Charter Communications executives said it expects to pay less for set-top boxes than other cable operators that have made the transition to all-digital systems. Charter’s push to modernize its cable systems is in process. “We're already getting better pricing on our set-top boxes, and going forward there is an opportunity for an even ’thinner’ environment,” in which it can buy cheaper set-tops and handle more of its traditional tasks in the network, CEO Tom Rutledge said on a teleconference with analysts Tuesday. Plus, as customers buy more smart-TV sets and iPads, the cost of connecting additional screens to the cable system drops even lower, he said. “As we move to a server-based architecture, the capital intensity of each one of those connections from a cable operators’ perspective goes down.” Charter doesn’t have the capability today to introduce advanced services such as a remote-storage DVR system, Rutledge said. The company last week asked the FCC to give it a waiver similar to Cablevision, where Rutledge worked before joining Charter recently, for a waiver of CableCARD rules so it can instead use downloadable devices separating set-top navigation and security functions (CD Nov 5 p10). Charter lost 73,000 video subscribers during Q3 for a total of 4.03 million on Sept 30. The operator added 69,000 broadband subscribers for 3.73 million total and 52,000 phone customers for 1.88 million, it said in a news release (http://xrl.us/bnyb2v). Q3 sales increased 3.7 percent from a year earlier to $1.88 billion. Its net loss widened 2 percent from a year earlier to $87 million on higher capital spending.
The municipal cable company in Wadsworth, Ohio, is “wary of any negative repercussions” from an FCC order, officials said. Public Service Director John Easton and Wadsworth Cable TV Commission Chairman Bob Parmelee sent a Nov. 1 letter -- released Tuesday by the American Cable Association, which said the municipal provider is an ACA member -- to the FCC’s five members expressing their concerns. The officials worried about the FCC’s order last month ending a ban on exclusive deals for channels distributed by satellite and owned by cable companies from being withheld from pay-TV rivals (CD Oct 9 p1). That comes as there’s “relatively few” companies that own cable-TV entertainment, the officials said: There’s an “anxiety of cable disputes” in Wadsworth, which may cause customers to lose channels. Wadsworth cable customers have a “higher potential” of being denied programming under these new rules, the letter said. It was posted Tuesday in FCC docket 12-68 (http://xrl.us/bnyb2e).
Wireless networks proved resilient in the wake of Sandy, and a backup power mandate from the FCC would have done little good, said Chris Guttman-McCabe, CTIA vice president-regulatory affairs, Tuesday on the association’s blog (http://xrl.us/bnybur). “In a situation such as Hurricane Sandy, where commercial power is lost for 4-8 days, rather than hours, a mandated 8-hour backup power rule would not have been a panacea,” Guttman-McCabe wrote. “In spite of having backup power solutions, carriers faced issues with loss of switching facilities, access to fuel and loss of backhaul service. Yet carriers were able to keep cell sites in impacted areas operating on generators, spurring wireless consumers to comment how well cellphone networks worked, in between texts, tweets and Facebook updates about losing power."
The Competitive Carrier Association is asking the FCC to issue a further notice of proposed rulemaking rather than imposing new rules on texting to 911. CCA President Steve Berry met with Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky, Charles Mathias, an aide to Chairman Julius Genachowski, and other FCC officials to discuss the group’s concerns, according to an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bnybtf). “CCA also acknowledges the need for action in this matter, particularly in light of recent widespread emergencies such as Hurricane Sandy and the derecho over the summer,” the filing said. CCA encouraged the commission to promote greater consolidation of public safety answering points, the filing said. “While a territory could continue to have as many answering points as it desires, consolidation of connection points could realize cost savings and lead to more uniform deployment of NG911 services,” the group said. “Similarly, CCA suggested that the FNPRM contemplate [next generation] 911 deployment at a regional or statewide level (rather than on a PSAP-by-PSAP basis), and that carriers only be required to provide text-to-911 once these clusters of [public service answering points] certify that they are technologically capable of participating."
