FCC granted applications by Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications (LMGT) and Comsat, together with Telenor Satellite Services Holdings (TSSH), Telenor Satellite and Telenor Broadband Services (Telenor Broadband) to assign Title II common carrier authorizations and Title III radio licenses held by Comsat to Telenor Satellite. Transaction will result in 79% indirect foreign govt. ownership of U.S. licenses, highest level of govt control of U.S. license allowed by Commission in its history, said FCC Comr. Copps, who opposed agreement. Deal is threat not only to competition, but also to public interest, he said: “Such control threatens competition because companies controlled by a foreign government have many increased incentives and enhanced abilities to cross-subsidize their American licensee.” Proposed assignment is in connection with Telenor’s proposed acquisition of Comsat Mobile Communications (CMC). Acquisition involves assignment of various satellite earth station licenses, private land mobile radio licenses, experimental licenses and Sec. 214 authorizations held by Comsat. FCC said proposed assignment of CMC-related FCC licenses and authorizations to Telenor Satellite and operation of CMC’s business by Telenor Satellite Services was in public interest. Transaction doesn’t promise to bring new competitor to satellite services market, Copps said: “One is left to wonder what procompetitive benefits such an agreement confers.” FCC said authorizations and licenses were subject to compliance with Nov. 29 agreement among Telenor, Dept. of Justice, FBI. Agreement is designed to address national security, law enforcement and public safety concerns of DoJ and FBI.
PCIA said its Site Owners & Managers Alliance (SOMA) reached agreement with FAA to expand “acceptable” frequencies that would expedite processing of initial tower filings and frequency change notices. FAA agreed to “extensive” list of radio frequencies that would be covered by streamlined processing, which PCIA said would reduce delays involving tower construction and modifications. Frequency ranges covered by agreement include cellular, PCS, specialized mobile radio, certain private land mobile, wireless communications services. PCIA Pres. Jay Kitchen said SOMA members worked with FAA “to remove unnecessary filing and processing delays while continuing to ensure that FAA concerns regarding aviation safety are met.” Under current procedures, FAA subjects each frequency request by tower owner to interference analysis.
MacDonald, Dettwiler & Assoc. (MDA) will buy EarthSat for $30 million, company said, saying deal will expand MDA’s ability to extract land information from satellite images. EarthSat has annual revenue of $20 million. Transaction is expected to close in first quarter 2002.
In frank outline of his antitrust views, new Justice Dept. Antitrust Chief Charles James said he didn’t see his job as working to assure large numbers of competitors in particular industries, nor to automatically stop a company from developing market dominance. Speaking at Practising Law Institute conference in Washington, James indicated his views didn’t signal laissez-faire approach, but he believed in analyzing mergers, Sec. 271 applications and other reviews on case-by-case basis taking into account changing industries. James’s comments appeared to warm hearts of business representatives in audience. “I think I'll quote him in filings with the FCC,” one attorney joked.
Ritek obtained $274.6 million loan from consortium of 12 Taiwanese banks to fund purchase of equipment for manufacturing organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) and polymer (OLEDs). Consortium was led by Land Bank of Taiwan, and Ritek received loan through Taiwan’s Council for Economic Planning & Development. Money will used to buy equipment to outfit to 2 passive matrix (PM) color OLED production lines and single polymer OLED line. Production of PM OLED is scheduled to start in 2nd quarter, polymer in 3rd quarter. Among Ritek’s customers is Three-Five Systems-Dupont Displays joint venture that’s expected to begin production of OLEDs for handheld PC and cellular phone applications in 2nd quarter 2002.
Consortium of 11 N.Y. and N.J. TV stations formed Metropolitan TV Assn. (MTA) in their continuing -- and very difficult -- search for new analog antenna site that would satisfy demands of FAA, FCC rules and provide acceptable signals for their viewers. Search has been under way almost since Sept. 11 terrorist attack on World Trade Center that destroyed their antennas and transmitters (CD Sept 19 p1). William Baker, pres. of noncommercial WNET N.Y.-Newark, is chmn. of MTA, whose members have put embargo on talking officially to reporters.
