The election of a German legislator to head the powerful European Parliament Industry Committee seems to have split Europe’s information and communication technology and e- communications industries. Telecom companies and ISPs fear that the chairman, Herbert Reul of the European People’s Party/Christian Democrats, will favor incumbent Deutsche Telekom, according to an ISP industry source. But DigitalEurope, the voice of the ICT industries, praised Reul’s experience in energy, climate-change and media issues, saying he'll understand technology opportunities.
Nominees to become FCC commissioners promised at a hearing Wednesday to keep the needs of consumers in mind as the commission takes up a new agenda under Chairman Julius Genachowski. Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said at the Senate Commerce Committee session that he considers the FCC one of the most important government agencies. He called it “broken” and in need of new leadership. “I believe it has lost sight of its mission: Helping all consumers benefit from the great explosion of communications technologies that are changing our economy,” Rockefeller said.
The window for applying for federal broadband stimulus funds opened Tuesday, though only for applications that are for less than $1 million and are delivered on paper, the NTIA said. The NTIA and the RUS won’t process electronic filings , which are required of all applications for more than $1 million, until month’s end, said NTIA spokesman Mark Tolbert. He said he didn’t know whether the agencies received any applications on Tuesday. Applications for the first round of awards are due by Aug. 14.
Verizon escalated a fight by major telcos against exclusive cable programming (CD June 5 p2) by asking the FCC to force Cablevision to let it distribute two HD channels with professional New York sports teams. In a program access complaint, the telco said the cable operator seeks to circumvent the so-called terrestrial loophole. Cablevision’s MSG unit transmits on Earth in HD the same programing it uses satellites for in standard definition, Verizon said.
The FCC should write detailed rules on 911 network competition, said public safety groups in comments responding to an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice. The notice arose out of two arbitrations involving interconnection disputes between competitive 911 network provider Intrado Communications and Embarq and Verizon (CD June 8 p6). However, some telecom companies said the broad issue of 911 competition should be dealt with in a separate proceeding.
A possible FCC decision to reconfigure video relay service rates may be illegal, said Sorenson Communications, the biggest U.S. VRS provider, in comments this week at the FCC. The commission is considering an early change to rates used to determine compensation for VRS under the interstate telecom relay service fund (CD June 26 p6). The agency is currently following a three-year interim rate plan set by the National Exchange Carrier Association in 2007.
Nine of 15 comments in the FCC’s inquiry on Arbitron devices (CD July 2 p11) to measure radio audiences said Portable People Meter methodology was flawed and/or that the commission should examine the methods, our review of docket 08-187 found. Four filings said no investigation was called for and/or that PPMs were OK. Two filings, one from the Media Ratings Council and another supporting that organization’s work, took no stance on those core issues. “Arbitron, the monopoly provider of radio audience measurement, has stopped measuring representative samples of minority audiences,” said the PPM Coalition, a group of minority radio organizations and broadcasters that sought the commission inquiry. “In its headlong rush to deploy its lucrative new product,” the company found “that accurately measuring minority audiences is too expensive,” it said. Even if the FCC had authority over PPMs, which Arbitron said it doesn’t, the devices “more reliably” measure listeners’ exposure to stations than paper-and-pencil diaries, the company said. “Congress has considered on multiple occasions whether to put media audience measurement services under federal government regulation, and just as often has rejected doing so,” Arbitron added. “The Commission itself has concluded that it lacks jurisdiction over services such as Arbitron’s.” Though the PPM system “can and should be improved,” Emmis said it believes rollout without delay is “vital” for the radio industry to compete with digital media. In any case, the commission lacks authority, the radio broadcaster added. Entercom, another owner of radio stations, said PPMs are the “best electronic radio audience measurement system” available and necessary to use because “many of our important customers” are “demanding” it. Section 403 of the Communications Act gives the regulator authority over PPMs, said the Media Access Project: “Were it necessary, the Commission has the power to compel Arbitron to submit information essential to the inquiry.”
Wariness is the watchword regarding FairPoint among state regulators in New England, where the telecom acquired Verizon operations, assuming a debt load FairPoint now is trying to restructure. In a June 24 filing to the SEC, FairPoint listed bankruptcy among options it could consider if a proposed debt exchange doesn’t succeed (CD July 1 p10). The exchange offer involves about $500 million in bonds at 13-1/8 percent interest.
Communications lawyers faced a recession-induced slump with fewer deals, less regulatory work and clients taking longer to pay bills in the first five months of 2009, a Communications Daily survey of 14 firms with media and telecom regulatory practices found. Corporate restructuring work largely took the place of traditional takeovers, as some firms left attorney vacancies unfilled and cut costs by other means, said firms we surveyed, which together employ almost 700 communications attorneys.
Arbitron’s use of the Portable People Meter is being investigated by the House Oversight Committee, Chairman Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., told the FCC in a recent letter. “I remain deeply concerned that without deliberate and timely investigations into this matter the increased use of PPM will further threaten the financial viability of minority targeted radio stations,” Towns said. He asked the FCC to provide the committee by Wednesday an update on the inquiry the commission began May 18 (CD May 19 p5). Arbitron “welcomes” the opportunity to discuss the effectiveness of its PPM technology, President Michael Skarzynski said in a statement. The company is gathering input from stakeholders and has made several improvements, he said, including increased targets for measuring the level of minority listeners in PPM samples. “We maintain an ongoing dialogue with broadcasters, industry groups, advertising agencies, the Federal Communications Commission, and Congress,” Skarzynski said.