Some state legislators and foes of a California bill to ban state regulation over VoIP worried the proposal would strip away consumer protection of basic services, they said during a hearing Tuesday. SB-1611 sponsor Sen. Alex Padilla (D) emphasized that the bill wouldn’t change existing consumer protection regulation. The bill passed the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, which Padilla chairs, and is heading to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski appointed Gary Epstein, a longtime telecom attorney with ties to LightSquared, to serve as co-leader of the commission’s Incentive Auction Task Force. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, instantly raised questions about the appointment. The move had raised some questions within the agency after it was unveiled internally last week, officials said. Epstein was originally slated to be appointed deputy chief of the Office of Strategic Planning. He ended up being named a special counsel to the chairman.
Wireless competition has taken a turn for the worse since the Rural Cellular Association filed earlier comments on the FCC’s annual Wireless Competition Report, RCA said in a filing. T-Mobile and NTCH, which does business as Clear Talk, also told the agency the threats to wireless competition are rising, and that should be reflected in the next version of the report. In the last two reports, the FCC declined to draw any conclusions on whether the U.S. wireless industry is effectively competitive.
Several rate-of-return carriers said Monday they would file for requests for waivers of new rules in the USF/intercarrier compensation order limiting reimbursable capital and operating costs. The form letters, sent by five carriers, all blamed “a flaw” in the quantile regression analysis caps “that penalizes companies who have been diligent to bring advanced services to rural areas.” The five new waiver requests would more than double the existing number of waiver requests Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey said the FCC had received as of last week (CD April 12 p1).
FTC Commissioner Julie Brill suggested that the commission first deal with the practices of data brokers who recognize themselves as such, before delving into issues of defining who is and isn’t a data broker. Neither she nor the commission as a whole knows enough about data brokers’ collection practices now, she said Tuesday at a Broadband Breakfast Club event. Brill was asked to specify “who fits into the definition of data broker” and what action the FTC is contemplating in that area.
LAS VEGAS -- Broadcasters shouldn’t be afraid to participate in the “unique opportunity” presented by the coming voluntary incentive spectrum auction, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said during remarks at the NAB Show late Monday. For stations that decide to share channels with other operators or move from higher UHF frequencies to lower VHF ones, the auction will provide a “sizable cash infusion for returning some or all spectrum,” he said. “Our phones have been ringing at the FCC with broadcasters expressing genuine interest in participating and expressing thoughtful questions,” about how the auction will work, Genachowski said. “Don’t be afraid to be interested,” he said. “Others already are."
LAS VEGAS -- Broadcasters hopes they might get scaled back a draft FCC order on online public-file disclosure dwindled late Monday after Chairman Julius Genachowski delivered a sharp rebuke of industry arguments against the proposed requirement. In a speech at the NAB Show (http://xrl.us/bm37ck), Genachowski countered one-by-one the arguments raised by broadcasters against putting online for all to see the political file they're required to keep publicly available on paper at stations. “Despite the proud history of broadcast journalism ... some broadcasters and a few others have strongly resisted online disclosure,” Genachowski said. “It’s the 21st Century. I call it common sense."
Two Florida jurisdictions, Perry City and Bradford County, decided to drop out of the North Florida Broadband Authority’s (NFBA) middle mile BTOP project, citing the availability of broadband in the area, the project’s lack of action, and differences in guiding principles. However, the project could be getting three new cities on board, General Manager Richelle Sucara told us. She claimed the project, which started with 23 participating entities, is on track. NTIA appears to be pleased with the progress.
The Office of Management and Budget granted emergency approval for most of the information collection requests in the Lifeline order, but not before the FCC removed two provisions from the emergency request. Information collection related to the temporary address reverification rule, which requires reverification of a subscriber’s address every 90 days, and the requirement for a biennial audit for all recipients of more than $5 million annual support were removed. “FCC may re-submit these removed collections for OMB review at a later date after further consideration,” the OMB wrote in its notice Friday (http://xrl.us/bm33ez).
LAS VEGAS -- Touting recent policy victories, NAB CEO Gordon Smith told an NAB Show audience that the trade association “is back” and must continue fighting against efforts to encroach on TV spectrum and for policies that will help broadcasters flourish. Additionally, he said, the industry needs to, and through its NAB Labs initiative has begun to, invest in new technologies. “Our adversaries would like people to believe the best days of broadcasting are over. We will prove them wrong,” he said.