In decisive victory for satellite TV industry, U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., Fri. ruled in favor of FCC regulations that allow renters to install DBS dishes and other types of TV antennas despite property owner opposition. Panel of 3 judges roundly rejected petitions by building owners, building managers, homeowner groups and real estate trade associations that challenged federal rules as unconstitutional and exceeding Commission’s authority. Judges also rejected petitioners’ claims that agency “acted capriciously and arbitrarily” in extending its original rules on over-the-air reception devices (OTARD) to renters in 1998 action. Although FCC’s statutory authority is, “of course, subject to limitations,” court ruled, “an OTARD rule that safeguards all viewers’ access to these services clearly falls within this limitation” in light of “Congress’s explicit (and exclusive) grant of jurisdiction to the Commission over direct-to-home satellite services and its broad responsibility to make communications services available to all individuals.”
Fellow CLECs expressed opposition while ILECs offered wary support for Mpower Communications’ proposal to establish alternative to ‘pick & choose’ provision for competitive interconnection (CD May 29 p5). Mpower plan would allow ILECs and CLECs to voluntarily enter “flexible contracts” that wouldn’t be subject to pick & choose requirement. Pick & choose lets CLECs opt into individual sections of contracts that ILECs sign with other CLECs. So-called “FLEX contracts” would be available to other CLECs but only on all-or-nothing basis. Mpower’s theory was that flexible contracts without pick & choose requirements would speed competition because ILECs would be more amenable to them.
Providing first glimpse of his public policy priorities, new FCC Comr. Copps teamed up with Comr. Tristani to lash out at Enforcement Bureau’s handling of 2 indecency complaints against radio stations. In separate statements issued Mon., Copps and Tristani criticized Enforcement Bureau for not aggressively investigating listener complaints filed against Chicago station WKQX(FM) and Burlington, N.C. station WDCG(FM). Copps and Tristani, 2 Democrats on Commission, called on Bureau to take more steps in enforcing broadcast indecency regulations, instead of dismissing many complaints because station didn’t provide record of what was broadcast. “Lack of information about what was said and when it was broadcast should not be allowed to derail our enforcement of the laws,” Copps said. “If something is said on the public airwaves, a strong argument can be made that it should be part of the public record.” Copps raised similar concerns in interview with Communications Daily last month (CD June 14 p1).
U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., handed decisive win to FCC Fri., upholding agency decision to remove carrier cost-recovery requirement as precondition to provision of Enhanced 911 service. To turn around slow rollout of E911 services, FCC had stripped away condition that wireless carriers didn’t have to meet E911 Phase 1 and Phase 2 requirements until guaranteed state or local govt. funding was in place. Action was driven by concern that cost-recovery requirement was slowing E911 deployment and that wireless carriers could recover such costs from subscribers because they weren’t rate-regulated. Rural carriers, including U.S. Cellular Corp., challenged FCC decision, based in part on concern that they had less dense subscriber base to pass on such costs to customers. In unanimous ruling written by Judge David Tatel, court concluded eliminating carrier cost recovery requirement “merely imposes the cost of E911 service on its beneficiaries.” Washington attorney Thomas Van Wazer, who argued case for U.S. Cellular, said carrier was “strongly” considering appeal to full 9-member D.C. Circuit.
BOSTON -- FCC Comr. Abernathy sent strong signal to Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) Mon. that she was reluctant to have MMDS and Instructional TV Fixed Service licensees tapped for 3rd generation wireless. “I am unwilling to jeopardize the rollout of wireless broadband services you are offering to consumers,” she told annual conference in her first speech before an industry convention as commissioner. “There are other options.” While Abernathy didn’t elaborate on other spectrum alternatives, she stressed importance of FCC’s moving quickly on 3G. “We owe you a prompt decision to eliminate the cloud that hangs over your particular spectrum,” she said.
FCC electronic filing requirements and procedures once again are under attack by attorneys and engineers who are required to use Consolidated Database System (CDBS) for most of their filings on behalf of clients. Making matters worse, according one lawyer, is that “there’s a complete lack of communication” on electronic filings between bureaus. Such communication is “absolutely necessary” for system to work, lawyer said, because, for example, Wireless Bureau handles broadcast auxiliary applications while Mass Media handles all other TV-radio applications. Principal complaint of lawyers was that attachments to electronically filed documents weren’t properly put with applications they referred to until days, sometimes weeks, later. Electronic filing system was criticized year ago (CD July 5 p1/00), and recently was shut down for overhaul (CD June 15 p10).
