The Senate is on track to finish confirmations of FCC nominees by the end of the year, multiple Senate aides and industry officials said. The Commerce Committee on Friday announced a Nov. 30 hearing for FCC nominees Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai. That’s the same day as the next FCC meeting. The hearing is at 2:30 p.m in Room 253, Russell Senate Office Building. While the nominees are thought to be uncontroversial, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has threatened to derail their confirmation over an unrelated dispute with the FCC.
Major cable operators plan to deploy more energy-efficient set-top boxes than those widely in use now. The U.S.’s six biggest cable operators plan to have at least 90 percent of all new set-tops they buy and deploy by the end of 2013 be Energy Star 3.0-compliant, NCTA executives said Friday. The association and CableLabs are setting up an energy lab to develop electricity-efficient set-tops and other gear used by consumers, and equipment used by cable companies’ networks. A CEA executive said such efforts may reduce power usage and costs, the Environmental Protection Agency said it’s a good move, and environmental groups backed it while saying more must be done by cable operators to use less power.
Traditional TV distribution business models, content discovery and reaching “cord never-havers” are challenges facing the digital video distribution world, said panelists at the Future of Television conference in New York Friday. “The demographics of people signing up for cable and satellite service is changing a lot,” said Jeff Harris, senior product manager-new product development for Verizon’s FiOS. Teenagers watch more video on computers than on TVs, he said, and that trend won’t change. “You can’t fight it, so the best thing to do is innovate and adapt” by extending TV services to as many screens as possible, he said. “Portability is a big driver,” he said. Service providers need to be prepared for the changing environment and “be where the eyeballs are migrating,” he said.
ATLANTA -- Despite fear about the new competitive threats posed by over-the-top (OTT) video, four big cable operators still see plenty of opportunities to expand cable’s traditional video business, as well as branch out into numerous new areas.
A draft version of the FCC’s declaratory ruling on third-party violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) would use agency law rather than strict liability to determine liability, said industry executives. While the draft could be changed while on circulation, the use of agency law would mark a partial win for commercial interests, such as Dish Network. Both commercial interests and the government have been meeting frequently with commissioners’ staff over the last week.
SEATTLE -- Sitting atop a pile of cash, Microsoft has opportunities to shake up the mobile space, challenge Amazon’s cloud dominance and undercut Google and Apple in content billing services, Seattle-area venture capitalists told a Washington Technology Industry Association forum late Wednesday. But the Redmond-based company’s time to strike is limited, said the VCs, who are all Microsoft alumni. VCs also gave a nod to LinkedIn as their theoretical favorite for investment among 2011’s tech IPOs, and predicted Amazon’s Kindle Fire would steal thunder from Apple’s iPad and perhaps morph into a cable TV-like service.
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., plans to keep tabs on the FCC and Federal Emergency Management Agency as the agencies investigate glitches during last week’s national test of the Emergency Alert System. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with FEMA and FCC officials Thursday, the House Communications Subcommittee chairman said he’s asked the agencies for more information but doesn’t plan any hearings. The FCC and FEMA gave a “very good and comprehensive report,” Walden said. “I think they're on it, I think they get it, and I think they want to make it work.” A broadcasting executive told us an audio problem caused a cascade-like effect during the test, while a public-access channel executive said those networks didn’t get the message.
China Telecom Americas wants to become a mobile virtual network provider in the U.S. through wholesale partnership, CEO Donald Tan said in an interview. The largest international subsidiary of China Telecom isn’t considering acquisition opportunities now, Tan said. Meanwhile, the House Intelligence Committee will investigate security threats posed by Chinese telecom companies working in the U.S. The probe includes everything related to the cellular supply chain but the scope may narrow later, a committee spokeswoman said.
The FCC’s proposed rules for broadband outage reporting “would go too far” and be too “burdensome,” NTCA and OPASTCO said in a letter posted to docket 11-82. The rural associations differed with the rest of industry by supporting “certain reasonable outage reporting requirements on interconnected VoIP.” NTCA and OPASTCO said this was a “significant” departure from the rest of industry (CD Nov 15 p3).
The FTC is making an effort to build its expertise on antitrust policy and enforcement concerning the technology industry, said Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “As the American economy and FTC portfolio become more and more focused on technology and e-commerce, our need for expertise is greater still,” he said Thursday during a Washington forum by the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section. Technological platforms have come to play a central role in the economy, he said: Although they create great value, they raise “complex consumer protection and competition issues."