The FCC denied petitions by EchoStar, NAB and MSTV on the model f...

in the Longley-Rice model, which is used to establish whether households are eligible to receive certain satellite services. The FCC said the predictive model was reasonably derived. The petitions also raised concern over the independence of people designated to conduct site reception tests and of test procedures. The NAB and MSTV were concerned that field testers would be inclined to act in the interest of the satellite carriers. But the FCC argued that the American Radio Relay League -- which it appointed as the independent and neutral entity to conduct tests -- will “designate qualified testers and we expect that the tester’s professionalism and any track record regarding their impartiality will be taken into consideration.” While the FCC didn’t adopt EchoStar’s suggestion on ways to speed the testing, it did agree that EchoStar raised a valid public interest concern. The Commission gets many subscriber complaints that requests for on-site signal tests are ignored or delayed. The FCC said Congress should address the timing procedures when it passes a new Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA): “In the interim, we are continuing to monitor the situation closely and expect that the satellite providers and local network affiliates will coordinate their efforts to implement the SHVIA provisions as Congress intended.”