FCC Chmn. Powell called on Congress to bolster agency’s enforcement powers, measure he said was necessary to protect consumers as agency executed streamlined business plan that’s “aligned with the realities of a dynamic and converging marketplace.” He also told House Telecom Subcommittee at hearing Thurs. that legislative approval was necessary to carry out his bureau restructuring plan, which still was being formulated, and his “policy vision” of making FCC more “efficient, effective and responsive.” Powell said FCC, if given sufficient enforcement capabilities, would guarantee “fairness to all, and allegiance to none,” but warned potential regulatory violators that Commission likewise would levy severe penalties. “If you cheat, I'm going to hurt you, and hurt you hard,” he said.
FCC gave Intelsat spinoff New Skies Satellite unconditional access and blanket authority to operate in U.S. as privatized company. Commission order Thurs. said New Skies had fulfilled requirements of ORBIT Act and wouldn’t harm competition in U.S. market. New Skies received extended waiver of 2-degree orbital spacing requirements and International Bureau placed New Skies on Permitted Space Station List. Company currently has 4 satellites that will be able to communicate with routine earth stations. FCC said action would give U.S. more choices and “facilitate technological innovation.” However, ordering clause prohibits New Skies from providing direct-to-home (DTH), direct broadcast satellite service (DBS) or digital audio radio services (DARS) to, from or within U.S. PanAmSat, GE Americom and Loral filed partial opposition to request, but companies still have option to file petitions for reconsideration within 30 days.
Ill. Commerce Comr. Terry Harvill accused SBC of trying to confuse Congress on Ill. policies for competitive provision of DSL services. Harvill, in letter to House Speaker Hastert (R-Ill.), was responding to March 14 letter to Congress from SBC CEO Edward Whitacre. In letter, Whitacre complained that an ICC policy requiring SBC’s Ameritech unit to open DSL-capable remote loop carrier terminals to DSL line-sharing competitors had made DSL service into such a money loser that Ameritech was forced to halt deployment of DSL network upgrades and stop selling retail DSL. Harvill said SBC was “attempting to obfuscate the issues” by implying ICC acted unlawfully and was out of touch with current policy trends. He said ICC’s action was legal and consistent with current policy of FCC and other states -- namely, that DSL line sharing should apply to customers served with hybrid fiber-copper loop carrier systems as well as to customers with all-copper loops connected directly to their central office. Harvill said Whitacre’s position against line sharing over loop carrier systems “would effectively eliminate the obligation to line share.” He also said Whitacre’s “chilling” portrayal of the ICC decision as turning Ill. into a technology backwater without broadband services revealed that Ameritech “controls the market so completely that it alone can determine whether more than one million customers in Illinois will ever have access to broadband services.” As Congress considers broadband policy issues, Harvill suggested FCC and state rulings be used as template for national policy that would provide technology deployment incentives and opportunity for “unfettered” broadband competition.
FCC regulatory fees would increase average of 7.75% for FY 2001, agency said in rulemaking released Thurs. Fees generally followed previous 2 years’ practice of across-board increase to meet congressional mandate for FCC to recoup larger portion of its operating budget through regulatory fees. Congress required Commission to collect $200.1 million in regulatory fees this year, up $14.4 million from FY 2000. In early years, FCC attempted to base regulatory fees on actual cost of regulation, but it generally has used across-board increases since FY 1999. It said it hoped to have new cost accounting system in place in time for setting fees for FY 2002. Comments on fees are due April 27, replies May 7 (MD 01-76).
