The Communications Workers of America (CWA) objected Tuesday to T-Mobile USA, MetroPCS and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom’s opposition to a full disclosure of its responses to the FCC’s request for confidential information in relation to the proposed merger of T-Mobile and MetroPCS. “The Applicants’ objections lack any legal basis and, if accepted by the Commission, would constitute a dangerous departure from Commission precedent,” said CWA counsel Monica Desai in a letter to the FCC. “The Applicants do not have the right to determine what information may or may not be relevant to reviewing parties.” A redacted version of T-Mobile’s (http://xrl.us/bn939c) and MetroPCS’s responses to the FCC request were filed Monday (http://xrl.us/bn939e). In a separate letter, Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile asked the FCC to limit CWA’s access to confidential information included in its full response (http://xrl.us/bn939a). MetroPCS also asked the FCC to limit the CWA’s access (CD Jan 9 p3). Desai, fellow CWA counsel Benjamin Bartlett and CWA Telecom Policy Director Debbie Goldman emphasized their objections Tuesday during a meeting with members of the FCC general counsel’s office and the Wireless Bureau. Bartlett and Desai “further requested that the Commission promptly require the Applicants to immediately provide in full the requested information, as required pursuant to the Commission’s rules, and as is consistent with Commission precedent and good public policy,” Desai said in an ex parte filing.
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam used his CES keynote Tuesday to note massive changes in wireless speeds since he announced the launch of 4G LTE for the carrier at the 2011 CES. In 2011, the average speed of mobile wireless networks in the U.S. was less than 1 Mbps, McAdam said. Mobile video and cloud services were in their infancy and machine-to-machine communications was “really more of an idea” than any version of reality. “What a difference two years has made,” McAdam said. “In the middle of this year we'll finish our buildout six months ahead of what we had predicted two years ago.” Speeds over LTE now are in the 10-12 Mbps range, he said. “The impact of 4G has rippled throughout the tech industry,” he said. “4G LTE proves the case that innovation in networks is the foundation for innovation across the industry. … Our goal is to break down the barriers between home and mobile once and for all, and come up with video services that move seamlessly across any network and any device.” McAdam also stressed Verizon’s big move into cloud-based services with the acquisition of Terremark. McAdam also emphasized the growth of sales of tablets, saying they will outpace PC sales this year. Hailing the impact of the “Internet of Things,” he said that by 2020, more than 30 billion things, such as appliances, electronics and car sensors, will be interconnected this way. Terremark “gives us a network of world-class data centers around the globe,” McAdam said. “That means we can offer cloud-based services in areas like mobile commerce, security, healthcare and telematics.” McAdam brought NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on stage to discuss Verizon Wireless’s NFL Mobile service. “We have found that every time we give the fan the opportunity to engage with football, they want more,” Goodell said.
Team Tech Solutions reached an agreement with the Mississippi Public Service Commission, the PSC said. The company is paying $3,000 for allegedly violating the state’s “no-call” law, the commission said Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bn937g). “The settlement is related to investigatory costs involving complaints of unauthorized telephone solicitation the PSC received and the fact they did not register with the PSC,” it said.
NTCA supports the petition by South Park Telephone Co. for a waiver of the $250-per-line-per-month high cost USF support limit, and of the regression analysis-based caps on high cost loop support (http://xrl.us/bn932b). South Park’s petition sets forth a “compelling” set of circumstances, NTCA said: The telco “offers service to 166 consumers (or 0.28 consumers per square mile) across hundreds of miles of high-cost areas surrounding a town of 900 people that is approximately two hours from Denver and one hour from Colorado Springs.” The telco shows it cannot reasonably anticipate to “make up” lost support through other means, such as new price increases that could result in “unreasonably incomparable rates,” NTCA said. “Strict application” of the rules “would harm consumers in its area and leave the company with little recourse to avoid or minimize that end-user impact.” NTCA has sued the FCC over what it calls its “flawed” regression analysis model, asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the rules (CD July 2 p12).
