Enforcement is emerging as one of the biggest challenges facing industry as spectrum sharing becomes the rule rather than the exception, members of the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee said Friday at the group’s meeting at NTIA.
The FCC Media Bureau asked for additional comment on issues of broadcaster reimbursement as part of the TV incentive auction, slated to start next year. The Thursday public notice builds on workshops held by the commission and a report by Widelity on “Response to the Federal Communications Commission for the Broadcaster Transition Study Solicitation” along with a “Catalog of Potential Expenses and Estimated Costs.” Widelity, a spectrum consulting firm, based its projections on “confidential interviews of a broad range of industry players, including TV broadcast group engineers, radiofrequency and structural engineers, suppliers, support companies, manufacturers, attorneys, and network engineers,” the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1gLG2SG). “The Widelity Report recognizes that the post-auction repacking process will be complex and that the complexity will vary from station to station.” The notice asks for comment on the report and the catalog of suggested prices. “We now seek additional comment from industry participants on these suggested prices, as well as any comments on the report and any further comments on the categories of costs included,” the bureau said. “A final Catalog of Eligible Expenses and Estimated Costs will be released prior to the auction, and we believe the Catalog will provide useful guidance to broadcasters and MVPDs as they navigate the post-auction transition.” Bureau Chief Bill Lake said in a blog post the issues raised are complicated but the FCC needs to “craft policies and procedures to transition the broadcasters with as little disruption to the industry and consumers as possible.” The FCC has already held two workshops on broadcaster reimbursement issues, he said (http://fcc.us/1nHl5NU). “The transition will be challenging, and there will likely be bumps in the road. But we pledge to work closely with all affected parties as we refine our thinking on these issues to make the transition as smooth as possible. Though the auction is not until 2015, we want to continue to engage stakeholders now. We hope all interested parties will carefully review the Widelity Report and accompanying catalog of potential expenses and give us their suggestions as we move forward.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s use of delegated authority reached a high point of sorts last week when AT&T’s buy of Leap Wireless was approved by the Wireless and International bureaus, rather than by commissioner vote (CD March 14 p5), officials said. Commission Democrats Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel complained internally that they would have preferred a commission vote on that deal, which gave one of the two biggest wireless carriers control of an important prepaid service player, FCC officials told us. Republicans Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly have complained about other items being approved on delegated authority, agency officials said.
The Communications Workers of America asked the FCC to block the proposed transfer of AT&T’s Connecticut wireline business to Frontier Communications. The crux of CWA’s argument is the telcos failed to provide enough details about the proposed transaction, without which the commission can’t conclude it’s in the public interest (http://bit.ly/1fx2w54). CWA has also been opposing the transfer at the state level, where the approximately $2 billion deal disclosed in December also is being reviewed (CD Jan 2 p1).
The FCC should continue to deepen its focus on data privacy, said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at a Federal Communications Bar Association event Thursday. “Let’s be a bit more about” the FCC’s consumer protection mandate, she said, “especially when it comes to privacy.” The FCC and the government should work to protect consumers from “abusive and overreaching data brokers” and ensure “companies are protecting the data they lawfully gather,” Clyburn said. While the FTC has served as the lead agency in this area, Clyburn said, the FCC does have a role promoting the “resiliency and security of communications networks."
The first discounted wireless plan for California’s LifeLine program was approved Tuesday by the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC selected Telscape Communications as the first authorized wireless provider for the state-funded LifeLine project, said a news release (http://bit.ly/1nhvOP9). Discounted wireless plans have been offered in the state under the federal Lifeline program. Telscape will offer three discounted plans, ranging from 1,000 voice minutes and 200 text messages for free to unlimited voice, text and data for $33.10 a month. LifeLine subsidies will allow Telscape to waive activation fees. The CPUC said it expects other wireless providers to be authorized in the future.
The House Communications Subcommittee has not typically weighed in on such big deals as the proposed combination of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the panel’s Republican leader said Wednesday. “I'm going to let the experts in the agencies do their evaluation going forward,” Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., told reporters after a subcommittee hearing. “We have not generally done hearings on specific deals because we have experts in the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice and the FCC who are fully capable and competent at working through these.” But the issues of mergers and the video marketplace “may well be a topic” in the subcommittee’s Communications Act overhaul, he said. He declined to rule out a subcommittee hearing. The subcommittee had held one on the deal between Comcast and NBCUniversal.
The FCC seems poised to propose rules for broadcasters to help non-English language stations knocked off-air during emergencies transmit emergency alert system messages, said industry and other EAS observers. They said that the Public Safety Bureau issued a public notice now on a 2005 proposal for such a designated-hitter backup plan from groups including the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council is among indications FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wants to act. Wheeler, on the other hand, may not have made up his mind, and the item could also be used to surface industry opposition to requiring multilingual alerts by radio and TV stations, said an EAS expert. That view was in the minority among those we interviewed Wednesday.
The White House included provisions on school and rural broadband, spectrum license fees, the FCC’s USF and more in its proposed $3.9 trillion 2015 budget, partially revealed Tuesday in a 218-page document and requiring the approval of Congress (http://1.usa.gov/1c5yFWg). It would include a $56 billion Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative, which promises funding toward various goals in this sphere. The administration will roll out its budget in two phases, the first of which started Tuesday, and then post some other parts a week later. Congressional Republicans have already complained of the broader details.
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.