NCTA and Verizon squared off over an FCC order to ban exclusive agreements between apartment buildings and video providers for pay TV (CD Oct 22 p4). Verizon said cable arguments that the commission lacks authority to intervene are bogus, citing section 628 of the Communications Act. The company said NCTA and some of its members made “a variety of misplaced arguments” on the order, circulated in September by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. It would bar future and existing exclusives between any company and multiple dwelling units, and may be voted on Oct. 31. Such deals, Verizon said, “foreclose residents of MDUs from obtaining access to a competitive option, often for long periods of time.” In a filing late Wednesday, NCTA said FCC action would be “inappropriate and counterproductive.” A ban would overstep the commission’s legal authority, said NCTA. It said section 628 of the Act is directed at program access and doesn’t give the commission “broad, roving authority to prohibit any practices that, in its view, unfairly affect competition” among video providers. In separate letters to the FCC, the Communication Workers of America and a consortium of public- interest groups said they supported FCC action. But the commission may want to exempt from new rules exclusives between landlords and cable overbuilders or new video entrants, said a filing from the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, New America Foundation and others.
Council Tree, along with Bethel Native Corporation and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, asked the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to force the FCC to rule on their petition for reconsideration on the rules for the advanced wireless services auction, which has been pending since April 2006. Council Tree, on its own, asked the court to review the rules FCC is putting in place for the 700 MHz auction, which are largely based on the AWS auction rules. The pleadings leave open the possibility the court could overturn the AWS auction and delay the 700 MHz auction, scheduled to begin Jan. 24.
The fight over the XM-Sirius merger, playing out at the FCC, demonstrates the need for the FCC to develop some way of distinguishing whether comments filed are phony or real, Andrew Schwartzman, CEO of the Media Access Project, said Monday. Schwartzman, whose group opposes the merger, was one of several speakers during a debate sponsored by the D.C. Bar Association.
Verizon Wireless clashed Wednesday with consumer advocates at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on wireless industry consumer practices. Committee members disagreed other sharply, mostly along party lines. Democratic members largely agreed on the need for legislation like that proposed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Jay Rockefeller, D- W.Va., to protect consumers.
An exemption giving the FCC, not the Federal Trade Commission, jurisdiction over communications companies as common carriers no longer may make sense given telco deregulation and convergence of communications technologies, panelists said Wednesday at a Federal Communications Bar Association lunch. Recent FCC forbearance decisions and service bundling by telcos and cable companies can complicate assignment of jurisdiction, they said.
DALLAS -- As a late Thursday deadline approached for the FCC to act on a broadband forbearance petition filed by AT&T, competitive local exchange companies were urging those at the CompTel convention in Dallas to be more vocal at the FCC about their opposition to all types of forbearance requests showing up at the agency. Panelists said the process used at the FCC to consider forbearance petitions can’t be what Congress envisioned when it gave the FCC forbearance authority in Section 10 of the Telecom Act.
Pressure against unlicensed portable broadband devices gained with stepped-up lobbying this week by cable operators against white space devices. The NCTA for the first time Tuesday began lobbying commissioners’ offices to make the case that power levels for proposed devices are too high, said officials. It fears white-space transmissions could hinder reception of cable channels by interfering with TV sets, VCRs and other gear that lets subscribers get pay TV, said Vice President and Associate General Counsel Loretta Polk. Cox Communications also made the eighth-floor rounds this week.
The FCC has “tentatively concluded” that it should revise rules on access tariffs to ensure they remain “just and reasonable” in light of alleged “access stimulation” efforts by rural phone companies. The rulemaking targets what some call “traffic pumping.” It occurs when companies such as free calling services generate high volumes of traffic for rural telecom carriers, which then increase access charges paid by long distance companies that transport the increased traffic to the local carriers’ service areas.
The telecom industry argued vehemently against modifying special access rules in a House Telecom Subcommittee hearing Tuesday, as Democratic leaders pushed for new pricing policies. Democratic leaders also condemned the FCC’s forbearance petition policies as lacking transparency, preventing Congress from exercising “appropriate” oversight. “Unacceptable,” House Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D- Mich., said in a back-and-forth discussion with Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke.
The Swiss Federal Communications Commission awarded a national mobile TV broadcast license to Swisscom Broadcast, the agency said Friday. DVB-H likely will be used. The ten- year license is for an 8-MHz broadcast channel in each of the 12 Swiss service areas. Swisscom Broadcast must reach 44% of the population by May 2008 and 60% by the end of 2012. Radio and TV will use at least 70% of transmission capacity. The 2008 European Football Championship, the first show, will be transmitted to the larger Swiss cities. Most of the build- out will use existing antenna sites, the agency said.