NTIA and the FCC should take quick action to make spectrum in the 1755-1850 MHz band available as quickly as possible, to meet carriers growing need for more spectrum, said Tony Russo, T-Mobile vice president-federal legislative affairs, in a Friday blog post (http://xrl.us/bmwqd8). Russo said it was disappointing that provisions mandating the auction of the band were stripped from recently enacted spectrum legislation at the urging of the Pentagon. “The band is significantly underutilized by the Department of Defense today, and we are confident that through a combination of relocating government systems to other frequencies (fully paid for from the proceeds of the auction) and, in certain cases, sharing the band between government and commercial users, we can make this spectrum available for mobile broadband services for the American people,” Russo said. “An auction will bring in tens of billions of dollars to the U.S. Treasury, almost twice as much as other non-internationally harmonized spectrum that has been identified for sale. And unlike the broadcast bands subject to the incentive auction provisions of the new law, the government spectrum could be brought to market in the relatively near future because of the viability of commercial-government band sharing.”
BendBroadband said its data center, which it calls “the Vault,” passed an audit on its compliance with a Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16 (SSAE 16) without exception. “We recognize that by successfully passing the SSAE 16 audit our customers are assured of the effectiveness of the Vault’s data security and internal control systems,” said Leonard Weitman, vice president of technical operations for BendBroadband.
The House Commerce Committee said it plans to vote on FCC reform legislation at a Monday markup. It’s in Room 2123, Rayburn Building, starting at 4 p.m. with opening statements only and then continuing Tuesday at 10 a.m. The committee will consider HR-3309, the broad reform bill by Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and HR-3310, the bill by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., to consolidate many of the FCC’s reports.
The U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit won’t hold off on hearing a challenge to the FCC’s December 2010 net neutrality order until the agency acts on petitions for reconsideration, a panel of D.C. Circuit judges said in an order released Thursday. The order further indicated that the case will be heard. It was signed by Judges Karen Henderson, David Tatel and Thomas Griffith. The three make up a motions panel and may not be the panel that hears the appeal. In October, the D.C. Circuit was picked in a lottery as the court that would hear a consolidated challenge of the order.
NTIA plans to cooperate with the House Commerce Committee’s request for documents related to the LightSquared network, the agency’s spokeswoman said Thursday. The FCC pledged Tuesday that it would respond (CD Feb 29 p1). It’s still unclear whether the FCC divulging documents to House Commerce will satisfy Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has placed a hold on commissioner nominees Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai until he receives the LightSquared documents himself. The request and the agency’s public intention to cooperate initiate what could be prolonged negotiations, said a congressional aide. Generally, congressional committees are willing to share the results of document request with other offices without any additional procedural steps, the aide said. Still, the FCC could seek to prevent other offices from gaining access to the documents as part of informal negotiations with the Commerce Committee, though that may be difficult, the aide said. Another question mark is the content of the FCC’s response. “They have to be the right documents,” a government official said. “It has to be what Grassley wants. The House seems to be asking for similar things, but if [Grassley] thinks that the FCC still hasn’t produced documents that he thinks exist … he'd be less inclined to lift the hold.”
NBC News will introduce a new 24-hour radio news network with Dial Global, the companies said. “This alliance presents NBC News and opportunity to deliver our high-quality journalism to even more news consumers,” NBC News President Steve Capus said.
Fisher Communications Q4 sales fell 19 percent from a year earlier to $46.3 million, the company said. Excluding political ads, sales at its TV stations would have increased 9 percent to $34.5 million, Fisher said. TV station cash flow fell 46 percent to $7.1 million on lower political ad sales. Sales at Fisher’s radio stations fell 18 percent to $5.5 million. Total profit rose to $33.1 million from $8.3 million on the sale of real estate in Seattle. Shares gained 4.6 percent Thursday.
Martha Stewart Omnimedia Q4 sales fell 15 percent from a year earlier to $61.7 million, the company said. Broadcasting unit sales fell 40 percent to $9.7 million. That decline was “anticipated in light of lower programming and advertising revenue,” the company said. Profit of $4.2 million rose about 2 percent. Shares fell 4.7 percent Thursday.
The licensee of WVLA-TV Baton Rouge will terminate its retransmission consent agreement with Bailey Cable on March 29 if Bailey doesn’t make its retrans payments and subscriber reports for the months of October 2011 through December 2011, a letter from its counsel to the FCC said (http://xrl.us/bmwmuy). The ultimatum was prompted by a query from a Media Bureau official into the status of the station’s carriage on the Bailey’s system, said the letter from Knight Broadcasting’s counsel. The two companies reached an extension Feb. 3, the letter said. However, “in reviewing White Knight’s records to prepare this response, White Knight discovered that Bailey is in default under the parties’ retransmission consent agreement,” it said. A Bailey executive had no immediate response.
Puerto Rico Cable Acquisition Corp. said it received 10 requests for CableCARDs from its subscribers in 2011. The company, which does business as Choice Cable TV, said in a report (http://xrl.us/bmwmud) to the FCC that by the end of 2011 it had deployed 12 CableCARDs for use in retail devices in its service area.