Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., praised the FCC for its NPRM approved Wednesday (CD Feb 21 p3) on increased unlicensed use of the 5 GHz band. “There is no doubt that America’s Wi-Fi industry is rapidly growing in both communications and innovation,” Matsui said. “The unlicensed economy has a multiplier effect that will only continue to grow as Americans rely more and more on their tablets, smartphones, and devices for everyday use."
The conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute ranked the FCC as the third-most-expensive federal department or agency based on the cost of the regulation imposed, which it estimated at $142 billion per year. Only the Department of Health and Human Services ($184.8 billion) and the EPA ($353 billion) cost more, CEI said. CEI estimated that spectrum regulations cost $77 billion in “higher prices and foregone wireless usage,” and broadband regulations, including net neutrality rules, add another $27 billion in costs. “That fact is not readily apparent due to an alarming lack of transparency,” the report said (http://bit.ly/YdjLDL). “Important information such as the number of FCC regulations in the books, how many more are on the way, and how much they cost are scattered in a range of different, often obscure sources.” The FCC had no comment. “I can make numbers up too,” Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld said in response to the report. “I estimate that responding to nonsense like this cost government agencies millions of dollars, and costs the public billions of dollars in lost economic activity and direct cost to consumers. Mind you, I just made that up, but it seems about as reliable as CEI’s estimates."
The U.S. government needs to develop a constructive long-term strategy to best engage the ITU and its members to maximize value and effectiveness of the organization’s core mandate, while addressing efforts to expand its remit, the U.S. ITU Association said in a draft policy document to the U.S. government that we obtained. Many U.S. companies doing business internationally are regulated by and must obtain operating authorizations from national regulators to do business in those countries, it said. ITU, through its regional offices, leadership, and events and activities, plays an indirect but important role in the development of national regulations in many developing and emerging economies, it said. U.S. policy should “seek to maximize” U.S. influence to ensure “the right policy directions” are taken, it said. Efforts to expand ITU’s mandate beyond its core competency should be curtailed, it said. The U.S. government “should fund the ITU at a level that will allow the U.S. to continue its active engagement and leadership” in the organization and its working groups, including ITU Council, to protect U.S. interests and promote policy principles, it said. Some executives had suggested the U.S. stop funding the organization. Relationships, especially with developing countries, need to be rebuilt, it said. The U.S. should help boost ITU’s “transparency and openness of its processes,” it said. “It is, however, important that the U.S. not appear to sanction a claim that the ITU is multi-stakeholder in the broadest sense,” it said.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau found a man liable for a $25,000 forfeiture concerning the operation of unlicensed radio transmitters on the frequency 97.7 MHz in Miami. Despite instructions to cease the unlicensed operation, the record shows that Gary Feldman “attempted to evade future detection by moving to a different location to resume the unlicensed operation,” the notice of apparent liability said (http://bit.ly/W6hNGQ). “Because Mr. Feldman consciously operated the station and did so on more than one day, the apparent violations of the act were both willful and repeated.” The bureau also found that the violation in this case justifies a $15,000 upward adjustment from the base forfeiture amount of $10,000, it said. Feldman continued to defy a court order requiring him to satisfy payment to the federal government, “and then attempt[ed] to evade detection from FCC agents by moving his radio station from his residence to a commercial building after being reminded that his unlicensed operation contravened” the Communications Act, the bureau said. In a separate order, the Media Bureau adopted a consent decree with Vision Latina Broadcasting, Port Neches, Texas, and Christian Ministries of the Valley, Weslaco, Texas. The consent decree resolves issues arising from “tardiness of the captioned license renewal application and a petition to deny filed against the captioned license assignment application” for Vision Latina’s KBPO(AM), the bureau said (http://bit.ly/15ysLqd). The bureau dismissed the petition and the entities will collectively make a $10,000 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury, it said.
Industry “preparations are well underway for deploying video description” for mobile DTV before an FCC October deadline on access to emergency alerts, NAB told agency officials implementing the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. NAB engineering and legal officials cited the association’s discussions with members of the Mobile Content Venture and Mobile 500 Alliance groups of broadcasters working on mobile DTV and with makers of consumer electronics. TV stations “have begun testing transmissions of video description utilizing a second audio channel,” an NAB filing said of the discussion with staff of the Consumer & Governmental Affairs and Media bureaus. “The Commission’s rules should not dictate transmission standards in the rapidly evolving mobile environment.” The rules should “afford flexibility to ensure that program originators and equipment manufacturers are able to decode and integrate additional audio information,” so viewers can get emergency information, said the filing (http://bit.ly/WVr0Pp) posted Wednesday in docket 12-107. That’s where the group has sought a phase-in of rules and said mobile DTV shouldn’t face some mandates because the act “contemplates that Mobile DTV not be required to meet certain requirements” (http://bit.ly/YJiIIm). CE makers also have sought leeway from the coming rules for mobile DTV (CD Feb 14 p18).
The FCC will hold its next field hearing examining challenges to the nation’s communications networks during natural disasters and in other times of crisis at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., on Thursday, the agency said (http://bit.ly/XnLLnO). More details are to follow. The hearing is to be from 1-3:30 p.m. PST.
The House Communications Subcommittee wants to make sure the broadband stimulus grants are working as intended. It scheduled a hearing on the topic for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in 2322 Rayburn. “This hearing will review whether taxpayers are getting a good return on their investment, examine recent allegations of waste, and discuss measures that might be taken to avoid certain pitfalls in the future,” the announcement said (http://1.usa.gov/VyQZwC). The hearing’s “big focus” will be the $100.6 million grant recipient called EAGLE-Net, Rachel George, spokeswoman for Rep. Cory Gardner, told us. The Colorado Republican has been critical of the stimulus grantee over the last several months amid accusations of overbuilding and waste -- allegations the grantee disputes (CD Sept 27 p6). She described the congressman’s office as “the primary driver” leading to this subcommittee hearing.
The FCC International Bureau dismissed an application from CBS Communications Services for registration of a new fixed-satellite service receive-only earth station in the 3700-4200 MHz frequency band. CBS “did not submit a frequency coordination report … and its application is therefore incomplete,” the bureau said. The bureau dismissed the application without prejudice to refiling, it said.
An online petition before the White House wants to legalize unlocking cellphones, changing a Library of Congress decision (CD Feb 13 p9) implemented last month. The request has amassed more than 100,000 signatures, which is the minimum level for compelling an official White House response. It was just under 103,000 Thursday afternoon. “Consumers will be forced to pay exorbitant roaming fees to make calls while traveling abroad,” the petition said (http://1.usa.gov/YdkULB). “It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full. ... We ask that the White House ask the Librarian of Congress to rescind this decision, and failing that, champion a bill that makes unlocking permanently legal.”
There are now 14 LTE deployments in nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 4G Americas said in a news release Thursday. The deployments are in: Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Brazil (2), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Paraguay (2), Puerto Rico (4), and Uruguay, the group said. Projections by 4G Americas are for 40 deployments by 2015 in the region. “These LTE networks, coupled with 51 commercial HSPA+ mobile broadband networks in the region, reflect hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in the economy and offer vast opportunities for mobile internet connectivity and new user experiences for both the enterprise and consumers,” said Erasmo Rojas, director for the region at the association.