NOAA is waiting for guidance from Bush Administration before either finalizing or scrapping proposal to raise fees for fiber projects crossing national marine sanctuaries, agency staffer said. Agency’s National Ocean Service earlier this year sought comment on draft recommendation to sell 25-year cable permits in protected areas for an up-front $120,000 per mile of right-of-way (RoW) fee. It also sought comment on MIT White Paper that said proposed RoW fee assessment, which is supposed to be based on fair market value of land, “is more likely to be too low than too high.” NOAA never acted on petitions to extend Jan. 18 comment deadline and must delay action further since White House position on issue is “unclear,” aide said. Spokesman for TELROW Coalition, group of energy and telecom interests, said this and other govt. agency proposals (CD April 19 p4) to raise RoW fees for access to public lands would hinder efforts to deploy broadband fiber and other communications infrastructure.
FCC should heed Mitre study released Tues. (CD April 25 p5), Rep. Oxley (R-O.) said Wed. after study showed land-based communications system proposed by Northpoint posed significant interference threat to satellite TV signals (CD April 25 p5) without safeguards. Northpoint seeks access to 12.2-12.7 GHz band used by DBS services, but satellite providers say Northpoint service would interfere with their signals. Study didn’t give clear-cut answer to FCC on whether it should grant license, but recommended steps Commission could take to prevent interference. “People pay good money for a clear satellite signal,” Oxley said. “If they wanted snow, they could go back to rabbit ears.”
LAS VEGAS -- Whether to begin producing programming in HDTV is “bet-the-business decision” but it “has to happen,” CBS Vp- Operations Barry Zegel said. CBS realizes that “content had to come first” in DTV transition, he told NATPE-sponsored panel here Wed. on DTV programming, indicating that content would drive other parts of DTV transition.
FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Thomas Sugrue outlined several prospects for potentially freeing additional private wireless spectrum Fri., including possibility of user fees, audit of spectrum uses, current secondary spectrum proceeding. Point of user fees for private land mobile radio licenses, idea that has been floated in past and would require change by Congress, wouldn’t be to generate revenue but to increase efficiency of spectrum use, Sugrue said in lunch speech to Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC) annual meeting in Washington. “The theory is unless there’s a cost placed on bandwidth and coverage, licensees wouldn’t improve their efficiency of both,” he said, noting that FCC couldn’t make change on its own.
FCC voted 3-1 late Wed. to adopt long-awaited order reducing carrier-to-carrier payments for Internet-bound dial-up calls. Comr. Furchtgott-Roth dissented. Order ends long debate about high level of reciprocal compensation payments that flow from ILECs to CLECs. Reciprocal compensation is intended to pay one local carrier for terminating call from customer of another local carrier. Because many CLECs signed up ISPs as customers, traffic generally has flowed to CLECs from ILEC. Order caps payments for ISP-bound calls at level that generally is lower than what carriers pay for voice traffic under state-supervised reciprocal compensation agreements.
USTA said revision of federal land appraisal guidelines was “very important” issue, but Assn. had “bigger priorities” and wouldn’t actively oppose changes. Critics say new federal land valuation “desk guide,” devised by Justice Dept.-led interagency task force (CD April 17 p6), will increase right-of-way fees levied on fiber deployment projects crossing federal lands, placing additional obstacle in path of rural broadband initiatives. USTA spokesman said group was concerned that revision could lead to “another financial burden for companies,” but said Assn. currently was focused on more urgent matters such as Multi-Assn. Group access charge reform plan and proposed elimination of federal excise tax on telecommunications.
FCC Wireless Bureau granted petition by United Telecom Council (UTC) to become frequency coordinator in private land mobile radio (PLMR) service for 800 MHz and 900 MHz business and industrial/land transportation frequencies. UTC already has been certified as frequency coordinator for pool of PLMR frequencies below 512 MHz. Bureau said it also was offering opportunity to other frequency coordinators below 512 MHz to perform same function for those higher frequencies. Order extended earlier decision to allow more than one entity to coordinate frequencies for PLMR services below 512 MHz to PLMR frequencies at 800 and 900 MHz. “We anticipate that any entity that has successfully resolved the complex engineering questions presented by numerous below-512 MHz frequency recommendations will be able to correctly apply the mileage separation requirements set forth in the Commission’s 800 MHz and 900 MHz band PLMR service rules,” order said. Industrial Telecommunications Assn. (ITA) lauded fact that order went beyond UTC petition and opened up competition above 800 MHz to all coordinators. “We believe the rules for dissemination of information among 800 and 900 MHz coordinators should mirror the existing rules between frequency coordinators for private wireless bands below 512 MHz,” ITA said. As example, group said frequency coordinators should be required to notify their peers of their certifications within 25 hours.
Sen. Smith (R-Ore.) asked U.S. Attorney Gen. John Ashcroft to suspend publication of revised federal land appraisal standard that critics say would have negative impact on fiber infrastructure deployment. Justice Dept. last week (CD April 16 p7) said that on April 18 it would publish revised Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition desk guide, which DoJ-led interagency task force developed. Document contains provision enabling federal agencies to deviate from using “legitimate and accepted” fair-market valuation standard when levying right-of-way (RoW) fees on private entities, Smith said. “It was made without any public input and without any opportunity for public comment and is likely to have significant and adverse impacts on the nation’s energy and telecommunications infrastructure, which in some cases must cross federal lands,” he said in letter dated April 12. Congress in FY 2001 Interior appropriations bill (CD April 13 p1) had “unambiguously indicated” that agency changes in RoW assessment procedures “should be made only through a formal and public rulemaking,” he said. DoJ had no comment by our deadline.
MTV Networks said it reached long-term agreement with Adelphia for increased distribution of its CMT and VH1 Country programming on MSO’s entire network. Adelphia will continue to carry MTV, Nickelodeon, TNN, TV Land and VH1 on all its systems. Cable operator also will start GAS, MTV2, Suite’s Noggin and VH1 Classic services in systems that serve 6 million subscribers, MTV said.
Coalition of media activists urged President Bush Mon. to guard mass transit users “against compulsory TV watching” in public transportation systems. Commercial Alert and 20 others asked White House to “prohibit any expenditure of federal transportation funds on mass transit systems that coerce their riders to watch TV.” It decried ad bombardment of “captive” travelers by providers such as Orbital Sciences and ITEC Entertainment, which earlier this year unveiled joint venture and pilot project for Orlando bus fleet. Orbital-ITEC partnership provides content and ads “via high-speed, land-based and wireless Internet connections” to transportation industry, companies said. Coalition said federal financing would hasten transformation of public transit into “commercial free-fire zone” and run counter to Administration’s proposed $5 billion literacy initiative.