Chmn. Martin plans a vote on rules for the 700 MHz auction at the April 25 agenda meeting -- though he didn’t circulate an order Wed. giving colleagues the usual 3 weeks to study the item, sources said Thurs. Martin asked other FCC members to waive this rule. He’s expected to circulate an item as early as today (Fri.).
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
Comr. McDowell hasn’t decided whether the FCC should approve the XM-Sirius merger, he said at a news conference Wed. “Excellent question,"” he said, when asked whether the satellite operators compete with everything in the audio market or only with each another. “That'’s really the heart of the matter,” he said: “I haven'’t reached any conclusions on it.” The question also must be asked in the FCC media ownership proceeding, he said. “If XM is a competitor to local, free over-the-air broadcasting for purposes of relaxing media ownership rules, how at the same time can it not be a competitor” in the context of the merger? he said.
Carriers are expected to challenge in court the FCC’s decision to require them to get customers’ consent before sharing customer proprietary network information (CPNI) data with joint venture partners or independent contractors for marketing, sources said Tues. Under the rule change, customers must “opt in” to give carriers permission to share the data.
The FCC Mon. released long-awaited rules on how carriers must protect customer proprietary network information (CPNI).
The House Committee on Oversight will consider a measure that would mandate access to all wireless carriers, not just Verizon Wireless, on the subway system run by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Sprint users can roam while aboard Metro, but don’t have access to data. AT&T and T-Mobile subscribers can’t make or receive calls. The Committee will take up the measure after Easter recess.
Consumers will suffer if the International Trade Commission (ITC) bans import of cellphones with Qualcomm chipsets, as Broadcom and a Commission judge want, the FCC said. Wireless Bureau Chief Fred Campbell’s warning came in a filing to the ITC before hearings last month on how the Commission should punish Qualcomm for infringing Broadcom patents. The filing wasn’t cleared with other Commissioner offices, sources said.
Sprint Nextel disagrees sharply with other carriers, and Verizon Wireless in particular, that public safety “has too much spectrum,” Robert Foosaner, Sprint chief regulatory officer, told us. Foosaner also said the FCC by statute must hold an auction of 700 MHz spectrum on a tight schedule, but it will have a tough time making a series of pending decisions about rules for the spectrum, especially in light of filings by Cyren Call and Frontline.
ORLANDO -- If the FCC imposes a cap on competitive eligible telecom carrier (CETC) participation in the USF program it will likely be short-term, said 2 members of the Federal State Board on Universal Service, including FCC Comr. Tate, Wed. at CTIA’s Wireless 2007 show. A source said the cap could be lifted this year. Recommendations of the joint board are expected shortly.
ORLANDO -- FCC Chmn. Martin said Tues. he’s “sympathetic” to complaints by small carriers seeking mandates for “automatic” roaming. Martin also said he hopes the FCC will release rules for the 700 MHz auction in time to give small and mid-sized carriers the 6 months they want between the rules’ release and the auction. He called release of auction rules the FCC’s top priority. Martin also said the FCC should decide on regulation of early termination fees (ETFs) by year-end.
ORLANDO -- Wireless will have a major role in the USF program, FCC Chmn. Martin reassured wireless carriers Tues. Sources said after Martin’s remarks to the CTIA conference here that they're having trouble reconciling Martin’s advocacy of caps on reimbursements to competitive eligible telecom carriers (CETCs) with his insistence Tues. that USF be technologically neutral.