The Department of Health and Human Services is reaching out to the FCC for communications expertise, Kevin Yeskey, deputy assistant secretary in the HHS Office of Preparedness and Emergency Operations said Thursday at an HHS-FCC summit on healthcare communications. The meeting at FCC headquarters was the second this week focusing on emergency medical communications (CD Oct 30 p1).
Howard Buskirk
Howard Buskirk, Executive Senior Editor, joined Warren Communications News in 2004, after covering Capitol Hill for Telecommunications Reports. He has covered Washington since 1993 and was formerly executive editor at Energy Business Watch, editor at Gas Daily and managing editor at Natural Gas Week. Previous to that, he was a staff reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Greenville News. Follow Buskirk on Twitter: @hbuskirk
Wireless broadband easily outpaced wireline last year in new high-speed broadband connections, the FCC said in its twice-yearly report on U.S. broadband data. The commission’s numbers echo reports from wireless carriers about rapid growth in their data offerings. Wireless carriers hope the FCC will view the report as evidence it shouldn’t cap Universal Service Fund payments to competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (CETCs).
The FCC approved Wednesday an order 5-0 expanding local number portability (LNP) requirements to interconnected VoIP providers. The order seems to be a victory for wireless carriers that have complained about excessive data requests from their wireline competitors to port numbers, saying future ports will require only four data points. Only a news release and commissioners’ statements had been released at our deadline. The FCC also asked questions about porting rules in an accompanying rulemaking.
Tower company Crown Castle International expects rapid growth of wireless infrastructure with the 700 MHz auction and carriers taking over licenses bought in last year’s advanced wireless services auction, CEO John Kelly said Wednesday in a call with analysts. The company’s loss widened Q3 to $72.2 million from $20.8 million a year earlier, it said. Revenue was up 75 percent to $351.7 million. “The backdrop for this performance is the continued growth in the broader wireless market,” Kelly said. “We believe the need for coverage will continue to increase as carriers continue to build out their networks to support these data-centric and bandwidth intensive applications.” Kelly cited data on wireless growth recently reported by CTIA. For example, wireless minutes used in the U.S. rose 18 percent in a year. “In my opinion, that’s an unbelievably large increase on a percentage basis given that the base is so large,” he said. Crown Castle is bound to benefit from the 700 MHz auction no matter who the big winners are, he said. “Our assets are the best located in the tower industry,” Kelly said. “We are in a favorable position to partner with the ultimate winners of the auction to deploy their new networks or deploy new applications using this spectrum on sites in place today.”
The FCC launched a rulemaking that proposes a single rate for pole attachments, to be paid by wireline carriers, cable operators and competitive local exchange carriers alike. That would be bad news for cable operators, which generally pay the lowest rates. Incumbent local exchange carriers generally pay the highest rates. The rulemaking also asks an extensive series of questions on matters that have been raised by telecom carriers and cable companies.
AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel told the FCC that imposing data roaming requirements on wireless carriers would go against agency policy and a commission declaration that wireless broadband is an information service subject to light-handed regulation. But small carriers said they need the same kinds of roaming agreements with other carriers for data that they have for voice, and the agency should impose a mandate.
New Qwest CEO Edward Mueller faced tough questioning by analysts Tuesday for undertaking a six-month strategic review. Mueller took over in August from Richard Notebaert, credited by many with restoring the once-stumbling Bell’s financial stability. With revenue and profit below estimates and no news on an expected shareholder dividend, Qwest stock price plummeted Tuesday, falling 13.68 percent on the day to $7.06 at the market’s close.
Freeing Verizon from requirements that it provide unbundled network elements to competitors at regulated rates would cost customers $2.4 billion in six major markets in just one year, QSI Consulting said in a report released Monday and paid for by XO and other competitive carriers. Costs will soar $1.4 billion in the New York market alone as costs for these elements grow 200 to 300 percent, QSI said. The average household would pay $114 more annually for service. Verizon disagreed.
Emergency and other medical communications have lagged behind rapid technology advances elsewhere, members of the Joint Advisory Committee on Communications Capabilities of Emergency Medical and Public Health Care Facilities agreed Monday during its first meeting, at FCC headquarters. The group - a joint effort of the FCC and the NTIA - will prepare a report to Congress on “gaps” in need of improvement, addressing a requirement of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007.
No FCC members joined senior officials of other countries at World Radiocommunication Conference opening sessions, for the first time in many such events. One commissioner, Deborah Tate, who was already going to be in Europe at the end of next week, was tapped late Thursday by Chairman Kevin Martin to attend the meeting, but not the opening sessions. Martin didn’t immediately comment.