The pending spectrum transactions between Verizon Wireless, SpectrumCo and Cox are...
The pending spectrum transactions between Verizon Wireless, SpectrumCo and Cox are “not in the public interest,” Consumers Union (CU) told FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai last week, according to an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bncchn). The commission should implement…
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several conditions to “lessen the overall public interest harms,” the group said, including a requirement to divest AWS spectrum in the Eastern markets where Verizon is already capable of launching a 20 x 20 MHz LTE-advanced network using its existing AWS and 700 MHz C-block licenses. The FCC should also consider shortening the 2021 deadline in the buildout requirement and a “use it or share it” condition if the requirement isn’t met, the group said. CU also said the commission should go further in requiring disclosure of third-party charges not just on wireline, but also on VoIP and wireless devices. Such an expansion would be “much more effective than the current rule” in preventing cramming, CU said. The group also expressed concern over what it called the “growing monopoly in the wireline broadband market” that could affect the video market since broadband is “often tied to the purchase of a video product.” It is “critical” that the commission look at the competitiveness of the wireline broadband and video market, and its effect on the development of an over-the-top market, CU said.