Sponsors of various campaign finance reform proposals made their cases Thurs. to House Administration Committee, whose members disagree on best approach to solution but are committed to marking up legislation as early as next week. Committee Chmn. Ney (R-Ohio) said House Speaker Hastert (R-Ill.) had made it clear that he wanted to bring campaign finance debate to House floor within one week after Congress returns from July 4 recess. Two panels, consisting solely of House members, presented solutions to campaign finance situation ranging from limited govt. oversight of broadcast ads to full public financing of federal campaigns.
New FCC Comr. Michael Copps brings to agency strong interest in international trade issues, fascination with challenges raised by changing technology and belief that one shouldn’t join FCC “with a controlling ideology.” In interview Wed. with Communications Daily, Copps appeared to walk line between market- oriented approach to many business issues and govt. activism on others such as mergers and broadcast content issues. He also revealed apparent fondness for phrasemaking. “Here I am at the FCC, the Future of the Country Commission,” he said at start of interview. Asked at end to categorize his special bent at agency, Copps, former history professor, said he thought there was room for lawyers, engineers and perhaps “a wayfaring historian” like himself.
FCC Technology Advisory Council (TAC) will focus on wireless issues, especially spectrum management, under new 2-year charter. Formed by Office of Engineering & Technology (OET) under Federal Advisory Committee Act, TAC brought together diverse group of academicians, scientists and chief technology officers (CTOs) of technology companies representing telecom, data networking, software, consumer electronics and amateur radio interests. Role of TAC is to advise Commission on technical issues, OET Deputy Chief Julius Knapp said at meeting Wed. “The FCC couldn’t always anticipate technology, but we found people in the industry often could.” Mission of TAC is to help FCC anticipate how technology “might affect policy issues in the future,” he said. In 2nd 2- year charter, TAC will continue work of first council emphasizing software-defined radio and improved spectral management and continued noise floor study, he said. New areas of study requested by FCC include: (1) Better understanding of advances in optical technology, capacity of optical networks, availability of broadband services, interconnection of networks. (2) Network security and technology to ensure network integrity and “robustness.” (3) Plethora of consumer wireless devices and how pieces fit together. “The challenge of these consumer devices are all the different ‘languages’ spoken by different devices -- much of it on unlicensed spectrum,” Knapp said. In discussion, TAC raised concept of wireless “bill of rights” begun in first council. “Regulation has been much like the 10 Commandments -- there are too many ’thou shall nots’,” TAC Chmn. Robert Lucky said. Instead TAC began to think of wireless regulation in terms of rules of what wireless devices should be able to do, he said. In proposed bill of rights, first fundamental right of all wireless devices is “to transmit at any frequency at any power as long as it doesn’t interfere with any other wireless device.” The rest of admittedly unfinished bill of rights “deals with ‘how do you know you're not interfering?'” Lucky joked. Bill of rights concept could move licensing away from “ability to exclude others” to set of protocols to allow innovation by manufacturers within certain parameters, Motorola CTO Dennis Roberson. On goal of efficient spectrum sharing and management, industry must create “self-aware” devices that are aware of other wireless devices, he said. Several members warned FCC against too-rapid regulation of unlicensed spectrum used by wireless LANs and other devices. “These unlicensed radios, mostly low cost and short range, have a potential to become a pervasive part of communications… and will melt down because there isn’t enough spectrum,” Lucky said. Proxim CTO Kevin Negus said problems “aren’t fatal and new wireless products will thrive in the market based on their ability to work in crowded spectrum.”
CHICAGO -- Group representing small cable operators urged FCC to investigate retransmission consent practices of major broadcast networks and take steps to curb “tying” of retransmission-consent rights to carriage of networks’ cable channels. Picking up cause publicly embraced and then quickly abandoned by major MSOs and NCTA last spring, American Cable Assn. (ACA) charged that such media conglomerates as Disney/ABC, News Corp./Fox Network, GE/NBC and Hearst-Argyle had forced “costly tying arrangements on smaller cable companies,” making them carry unwanted cable networks. ACA, which represents 931 cable operators with total of 7.5 million subscribers, also charged that broadcaster-owned cable networks had taken control over retransmission consent rights from broadcasters’ own local stations. “By themselves, ACA and its members have not been successful in changing the behavior of media conglomerates like Disney, News Corp. and others,” group said in FCC filing purportedly on DTV must-carry rules earlier this week. “To the contrary, retransmission consent tying is getting worse.”