The FCC unanimously approved a declaratory ruling designed to speed up siting of towers and other wireless facilities. It had been sought by CTIA and wireless carriers. Commission officials cited data that showed local governments have been slow to act on siting applications.
Joshua Cinelli, ex-New York Daily News, becomes media adviser to FCC Commissioner Michael Copps; Interim media advisor Jamilla Bess Johnson to remain for now in Copps’ office … Susan Miller, ex-Intelsat General, becomes CEO of Spacenet’s government solutions division … Connoisseur Media promotes David Bevins to chief operating officer … Oregon Public Utility Commission Chairman Lee Beyer to step down in spring 2010 to run for state Senate, before his term expires in March 2012 … Gary Ginsberg, News Corp. executive vice president, marketing and corporate affairs, to leave at year-end … Telecom consultant Gregory Duncan joins Brattle Group’s litigation practice … Steven Cox, ex- DirecTV, becomes Move Networks executive vice president, strategy and business affairs … Linda Havard to step down as Playboy Entertainment chief financial officer at year’s end … Ben Hoffman, ex-Clear Channel Radio, hired by Regent Communications as interactive sales director, new job … Maxie Jackson to leave WNYC to become president and CEO of National Federation of Community Broadcasters in January.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated late Thursday a revised version of an order that would impose a shot clock for wireless tower siting decisions, FCC officials said Thursday. Meanwhile, CTIA has put on a full-court press asking the FCC to reduce the deadline for making decisions on co-location applications, but those efforts are likely to fail, FCC officials said. The revised order is expected to have broad support among commissioners.
FCC members urged industry, government and public safety officials to pull together to finish the nationwide interoperable public safety network that’s been in limbo since 2001. At an agency field hearing Thursday at Georgetown University, Commissioner Michael Copps said he hopes and expects the National Broadband Plan will provide “some real compass direction on how the spectrum should be used to bring our public safety hopes to reality.” The plan provides “as good a shot at getting a broadband public safety network up as we're going to have for a long, long time,” but that doesn’t guarantee the opportunity will be seized, he said.
Congress has no pressing reason to approve a bill regulating behavioral targeting this year, government and industry lawyers told a Practising Law Institute audience Thursday. One of the biggest impediments to a bill going through is the plight of media companies and their reputations with readers, said Sherrese Smith, aide to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and former general counsel for Washington Post Digital; and Google Senior Product Counsel Mike Yang.
Native Public Media and the National Congress of American Indians want the FCC to set up a native nations/FCC broadband task force, they said in comments to the commission on a notice seeking comment on high-speed access on tribal lands. They also asked the FCC to create a special tribal office, to reserve seats on the Federal State Board on Universal Service for tribal members and to create an Enhanced Tribal Lands Broadband Fund Program under the Universal Service Fund. Tribes should have priority access to spectrum and the FCC should remove barriers that would keep Native Americans from using the TV white spaces for broadband, they said.
Section 271 interconnection prices charged by Qwest, AT&T and Verizon are unreasonable and unlawful, said a coalition of competitive carriers that rely on the incumbents’ unbundled network elements. In a petition Monday, CompTel, Sprint Nextel, TW Telecom and six other competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) urged the FCC to adopt rules guiding enforcement of the big carriers’ Section 271 obligations under the 1996 Telecom Act. USTelecom condemned the petition as unnecessary and counterproductive to the commission’s promotion of broadband.
The Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC) slammed wireless carrier arguments that they need an additional 800 MHz of spectrum to address industry needs. The charge came in reply comments on the FCC’s wireless innovation inquiry. The public interest groups said carriers have a role to play, but the public is better served in many cases by free service using unlicensed spectrum. Carriers led by CTIA fired back, saying licensed services alone will guarantee network build out and innovation. “The filings definitely show two different world views,” said a wireless industry source. “The FCC under [Julius] Genachowski is going to have to walk a fine line if it wants to accommodate both.”
Draft universal service reform legislation announced Friday would cover broadband, expand the contribution base and cap high-cost support, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher D-Va., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. This is the third round of legislation the two lawmakers have worked on, and comes after months of negotiations among industry and regional regulators. “The Universal Service Fund is broken,” said Boucher and Terry. Consumers will pay more than 14 percent of long-distance revenue into the fund next year, up from 12 percent in 2009, they said. A hearing on the draft is planned for Nov. 17.
The FCC and the Transportation Department plan to jointly study solutions to distracted driving, they said at a House subcommittee hearing Wednesday. Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said he has no position on bills that have been introduced to encourage states to adopt laws outlawing texting while driving. The FCC plans to study technological solutions, he said. The commission and DOT plan a workshop in the next few weeks bringing in industry, safety and technology experts to examine technology approaches, he said. The FCC is “not asking for more authority and is not proposing new rules,” Genachowski told Rep. John Dingell, D- Mich., who expressed skepticism about passing legislation.