A Christmas Eve Netflix outage “impacting many, but not all” streaming devices started Monday afternoon, and was caused by an outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said Wednesday. Netflix’s teams “worked hard through Christmas Eve” with AWS to fix the problem, and “streaming was available again for the majority of our members late on Christmas Eve Pacific Time,” he said. Netflix is “investigating the cause” of the outage and will do what it can to prevent it from happening again, he said. The outage impacted Netflix in the Americas, but not in Europe, he said. “The number of impacted devices was initially limited but grew in scope Monday afternoon,” he said. The “issues” with AWS’s Elastic Load Balancing service that “impacted some customers” in the eastern U.S. have been “resolved,” an Amazon spokeswoman said, not specifying what those issues were.
The Senate passed the FY13 National Defense Authorization Act Friday, which, as expected, includes a provision that would reduce export restrictions on some satellites and their components (CD Dec 20 p16). The NDAA conference report was approved 81-14. The provision is based on the Safeguarding United States Satellite Leadership and Security Act, S-3211, introduced by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. Colorado is a national hub for the space industry, Bennet said in a press release (http://xrl.us/bn7hj5). These reforms to satellite export controls “will allow businesses to expand their operations and invest in new technologies that will help grow our state’s economy,” he said. The legislation will provide “a more even playing field for U.S. satellite companies, spurring economic and job growth and bolstering the leadership of the U.S. space community for many years,” the Satellite Industry Association said. The provision “will remove the legislative mandate that required one-size-fits-all regulation for satellite trade,” SIA said. House lawmakers also approved the NDAA last week. Members of the space and satellite industry reiterated the need for reforms following a review from the Defense and State departments backing the removal of non-critical satellites from the U.S. munitions list (CD April 19 p7).
The FCC Wireless Bureau said it’s restarting its informal 180-day shot clock on the review of an agreement by General Communication and Alaska Communications to share spectrum and form the Alaska Wireless Network, a limited liability company that would hold and operate both companies’ wireless facilities. The bureau stopped the clock as of Oct. 25, which was day 64 of the review (http://xrl.us/bnytxi) as it waited for information from the companies. “At this time, the Applicants represent that they have substantially complied with the Information and Document Requests by submitting all existing responsive information in their possession and control,” the Friday letter said (http://xrl.us/bn7hgo). “December 14, 2012, will be Day 65 of the Commission’s review."
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology and the International and Wireless bureaus granted LightSquared relief from terrestrial buildout conditions that were set in 2010. The FCC said in an order that LightSquared is “unable to meet the specific buildout requirements associated with its proposed terrestrial network because its ability to deploy is constrained by unresolved interference concerns” with respect to GPS users operating in adjacent bands (http://xrl.us/bn7hf3). LightSquared requested the relief this year (CD Sept 25 p19), several months after the commission proposed to revoke its ancillary terrestrial component authority (CD Feb 15 p1). The bureau said it will toll the specific geographic and timing conditions included in the 2010 Harbinger Transfer Order “until further determinations are made with respect to LightSquared’s ATC authority.”
The American Cable Association said it would participate in “any discussion, public or private that might help curb the type of horrific violence that occurred last week,” in a news release Friday referring to the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The announcement follows the recent introduction of legislation aimed at studying the effect that violent videogames and video programming has upon children (CD Dec 20 p15).
AT&T and USTelecom said in an amicus brief filed at the Supreme Court that the high court should let stand a decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the commission’s 2009 wireless zoning shot-clock order. The court is slated to hear the case, Arlington, Texas v. FCC Jan. 16 (CD Dec 21 p1). “AT&T and USTelecom support the position of respondent Verizon: this Court should hold that Chevron deference does not apply to an agency’s interpretation of its own statutory jurisdiction, but should nevertheless affirm the judgment of the court of appeals on the alternative ground that the [FCC] had clear, unambiguous jurisdiction to issue the order under review based on the text of the Communications Act … and on this Court’s decision interpreting that Act in AT&T Corp. v. Iowa Utilities Board,” they told the court. “In telecommunications law specifically, this Court has frequently distinguished questions that relate to the scope of the Commission’s jurisdiction under the Communications Act from those that relate to how the Commission exercises that jurisdiction,” the brief said. “Further, the Commission itself has maintained the distinction between jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional issues in its own decisionmaking, showing that this distinction is useful analytically even apart from its significance for judicial review.”
The FCC Media Bureau said a filing window for Auction 83 FM translator application selections and cap showings will be open Jan. 10 to Jan. 25. Applicants with fewer than 51 pending applications nationally and no more than one in certain markets do not need to submit anything, a public notice said (http://xrl.us/bn7hbr). Applications with 51-70 applications nationally or more than one in certain markets the commission identified in an earlier order must file a selection list that identifies application for further processing or dismissal, a showing the selected applications comply with national cap conditions, and in certain cases, a showing of local cap condition compliance, the notice said.
Groups advocating for the deaf and hard of hearing population requested an extension of time to comment on petitions for exemption from closed captioning rules. The National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and other groups in a joint filing (http://xrl.us/bn7g79) urged the FCC to extend the comment deadline in docket 06-181 by 14 days to Jan. 14. They requested the extension “to accommodate the fact that counsel’s offices at the Institute for Public Representation [Georgetown University] will be closed from Dec. 24 ... until Jan. 1, 2013,” it said. The groups also are preparing reply comments in docket 12-107, regarding Accessing Emergency Information, they said. An extension will allow them “to comprehensively offer the perspective of the deaf and hard of hearing community on the important issues raised by that proceeding” and the petitions in docket 06-181, it said.
The FCC provided extra USF money for Windy City Cellular and Adak Eagle Enterprises, two eligible telecom carriers serving remote parts of Alaska. “We provide this limited, interim relief because we find that it is necessary to ensure continued service in the carriers’ respective service areas during the pendency of our review,” said an order by the Wireline and Wireless bureaus (http://xrl.us/bn7hbg). “While their petitions have been pending, WCC and AEE have taken steps to reduce their expenses, and our decision to provide interim relief reflects this fact.” Under the FCC’s USF transformation order, ETCs serving remote Alaska got special treatment, with their support capped at $3,000 per line per year, which is equivalent to $250 per line per month, starting Jan. 1 and extending for two years. Both ETCs filed petitions for waiver, seeking higher reimbursement rates because of their unusually high costs. Under the order, WCC will get a fixed $40,104 per month and AEE $33,276 per month for an additional six months or until their waivers are ruled on by the FCC.
A Secretary of State John Kerry would mean the Senate Commerce Committee would lose its third Democratic member from the 112th Congress. President Barack Obama nominated on Friday the Massachusetts senator to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. If the Senate confirms Kerry’s appointment, his leaving the committee would follow the death of Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and departure of Tom Udall, D-N.M, who will join the Senate Appropriations Committee. Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said this month that Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., will replace Udall on the committee. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has not yet announced Inouye’s replacement on the committee. It will also lose three Republican members who are retiring: Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas; Olympia Snowe of Maine; and Jim DeMint of South Carolina.