The cancellation of the FCC’s critical information needs (CIN) studies Friday (CD March 3 p1) leaves the commission without a clear way to gather data needed to provide Congress with required information about barriers to entry in the communications industry, address the problems of underserved populations or change media ownership rules, said public interest officials in interviews Monday. Since that information is still needed, the commission may seek to have a similar study done by an independent outside entity -- such as a university -- to avoid the concerns about government overreach that tanked the CIN study, said United Church of Christ (UCC) Policy Advisor Cheryl Leanza. The commission has an “obligation” to gather data on how its policies work to establish an adequate record for rulemakings on ownership, she said.
The FCC proposed fines totaling $1.9 million against Disney’s ESPN, Viacom and Comcast’s NBCUniversal for repeatedly transmitting a movie trailer that misused the emergency alert system tones. The EAS allegations stemmed from consumer complaints last year about a “No Surrender Trailer” for the movie Olympus Has Fallen, the FCC said. The companies admitted to airing the trailer multiple times, claiming they took action by revising their advertisement review guidelines and ceasing to carry the ads after letters of inquiry (LOI) and advisories from the commission. The commission proposed a $1.1 million fine for Viacom, a $530,000 fine for NBCUniversal and $280,000 for ESPN. The agency last month proposed fining Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting and others over similar EAS violations in what industry attorneys called a crackdown (CD Jan 16 p7), which they said Monday appears to have continued.
FCC work on AT&T’s proposed buy of Leap is proceeding, said industry officials opposed to and supportive of the deal, in interviews Monday. But they said they've heard little out of the agency in recent months. Monday was day 166 of the FCC’s unofficial 180-day clock for reviewing the transaction. AT&T is still on track for approval before the clock expires, a spokesman said. Other industry officials also said they expect approval soon of the approximately $1.2 billion deal.
A Wednesday hearing on what’s become a controversial satellite bill reauthorization is off, said the subcommittee Monday. Industry officials and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., blamed weather and not the criticism that erupted last week for the cancellation. The subcommittee had planned the hearing on the Satellite Television Localism and Extension Act, which expires at the end of 2014. Subcommittee leadership circulated provisions of a draft STELA bill starting late last week, stirring heavy opposition from broadcasters (CD Feb 28 p1). Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., is seen as responsible for many provisions of the draft.
BRUSSELS -- The Internet of Things will bring massive benefits to consumers, but the “smart home” it enables also sparks strong concerns about security and privacy, said panel and audience members Monday at the IoT Europe summit. There are also questions about what consumers will make of, and want from, the technology, and what social values, if any, it brings, they said.
BRUSSELS -- Nearly everyone agrees that the Internet of Things is coming, but not when or in what form, speakers said Monday at the Internet of Things Europe summit. The IoT always seems to be “just a few years around the corner,” said Carl-Christian Buhr, a member of cabinet for Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes. The IoT should be, but often isn’t, distinguished from cyber-physical systems (CPS), said Geoff Mulligan, U.S. presidential innovation fellow on CPS and founder of the IPSO (Internet Protocol for Smart Objects) Alliance. The U.S. and EU approaches to IoT development differ but are complementary, speakers said.
An order teed up for the FCC’s March 31 meeting is expected to address Wi-Fi in just the 5.1 GHz band, where the main opposition has come from Globalstar, agency and industry officials told us. The FCC is not expected to address other 5 GHz spectrum, specifically the two 5 GHz bands former Chairman Julius Genachowski said in January 2013 comments at CES (http://xrl.us/bn953e) that the FCC would examine -- the 5350-5470 and 5850-5925 MHz bands.
Bucking the trend nationally, the Minnesota Legislature will consider a proposal to make it easier for municipalities to create broadband networks. A bill to be introduced in the state Senate Monday would repeal a 1915 law calling for two-thirds approval in a public vote before municipalities can offer phone service. The requirement was originally intended to keep municipalities out of the telephone business. In recent years, it has applied to municipalities wanting to offer triple—play packages if they start a network. The supermajority threshold stopped North St. Paul from starting its own network, and has deterred others, said Christopher Mitchell, director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Telecommunications as Commons Initiative.
Although no agreement on whether to ease restrictions on Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) devices in the 5 GHz band was reached between NCTA and Globalstar, both companies said they provided enough technical analysis for the FCC to make a decision. The FCC plans to release an order at its March 31 meeting that addresses the issue. (See separate story in this issue)
Two southern locations -- one rural and one suburban -- will be the first wire centers AT&T attempts to transition to all-IP technology, the telco said Friday. AT&T’s long-awaited wire center proposal singled out Carbon Hill, Ala., and Kings Point, Fla., as the guinea pigs for what it hopes will be the start of a transition with a “potential to improve American lives,” AT&T said (http://bit.ly/1khuf1p). The FCC will seek comment on all proposals before approving them, it has said. AT&T hopes to transition all 4,700 of its wire centers nationwide to IP technology by 2020, said Hank Hultquist, vice president-federal regulatory, in a blog post Friday (http://bit.ly/1fOTPYa).