Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., wants the FCC to “abandon” the “decades old” sports blackout rule barring subscription-video providers from showing games blacked out on TV stations, and wants the NFL to eliminate its policy, he wrote the commission. “The NFL’s defense of the blackout rule cites the rule’s financial significance,” he wrote FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski this week, citing the league’s comments on a petition to junk the rule (CD March 1 p3), “yet evidence is insufficient as the League does not publicly release financial statements.” The letter was released Wednesday as a reply filing to the petition in docket 12-3 (http://xrl.us/bmwmdm).
Three unopposed petitions for waiver of high-cost universal service filing deadlines were granted by the FCC Wireline Bureau Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bmwmc7). The carriers receiving the waivers are Midcontinent Communications, Citizens Tel Co-op, and Sprocket Wireless.
Verizon shares AT&T’s concerns about some proposed modifications to FCC international reporting requirements, Verizon said in an ex parte letter filed Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bmwmc3). The proposed changes, which would require reporting active and idle submarine cable circuit capacity on a cable-specific basis rather than on the currently required country-specific basis, “would require significant system modifications,” Verizon said. It said proposed changes related to cable system capacity should take into account that forecast information in Table 7 of the reporting form is “constantly subject to change and should be viewed as best estimates."
The FCC provided guidance Thursday to carriers which seek a conditional grant of forbearance as specified in the Lifeline reform order, said a public notice (http://xrl.us/bmwmcr). The notice said the commission would grant forbearance from the facilities requirement to all carriers seeking Lifeline-only eligible telecom carrier designation, subject to compliance with various 911 requirements, and Wireline Bureau approval of a compliance plan providing specific information. Lifeline-only carriers seeking a conditional grant of forbearance from the facilities requirement should submit a compliance plan that contains information about the carrier and Lifeline plans it intends to offer, and a detailed explanation of how the carrier will comply with: New rules on determinations of subscriber eligibility for Lifeline services; forbearance conditions relating to public safety and 911/E-911 access; and marketing and disclosure requirements for Lifeline participation. The carrier must also provide a detailed explanation of its efforts to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in connection with Lifeline funds.
The FCC granted three unopposed petitions for waiver of its study area boundary freeze, said a public notice released Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bmwmcp). The Wireline Bureau found that each of the three batches of petitioners -- Mid-Rivers Telephone Cooperative; Pine Drive Telephone Co. and Qwest; and Upper Peninsula Telephone Co. and Michigan Central Broadband Co. -- satisfied the three-pronged waiver standard in effect when the petitions were filed. To satisfy the test, petitioners demonstrated that the change in study area boundaries would not adversely affect the Universal Service Fund; the relevant state commission did not object to proposed transfers of various local exchanges; and the transfers were in the public interest.
Cablevision wants out of local rate regulation in 23 municipalities in New York because DirecTV and Dish Network’s DBS service are available there, and at least 15 percent of households buy TV service other than from the cable operator, the company said. The petition for an FCC finding of effective video competition covering areas including Atlantic Beach, East Fishkill, Old Westbury and Unionville was posted Wednesday in docket 12-1 (http://xrl.us/bmwm5x).
An FM translator owner reported “concerns over any proposed limits on the numbers of applications remaining from the 2003 FM translator window that can be processed” once the FCC determines priorities between the availability of those stations and low-power FM outlets. Educational Media Foundation executives shared those concerns at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville with Audio Division Chief Peter Doyle of the Media Bureau, which drafted an order on the filing window that the commission has tentatively set for a March 21 vote (CD March 1 p9). “Any cap on application processing will harm rural residents, as applications that are pending for rural areas are more likely to be dismissed so that those applications serving greater populations can be prosecuted,” EMF said. “A cap which applies only in LPFM spectrum-limited markets, where LPFM availability is more likely to be impacted, which is imposed on the number of grants in those markets as opposed to a cap on applications, is preferred, though EMF is opposed to all caps that do not allow a substantial number of the remaining applications from the 2003 window to be processed.” EMF’s filing posted Wednesday in docket 99-25 (http://xrl.us/bmwmbo) was five days late because the ex parte meeting was “at a remote location” and EMF’s representatives at the meeting had been traveling, it said.
TracFone said it withdrew a Dec. 1, 2010, petition for declaratory ruling on Lifeline and eligible telecom carrier issues in light of the FCC’s recent Lifeline reform order (CD Feb 1 p1). “In the Lifeline Reform Order, the Commission addressed some of the issues set forth in TracFone’s petition,” the company said (http://xrl.us/bmwk9m). “The Commission’s elimination of Link Up support to all ETCs on non-Tribal lands mooted TracFone’s request for a declaratory ruling confirming that an ETC is not eligible to receive Link Up benefits unless it ... imposes on its customers a customary charge for commencing telecommunications service.”
Mobile operators must do more to tackle consumer “bill shock,” the U.K. Office of Communications said Thursday. Its review into the causes of unexpectedly high phone bills found three main causes: (1) Downloading while traveling outside the EU, but also when using data in the U.K. via smartphones and other devices. (2) Use of mobile voice services in-country, mostly by exceeding inclusive allowances or calling numbers outside allowances. (3) Lost or stolen phones, where financial harm can be substantial. Ofcom also found low consumer awareness about how to protect themselves from bill shock, it said. The EU roaming regulation requires operators to set a cut-off limit once a customer’s mobile Internet bill hits euro 50 ($67) while travelling in the EU, Ofcom said. Ofcom and other regulators want to extend that rule to protect Europeans when they travel worldwide, it said. The EU is revamping the roaming regulation, but Ofcom wants U.K. mobile providers to voluntarily set worldwide financial caps and alerts before then, it said. If the EU doesn’t extend existing protections and if operators fail to agree on caps and alerts voluntarily, Ofcom said, it will consider intervening. The regulator also asked operators to do more to develop “opt-in” measures such as rates that let customers set their own caps or get alerts, it said. It’s also talking to them about introducing maximum liability limits for stolen or lost phones, and making their charges more transparent.
The FCC denied a waiver request by Springfield, Mo., which constructed a land mobile radio station in the 800 MHz band, years after the construction deadline passed. The city was supposed to complete construction of the facility in 2005. The station was built in 2011 instead and the city asked the FCC for a waiver. “We note that Springfield failed to timely file its request to extend or waive the construction deadline, therefore, its authorization terminated automatically on the date the construction period expired,” the Wireless Bureau said (http://xrl.us/bmwkxu). If the city wants to continue operating the station, it must ask for special temporary authority to do so, the bureau said.