FCC asked for comments by Feb. 13 on petitions by AT&T and WorldCom for review of Dec. 15 Common Carrier Bureau decision giving BellSouth pricing flexibility for special access and dedicated transport (CC Doc. 01-22). Replies are due Feb. 23.
FCC released public notice on winning bidders in PCS auction of 422 C- and F-block licenses, setting Feb. 12 deadline for payments to be made. Auction that wrapped up Fri. raised $16.8 billion. Winning bidders also have until Feb. 12 to submit long- form license applications. Notice also sets same date for companies to file petitions to deny any licenses.
FCC gave U.S. international carriers 90 days to come into compliance with international licensing requirements if they weren’t already complying. After that, International Bureau will refer violators to Enforcement Bureau for possible action. Agency said Tues. it was concerned that some carriers and operators were providing unauthorized international service or operating unauthorized telecom facilities (DA 01-188). Ninety-day period begins when FCC notice is published in Federal Register.
Not surprisingly, AT&T posted significant loss Mon. as it continued to face falling prices in long distance business and dealt with expenses in its broadband unit involving acquisition of MediaOne and impact of its investment in Excite@Home. Despite sharp decline, AT&T’s results were within analysts’ expectations for beleaguered company that’s in midst of restructuring itself. Bright spot was 39% revenue growth in company’s wireless unit, which it plans to spin off this year.
Cable operator serving fewer than 677,000 subscribers will meet definition of small cable operator, FCC said in new subscriber count for defining small operator. Commission said it had determined that there were 67.7 million cable subscribers in U.S., based on most reliable source publicly available. Commission’s rules define small cable operator as one that directly or through affiliate serves less than one percent of all subscribers in U.S. and isn’t affiliated with any entity or entities whose gross annual revenues exceed $250 million. Small cable operator is eligible for rate deregulation.
As use of FCC’s Part 15 unlicensed spectrum, once domain mostly of items such as children’s toys, increases, Commission is mulling requests to either allow new systems to operate at 2.4 GHz or to modify requirements to reduce interference risk. Sources said FCC’s Office of Engineering & Technology was weighing possibility of holding industry forum to address how existing requirements addressed new usage trends. Meanwhile, large investors in wireless home networking technologies -- ranging from 3Com and Intel to Cisco and Texas Instruments -- have lined up at FCC either seeking permission for new systems to operate or changes to ensure existing technologies can continue to co-exist. Debates have centered on potential for interference between home RF devices and 802.11b operations -- Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) local area networks (LANs).
FCC must-carry rules are filled with “legal and factual errors,” EchoStar said in letter signed by Vp-Gen. Counsel David Moskowitz. EchoStar joined rival DirecTV and Satellite Bcstg. & Communications Assn. in challenging constitutionality of must- carry rules in federal lawsuit. Under FCC rules, DBS companies must carry all stations in each market they serve. Satellite companies say those rules eat up valuable capacity and constrain their business. Moskowitz said Commission made “flatly mistaken observation” that Fla. federal court found Satellite Home Viewer Act that mandated must-carry rules to be constitutional. The court “never made such a finding and indeed it could not have, as it concerned a complaint relating to distant, not local signals.” EchoStar also criticized FCC for relying on “unsubstantiated comments” from NAB “without any empirical or other support” and treating them as facts. Finally, EchoStar said, satellite carriers in general, and EchoStar in particular, had devoted substantial resources to ensuring that all local TV broadcast signals carried on satellite systems enjoy superior signal quality.
FCC Common Carrier Bureau granted petitions by Cox and AT&T and preempted Va. State Corp. Commission’s (VSCC) authority to arbitrate interconnection disputes companies are having with Verizon. VSCC has refused to arbitrate interconnection disputes because of uncertainty about state immunity under U.S. Constitution’s 11th Amendment. Under Telecom Act, companies first go to states for arbitration of disputes and if they disagree with decision they can challenge state-arbitrated interconnection agreements in federal court. States say that process places them in awkward position because 11th Amendment gives states immunity from being sued in federal court. Issue is topic of challenges in several U.S. Appeals Courts, and U.S. Supreme Court recently chose not to hear it. FCC stepped in under its authority to preempt states that don’t act. FCC said Cox and AT&T now could formally petition FCC for arbitration and Common Carrier Bureau will issue comment schedules. Agency said it would decide later whether to combine AT&T and Cox cases with pending WorldCom arbitration proceeding, as requested by AT&T.
European Commission (EC) urged State Dept. Fri. to be mindful of U.S. obligations under General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) when reviewing proposed merger transactions of Deutsche Telekom (DT), VoiceStream and Powertel. EC stipulated its concerns in communique to State Dept. Citing U.S. commitments under World Trade Organization (WTO) basic telecom agreement, communique said EC had “serious concerns” on some comments received by FCC concerning companies’ license transfer applications of companies. In particular, EC referred to concerns raised by Sen. Hollings (D-S.C.). It urged FCC not to heed requests that it should consider German govt.’s ownership in DT or DT’s market-opening activities in Germany. “The European Union reserves its right to take any appropriate course of action should the FCC adopt such requests, and would oppose any action that would undermine the U.S. WTO commitments,” EC warned State Dept. It said market access “cannot be conditioned on the level of commitments in the originating country of the supplier or on the way these commitments are implemented.”
Ability of DirecTV receivers for DTV to downgrade HDTV signal to 480i at request of content owners fearful of unauthorized copying is potentially embarrassing for CEA, which is battling cable industry over copy protection demands for HDTV, officials said. Copy Generation Management System (CGMS) covers all brands selling DTV-enabled DirecTV satellite receivers. Hollywood content owners fear that consumers will use high-quality analog component video (Y-Pb-Pr or RGB) outputs on receivers to make copies on digital recorders. DirecTV wouldn’t comment.