MDS America failed to “substantiate its representations” to FCC that it has technology capable of sharing spectrum with DBS operators, Northpoint said in letter Thurs. to FCC. MDS America “now admits that much of the information it provided to FCC was false.” Failure to properly substantiate claims calls into question MDS’ “fitness to be licensee,” Northpoint charged. Northpoint said it examined 8 representative systems owned by MDS and documented that not one provided example of actual co- frequency sharing. Instead, MDS provided examples of band segmentation, whereby they transmit terrestrial signals on frequency close to frequency used by satellites. “Just as a golf shot that lands quite close to the hole is not the same as one that lands in the hole, an MDS operation that comes quite close to satellite frequencies is not the same as one that truly shares the same frequency,” Northpoint stated.
FCC granted Cable & Wireless USA authority to land and operate private fiber submarine cable between U.S. and U.K. and France. Carrier will operate Apollo Submarine Cable System on non-common carrier basis and expects to begin in Aug. 2002. System will have landing points in N.Y. and N.J. that will be owned by Cable & Wireless USA. Rest of cable will be owned by other Cable & Wireless plc subsidiaries. Company said transatlantic cable would be advanced Internet protocol design intended for Internet and data services.
Ill. House at our deadline Thurs. was poised for final vote on passage of legislation to create new telecom regulation law to replace current act expiring in July. If passed as expected, measure (HB-2900) would represent major political defeat for Ameritech and victory for consumer groups. It would allow Ill. Commerce Commission to fine Ameritech up to $250,000 per offense for violation of competition, service quality and other commission rules, while other Ill. incumbent telcos could be fined up to $30,000 per offense. Present law caps fines at $2,000. Bill also would establish automatic credits that could exceed $50 for residential customers when Ameritech was late on installations or repairs or missed service appointment. Measure would require Ameritech to make extensive accommodations for needs of its competitors, promote Lifeline, make high-speed digital service available to 80% of customers within 5 years. It also would require Ameritech to offer residential customers 3 different unlimited service packages, including one with unlimited intraLATA toll and 2 with built-in vertical features, at capped rates to be set by Commerce Commission. It would provide $90 million rebate to business customers to settle past service complaints and establish special fund supported from telecom fines and legislative appropriations to promote advanced service infrastructure construction by smaller telcos. Bill initially passed House as innocuous measure to clarify authority of Commerce Commission, but Senate passed heavily amended version that turned it into replacement for expiring telecom statute, landing hard on Ameritech in that process. House committees recommended chamber accept Senate’s amendments late Wed. night and sent bill to House floor for final action before legislature’s adjournment at midnight Thurs. State Sen. David Sullivan (R-Park Ridge), who sponsored Senate’s amendments, called bill that left Senate “about as proconsumer as you can get.” Ill. Citizens Utility Board, AARP and several business user groups urged passage. But Ameritech said its extensive procompetition requirements would cost company up to $1 billion in unnecessary extra expenses and jeopardize long-term health of Ill. telecom network along lines of electric service problems in Cal.
Orbital Sciences plans to reduce debt $100 million with proceeds from sales of subsidiaries as “refocusing” continues, spokesman said. Company plans “back-to-basics” approach that includes concentration on core business in space technology, satellites, rockets, related systems (CD April 18 p6), spokesman said: “There are products Orbital has had over the last decade that have operated profitably. We plan to go back to that.” Orbital believes each of moves will help improve bottom line, which CEO David Thompson at shareholders meeting May 18 (CD May 21 p9) admitted was “disappointing.” Plans were announced in 10K filing with SEC May 15 that were outlined in quarterly report. Meanwhile, NASA Orbital announced Wed. it had landed $53 million NASA contract for launch vehicle program and space architecture studies.
Regulators have “some culpability,” but overreaching by high- yield capital markets and companies themselves is more to blame for financial difficulties facing CLEC industry, FCC Chmn. Powell said in 2nd installment of Communications Daily interview. First part ran Tues (CD May 22 p2). “I think high-yield money went chasing unsound business fundamentals,” he said. Some companies were “short-term from the beginning… designed to get bought” or to take advantage of reciprocal compensation, Powell said.
