An inmate at Central State Prison in Macon, Ga., sent a handwritten letter to the FCC urging the commission to “do away with the fees” for using the TTY system to communicate with family members (http://bit.ly/ZRqR3A). The letter-writer said he was writing on behalf of a hearing-impaired inmate “because I see what he goes through trying to speak with his family using the TTY system that never works properly.” Prisons make enough money charging for standard prison payphone services that they should exempt those with hearing disabilities from payment, the inmate said. The commission had sought comment on inmate use of TTYs in its December NPRM, noting that the record suggests TTY users have to pay additional fees to connect to a TTY relay operator (http://xrl.us/bn8bz9).
The Do Not Track bill introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Thursday would discourage growth in the Internet sector if enacted, said Daniel Castro, senior analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (http://bit.ly/WmaTxr). If passed, the bill’s provisions would harm the Internet economy’s success and growth, which “is rooted in the availability of access to free, ad-supported online content and services,” Castro said. Through tracking browsing history, advertisers can deliver more relevant ads to consumers, the group said. “Instead of demonizing legitimate online advertising practices, Congress should focus on meaningful efforts to protect user privacy that do not undermine the economic system that has supported decades of innovation on the Internet,” Castro said.
Sinclair Broadcasting and DirecTV agreed on a short-term extension of their existing retransmission consent agreement, which allows DirecTV to continue carrying all of Sinclair’s stations, Sinclair said in a press release (http://bit.ly/Z38yCI). The TV stations, including CBS affiliate WHPTV, Harrisburg, Pa. and ABC affiliate WCHS, Charleston, W.Va., will continue to be carried by DirecTV subscribers in those markets, the stations said on their websites (http://bit.ly/XGRbYf, http://bit.ly/WtKez7). Sinclair and DirecTV are still negotiating a formal agreement, Sinclair said.
Charter continued to push the FCC to let it out of some CableCARD requirements so it can begin deploying set-top boxes with downloadable security. In a seven-page letter to the FCC, Paul Glist, a Davis Wright partner who represents Charter on the matter, again spelled out the operators’ case for the requested waiver (http://bit.ly/Xsh7cg). The waiver will “position Charter with a software-based security as content providers grow more comfortable with not insisting on a hardware root of trust,” the letter said. “It directs limited investment funds wisely towards the new chipsets, the new servers, and the software based security to build the new common reliance platform,” the letter said. Glist, plus a Charter executive and Justin Lilley of TeleMedia Policy Corp., met with Media Bureau and Office of General Counsel officials last week to discuss the letter, it said.
The Mississippi Public Service Commission gave the FCC data to consider on misrepresentations of the state on the National Broadband Map. DeSoto County, Miss., documented “over 14,000 instances of unserved customers,” reported directly from county residents, said Commissioner Brandon Presley (http://bit.ly/13utlGu). He said his office is pursuing the same “fact finding” mission the county has. The National Broadband Map overstates the coverage in Mississippi, a disparity he hopes is corrected soon, he said. Presley and other Mississippi officials raised concerns about the map’s accuracy earlier this year, and NTIA acknowledged map inaccuracies but said concerns were resolved (CD Jan 10 p5).
BBC Worldwide submitted financial information to the FCC to bolster its request that it be let out of closed captioning requirements for its CBeebies channel, which targets children younger than six years old who speak Spanish. The financial information was redacted for public inspection, but BBC Worldwide questioned the utility of closed captions for such an audience. “Clearly, children at that age, regardless of language spoken, have little, if any reading ability,” it said (http://bit.ly/15nXjtN). “This is obviously an instance where the benefits of captioning will not offset the economic burden that would be imposed by a captioning requirement,” it said.
