T-Mobile disputed arguments made by AT&T Thursday on a Department of Justice filing on spectrum aggregation and competition (CD April 26 p6). “T-Mobile agrees with the competition experts at the Department of Justice,” said Tom Sugrue, T-Mobile senior vice president. “We also stand behind our comments at the FCC advocating for strong competitive rules in the upcoming broadcast incentive auction. The position AT&T is taking is predictable and defensive. It is consistent with the behavior of a player that is afraid of competition or losing its customers."
The FCC Media Bureau approved the assignment 26 radio stations licensed to Cox Radio to SummitMedia and Connoisseur Media. The bureau also denied a petition to deny the assignment from Citizens for Equity in Taxation. CET argued that the applications will be part of a like-kind exchange and “that their grant will offer tax avoidance benefits to Cox,” the bureau said in an order (http://bit.ly/14lrXac). The Internal Revenue Service “expressly has approved the use of like-kind exchanges in transactions involving broadcast properties,” it said. The FCC “has not previously found the fact that a transaction involved a like-kind exchange to be of concern."
The FCC Media Bureau granted three Comcast petitions Friday to exempt the cable provider from municipal rate-setting for basic-video and some other prices in three communities in Maryland (http://bit.ly/ZpRLhK), six in Pennsylvania (http://bit.ly/17n8NPh) and 11 in Illinois (http://bit.ly/11Konky), said FCC filings Friday. All three Comcast petitions cited video competition from DirecTV and Dish Network. The deregulation in Maryland will affect just under 6,000 households, including the towns of Aberdeen and Bel Air. The deregulation in Pennsylvania will affect just under 17,000 households, including the communities of East Donegal, West Hempfield and West Pennsboro. The deregulation in Illinois will affect around 62,000 households in communities such as Springfield, Chatham and Pawnee.
Beasley Broadcast Group announced on Friday a $1.5 million rise in revenue for Q1, over the same period in 2012. In a release, the company said the 6.5 percent increase “reflects strength in the Company’s Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Fort Myers market clusters.” The company said the higher revenue offset a $1.2 million, or 7.7 percent, increase in station operating expenses during the same period. Beasley said it made debt repayments totaling $1 million during Q1, and “expects to record a loss on extinguishment of debt of approximately $1.3 million in the quarter ending June 30, 2013.” CEO George Beasley said the company has reduced its “leverage ratio to its lowest level in over ten years” and “intends to continue deploying cash from operations to further reduce debt and pursue other initiatives that can enhance shareholder value."
Comcast launched its new Xfinity Wireless Gateway Friday, and increased the speeds for two of its Xfinity Internet plans, it said in a press release. “Today, there are nearly six connected devices for every U.S. home with Internet service and that is only going to increase in the future, which is why we continue to increase speeds on a regular basis,” said Comcast Senior Vice President-Data Rob Slinkard. Comcast said the Xfinity Wireless Gateway combines a wireless router, cable modem and voice adapter into a single device, and uses the 5.0 GHz channel to provide transfer speeds of up to 270 Mbps. Comcast also said its “Blast!” plan increased from “25 Mbps to 50 Mbps downstream and from 4 Mbps to 10 Mbps upstream,” while its “Extreme 50” plan increased from “50 Mbps to 105 Mbps downstream and from 15 Mbps to 20 Mbps upstream."
David Tennenhouse, vice president-technology policy at Microsoft, explained in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai what Tennenhouse sees as the importance of providing unlicensed spectrum in the TV bands, including in the guard bands and the duplex gap. Tennenhouse also discussed in a meeting with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn the importance of making the 3.5 GHz band available for small cell use. Specifically, Tennenhouse “highlighted the importance of not enlarging the Priority Access tier to the detriment of the General Authorized Access tier,” a filing said. Microsoft made an ex parte filing disclosing both meetings. “Mr. Tennenhouse discussed the growing demand for broadband and the importance of using spectrum more efficiently through techniques such as dynamic spectrum sharing and leveraging databases,” the filing said (http://bit.ly/13zVusA).
The Computer & Communications Industry Association said Thursday it’s encouraged by recent remarks from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., that “hinted at” future legislation to address “patent trolling.” “We are encouraged to hear that the growing patent troll problem is not only on the radar of the president and key committee chairs in both the house and the senate, but that they are ready to take action to reduce unwarranted lawsuits that are harming innovators and our economy,” CCIA CEO Ed Black said in an emailed statement. In a Thursday release, Leahy said, “There is more Congress can do to improve the patent system and address the problem of patent trolling, by increasing transparency and accountability” (http://1.usa.gov/15MHv73). Leahy commemorated Friday’s World Intellectual Property Day, and said “as lawmakers, our goal must be to provide strong and effective protections for creators, while ensuring that their creations can be appreciated, used, and enjoyed.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center said in a statement Friday there remains “much work to be done” on IP (http://bit.ly/15MHEHv).
Arianespace successfully launched Russia’s Glonass-M satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. The satellite was launched on a Soyuz launch vehicle, Arianespace said in a press release (http://bit.ly/14ljrI5). The government satellite “was accurately placed on the target orbit,” it said. It was the sixth Soyuz family mission this year, it said.
The FCC should provide support for loops used to provide standalone broadband services, NTCA, the South Dakota Telecommunications Association, Venture and Golden West told aides to commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel Tuesday (http://bit.ly/ZTnnI1). The commission “clearly grasped” the need to update its rules in the USF/intercarrier compensation order, and took steps to implement the policy for larger carriers via the Connect America Fund, the groups’ ex parte filing said. But “this unmistakably clear, forward-looking vision in the text” of the order “did not carry through as a mechanical matter to the specific rules that govern distribution of universal service support for smaller carriers,” it said. The groups also warned of the “cumulative effect” of reporting requirements on small service providers, which takes up significant employee time toward administrative reporting rather than service delivery, they said. Accountability is important, but small carriers often can’t bear the burden, they said. The groups also said rural call completion issues still persist. The Enforcement Bureau should “take prompt action to sanction publicly and forcefully” parties that don’t route calls properly, they said. In a related meeting Monday with Commissioner Ajit Pai, NTCA urged the commission to act on a long-pending reconsideration petition regarding the “flash-cut elimination” of Safety Net Additive support for those that had previously qualified (http://bit.ly/1204VPo).
NEP Wireless is the first winning bidder in the FCC’s Mobility Fund Phase I auction cleared by the FCC to receive a reimbursement from the fund, the Rural Telecommunications Group said Friday. “NEP Wireless successfully bid on seven Census Tracts in Auction 901 based on a commitment to build-out 4G LTE services in currently unserved portions of Wayne and Susquehanna Counties in rural northeast Pennsylvania,” RTG said (http://bit.ly/ZT7pxz). “The FCC’s initial disbursement of Mobility Fund Phase I support is equal to one-third of NEP’s total winning bid amount of $6,179,238.90."