Setting a firm deadline for DTV transition and clearing the 700 MHz band of broadcast operations is essential to satisfy public-safety spectrum needs, the wireless industry and public safety officials agreed in comments to the FCC. But safety officials said that, while valuable, the spectrum allocated in the 700 MHz band and elsewhere isn’t enough for safety-oriented users. The wireless industry disagreed, saying emergency response providers’ biggest challenge isn’t how much spectrum they have, but how best to use spectrum already allocated. They said instead of allocating more spectrum, the govt. should help finance emergency response communications networks and advanced public safety solutions.

Same questions, different chairman. FCC Chmn. Martin on Tues. again found House Appropriations Committee members grilling him on indecency issues. Last year former Chmn. Michael Powell faced many of the same questions. Indecency led the topic list at the FCC oversight hearing of the Science, State, Justice, Commerce (SSJC) Subcommittee, where Martin made his first appearance on the Hill as chmn.

CompTel urged the FCC on Mon. to “simply deny” requests to approve the SBC-AT&T merger and not try to “mitigate the many public interest harms… through toothless merger conditions.” In comments to the FCC, CompTel said the proposed merger is little more than an attempt by SBC “to swallow [its] largest rival” after “leveraging its local monopoly” to bring AT&T “to its knees.”

House Judiciary Committee leaders voiced concern about mergers in the telecom industry Wed., saying consolidation is undermining the 1996 Telecom Act’s goals. Both Republican and Democratic leaders spoke out on consolidation and competition during the hearing, which addressed telecom mergers but not specifically the proposed SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI mergers. House Judiciary Committee Chmn. Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) repeatedly has said the Act includes antitrust provisions. A Committee “background” statement Wed. said: “This consolidation has created what some perceive to be a telecom oligopoly comprised of a diminishing number of Baby Bells that increasingly resemble the Ma Bell monopoly from which they were created.” Sensenbrenner was absent from the hearing.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce threw its weight into the debate on telecom reform Tues., announcing formation of a coalition that will seek deregulation. TeleConsensus -- which includes SBC, BellSouth, Verizon and NCTA -- will advocate ending policies that favor certain networks and ending price distortions, said Chamber Pres. Thomas Donohue. House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) joined Donohue in unveiling the coalition and said the telecom reform sought by his committee will start from “a clean sheet of paper” and be an “enhancement, and in some cases a substitute, for the 1996 Telecom Act.” He said the Telecom Subcommittee will continue to hold hearings to examine telecom reform, which will help the Committee determine what regulatory changes are needed. The Chamber released a study it commissioned on telecom reform, titled “Sending the Right Signals: Promoting Competition Through Telecommunications Reform.” The study, which Donohue said was commissioned through general revenue funds, so it would not face credibility questions because of industry backing. The study laid out 6 recommendations: (1) Phase out mandatory network-sharing rules and, “more immediately,” end regulated wholes rates set at what it called “theoretical costs.” (2) Make 438 MHz of prime radio spectrum available for commercial wireless operators. (3) Exempt high-speed cable modem and DSL from common carrier regulations. (4) Exempt Internet service from state telephone service regulations. (5) Raise funds for universal service directly from general tax revenue, rather than from “hidden costs that penalize telecommunications competition and the growth of network services.” (6) Distribute universal service funds directly to targeted consumers. Other TeleConsensus members include the Electronic Industries Alliance, National Assn. of Manufacturers, National Black Chamber of Commerce, Time Warner, T-Mobile USA and 3M. Jason Oxman, CompTel/ALTS senior vp-legal affairs, said Bell companies were playing “bait and switch” and trying to eliminate competition before committing to rolling out broadband service. “If we let the Bells recapture their monopolies, as they are close to doing, we will once again see a return to the pre-1996 days of dial up Internet access and ISDN -- services with fat profits for the monopolies, but no benefit for consumers and small businesses,” Oxman said.

In what some observers described as a “very straightforward” oral argument, a panel of federal appeals court judges considered Mon. whether the FCC should reinstate the NorthPoint MVDDS license application in the 12 GHz spectrum. The judges focused on 2 issues highlighted in the NorthPoint Technologies v. FCC case: (1) Whether MVDDS providers would cause interference to incumbent DBS operators. (2) Whether MVDDS licenses should have been allocated to terrestrial providers, rather than auctioned.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Prominent state regulators with a deregulatory bent pushed at the NCTA convention here for “cooperative federalism,” in which Washington sets most of the few rules on communications services, and states play a strong role in enforcing them, especially consumer issues. Outnumbered on a panel Mon., an Ia. regulator said he agonized over the fates of his state’s many tiny incumbent carriers and their customers in a world with much less protection and subsidy.

A wireless industry request for reconsideration of the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement (NPA) on tower siting faced strong opposition from groups representing tribal and historic preservation interests. The Tower Siting Policy Alliance (TSPA), whose key members include Cingular, T-Mobile and American Tower, had asked the FCC to revise NPA provisions that diverge from current rules, saying they undermine the goal of streamlining the tower siting approval process and impose burdensome requirements without offering increased protection for historic properties (CD Feb 9 p2). But the National Tribal Telecom Assn. (NTTA), National Assn. of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO) and National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) rebutted such allegations and urged the FCC to deny the petition.

Most of SBC’s 13 home states say they're not planning hearings or reviews of SBC’s proposed acquisition of AT&T, and only 2 have opened review dockets. But some states say they plan to address the merger’s broad implications in comments to the FCC and U.S. Justice Dept. during federal merger review.

Congress returns tomorrow (Tues.) after a 2-week recess, but communication issues seem destined to wait at least another week to be addressed. Despite talk of hearings by several committees, none are set for this week. Universal Service Fund, telecom mergers, and IP- enabled video are all topics sources said would likely be subjects of Hill hearings in coming weeks. Industry and Senate sources said the Senate Commerce Committee seemed ready to begin holding hearings on telecom issues. And new FCC Chmn. Martin could make his official Hill debut soon.