The state decision on whether to opt out of FirstNet “doesn’t happen today,” said NTIA Program Manager Laura Pettus Friday during a Broadband US TV discussion of the $7 billion national public safety network. She first described in a presentation followed by a conversation with several others the FirstNet implementation grant process that’s currently receiving applications. “We've heard from almost every state, that they plan to participate,” Pettus said. She said the more than $100 million in grants is “not a lot of money” when divided up but “extremely valuable” as an upfront infusion to kick off states’ stakeholder consultation process. “The opt-out decision happens down the line.” Even if a state opts out, the network it creates will still have to fold into what will be a nationwide network either way, she added. Participants debated FirstNet’s necessary level of hardening standards, its choice of LTE, potential collaboration with utilities and other entities, the sufficiency of funding and potential controversy over what attorney and co-moderator Marty Stern of K&L Gates called “a wireless carrier-centric approach” laid out at the FirstNet board’s first meeting last fall. Alcatel-Lucent Director-Mission Critical Broadband Solutions Michael Hardiman and Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials Chief Counsel Jeff Cohen said the network will primarily be used to transfer data but could include non-mission critical voice, useful as a backup. Cohen has heard guesses from vendors that mission-critical voice may be possible in four to 12 years, he said, saying there’s reason to be optimistic but no one can know for sure. Cohen spoke highly of the FirstNet board’s initial presentations on possible network design and credited them as part of its “excellent opportunity” to solicit feedback, captured in NTIA’s fall notice of inquiry. NTIA’s Pettus underscored the “priority of stakeholders” that the FirstNet board is considering, with a focus on public safety and state, local and tribal stakeholders now. “They're all a part of the plan,” she said, referring to the limitations of FirstNet’s “skeleton staff” now.
The FCC should hold separate workshops for broadcasters on the repacking and reimbursement aspects of its planned incentive spectrum auction, NAB Executive Vice President and General Counsel Jane Mago told aides to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, an ex parte notice shows (http://bit.ly/Yc2UA8).
Hedge fund Paulson & Co., MetroPCS’s largest shareholder, said Thursday it will vote against the carrier’s proposed merger with T-Mobile USA when shareholders meet March 28. Paulson owns 9.9 percent of MetroPCS. “While we believe in the strategic merits of the proposed combination, Paulson believes the pro forma company has too much debt at too high an interest rate to be competitive in the well-capitalized U.S. wireless industry,” Paulson Founder John Paulson said in a letter to the boards of MetroPCS and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom. “We believe MetroPCS is worth more as a stand-alone company as it will be free to pursue its successful standalone strategy while examining opportunities for higher value strategic transactions.” The combined carrier would have $23.2 billion in debt, an “onerously large amount” in Paulson’s opinion. The fund also took issue with what it sees as an unfair equity split. MetroPCS would contribute 42 percent of the value of the combined carrier, but its shareholders will only receive a 26 percent ownership stake, Paulson said. The fund would support the deal if the terms are changed to lower the combined carrier’s debt by $6.6 billion and lower its interest rate to 4.2 percent, Paulson said. A MetroPCS spokeswoman said the carrier will continue to pursue the merger, which it believes is “in the best interests” of the carrier and its shareholders. MetroPCS CEO Roger Linquist said in a statement Tuesday that he believes the merger will result in a combined carrier that “will have the expanded scale, spectrum and financial resources to compete aggressively with the other larger U.S. wireless carriers."
Telecom legislation is usually triggered by a general industry concern “that there needs to be a change in the industry,” said broadcast lawyer Toni Bush of Skadden Arps. The communications industry comes together and works with Congress, public interest groups and others to enact legislation, she said Thursday night at an FCBA continuing legal education event on the 1992 Cable Act. “The 1996 Telecom Act is exactly that kind of legislation.” Significant consumer outcry also can be a driver, which is what led to the 1992 Cable Act, she said. Must-carry and retransmission consent provisions are working the way they're supposed to, and there’s an increase in the number of independent programmers, she said. There are some lessons that the government should keep in mind when it looks at dynamic industries with a regulatory eye, said Paul Glist, a cable lawyer at Davis Wright. The market “is going to outpace regulation every time,” he said. “Congress thought prices were going up because there was no competition.” Today prices are increasing because of competition, he said. “No one can risk subscriber defection so we keep, as distributors, paying escalating prices for the content.” Glist also said rules create unintended consequences: “We still operate under outdated assumptions,” such as cable companies having to prove community-by-community that they face effective competition. Legacy rules don’t work for modern, complicated industries, Glist said. There’s a lot of controversy on retrans consent, said cable lawyer Seth Davidson of Edwards Wildman. One big concern about the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act is whether renewing it before it expires at the end of 2014 will be a vehicle for other issues, like retrans consent and compulsory licensing, he said. “We may end up with a short-term extension.” Bush said she doubts the Cablevision v. Viacom case will compel Congress to hold hearings on it. Cablevision’s lawsuit seeks a voiding of a carriage agreement it signed with Viacom over illegal “tying” allegations (CD Feb 27 p11). Congress is preoccupied and “nobody likes to get in the middle of a private lawsuit,” Bush said. The companies already cut a deal, so customers won’t lose service, she said.