FCC Wed. turned back petition for rulemaking filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) that had sparked strong opposition from wireless, wireline and undersea cable operators. Commission unanimously adopted order, although Comr. Copps issued separate statement saying PEER had raised “important questions” about how FCC carried out environmental duties mandated by Congress. PEER had asked FCC to change how environmental rules were applied to undersea cables, fiber lines, wireless towers. Group of govt. employees concerned about environment wanted agency to conduct rulemaking to ascertain whether it needed to create Office of Environmental Compliance and separate joint rulemaking with other agencies. Companies ranging from Verizon to Global Crossing had balked at PEER petition, telling FCC such action wasn’t needed and unjustifiably would add to regulatory burdens. Commission rejected PEER arguments that due to explosive growth in wireless and wireline infrastructure since Telecom Act, agency should take fresh look at cumulative impacts of spectrum auctions, tower registrations, undersea cable landing licenses, Sec. 214 authorizations. PEER doesn’t offer “rationale for treating all actions as actually or potentially damaging to the environment,” FCC said. “We do not believe that the evidence of environmental harm proffered by PEER reflects any environmental processing failings by the Commission.” Even if PEER successfully pointed to such shortfalls, “a few examples in no way justify the complete overhaul of the Commission’s long-standing environmental rules across all service areas,” it said. PEER had challenged FCC environmental rules that implemented National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which required federal agencies to account for environmental impact of projects they oversaw. PEER had urged FCC to require applications for all Commission actions involving submarine cables, fiber lines and spectrum requiring communications towers to file environmental assessment for public utility facility. Private utility would have to file environmental impact statement. PEER defined public utilities as supplying last-mile connections while private utilities would be parts of network needed to transmit over long distances. FCC said its regulations implementing NEPA already identified 9 types of actions that could have significant environmental impact and evaluate through environmental assessment all actions that involved projects that fit into those categories. In its May 2000 petition, PEER had cited growing number of cases in which laying of fiber cable had damaged coral beds and harmed habitat of endangered marine species. PEER said that in other cases, buildings and towers could have significant effect on environment and historic areas. Copps said that “while this proceeding did not provide adequate record evidence for a restructuring of our policies at this time, the Commission should undertake a thorough review of our obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.” He said that as part of Chmn. Powell’s recently launched review of FCC procedures, assessment of agency’s responsibilities under NEPA and National Historic Preservation Act should be included. Copps said FCC should: (1) Determine whether it had devoted enough resources to meet its environmental responsibilities under those laws. (2) Examine how accessible such proceedings were to “nontraditional stakeholders” such as small businesses. PEER Gen. Counsel Daniel Meyer told us group planned to file petition for reconsideration at FCC by early Jan. “I do take Commissioner Copps’s separate statement as an indication the Commission knows it’s not addressing environmental concerns from environmentalists in an appropriate manner,” Meyer said. He said one example of types of cumulative environmental impacts that FCC must consider involved wireless towers that hadn’t complied with Sec. 106 review under National Historic Preservation Act. Assessing cumulative impacts of towers, Copps said, “the danger is the actual spectrum auction will have to be environmentally reviewed. That would be a nightmare for industry.” Lack of uniformity in compliance and enforcement means that most of industry has been erecting towers without environmental review, he said.
United Telecom Council (UTC) said it “adamantly” opposed recent Nextel proposal to FCC that it said would constitute swap of some of that carrier’s wireless spectrum and that of public safety users. In proposal to FCC late last month, Nextel proposed realigning frequencies at 700, 800 and 900 MHz and 2.1 GHZ to reduce interference that had emerged as problem at 800 MHz between specialized mobile radio (SMR) and public safety licensees. Proposal would double public safety’s allocation of 9.5 MHz of noncontiguous spectrum at 800 MHz (CD Nov 23 p1). However, UTC balked at proposed reallocation of 800 MHz private land mobile radio (PLMR) band. If adopted, that “would devastate hundreds of vital critical infrastructure communications systems now operating in this spectrum,” UTC said. UTC Vp-Gen. Counsel Jill Lyon said: “Nextel’s proposal, while politically attractive on the surface, would cause significantly more harm than it would solve.” Nextel’s White Paper calls for “forced migration of thousands of private wireless systems to inadequate and often unavailable spectrum,” she said. That would put at risk ability of utilities, water systems and energy companies to provide “critical services,” Lyon said. Nextel arguments that its plan would reduce interference issues for public safety community would come at expense of critical infrastructure operations, UTC said. Critical infrastructure is “area of national concern no less, if not more, important than public safety emergency communications,” group said. Business and Industrial/Land Transportation (BI/LT) licensees, in addition to public safety users, would be compelled to move from their existing 800 MHz assignments, UTC said. BI/LT licensees could operate only on secondary, noninterference basis in their existing slots at 806/816-851- 861 MHz, it said: “Nextel proposes that these licensees pay for their own forced migration to Nextel’s licenses on other frequency bands.” UTC said it planned to ask FCC to not begin rulemaking based on Nextel proposal, to which public safety community had given early support.
If rift between Paxson Communications and NBC leads to divorce (CD Dec 5 p7), Paxson might be able to land MGM as new suitor, speakers said Wed. at UBS Warburg conference in N.Y. MGM Chmn. Alex Yemenidjian said “the Paxson asset would fit very well with MGM,” providing it came with “right structure and right price.” He didn’t suggest MGM was poised to pursue Paxson, and when asked about possible parameters for acquiring a network or distribution outlet, he said it would be “difficult to discuss publicly” such matters. Pax TV COO Dean Goodman told conference that despite new deregulation fervor in D.C., possibility of govt. giving blessing to “triopoly” such as could emerge from NBC takeover of Telemundo, along with Paxson, was almost nil. “The Democrats are still upset about 2 stations in a market,” he said. Paxson Pres. Jeff Sagansky said he expected both arbitration and FCC proceedings sought by Paxson would be completed quickly, “certainly within the first 3 quarters of next year.” He also said that “if it comes to an unwind, we will find a new partner or, more likely, a buyer.”
Increased deployment of fiber lines for broadband and other uses has expedited need for rights-of way (ROW) fee reforms, govt. appraisers and telecom industry officials said Tues. at forum sponsored by Appraisal Institute. Federal govt. has been reassessing its ROW fee schedule since 1995 review by Interior Office of U.S. Inspector Gen. and 1996 General Accounting Office (GAO) audit. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS), which authorize ROW grants, adopted current rental schedule for linear ROW uses on National Forest System and public lands in 1986, and fiber lines aren’t part of that schedule.