The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should deny Discovery Communications’ motion for permission to intervene on behalf of the FCC and argue against Sky Angel’s petition for writ of mandamus, Sky Angel asked the court. Sky Angel has asked the court to force the agency to act on its long-pending program access complaint against Discovery. “Because the court is being asked to analyze the FCC’s continuing failure to act, not the merits of the program access dispute, Discovery’s rights will not be ‘directly affected’ by the Court’s action,” Sky Angel said. Only the commission knows how it will justify its delay, Sky Angel said. “Only the FCC, not Discovery, is in a position to set forth why it has not reached a decision in the complaint proceeding despite a statutory directive to act expeditiously."
The Universal Service Fund contribution factor will decrease to 17.4 percent for Q2, the FCC said Tuesday, from a Q1 factor of 17.9 percent. The Universal Service Administrative Co. determined the contribution factor by dividing the projected total program collection of $2.4 billion by the projected adjusted quarterly contribution base of $13.9 billion, and then rounding up to the nearest tenth of a percent. NTCA Senior Vice President Michael Romano said fluctuations in the contribution factor from quarter to quarter cannot mask the need for comprehensive contribution reform. “While some may paint with a broad brush, the fact is that the high-cost portion of the federal universal service program has not increased materially in several years -- the most significant growth in demand has come from other parts of the fund,” he told us. “Until the FCC addresses in a targeted way these specific demand issues and until it reforms the contribution mechanism to ensure that all who use broadband-capable networks contribute to their availability and affordability, these concerns will linger and debate will recur every calendar quarter."
SeaChange said Rogers Communications is using its dynamic ad insertion technology to put fresh ads into VOD programming. SeaChange said Rogers is the first North American cable operator that can insert mid-stream VOD ads.
A Sprint Nextel spokesman declined to comment on reports the company’s board is keeping close tabs on CEO Dan Hesse. Sprint’s major investors have reportedly voiced concerns that the company’s management, led by Hesse, isn’t up to the job, despite improvements in subscriber additions. The reports, however, claimed that the board remains confident in Hesse.
TechAmerica named Shawn Osborne its new president and CEO, the trade group said Tuesday. Osborne is the former president, CEO and director of telecom software company Utilicom. TechAmerica appointed Daniel Varroney interim CEO in October following the departure of longtime chief Phil Bond.
Utah legislation that prohibits state regulation of VoIP services recently passed the House and Senate and is awaiting Republican Governor Gary Herbert’s final say. SB-229 is sponsored by Republican state representative John Dougall. The regulatory prohibition doesn’t affect or limit the enforcement of criminal or civil laws, including consumer protection and unfair or deceptive trade practice laws, the bill text said. The prohibition doesn’t affect the assessment of taxes, 911 fees, the Universal Service Fund, telecom relay or public utility regulatory fees.
Boeing said it will build four satellites for Asia Broadcast Satellite and Satélites Mexicanos through a joint procurement between ABS and Satmex. The first two satellites, named ABS-3A and Satmex 7, will be delivered late 2014 or early 2015, Boeing said Tuesday. The names and launch plans for the other two satellites will be announced later, said Boeing. The deal “shows that regional operators can cooperate to achieve the same economies of scale previously enjoyed by the global operators,” said Thomas Choi, CEO of ABS. “The new satellite, ABS-3A, will allow the extension of C- and Ku-band services into the Atlantic Ocean region for our existing customers, and will allow us to diversify our market base for our future growth.” Satmex 7, a C- and Ku-band satellite, “will expand our fleet to three satellites covering the Americas,” said Patricio Northland, CEO of Satmex. The deal includes an option for an additional four satellites, Boeing said. The satellites will use electric propulsion, rather than chemical propulsion, allowing much lighter satellites or additional transponders. The electric satellites allow “tremendous savings in terms of mass,” Boeing Satellite Systems President Stephen O'Neill said at the Satellite 2012 conference. Electric propulsion “gives a different cost equation” for its customers, he said. SpaceX said it will launch the satellites from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
AT&T Nevada plans to replace its copper facilities along a portion of Route 4 in Stagecoach, Nev., with fiber fed digital loop carrier systems, according to a short term network change notification filed with the FCC Wireline Bureau (http://xrl.us/bmxz6m). The network modification is required to accommodate a Nevada Department of Transportation road improvement project.
The Media Bureau said it tentatively agreed with Comcast that a condition in last year’s FCC order letting the company buy control of NBCUniversal “contemplates” that online video distributors seeking access to the combined company’s shows under a benchmark condition would disclose carriage deals with other traditional distributors. “Because the Benchmark Condition does not expressly specify the manner in which the disclosure will be made, however, we tentatively agree that clarification is needed with respect to the Benchmark Condition” in the Comcast/NBCUniversal order, the bureau said in a public notice Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bmxz6q). It sought comment -- as expected (CD March 3 p3) -- on the merged company’s request that the agency expand the type of people who can view such OVD programming deals, given an existing FCC protection order “expressly limits disclosure to outside counsel and outside experts.” Comments on Comcast and NBCUniversal’s request for a new protective order are due in docket 10-56 March 27, replies April 3, and the notice said the bureau will consider oppositions already filed to the request by an OVD and by six distributors as responses.
Senators should highlight competition enabled by the Verizon/CableCo deal in next week’s Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, Precursor President Scott Cleland said in a note Tuesday. He suggested that senators ask whether potential wireless competition by cable can really be considered potential if it’s not economic or sustainable. “Why shouldn’t new real actual competition enabled by this agreement (in the form of wireless being added to the cable bundle, and cable being offered in a Verizon Wireless bundle) outweigh speculative harms of uneconomic potential competition?” Among other questions, senators should ask if the FCC would be exceeding its legal authority in considering antitrust issues and if it’s being “arbitrary and capricious … in slow-rolling the transfer of much-needed fallow spectrum, and forcing inappropriate public transparency on commercially sensitive information,” Cleland said. The hearing is March 21 in Room 226, Dirksen Building.