The FCC posted comment deadlines for the various issues raised in the next-generation 911 proceeding, PS docket 11-153 (http://xrl.us/bn93zr). Comments are due Jan. 29, replies Feb. 8, on the appropriate timetable for implementing a “bounce back” capability where text-to-911 is not supported. All other section comments are due March 11, replies April 9.
The question of whether non-carriers should be given direct access to numbering resources is best addressed in the context of a rulemaking, NCTA told FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Julie Veach Friday, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bn93xk). A Vonage petition for limited waiver is not the proper method for deciding these issues, NCTA said. NCTA also explained that some cable operators rely on unaffiliated carriers for access to numbering resources, but most large cable operators obtain numbers directly or through an affiliate.
The FCC has $485 million in Connect America Fund Phase I support available to spur broadband development in high-cost areas served by price cap carriers, and it should distribute that funding in 2013, Windstream told Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Monday (http://xrl.us/bn93xv). The commission shouldn’t abandon Phase I and put disbursements on hold until Phase II is implemented “at some indeterminate future time,” Windstream said.
AT&T executives, telecom attorneys and professors spoke with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology officials Friday “to exchange ideas on computational complexities associated with assessing the feasibility of repacking television stations in the context of the incentive spectrum auctions,” an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bn93x7). The group discussed the repacking assignment processes and algorithms under consideration, and sought information on the public release of data and models relating to repacking constraints. That would let AT&T and other interested parties “provide more informed comment on the proposed repacking processes and auction designs,” the filing said. AT&T emphasized that it was in the “early stages” of examining these issues, and it had not yet drawn any conclusions about which auction design would be optimal. The FCC should make sure the incentive spectrum auction’s reverse auction is simple in order to encourage small broadcasters to participate, Jim Winston, executive director of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, told agency officials in a separate meeting, a NABOB ex parte notice said (http://xrl.us/bn94e6). “Many small broadcasters will not have the resources to hire auction consultants and the process should be as straightforward as possible so that such licensees will be able to participate without hiring consultants,” the notice said. “Because there is a concern that some of the licensees inclined to sell their spectrum will be owned by minorities, the Commission should include specific policies in the auction process that encourage minority licensees to retain all or a portion of their spectrum."
Hughes Network Systems received a contract to provide high-speed satellite services for mobile telehealth clinics in rural northern New England communities. The four-year contract was from the New England Telehealth Consortium, Hughes said in a news release (http://xrl.us/bn93v9). It said Hughes will supply its high-performance routers, integrated with AvL Technologies’ auto-deploy antenna, “enabling video conferencing, prescription dispensing, voice calls, transfer of electronic health records, viewing of digital images, telemedicine and digital messaging."
"The Internet is the poor relation of the European economy,” said Belgian database management and interactive marketing company Email-Brokers Wednesday. At the “Old Continent” level, a “woefully small number of companies” has an online presence and is grabbing the business and job-creation opportunities offered by e-commerce and social media, it said. Email-Brokers surveyed Internet development across all of Europe from 2010-2012. It found that Germany (64 percent), Belgium (61 percent) and the Netherlands (58 percent) are the countries with the highest percentage of online businesses. At the same time, the Czech Republic (rise of 11 percent of the number of websites in one year), France (a 10 percent rise in a year), Portugal and Hungary have the fastest growth, it said. The U.K. is the most developed in companies active in social networks, followed by Italy and Sweden, the survey found. The U.K. and Lichtenstein are the nations with the highest percentage of active e-commerce companies, it said. The lack of active Internet companies hurts Europe’s economy because it deprives the continent of growth and export opportunities which international competition is already busy seizing, said Email-Brokers founder William Vande Wiele. The study said out of 21 countries audited, only seven have at least 50 percent of their businesses online, he said. It’s almost too late to react, he said. While the financial crises continue to undermine European economies, it’s time for governments to launch an initiative to provide massive support for the development of the Internet at the Old Continent level, he said.