The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC) emphasized in a filing at the FCC the importance of “parity of access to emergency services” by those with disabilities. “The provision of equivalent access goes beyond the technical attributes of the system but is equally impacted by enforcement of federal law; state policy and implementation procedures; awareness/disability sensitivity and technical training of [911 call center] personnel; and appropriate and accessible public outreach campaigns,” the group said (http://xrl.us/bn53qd). “The Wireless RERC is certain that the complexity of a rolling nationwide deployment of NG9-1-1 services can be mitigated by actionable federal oversight and guidance and state agency accountability for the successful deployment of NG9-1-1.”
The Newspaper Association of America said it supports the FCC’s proposal to relax its “antiquated” ban on media cross-ownership. Its support came in a letter Tuesday to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. The FCC should go beyond the “modest changes” in its proposal and “allow for investments in newspaper journalism from television stations that are ranked in the top four in their markets,” the letter said. “This outdated rule is preventing media companies from investing in newspapers at a time when local journalism needs to be bolstered,” the group said.
FCC commissioners Robert McDowell and Jessica Rosenworcel have already voted to approve the AWS-4 proposal that would allow Dish Network to build out a terrestrial network using mobile satellite services spectrum, FCC officials said. Commissioner Ajit Pai hasn’t voted on the item yet, an official said. That’s not an indication that Pai wants changes to be made or that there have been changes, an official said. The officials would not say whether the item includes the latest proposal from Dish offering to use the lower 5 MHz of its uplink as a guard band in exchange for less stringent out-of-band-emissions limits. The commission will vote on the item Wednesday at its monthly meeting.
The FCC could still rig upcoming spectrum auctions to keep AT&T and Verizon Wireless from making a play for more licenses, despite provisions in the Spectrum Act, said Fred Campbell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Communications Liberty and Innovation Project, in a Tuesday blog (http://xrl.us/bn5whz). Section 640 of the act was “clearly intended to prevent the FCC from imposing ‘eligibility restrictions’ in an auction,” he said. The bad news for the AT&T and Verizon is the section contains a “loophole,” Campbell said. “It says that the prohibition against eligibility restrictions doesn’t affect ‘any authority the Commission has to adopt and enforce rules of general applicability, including rules concerning spectrum aggregation that promote competition,'” he wrote. “This exception gives the FCC the flexibility to adjust the amount of spectrum that can be held by any mobile provider on a band-by-band basis before every auction. If this flexibility is abused, it could become the exception that swallows the rule.” Campbell was Wireless Bureau chief under former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
Correction: Dish Network proposed an out-of-band emissions limit of -49 dBm for any future operators of the H block (CD Dec 11 p18).
The FCC acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner when it flash-cut originating access charges for intrastate VoIP traffic without providing any revenue recovery mechanism, Windstream told the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday. Windstream challenged the FCC’s second order on reconsideration in its Connect America Fund proceeding, which declined to adopt a joint proposal by Windstream and Frontier to permit LECs to use the recovery mechanism to recover lost originating access revenue. Windstream argued the FCC failed to justify its decision to reduce originating access rates for intrastate VoIP. Neglecting to give LECs a way to recover that lost revenue -- without justifying the decision -- was “legally deficient,” Windstream said. It’s especially troublesome because the FCC had provided a recovery mechanism for LECs to make up some of the lost revenue from reduced terminating access charges, the telco said. “The FCC cannot -- consistent with reasoned decisionmaking -- repeatedly emphasize the necessity of gradual transitions, revenue recovery, and certainty; implement those measures for one type of access; but then refuse to adhere to the same principles for another without explaining that departure,” Windstream said. “Intercarrier compensation reform will unleash over $1.5 billion in annual benefits to consumers by eliminating hidden calling costs while removing major barriers to deployment of advanced IP-based broadband networks,” an FCC spokesman said. “We are confident that the Commission’s Order is legally sound and look forward to defending it in court.”
Expansion of wireless broadband services shouldn’t come at the expense of GPS, the U.S. GPS Industry Council said in comments regarding LightSquared’s petition to allow non-federal, terrestrial use of the 1675-1680 MHz band, which is currently used by government systems. The initiatives that LightSquared recently submitted to the FCC “require additional technical support which must be provided before the commission initiates a rulemaking to consider adopting revised spectrum allocations and service rules,” it said (http://xrl.us/bn5wfn). Other ongoing proceedings that LightSquared initiated, or is subject to, and their resolution on particular issues “cannot be presumed in considering the instant petition,” it said. The Coalition to Save Our GPS takes no position on the potential use of the spectrum, it said in its comments (http://xrl.us/bn5wfi). It urged the commission not to take separate action on LightSquared’s request, but to address its potential use of the band “only as part of an overall resolution of LightSquared’s future plans to provide terrestrial mobile services,” it said. The FCC should “more broadly address the outstanding issues regarding LightSquared’s potential provision of service, using either its current, or substitute spectrum,” it added. LightSquared proposed the allocation as a solution to promoting compatibility with GPS receivers (CD Oct 1 p20).
The FCC Wireless Bureau denied SpeedUsNY.com’s request for more time to demonstrate compliance with the substantial service requirements for a Local Multipoint Distribution Service license in the 29.10-29.25 GHz band across eight counties in the New York City region. As a result, the license automatically terminated June 1, the bureau said (http://xrl.us/bn5wg4).
Former MP3.com head Michael Robertson’s DAR.fm site is publishing listening statistics for radio shows and podcasts, he wrote on his blog (http://xrl.us/bn5wgu). “Ask [a traditional radio executive] how many listeners a show or [radio] station has and nobody knows of if they know, they ain’t telling,” he said. The top three programs on DAR.fm are Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Rachel Maddow, he said. Very few of the top 40 programs on DAR.fm are pure podcasts, he said. “While podcasts may get online exposure, their listenership is tiny compared to the audio talent which uses radio and TV to push their shows."
Correction: Sprint Nextel isn’t a American Legislative Exchange Council member (CD Dec 11 p7), ALEC Communications and Technology Task Force Private Chairman Bartlett Cleland is Institute for Policy Innovation policy counsel and Time Warner Cable, not Time Warner Inc., belongs to ALEC.