Chmn. Martin is circulating an order that would end the Commission’s receiver standards proceeding, one of the few vestiges of the Commission’s Spectrum Policy Task Force - a major effort of former Chmn. Michael Powell. Martin has also recently circulated an order ending the interference temperature proceeding, another recommendation of the task force (CD March 22 p2).
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
Low-power devices can operate in broadcast white spaces without causing harmful interference, a high tech coalition said. According to the White Spaces Coalition, data from FCC Office of Engineering & Technology (OET) tests support that conclusion. NCTA, NAB and MSTV called the FCC study a good first step, but urged more research. In March, OET sought comments on results from out-of-channel interference tests on 8 DTV receivers with 5th-generation tuners. OET said it took 2,055 measurements; commenters disputed their meaning.
Two major manufacturers of handsets weighed in against a Skype petition asking the FCC to impose Carterfone rules on wireless carriers. Motorola and LG Electronics sided with carriers in opposing the petition. Industry sources said this opposition may reflect pressure from wireless carriers, on an issue that has become a CTIA priority (CD May 1 p1).
Public interest groups want an FCC Carterfone mandate on wireless carriers, they said in comments supporting a Skype petition before the agency. But that makes little sense given wireless industry competitiveness and shifts since the FCC imposed the rules on AT&T nearly 40 years, the Phoenix Center said. CTIA and the wireless carriers also oppose the Skype petition. Comments were due late Mon. In 1968, the FCC decided a subscriber should be allowed to attach a Carterfone, a then-extant 2-way mobile radio system, or other device to the PSTN, if it didn’t damage the network. In Feb., Skype said similar rules should apply to wireless (CD Feb 22 p6).
Wireless Bureau Chief Fred Campbell didn’t offer a new likely start date for the 700 MHz auction at a Mon. lunch with the FCBA Wireless Committee. Some auction watchers believe the start could slip because the agency left so many issues unresolved last week in an order on rules for commercial and public safety licenses in the 700 MHz band. “I'm probably focused less on the auction start date than on the next phase of the proceeding,” Campbell said, adding that Chmn. Martin wants final rules in June. “We in the Bureau will do everything we can to make sure the order proceeds on a good time line. While we do seek further comment on a variety of issues, at the same time some of those issues were already part of the underlying proceeding… We already have a lot of background on some of those issues.” Of the Bureau’s case backlog, Campbell didn’t provide numbers, but said “things… are in pretty decent shape” and “at or near all time lows” for pending applications and items. Campbell also confirmed that an order on M2Z was circulated but withdrawn (CD April 20 p1). “We on occasion decide we need to do more work on things,” he said. “I'm not sure when we're going to try and act on that again.”
Noncompliant repeaters operated by XM and Sirius are being raised as a merger issue on the Hill and by NAB. The problem has plagued XM in particular, which acknowledged last year operating 240 of its 800 or so terrestrial repeaters outside FCC rules. Sirius says 11 of its repeaters violated the rules and were turned off.
XM Chmn. Gary Parsons slammed WCS operators Thurs. during a call with analysts, suggesting they may be warehousing spectrum. XM and Sirius, which operate repeaters in the 2.3 GHz band, have long been in conflict with WCS operators, their spectral neighbors. “There have been noises about the repeater network from the WCS parties for over a decade,” Parsons said: “It’s been a long standing area where we've went ahead and built out our network and put it into commercial operation and virtually a decade after receiving their licenses there really are no operating commercial networks on that front… Some people would say that’s warehousing spectrum, looking for better opportunities, we'll see.” Parson said XM remains convinced its repeaters don’t pose an interference threat to WCS. “The network that we've built is significantly smaller and significantly less powerful than the network that had been authorized by the FCC.”
XM officials remain optimistic the company’s merger with Sirius will be approved, but they're “prepared to operate… as a stand-alone company” if they're wrong, XM Chmn. Gary Parsons said Thurs. during a call with analysts. But several analysts said in reports this week that the merger seems to be in trouble at DoJ and the FCC.
A request by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. for an FCC waiver for a “garage door overmaster” that police could use to enter barricaded homes has wide support from police departments. Intended for use under warrant or in “exigent circumstances,” overmasters emulate the operation of a resident’s remote control. Door-opener makers are questioning the need and basis for the waiver request. The overmaster is in prototype, with commercial manufacture on hold until the Commission clears up its status.
The Media Access Project (MAP), while citing “collusion” in the 2006 AWS auction (CD April 24 p8), isn’t saying carriers broke the law or FCC rules, Gregory Rose, who completed the study on which MAP based its allegations, told us Wed. Rose found “more than tacit collusion may have been involved” in bidding for 2 of the auction’s largest licenses.