Reliability of an online content delivery network (CDN) to replace GOES rebroadcast (GRB) weather data from NOAA is being questioned by some in the weather and satellite community as the FCC seeks comment on proposed allocation and service rules for the 1675-1680 MHz band. Weather interests also raised red flags about possible interference issues (see 1906210056).
Matt Daneman
Matt Daneman, Senior Editor, covers pay TV, cable broadband, satellite, and video issues and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications in 2015 after more than 15 years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where he covered business among other issues. He also was a correspondent for USA Today. You can follow Daneman on Twitter: @mdaneman
Every C-band receive location in the U.S. could be connected to fiber as a replacement for satellite delivery of content for about $1 billion, “demonstrating that it is cost effective to clear all 500 MHz of C- band spectrum” for 5G, T-Mobile filed in comments posted Monday in FCC docket 18-122. T-Mobile submitted a study by Roberson and Associates supporting that proposal. Officials from T-Mobile and the consultant also reported on meetings to present the study. The filing opposes the C-Band Alliance’s proposal.
Often, conflicts with localities about small-cell deployment aesthetic issues are a proxy for the underlying concern, which is RF safety, some said at Friday's FCC Technological Advisory Council meeting, its first for 2019. Local opposition is often framed in terms of densification issues, but "the elephant in the room" is RF exposure, said Dale Hatfield, executive fellow at Silicon Flatirons.
Weather and disaster monitoring interests voiced more worries about terrestrial wireless use of the 1675-1680 MHz band, in filings late last week in FCC docket 19-116. Friday was the deadline for comment on proposed allocation and service rules for the band (see 1905210011). Weather interests oppose Ligado's terrestrial low-power service plans for the band and its alternatives for delivering NOAA weather satellite data (see 1704130023).
The USTelecom-led pilot broadband mapping effort in Missouri and Virginia should be done next month and then scale up to some other states this fall, with a national georeferenced broadband serviceable location fabric complete sometime next year, said CostQuest CEO Jim Stegeman in a webinar update Thursday. The BSLF effort, which involves trying to map all the various homes and other locations where broadband service at least could go and separating them from other locations, started three months ago. The national effort, if started today, would take about 12 months, he said.
The silence in response to retransmission consent offers by AT&T resulting in 21 stations in 17 markets going dark on DirecTV and U-verse systems violates the FCC's per se good-faith rules, AT&T said in a heavily redacted docket 12-1 good faith complaint Tuesday. It said the nine station groups -- seemingly controlled or operated by Sinclair -- left AT&T-owned DirecTV and U-Verse either on May 30 or June 10, and the station groups' conduct "violates both the letter and the intent" of good-faith negotiation rules. "They have simply refused to negotiate" by either rejecting particular AT&T terms or offering their own proposals, the telco said. It said even if not a per se violation, their not negotiating in good faith fails the total of circumstances test. It asked for an order that the groups begin negotiating in good faith, and unspecified forfeitures. Named in the complaint were Deerfield Media, GoCom Media, Howard Stirk Holdings, Mercury Broadcasting, MPS Media, KMTR-TV, Nashville License Holdings, Second Generation of Iowa and Waitt Broadcasting. The 17 TV markets are in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. AT&T said Sinclair had a financial interest in each and indicated it has significant control over them. Sinclair said Wednesday that while it provides services to the stations referenced in the AT&T complaint, it's "not involved in any way with the retransmission consent negotiations that are the subject of the complaint." Cable lawyer Craig Gilley of Mintz told us MVPDs often mull bringing a good-faith negotiation complaint as retrans deadlines near expiration, but few do because the FCC signaled it generally won't do anything with those complaints except in the most clear-cut cases. He said most disputes between broadcasters and MVPDs boil down to economics at that late stage, and the agency has been loathe to do anything that might be seen as government influencing the price of content. Broadcast lawyer Dan Kirkpatrick of Fletcher Heald said such complaints also are rare because requirements to meet a legitimate good-faith violation are very specific and an impasse isn't a basis. When such complaints do get filed, the sides typically come to agreement before the FCC has a chance to decide on the complaint, Kirkpatrick said.
With the FCC ending part-time leased access rules earlier this month, considering them contrary to the First Amendment (see 1906060029), media law and Constitution experts see potentially thorny questions emerging as it also considers whether its full-time requirements have similar problems. The agency could find itself in a particularly sticky situation if it decides the statutory requirement underlying its leased access rules seems to have a constitutional problem, said former FCC Deputy General Counsel Peter Karanjia.
The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision on First Amendment responsibilities of private operators of public access cable channels Monday isn't expected to have broader effects on public access channel operations generally or on the question of how far the public fora doctrine extends into cyberspace. Alliance for Community Media President Mike Wassenaar told us it has been urging public access channel members to have clear editorial policies and to work closely with producers to avoid litigation.
Trinity Broadcasting/LPN Spectrum's C-band clearing plan (see 1905170034) is another call for a broad array of stakeholders to get a piece of any spectrum rights sale proceeds. Some see that as a route to getting any plan to move forward, they said in interviews in recent weeks. Problem is, one major stakeholder isn't yet on board.
The shift away from video service for Sparklight (formerly Cable One) has given the company growing revenue and an expanding profit margin, reinforcing for the MVPD that what had been seen as a risky venture is paying off, CEO Julie Laulis said in an America's Communications Association podcast, posted Wednesday. Laulis said the rebranding to Sparklight, taking place this summer (see here and 1812120005), had been contemplated for years.