There may be room for compromise on how much spectrum is available for unlicensed use after the FCC auction of frequencies of TV stations that participate in exchange for a slice of the proceeds, said NAB’s auction pointman. Further fleshing out his stance against the voluntary incentive auction occurring next year (CD Jan 28 p1), NAB Executive Vice President-Strategic Planning Rick Kaplan told executives and regulatory staffers that he thinks there’s a “sweet spot” for how much is licensed versus unlicensed. The commission shouldn’t make guard bands or the gap between carriers’ licensed frequencies used for uplink versus downlink operations “one megahertz larger than they need to be for interference purposes,” Kaplan said at a Media Institute lunch. Some high-technology companies want larger guard bands than do carriers, and the issue of how big they're to be may be controversial when the FCC prepares to adopt an order on auction rules (CD Jan 29 p1).

CEA should “bring an end to its misguided campaign to avoid implementing closed captioning functionality on removable media players,” said five groups representing the hearing-impaired and a program at a university that teaches such people. The plea came in a letter to the FCC on the association’s Feb. 26 filing (http://bit.ly/WtbCuD) on CEA’s request for the agency to redo Internet Protocol captioning rules so some consumer electronics like stand-alone DVD players don’t fall under them. Instead of pursuing that attempt to change last year’s IP captioning order, the association should “turn to the task of ensuring that all consumers who purchase removable media players and discs can experience the benefits of video programming on equal terms,” the groups said in docket 11-154 (http://bit.ly/Z3Ywk5). “The history of the Television Decoder Circuitry Act supports the Commission’s decision to cover removable media players under Section 203(a) and undermines CEA’s arguments about the cost of adding closed captioning functionality to such players.” The 1990 law also was opposed by CEA’s predecessor, the Electronic Industries Alliance, said the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Gallaudet University’s Technology Access Program and others. “EIA’s fears that closed captioning functionality would send the price of television sets spiraling out of control never materialized.” A few years after passage of the act, EIA “abandoned its public opposition” to captioning functionality on TV sets, said the groups, which also include the Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization and Deaf Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network. CEA, in a filing also posted Friday in the docket, asked the commission to approve the association’s petition for reconsideration of the IP captioning rules. That’s “because some of the issues raised in the proceeding on emergency information and video description are related” to the petition, executives at Samsung and the association told aides to all FCC members (http://bit.ly/WlkiEk).

CEA should “bring an end to its misguided campaign to avoid implementing closed captioning functionality on removable media players,” said five groups representing the hearing-impaired and a program at a university that teaches such people. The plea came in a letter to the FCC on the association’s Feb. 26 filing (http://bit.ly/WtbCuD) on CEA’s request for the agency to redo Internet Protocol captioning rules so some consumer electronics like stand-alone DVD players don’t fall under them. Instead of pursuing that attempt to change last year’s IP captioning order, the association should “turn to the task of ensuring that all consumers who purchase removable media players and discs can experience the benefits of video programming on equal terms,” the groups said in docket 11-154 (http://bit.ly/Z3Ywk5). “The history of the Television Decoder Circuitry Act supports the Commission’s decision to cover removable media players under Section 203(a) and undermines CEA’s arguments about the cost of adding closed captioning functionality to such players.” The 1990 law also was opposed by CEA’s predecessor, the Electronic Industries Alliance, said the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Gallaudet University’s Technology Access Program and others. “EIA’s fears that closed captioning functionality would send the price of television sets spiraling out of control never materialized.” A few years after passage of the act, EIA “abandoned its public opposition” to captioning functionality on TV sets, said the groups. They also include the Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization and Deaf Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network. CEA, in a filing also posted Friday in the docket, asked the commission to approve the association’s petition for reconsideration of the IP captioning rules. That’s “because some of the issues raised in the proceeding on emergency information and video description are related” to the petition, executives at Samsung and the association told aides to all FCC members (http://bit.ly/WlkiEk).

