC, ACHP, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) and tribal representatives to try to streamline reviews on whether facilities such as towers may affect historic properties. FCC recently extended comment period for draft to provide tribal representatives additional time to submit comments and final action on draft is weeks away. “We have been working very hard with the ACHP, NCSHPO and the tribes to blunt the impact of the lawsuit,” Hoggarth said. Filing lawsuit over rules that implement Sec. 106 of National Historic Preservation Act so close to final action on draft agreement “poisons water” concerning ability of parties to bridge any remaining differences, Hoggarth said. CTIA lawsuit itself didn’t concern draft agreement on collocation but targeted broader ACHP regulations on siting and environmental impact designed to ensure that facilities such as towers have no adverse environmental impact on wireless properties. CTIA wants court to review final rule issued by ACHP in Dec. Assn. is arguing regulation goes beyond scope of ACHP’s rulemaking authority under NHPA, which defines council’s role as advisory and not regulatory.
Ensuring viability of open, interoperable Internet doesn’t constitute “regulation” in traditional sense, FCC Comr. Tristani said in separate statement on Commission’s approval of AOL acquisition of Time Warner (CD Jan 16 p1) released Thurs. Far from regulating Internet, ensuring interoperability actually “blocks de facto regulation of the Internet by a private corporation through a combination of cable bottleneck, proprietary code, network effects and the high consumer cost of switching to a competing service,” she said in statement setting forth her reasons for voting to approve deal. Referring to condition barring new AOL-TW from offering new service using AOL instant messaging service’s Names and Presence Database (NPD) and TW’s cable assets until it has achieved interoperability with at least 3 competitors, Tristani said best public interest outcome -- maintaining openness that has characterized Internet since its inception -- wasn’t guaranteed. Outcome most threatening to free flow of information and consumer choice, “where the tipped market in the text-based instant messaging world migrates to the broadband world of high-speed services, would appear to be mitigated, not avoided,” she said. Rather than ensuring best outcome, condition sought instead to avoid worst, Tristani said in explaining how her approach differed from that of her colleagues: (1) New company, under “bar-the-worst-approach,” may decline to offer new service that triggers interoperability condition. “Under this scenario there is no interoperability and little, if any, public interest benefit arising from the condition.” (2) Merged company, if it chooses to offer new service, may do so by entering into contracts with no fewer than 3 competitors that offer NPD-based services. That would result in contractual interoperability rather than code-based interoperability because if competitors agreed to use new company’s proprietary code, they actually would expand market domination of that code rather than interoperate with it. “This is not interoperability like that which makes e-mail work today.” Merged company may offer new, high-speed service using its combined assets if it achieves server-to-server interoperability using public, published protocol that has approval of international standard setting bodies, Tristani said, and that’s outcome that best serves public interest. She said she supported overall scheme in Commission’s order in part because it set forth several policy features applicable to future mergers: (1) Commission rejected private corporate control of Internet protocol pathway. (2) It rejected “the facile assumption that business practices based on a proprietary code that create informational bottlenecks on the Internet somehow serve the public interest.” (3) Merged company must achieve interoperability at time it seeks to utilize combined assets, not before. (4) New entity would be relieved from ban on new service offering if it showed clear and convincing evidence that condition no longer served public interest, which Tristani said would be “a fair outcome for consumers and the parties.”
Wireless industry continued Thurs. to step up calls for policymakers to move quickly to free up spectrum and to examine auction plans that would use part of proceeds from bidding to move incumbents. One theme of wireless panel at Precursor Group conference in Washington was that decisions needed to be made quickly to keep U.S. competitive with wireless data offerings unfolding elsewhere in world. FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Thomas Sugrue told conference that Commission planned to make decision by fall on notice of proposed rulemaking on whether there still is need for spectrum cap.
Only reason CableLabs’ PHILA copy protection provisions deals with component analog outputs is that those outputs transmit high- definition digital picture, albeit in analog, to viewing devices, NCTA Senior Vp-Law & Regulatory Policy Dan Brenner said in letter to FCC Chmn. Powell. Responding to objections to PHILA technology license raised by Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC) (CD Feb 21 p9), Brenner said that in currently available digital TV receivers, manufacturers have chosen to convert digital signal to high-quality analog. Several industries, including motion picture, broadcast and cable industries, have supported inclusion of protected digital interface in all receivers, so content from any digital device could be displayed on TV receiver. But in absence of such digital interface, Brenner said, component analog outputs may be used to deliver high-quality digital content and in that case they will be subject to PHILA copy protection provisions. Therefore, those provisions contain only digital technology, he said. As for CERC objection to mandate that OpenCable digital boxes automatically shut off or degrade image in response to particular copy control signal, he said CERC “ignores” fact that without some affirmative action by cable operator, on program-by-program basis, copy protection restrictions wouldn’t be applied. Option lies with cable operator based on agreements with program suppliers to trigger copy protection capability, he said: “But, by themselves, the devices will not automatically affect images one way or another.”
Broadcasters told Senate Commerce Committee Thurs. that most important action FCC could take to facilitate swift and successful transition to digital TV (DTV) would be to impose full must-carry obligations on cable, move that cable said would be neither lawful nor technically feasible. Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) said hearing was to move beyond “finger pointing” among broadcast, cable and consumers, which blame on one another for “dearth of digital programming.” Although they presented various solutions to ensure industry meets its mandated 2006 DTV transition deadline, all remained firm in blaming others for delay.
Congressional telecom leaders heavily criticized spectrum policy changes contemplated by President Bush’s budget blueprint (CD March 1 p1), with some saying they seemed motivated more by attempts to free up money for tax cuts than sound telecom policy. They predicted quick defeat in debacle that probably would teach Administration lesson about talking with them before assuming such far-reaching proposal would gain quick acceptance. “Once Congress kills it, they'll remember to call us next time,” said Ken Johnson, spokesman for House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R- La.). “They're just looking for extra money to pay for their excessive tax cuts,” said aide to House Telecom Subcommittee ranking Democrat Markey (Mass.): “The job for Telecom Subcommittee members is to make sure these plans make sense for telecom.” Another staffer said chances of plan’s passing Congress were “infinitesimal” and predicted that it would be greatly scaled back when full budget book is released in April.
House Commerce Committee will introduce new bill “in next month or so” to replace last session’s HR-2420 that would give Bells more regulatory freedom for data transmission and expects easy passage in House but harder job in Senate, Ken Johnson, spokesman for Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.), said Thurs. Johnson, who participated in panel discussion at Precursor Group conference in Washington, urged audience not to “mistake inaction with indecision” on part of Committee because it still was committed to basic HR-2420 concept. Bill probably will be same as last year’s version although it could change during legislative process, Johnson said. Tauzin looks at current version of bill as setting tone for discussion, he said.
Facing “market environment that was simply not conducive to our efforts” to secure additional funding, Geocast Network Systems announced Thurs. that it was ceasing operations, effective immediately. In e-mail to investors and employees late Wed., Chmn.-CEO Joseph Horowitz cited “adverse economic conditions” as reason for closure (CD March 1 p9). He said Geocast would “retain only a small skeleton staff to conduct a sale of our assets.”