Privacy and spam look to be among main issues that senators will ask Timothy Muris, nominee for FTC chmn., at confirmation hearing today (Wed.) by Commerce Committee. Muris, who has been dir. of FTC Consumer Protection Bureau and Competition Bureau during Reagan Administration, has well known views on antitrust policy, but industry and congressional observers aren’t sure where he will land on Internet consumer protection issues. Sen. Burns (R-Mont.) will ask about privacy and spam, Burns spokeswoman said. Senate source said mergers weren’t likely to be heavily questioned topic, although AOL takeover of Time Warner could be discussed. Communication mergers probably will draw more attention from senators, source said, because they tend to be horizontal. Muris is expected to take a more hands-off approach to antitrust regulation, Prudential senior analyst James Lucier said. Muris also is likely to hear questions on violence in media.
Commitment by U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to consult with Congress on fiber right-of-way (RoW) policies indicates “significant rethinking” of how agencies intend to change land valuation methods governing access to public lands, group of telecom and energy interests said. Forest Service and BLM officials recently met with aides to Sens. Burns (R-Mont.) and Craig (R-Ida.) to offer estimated time frame for revision of land access policies, TelROW Coalition spokesman said. Burns and Craig last month (CD April 13 p1) expressed concern, shared by coalition, that policy changes, if made without appropriate public consultation, would significantly increase utility infrastructure costs and deter fiber network deployment. Sen. Smith (R-Ore.) separately raised concerns (CD April 17 p7) that changes in RoW assessments “without a formal and public rulemaking” would violate 2001 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. Forest Service and BLM in May 4 letter to Burns and Craig said they were collecting market data on RoW fees and intended to: (1) Publish advance notice by Sept. 2001 acknowledging their intent to issue revised regulations. (2) Form federal advisory committee by early 2002 to develop RoW policy proposal. (3) Solicit public comment by March 2003. (4) Publish final rule by Sept. 2003. TelROW spokesman said group remained concerned that agencies would use market data gleaned during proceeding to support position that increases in RoW assessments were justified and necessary.
Making his first bureau chief appointment, FCC Chmn. Powell named Washington telecom attorney Kenneth Ferree as head of Cable Bureau, replacing departing chief Deborah Lathen (CD May 10 p8). Powell announced Thurs. that Ferree, partner in Goldberg, Godles, Wiener & Wright and adjunct law prof. at Georgetown U. Law Center, would take over post May 21, right after Lathen left. Move comes as industry observers speculate that Commission may combine cable, broadcasting and satellite TV regulation in one overall TV bureau, instead of current split of responsibilities among 3 separate bureaus.
“The explosion of wireless technologies threatens to push military equipment off prime radio frequencies just as we're spending billions to link our forces on the digital battlefield,” House Govt. Reform Committee Chmn. Burton (R-Ind.) said at hearing Wed. Full committee hearing addressed issues of “encroachment” on military training, such as commercial development, environmental regulations, airspace restrictions and “conflicts over the use of radio frequency spectrum,” Burton said. In future hearings, encroachment issues involving federal agencies that interact with Dept. of Defense, including NTIA, will be addressed, he said. Much of written testimony prepared by brass representing Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force dealt with environmental issues, but several also touched on spectrum issues. NTIA is evaluating 1.7 GHz band now occupied mostly by military for potential for 3rd-generation wireless and other advanced services, while FCC is conducting overview of 2.5 GHz spectrum occupied by MMDS and ITFS licensees. Gen. John Jumper, commander of Air Force’s Air Combat Command, cited effects of “the possible sale of government-owned radio frequency spectrum on air combat training systems.” He testified: “We not only need land and airspace but we rely heavily on critical parts of the electronic spectrum to carry out our missions. We must also ensure we can continue developing new electronic countermeasures and counter-countermeasures systems and capabilities.”
Space Data International (SDI) received FCC authorization Wed. to operate on time-share basis 4 NASA Tracking & Data Relay satellites. SDI wants to provide services to seismic exploration vessels surveying ocean floor. It said it believed technology would facilitate development of new oil and gas resources. Survey vessels locate oil and gas deposits by taking soundings of surveyed areas, recording soundings on computer storage tapes and transporting tapes to land-based data processing centers by ship. Process can take 6 weeks to several months. SDI proposes to transmit information to data processing center by satellite. SDI estimated service would reduce cost of each individual survey up to $4.1 million. Plans call for SDI to place earth station on each survey vessel, with survey data transmitted via TDRSS satellite to NASA’s facility in White Sands, N.M., and then to data processing center in Houston by landlines. SDI said it must use TDRSS satellites to provide service because commercial satellite systems didn’t have technical capabilities, geographic coverage or capacity necessary.