CEA should “bring an end to its misguided campaign to avoid implementing closed captioning functionality on removable media players,” said five groups representing the hearing-impaired and a program at a university that teaches such people. The plea came in a letter to the FCC on the association’s Feb. 26 filing (http://bit.ly/WtbCuD) on CEA’s request for the agency to redo Internet Protocol captioning rules so some consumer electronics like stand-alone DVD players don’t fall under them. Instead of pursuing that attempt to change last year’s IP captioning order, the association should “turn to the task of ensuring that all consumers who purchase removable media players and discs can experience the benefits of video programming on equal terms,” the groups said in docket 11-154 (http://bit.ly/Z3Ywk5). “The history of the Television Decoder Circuitry Act supports the Commission’s decision to cover removable media players under Section 203(a) and undermines CEA’s arguments about the cost of adding closed captioning functionality to such players.” The 1990 law also was opposed by CEA’s predecessor, the Electronic Industries Alliance, said the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Gallaudet University’s Technology Access Program and others. “EIA’s fears that closed captioning functionality would send the price of television sets spiraling out of control never materialized.” A few years after passage of the act, EIA “abandoned its public opposition” to captioning functionality on TV sets, said the groups. They also include the Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization and Deaf Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network. CEA, in a filing also posted Friday in the docket, asked the commission to approve the association’s petition for reconsideration of the IP captioning rules. That’s “because some of the issues raised in the proceeding on emergency information and video description are related” to the petition, executives at Samsung and the association told aides to all FCC members (http://bit.ly/WlkiEk).

The Court of International Trade dismissed Koyo Corp.’s bid for funds under the Continued Dumping and Subsidization Offset Act (also known as the Byrd Amendment) for duties collected pursuant to various antidumping duty orders on tapered roller bearings. Koyo, a domestic tapered roller bearing manufacturer, brought constitutional arguments that were identical to those raised in Pat Huval v. U.S. (see 12031204). Just as in Pat Huval, the court dismissed all of Koyo’s claims as foreclosed by precedent.

Similar to the first comment round, reply comments on rules for an incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum found deep divisions among almost 100 parties that weighed in. There has been general agreement that the FCC’s proposed band plan needs major revision (CD Jan 29 p1). But there has been little consensus on answers to many of the questions raised by the FCC in a Sept. 28 NPRM.

Six majority members of the House Commerce Committee sent a letter Wednesday to Rural Utilities Service Acting Administrator (RUS) John Padalino about their concerns with a Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) loan and grant given to Lake County, Minn. The letters asked pointed questions about whether the loan and grant combination may have “skirted BIP eligibility requirements and placed taxpayer dollars at risk,” according to a committee news release. “We are concerned with suggestions that the BIP program may have been used to overbuild existing systems rather than extend service to areas that legitimately meet the underserved/unserved eligibility requirements,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.; House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore.; Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Tim Murphy, R-Pa.; and Michael Burgess, R-Texas. “Materials reviewed by committee staff also raise questions as to whether RUS adequately considered the financial viability of the Lake County project before committing $66.4 million in government funding,” they said. The lawmakers asked Padalino to answer detailed questions about the agency’s application review process for the project and submit a copy of all communications and agreements related to Lake County’s application. At least one Minnesota company had complained that Lake County’s BIP loan application appeared to be fraudulent, was designed to set the county up for financial failure and allowed outside consultants hand-picked by local officials to buy the fiber-to-the-home systems at a discount (CD March 17/11 p6). Walden, Upton and Murphy also urged in a separate letter that Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro conduct an analysis of all the work that had been completed under the BIP program to identify any other incidents of fraud, waste and abuse.

Incumbents and competitive carriers offered a strikingly different vision for how the FCC should analyze competition in the special access marketplace, in reply comments posted Wednesday in WC docket 05-25. ILECs argued against expansive market power analyses, cautioning that undue complexity could make models unworkable. They also warned the commission that it lacks the authority to alter the terms of current special access agreements. CLECs pleaded with the commission to take immediate action to prohibit exclusionary terms and conditions in current contracts, and undertake a “traditional” market power analysis instead of relying on simple triggers.

The FCC Wireless and International bureaus approved the combination of T-Mobile and MetroPCS. Tuesday’s order on a deal that will strengthen the No. 4 U.S. carrier wasn’t a close call in the bureaus’ view. The order doesn’t require T-Mobile to sell off any assets and it doesn’t impose a requirement that the combined company maintain its current employment levels, as sought by the Communications Workers of America and others. Unlike most orders on major transactions, but as expected (CD March 8 p3), commissioners didn’t vote on the deal. MetroPCS stockholders still have to vote to approve the transaction. They are slated to do so at a special meeting April 12.

CTIA warned the FCC that if it imposes a text-to-911 mandate on carriers, the order may not survive a court appeal. Verizon, which has sued the FCC over its data roaming mandate and net neutrality rules, said the FCC should monitor how well voluntary agreements work before imposing rules. The FCC approved a further NPRM asking questions about how the commission can best make sure that all wireless subscribers will one day be able to send emergency text messages to public safety answering points, amid warnings that widespread ability to do so could be many years way (CD Dec 13 p12).