The FCC voted 3-2 to approve a Lifeline modernization order that extends USF low-income subsidies to broadband service and streamlines the program's administration. But the agency didn't act until after its Thursday meeting was delayed three times, an attempted -- or apparent -- budget compromise collapsed, and Republicans dissented and cried foul. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly suggested personal relations had been "irreparably" harmed because the Democrats "will misrepresent, cut corners and welch on deals." Asked about certain Republican charges, Chairman Tom Wheeler said, "Balderdash."
The FCC voted 3-2 to approve a Lifeline modernization order that extends USF low-income subsidies to broadband service and streamlines the program's administration. But the agency didn't act until after its Thursday meeting was delayed three times, an attempted -- or apparent -- budget compromise collapsed, and Republicans dissented and cried foul. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly suggested personal relations had been "irreparably" harmed because the Democrats "will misrepresent, cut corners and welch on deals." Asked about certain Republican charges, Chairman Tom Wheeler said, "Balderdash."
The Trans-Pacific Partnership will help reduce entry times, provide better information for exporters, and modernize sanitary and phytosanitary trade practices, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Director for Japan and Korea James Fatheree said during a panel discussion in Washington March 30. His words echoed findings in an analysis of the TPP by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (see 1603220062), which projected removal of non-tariff barriers will have a bigger impact on TPP member states than tariff reductions. “It helps reduce the time it takes to get goods into the market once they’ve landed,” Fatheree said during the event, hosted by the Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy on Capitol Hill. “That’s all good stuff. There was not, unfortunately, any provisions for cross-TPP de minimis standards, which would’ve been something that would help, I think, overall.”
The Secure Content Storage Association landed registration of its Vidity trademark March 15 after 20 months of processing delays, Patent and Trademark Office records show. SCSA applied to register the trademark in July 2014, PTO records show. But the application became bogged down mainly because PTO declared it abandoned Nov. 30 after SCSA had failed to file the required “statement of use” or ask for a deadline extension, agency records show. SCSA filed to revive the application a few days later, those records show. SCSA coined the name Vidity in May as its “consumer-facing brand” for the delivery and “locally stored playback” of Ultra HD, HD and standard-def movies across multiple devices (see 1505200049).
A proposed rate-of-return overhaul order from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler “sets forth a package of reforms to address rate-of-return issues that are fundamentally intertwined -- the need to modernize the program to provide support for stand-alone broadband service; the need to improve incentives for broadband investment to connect unserved rural Americans; and the need to strengthen the rate-of-return system to provide certainty and stability for years to come,” Wheeler told House Democrats in a March 21 letter released Tuesday. “A Further Notice included with the order would specifically seek comment on additional reforms, including the Tribal Broadband Factor proposal you reference in your letter, to further incentivize broadband investment and deployment on unserved and underserved Tribal lands.” Wheeler said he'll “take action before the end of the year” on the issue, once the FCC has a full record. Wheeler wrote a separate reply to Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who had pushed the agency to address stand-alone broadband last year. “The proposed Order would create an entirely voluntary path for rate-of-return carriers that prefer the predictability of defined support amounts over a ten-year term,” Wheeler told Cramer. “Similar to the approach that has successfully spurred development by larger ‘price-cap’ carriers, this model-based support comes with defined milestones for efficient, accountable deployment.” He also told Cramer the proposed order contains the principles of the Walden Rule, “that we should limit the use of ratepayer funds to support service in an area that is served by an unsubsidized Internet provider,” he said.
A proposed rate-of-return overhaul order from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler “sets forth a package of reforms to address rate-of-return issues that are fundamentally intertwined -- the need to modernize the program to provide support for stand-alone broadband service; the need to improve incentives for broadband investment to connect unserved rural Americans; and the need to strengthen the rate-of-return system to provide certainty and stability for years to come,” Wheeler told House Democrats in a March 21 letter released Tuesday. “A Further Notice included with the order would specifically seek comment on additional reforms, including the Tribal Broadband Factor proposal you reference in your letter, to further incentivize broadband investment and deployment on unserved and underserved Tribal lands.” Wheeler said he'll “take action before the end of the year” on the issue, once the FCC has a full record. Wheeler wrote a separate reply to Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who had pushed the agency to address stand-alone broadband last year. “The proposed Order would create an entirely voluntary path for rate-of-return carriers that prefer the predictability of defined support amounts over a ten-year term,” Wheeler told Cramer. “Similar to the approach that has successfully spurred development by larger ‘price-cap’ carriers, this model-based support comes with defined milestones for efficient, accountable deployment.” He also told Cramer the proposed order contains the principles of the Walden Rule, “that we should limit the use of ratepayer funds to support service in an area that is served by an unsubsidized Internet provider,” he said.
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai proposed a $1.75 billion Lifeline annual subsidy cap as the commission heads toward a scheduled vote Thursday on extending the USF low-income support program to broadband service and streamlining administration. He also proposed Tuesday to reduce payments to Lifeline providers if program support exceeds the budget, eliminate "enhanced" Lifeline tribal subsidies in more densely populated areas, and strengthen Lifeline minimum broadband service standards. A draft order would set a budget of $2.25 billion, indexed for inflation, that could be adjusted if spending reaches 90 percent of that amount (see 1603080024).
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai proposed a $1.75 billion Lifeline annual subsidy cap as the commission heads toward a scheduled vote Thursday on extending the USF low-income support program to broadband service and streamlining administration. He also proposed Tuesday to reduce payments to Lifeline providers if program support exceeds the budget, eliminate "enhanced" Lifeline tribal subsidies in more densely populated areas, and strengthen Lifeline minimum broadband service standards. A draft order would set a budget of $2.25 billion, indexed for inflation, that could be adjusted if spending reaches 90 percent of that amount (see 1603080024).
Nome and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, could be linked by a new multistage high-capacity fiber system by Q1 2017, Quintillion Subsea Operations said in an FCC International Bureau application Thursday seeking authority to build and operate the system. That cable is expected to be the first stage of a larger submarine cable system that eventually will go international, Quintillion said. The proposed Alaska line will have six landing stations in the state, as the first fiber cable at five of them, and provide coastal communities in northern and northwest Alaska with fiber-based communications that connect with other carriers and providers at each landing site, Quintillion said, saying it hopes to have the network constructed by October. The first vessel transporting the cable is expected to leave port in France April 18, Quintillion said. Any license grant later than that "creates the very real potential to delay the coming-into-operation date until the third quarter of 2017 at the earliest, if not considerably longer," given the short Alaskan construction season, Quintillion said.
Nome and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, could be linked by a new multistage high-capacity fiber system by Q1 2017, Quintillion Subsea Operations said in an FCC International Bureau application Thursday seeking authority to build and operate the system. That cable is expected to be the first stage of a larger submarine cable system that eventually will go international, Quintillion said. The proposed Alaska line will have six landing stations in the state, as the first fiber cable at five of them, and provide coastal communities in northern and northwest Alaska with fiber-based communications that connect with other carriers and providers at each landing site, Quintillion said, saying it hopes to have the network constructed by October. The first vessel transporting the cable is expected to leave port in France April 18, Quintillion said. Any license grant later than that "creates the very real potential to delay the coming-into-operation date until the third quarter of 2017 at the earliest, if not considerably longer," given the short Alaskan construction season, Quintillion said.