The FCC cleared the way for oral argument on a video franchise order to be heard shortly after Nov. 1, when all documents in Alliance for Community Media v. FCC are due to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. The commission, NCTA, USTelecom and other parties likely to file in the case said they won’t oppose municipalities’ request to put oral arguments on a fast track, according to court papers and a lawyer involved in the case. The 6th Circuit hasn’t decided on that. Municipal groups claim a March 5 FCC order streamlining video franchising usurped city and county oversight over Bell and other pay-TV providers. The FCC and carriers claim Communications Act authority for the FCC move. The sides expect the court to hear oral arguments because the case raises questions of federal versus local oversight (CD April 9 p3). The next deadline is Sept. 17, when respondents’ briefs are due from the FCC after a delay of about a month that the agency got. USTelecom and members including AT&T and Verizon likely will file briefs supporting the FCC, said Alan Fishel, attorney for the Alliance. Final briefs are due Nov. 1, and his client wants arguments to occur as soon as possible after that, he said. The alliance wants speedy oral arguments due to the FCC order’s potentially wide impact. “The breadth and scope of this order is staggering,” said an Aug. 13 court filing by the group. “The order preempts local laws and practices throughout the country.”

CTIA and USTelecom separately asked the FCC to scuttle or make major changes to a rule requiring that carriers install a backup power source for central offices, cellsites and other critical facilities tied to the power grid (CD Aug 3 p2). The stipulation was based on findings in the FCC Katrina Panel’s report. The commission recently delayed by 60 days the Aug. 10 deadline (CD Aug 3 p2) for the requirement, opening the door to further agency review.

Communications and technology PACs gave $2 million to Democratic candidates in the first half of 2007, compared with $1.5 million to Republicans, according to Federal Election Commission records compiled by Political Moneyline. The industry is the fourth largest contributor among corporate PACs for the 2007-08 election cycle, its $3.6 million slightly behind the No. 1-ranked agriculture sector at $3.9 million. It’s a position likely not to change, as communications has held the No. 4 spot since the early 1990s.

Incumbent phone companies portrayed a vibrant special access market in filings at the FCC Wednesday, while competitors said there’s been a “market failure” and the FCC should step in. The FCC asked for the comments to “refresh” a two-year-old proceeding to determine if it should make changes to the way it regulates special access (CD July 10 p1). Competitors have asked the FCC to put limits on the pricing flexibility program, which selectively deregulates Bell special access services as the companies show they have competition.

Bells and cable continued facing off over exclusive apartment video deals (CD July 6 p2). Both sides used broadband deployment as a jumping-off point for touting their views in reply comments Wednesday in an FCC rulemaking. Comcast was among the cable commenters arguing that rollout of broadband could be hurt if the commission issues an order to restrict agreements that designate individual pay-TV companies as solo providers of video to multiple dwelling units (MDUs) and housing developments. “With very few exceptions, commenters agreed” that an FCC order banning such deals has “a very high probability of adversely affecting other competitive services, particularly voice and broadband,” Comcast said. NCTA said the FCC lacks authority to regulate exclusives. AT&T, Verizon and USTelecom said the FCC has ample leeway to intervene. Verizon cited Section 628(b) of the Communications Act. “Commenters from other new video market entrants, from a leading supplier of fiber optic equipment, and from consumers provide additional support for a targeted remedy,” it said. “There is nearly universal agreement that any restriction should be narrowly limited to exclusive access arrangements.” USTelecom said the FCC was correct in its March 27 notice of proposed rulemaking to link broadband deployment to pay-TV contracts. “This proceeding is as much about broadband deployment as it is about video programming choice,” the group said. AT&T wants the FCC should enter the fray because the number of exclusive apartment video deals is “growing rapidly,” saying “the notice has been met with a chorus of complaints from incumbent cable operators and other entities that support exclusive MDU access agreements because those agreements serve to exempt them from meaningful competition.”

The FCC Thursday delayed by 60 days the Aug. 10 deadline by which wireless carriers had to have in place backup power for cellsites. The requirement applies only to nationwide carriers with more than 500,000 subscribers. The delay will give the agency more time to investigate concerns raised by CTIA, AT&T, USTelecom and other industry groups concerned about the deadline, which was approved as part commission’s June Katrina Panel order.

The push to institutionalize a moratorium on Internet access taxes found strong support Thursday among leaders at the House Judiciary Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee. The path to that support was eased by general agreement between state tax officials and the telecom industry on contentious definitions of “access,” interpreted by some to include Internet transport gear and applications and services delivered over the Internet not essential to the connection itself.

Terms for Agriculture Department rural broadband loans would be extended and rural public TV stations could get loans for gear to help with the digital transition, under farm bill amendments the Agriculture Committee adopted Thursday. The amendments propose minor changes to Title VI, on the rural broadband loan program. Loans could be amortized over 35 years if “adequately secured,” according to the measure by Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio. “We have to make it easier for companies to provide broadband access or we're never going to connect Appalachia,” Space said. USTelecom praised Space’s amendment, which would boost rural broadband deployment, association president Walter McCormick said in a statement. The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association also hailed the amendment as a way to reduce “burdensome” paperwork required of loan applicants. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association praised the Agriculture Committee’s work on the rural broadband provisions, promising support as the bill proceeds. Space’s amendment passed on a voice vote. A second amendment, by Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., would ensure rural public TV stations could get Agriculture Department grants to replace analog broadcast gear with digital. It also passed without controversy on a voice vote.

The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously adopted an amended version of the broadband data bill (S-1492) in a pro forma Thursday markup. Members also approved the bipartisan number porting measure (S-1769) and an indecency bill opposed by broadcasters (S-1780) that would authorize the FCC to fine stations for “fleeting expletives” by airing a single word or image.

Cities, Bells and a cable group telegraphed positions on FCC video franchising rules that they may make in court in oral arguments when they submitted filings to 6th U.S. Appeals Court, Cincinnati. Groups representing municipalities said late Wednesday that section 621 of the Communications Act did not authorize a March commission order streamlining the franchise process. The section, on which the commission relied heavily in issuing the order (CD April 24 p2), leaves it to local franchising authorities (LFAs) to set conditions under which they permit cable operators, Bells and others to sell pay-TV, the municipalities said. USTelecom, AT&T and Verizon, in a joint filing June 29, disagreed.