TORONTO -- Telco-delivered IPTV is finally beginning to take root in Canada, years after many phone companies began rolling out the new video technology over fiber lines in the U.S. Over the past few months, several major Canadian telcos have started offering IP video services over new fiber networks in their prime markets. The list of phone companies that have begun deploying IPTV includes such large national service providers as Bell Canada and Telus, as well as such regional players as SaskTel, MTS, and Bell Aliant.
Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn have no regrets about supporting a compromise net neutrality order last month, the commissioners told us after a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council panel Friday morning. Copps acknowledged that he was “worried” that Verizon would prevail in its appeal of last month’s order, “and I said so at the time,” but said “our case is stronger” than the one the FCC took to court that led to last year’s Comcast decision. Verizon announced it would challenge the net neutrality order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (CD Jan 21 p1).
Understanding the economics of broadcaster/pay-TV deals raises several questions -- not all of which may be readily answerable -- but the industries can help inform the FCC as it looks to start a rulemaking on retransmission consent deals, the commission’s top economist said Friday. “This is an interesting economic question” about the benefits of such deals to TV stations, subscription-video providers and their consumers, Jonathan Baker told a Technology Policy Institute event on Capitol Hill. Retrans deals aren’t a “lump-sum transfer” of money since the payments are made on a per-subscriber basis, Baker noted.
"Any additional action” by the FCC imposing even tougher E-911 location accuracy rules for wireless is “inappropriate at this time,” CTIA said in comments filed at the commission. The FCC sought comment on enhancements to its rules when it approved tougher location-accuracy standards Sept. 23 (CD Sept 24 p6). Other wireless carriers agreed the FCC should allow for more time before imposing additional rules.
FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker wants more attention given to satellite spectrum repurposing or incentive auctions, and less for now to broadcasters’ spectrum, she suggested in a recorded interview that was to have aired over the weekend and run again Monday. Speaking on C-SPAN’s The Communicators, she renewed her call for a comprehensive approach to spectrum policy. It must go beyond the recent conversations about redeploying TV stations’ airwaves for wireless broadband and focus on satellite and other areas, she said last week.
The FCC National Broadband Plan is a “fantastic step in the right direction,” One Economy CEO Kelley Dunne told the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council conference. The federal funding and corporate matches proposed would help One Economy, which is working to increase broadband adoption in low income communities, connect 27,000 housing units to “subsidized broadband connections,” he said late Thursday.
While getting more spectrum for mobile broadband is important, reallocating broadcast spectrum could harm the whole industry, broadcasters said on a Minority Media & Telecom Council Summit panel. Stations’ sharing a channel, as proposed, could produce technical issues and loss of service, said James Winston, executive director of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, said late Thursday. There are only a few minority TV stations, so the FCC needs to study the risks carefully, he said. “The issue can’t be handled in a hurry."
Hughes Communications is looking for a buyer and has hired Barclays Capital to help auction the company, Reuters reported. Hughes declined to comment Friday. The report, which cited four unnamed sources, said Hughes has been through a round of bids, and another is to begin in February. Industry observers said the sale is a logical next step for the majority owner, Apollo Management, a private equity firm. The first round of bids came largely from private equity firms and other satellite companies, according to Reuters. Hughes shares ended Friday at $60.86, up 18.2 percent.
Verizon said late Thursday it filed a notice of appeal to the net neutrality order of Dec. 21, of which it had repeatedly signaled its opposition, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The telco filed even before the order was published in the Federal Register.
FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker criticized review of Comcast-NBC Universal by the agency as having taken too long and imposed too many conditions, including about broadband deployment and online video. She expanded on a concurrence that she and Commissioner Robert McDowell put out concerning the order approving Comcast’s purchase of control of NBC Universal. The deal stands to benefit consumers and other content companies, and the commission should have stuck to its 180-day voluntary shot clock for decisions on mergers and acquisitions and not imposed conditions that don’t directly relate to the NBCU deal, Baker said in a recorded interview to be shown on C-SPAN Saturday and Monday.