Nexstar wants to push its market value to $1 billion, CEO Perry Sook told analysts Tuesday. “Our vision would be to build a company in excess of a billion dollars in revenue and capitalize it properly. And we think if do so … that would yield a billion dollar market cap.” The company is about “70 percent there,” factoring in a spate of station acquisitions it has yet to close, Sook said. Nexstar may continue to add stations to its portfolio to grow further, he said. “I'm not so much concerned with how big we are, but with how valuable we can be,” he said. “We'll never get out over our skis, just for the sake of scale.” The company is looking at more acquisition opportunities now, he said. “We have a couple of books on our desk. At this point we're evaluating.” The bar for agreeing to buy new stations is high, he said. “I wouldn’t want to handicap the outcome,” he said. Asked about the FCC’s incentive spectrum auction, Sook said Nexstar will approach it with an open mind “and look at the value proposition.” However, given the amount of money the government is seeking to raise in the auction, it may be hard for Nexstar to justify selling its spectrum, he said. “I think everyone will look at it and take their measure of it and decide if there is value creation to do that.” Most broadcast licensees that are making money from their TV assets would be “hard pressed for selling their spectrum into the auction and for all intents and purposes going out of business,” he said. Q3 sales at Nexstar increased 20 percent from a year earlier to $89.9 million. Net income of $9.5 million reversed a year-ago net loss of $6.5 million. The increase in profit was a result of higher revenue and lower interest expense. Nexstar shares increased 8 percent to $11.56 Tuesday, leaving its market capitalization at $335.4 million.
FiberTower is struggling to stay in one piece. FiberTower representatives met with FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Robert McDowell Friday to discuss some of their concerns, a presentation released Monday shows. The backhaul provider declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July, and the bankruptcy agreement had been conditioned on building small cell backhaul in the 24 GHz and 39 GHz bands, said the presentation. But FiberTower has not received the necessary waivers from the FCC to do so, FiberTower said. It applied for the waivers in April. Now, due to its inability to comply with the agreement, “there is an auction to sell the more profitable FiberTower network markets” pending, the company said. “No decision by the FCC is a decision to dismantle the FiberTower network.” The presentation emphasizes FiberTower’s role during Hurricane Sandy, citing its 313 critical carrier class high-capacity backhaul trunking links in the New York-New Jersey region and showed a map of its presence.
The Targeted Accessibility Fund of New York board wants the New York State Public Service Commission to select a certain unnamed company to provide telecom relay service and captioned telephone service next year in New York. The state is current figuring out who should supply these services once Sprint’s contract ends next summer, the board’s recommendations said Monday (http://xrl.us/bnybcs). The PSC delegated authority to this board to be the funding administrator for relay, E911 and other services a decade ago. The new provider will start July 1 and two companies have responded to a summer request for proposals. The board submitted analysis of the bidders and its recommendation “under a request for trade secret protection,” the document said, which does not disclose the bidders or the recommended company in the public filing.
Optical Communications Group is touting its “100 percent” reliability during Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey. The fiber connectivity provider “remained connected and online throughout the duration of the storm and its aftermath,” it said Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnya3t), noting the many outages others faced (CD Nov 1 p6). President Brad Ickes has worked to assist those in affected areas, including the Rockaways and Staten Island, the company said. Its “diverse network connections” are at the disposal of those carriers and businesses who need them, it said.
Sprint Nextel asked the FCC to approve its Aug. 28 petition for waiver that would allow it to forego recertification of its postpaid Lifeline customer base, since Sprint will no longer provide them with service starting Jan. 1. No one opposes the petition, Sprint said. “Very few end users are affected by this petition -- only 500 as of September 30, 2012, with the number of Lifeline customers expected to continue to decline as the deadline for Sprint’s remaining [eligible telecommunications carrier] relinquishments approaches,” Sprint said (http://xrl.us/bnya22). Each of the customers has already received at least one notice that Sprint is dropping out of the Lifeline program, the carrier said. “To attempt re-certification at this juncture would be confusing to these end users, and will do nothing to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in the Lifeline program.”
Prometheus Radio Project restated its support for a second-adjacent frequency waiver standard in the proceeding concerning the creation of a low-power radio service. Prometheus submitted an ex parte filing in docket 99-25 (http://xrl.us/bnyaza). The filing recounted a meeting with staff from the FCC Media Bureau and staff in Chairman Julius Genachowski’s office. The standard should be modeled after the FM translator rules, removal of intermediate frequency, “retaining the 50-application and per-market caps for translators, and providing a preference point for LPFM [low-power FM] applicants who pledge to maintain a main studio,” Prometheus said. Prometheus urged the FCC to vote on the LPFM item this fall and to adopt rules “that will provide sufficient time for community groups with limited resources to prepare their applications,” it said.