The U.K. spectrum auction brought in average bids of only $0.64 per MHz/POP for 60 MHz of the 800 MHz-band spectrum up for sale, well below $1.28 MHz/POP paid for 700 MHz licenses in the U.S. five years ago. Prices for other spectrum sold in the U.K. auction that closed last week (CD Feb 21 p21) were even lower: 140 MHz of 2.6 GHz-band paired licenses sold for $0.13 per MHz/POP and 45 MHz of 2.6 GHz unpaired licenses at just $0.04 per MHz/POP. New Street Research said in a Friday research note that several factors explain why U.K. prices were lower than for comparable U.S. auctions. The U.K. has both more spectrum supply and less demand, the firm said. “The US has 3x the voice traffic and 2x the data traffic per POP,” it said. “When coupled with the fact that the US has less spectrum in total, this has two implications: first, it lowers the value of any new spectrum coming to market in the UK; second, it significantly lowers the value of marginal spectrum (like 2.5 GHz) relative to more ‘mainstream’ spectrum (like 700/800MHz or AWS).” New Street also cited the generally low profits seen by U.K. carriers and the auction structure. “Auction rules were set so that Hutchison could acquire at least 2x5MHz of 800MHz spectrum at a low reserve price of $0.56/MHz-POP. This likely also depressed aggregate auction prices for the 800 MHz band by reducing the starting price and the bidding tension for the other operator,” the report said.
The FTC would take the hit on Freedom of Information Act request fees when it doesn’t give requesters a “timely” response, the agency said in proposed amendments to its fee rule and accompanying fee schedule for FOIA requests. In a Federal Register notice seeking comment on the proposed changes (http://1.usa.gov/138e4dU), the agency said it proposes to prohibit “certain fees” when its responses aren’t timely; clarify how duplication fees are determined; waive fees if the “total chargeable amount” is under $25; update fees for microfiche and photocopying; add new categories for information on DVDs, CDs and videotapes; increase Express Mail delivery fees to reflect “actual agency costs” and fees for providing formal certification services; add “descriptive information” about FOIA requesters’ categories; clarify certain public materials are free; and update information on how the FTC can collect FOIA-related debts. Comments are due March 29 (http://bit.ly/YpEGiR). The agency also said Thursday it issued a final rule updating its FOIA contact information and addressing other FOIA-related “technical amendments” (http://1.usa.gov/13obGeG), implementing the Open Government Act to “more accurately reflect new FOIA services” it provides and make the process “more transparent to the public,” the FTC said in a release Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/WVgXd8). Public workshop transcripts and materials will now be part of the public record, the agency said.
Clarification: ISP-affiliated content exempted from some bandwidth caps is sent from providers’ own networks to subscribers rather than from the public Internet, said Vice President-Government Relations Cathy Sloan of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CD Feb 21 p5).
Cablevision customers will soon see a $3 monthly surcharge to cover some of the cable operators’ sports programming costs, it said. The cable operator noted it has not increased cable TV rates since late 2010 and the $3 a month covers only a fraction of its overall sports programming payments. The fee will appear on customers’ bills in April, it said. “Unfortunately, the rising cost of programming has resulted in this sports surcharge, which is similar to those introduced by other TV providers,” said Bradley Feldman, vice president-video product management for Cablevision.
The licensee of WPDE-TV Florence, S.C., asked the FCC to add its station’s signal to the significantly viewed list for six South Carolina communities including Georgetown, Murrells Inlet and Hemingway. The ABC affiliate meets the standard for network stations and qualifies for an exception to the FCC’s network non-duplication and syndicated program exclusivity rules, Barrington Myrtle Beach License LLC said (http://bit.ly/UNxiSq). The station exceeds all the required viewing levels in the communities in question by at least one standard error, it said.
The FCC should revise program access rules for buying groups, the American Cable Association told agency officials in a presentation. It was attended by ACA’s outside economist and an executive at the No. 1 U.S. co-op that negotiates carriage deals with programmers for multiple members. ACA and members have sought to enlarge such groups’ rights, commenting on a rulemaking notice on expanding some rules for pay-TV providers to get deals to show channels affiliated with cable operators (CD Jan 16 p7). The National Cable Television Cooperative satisfies none of the current commission buying group requirements, but does meet one proposed in the rulemaking, ACA’s presentation said. “The buying group agrees to assume liability to forward all payments due and received from its members for payment under a master agreement to the appropriate programmer.” Rules now “contravene the clear intent of Congress that buying groups should receive protection under program access rules,” said the presentation posted Wednesday in docket 12-68 (http://bit.ly/13oerNe). At the meeting with Chief Bill Lake and others in the Media Bureau and Office of Strategic Planning were ACA President Matt Polka, Northwestern University Professor of Economics William Rogerson and NCTC’s Jeff Nourse, senior vice president of legal & regulatory affairs.
Verizon Wireless plans to educate Alabama residents about how to prepare for communications during natural disasters, it said Thursday. The carrier is pegging the education to a state tax holiday this weekend. “During the sales tax holiday, select Verizon Wireless stores in Alabama will distribute ReadyAlabama’s list of items suggested for families to create a severe weather preparedness kit,” Verizon Wireless said (http://yhoo.it/XCkPzR). “In addition, customers can bring in their smartphones to these locations throughout the weekend, and have them set up with the latest severe weather applications along with local text alerts.” The state’s also exempting certain items such as cellphone chargers and batteries from state sales and use taxes, Verizon said.
The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies will provide an online resource for cybersecurity career, education and training information, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Thursday in launching the program, part of its U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. The resources at niccs.us-cert.gov constitute a “robust, searchable catalog” of programs and certifications, letting users find trainings based on location, preferred delivery method, specialty area or proficiency level, DHS said. It was developed “in close partnership” with several agencies, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology, departments of Defense and Education, offices of the Director of National Intelligence and Personnel Management, and National Science Foundation.
The New York State Public Service Commission wants comments on a potential change to the unbundled CLEC reciprocal compensation charge (UCRCC). Verizon sought these changes earlier in February, and the charge affects CLECs using Verizon’s unbundled line ports. “Verizon is proposing to eliminate the quarterly updating” of the rate, the PSC explained in a Thursday notice (http://bit.ly/15yD9OP), noting the telco wants to reduce the rate from $0.001513 per minute of use to $0.001397. “The company claims the lower rate more closely reflects the average rate of the UCRCC rates paid from March 2002 until present,” it said. “The rate would then remain at this reduced level.” Comments are due April 22.
The licensee of a small Anchorage TV station asked the FCC to deny applications to transfer the licenses of two other Alaskan TV station and several translator stations to General Communications Inc. (GCI), the local cable operator. Fireweed Communications’ KYES-TV Anchorage said the transaction poses a “threat to democracy in Alaska.” According to FCC filings, a GCI affiliate agreed to buy the stations from an affiliate of Media News Group in January (http://bit.ly/WVKnrw). The petition to deny also seeks to block GCI’s acquisition of some commercial cellular licenses from Alaska Communications Systems, it said (http://bit.ly/VPMDUu). “We request the public be given a chance to testify on the license transfers at public hearings in various places in Alaska,” the petition said. “Such a high degree of control requires that the public be encouraged to set their ideas into the record,” the petition said. A spokesman for GCI didn’t immediately respond to our query.