No single solution exists to provide competitive access to fiber-fed transmission deployed between end-user customers and ILEC central offices. That was consensus of 15 ILECs, CLECs and local loop equipment vendors questioned at FCC public forum “Transmission Capability Between the Central Office and End-Users in Next-Generation Networks” Thurs. by Common Carrier Bureau and Office of Engineering & Technology. Bureau Chief Dorothy Attwood said meeting was to focus on technical issues and not to discuss legal or policy issues, but several on panel said both issues were interrelated. “From a network perspective it is very difficult or impossible to separate technology from policy,” said John Lube, SBC Gen. Mgr. Network Services-Regulatory. “For us to deploy equipment is an engineering decision, but it will be made with a clear understanding of policies set by the FCC and how new regulations affect all broadband technologies.” Early in DSL rollout, SBC predicted CLECs would ask to colocate standalone DSLAMs in remote terminals, Lube said. SBC spent “several million” dollars in effort to upgrade controlled environment vaults and huts, but “to his knowledge” only one CLEC had colocated in SBC remote terminals. It isn’t economically feasible for ILEC to pre-equip entire remote terminal line capacity with cross-connect fields, he said. Access methods are chosen on case- by-case basis. Verizon Dir. Technology Engineering Planning Charles Kiederer said that in outside plant environments, each one is different: “We need to be careful here to not oversimplify and try to find one solution. As engineers we can solve any problem given enough time and money, but sooner or later we get yanked back to economically reality.”
Commerce Secy. Donald Evans met with wireless industry Thurs. on 3rd generation wireless issues, sending signal that all spectrum bands still were on table, sources said. Evans held hastily-called 30-min. meeting with wireless carriers and equipment manufacturers in advance of final reports that are set for release today (Fri.) from FCC and NTIA on options for additional spectrum for advanced wireless services. “The report that is coming out tomorrow is a first step in the process,” Evans spokesman said. Several sources indicated meeting appeared to be proactive step by Administration to allay industry concerns over serious questions raised by Dept. of Defense on challenge of sharing spectrum with commercial wireless systems in short term.
FCC Comr. Ness criticized decision of long distance carriers to assess billing fee on consumers for combined local and long distance bill. Ness said in statement Thurs.: “I am particularly troubled -- as all consumers should be -- by reports that some carriers did not notify consumers in advance so that consumers could have avoided these charges.” She said FCC Enforcement Bureau should investigate whether line-item charges “are consistent with our truth-in-billing rules, unreasonable or unreasonably inflated.”
PanAmSat filed comments with FCC supporting liberalizing processing rules for earth stations with nonstandard antenna patterns. Company also agreed with Commission position on proposal to require submission of nonroutine antenna gain patterns with earth station applications and self-certification procedure for earth stations. PanAmSat also wants relaxation of earth station power density limits and proposal to permit operators of temporary fixed earth stations in Ku-band to begin operation before grant, but not until end of comment period provided no objections have been filed. Filing supported proposal to extend earth stations’ license term to 15 years, to allow multiple-hub stations under single VSAT network blanket license and to authorize temporary VSAT hub stations.
Edward Kientz, Benner-Nawman, moves up to chmn., Telecommunications Industry Assn. board, succeeding William Cadogan, term expiring, who remains as chmn. emeritus… Lauren (Pete) Belvin, ex-Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer and ex-FCC and Senate Commerce Committee, becomes head of Qwest’s Washington office as vp-federal policy & law… Kevin Krufky, ex-staffer for Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) on Communications Subcommittee, joins Sen. Brownback (R-Kan.) as legislative asst., duties to include telecom… Lee Hogan, ex-Reliant, elected to Crown Castle International board… Joining A.F. Assoc. from Whitlock Group: James Fitzpatrick as dir.-project development, Robert Timpone as senior engineering consultant… David Kagan, Verestar pres.-COO, moves to CEO, Maritime Telecommunications Network.
Sharp Corp. executives met recently with FCC Comr. Ness and legal adviser David Goodfriend to press for Commission action to spur retail availability of competitive digital cable set-top boxes. Brandishing market research report, Sharp officials said retail market for digital cable set-tops was not expected to develop before year-end, more than year after agency required cable industry to separate security functions from its digital boxes to promote their retail acceptance. Consumer electronics manufacturers generally want FCC to force cable industry to switch from proprietary set-tops to interoperable boxes by 2003 or sooner and to adopt open technical standards that don’t favor boxes produced by existing cable equipment manufacturers.