State oversight of the federal Lifeline program is needed to make sure eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) play by the rules, said National Regulatory Research Institute Principal Researcher Sherry Lichtenberg in a report on Lifeline services presented at the NARUC annual meeting (http://bit.ly/1fj6Lq5). NRRI surveyed 48 states and Washington, D.C., to determine the types of providers certified, their certification processes, ETC requirements and enforcement polices, the state Lifeline fund size and any pending changes in certification requirements and processes. Twenty states and D.C. have their own Lifeline funds, but several of the states are in the process of modifying their funds as a result of state legislation and the FCC Lifeline reform order (http://fcc.us/I3S1NH). Over 50 percent of the states certify wireless and cable providers as ETCs, but none of the states has certified VoIP providers, the NRRI survey found. California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming all have, or recently closed, pending legislation or state commission proceedings concerning Lifeline, said Lichtenberg. California Assembly Bill 1409 would have required the California Public Utilities Commission to consider cable and VoIP providers for participation in the state’s Lifeline program, but California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoed the bill (CD Sept 23 p15). The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable has an ongoing proceeding to change the requirements for the FCC Lifeline program that’s currently open for comment on a staff recommendation (CD Oct 16 p15). State commissions need to “strike a balance” between creating Lifeline rules that prevent waste, fraud and abuse, and meeting the public interest requirement of increasing the enrollment of eligible consumers in the program, said Lichtenberg in the report. Eligible required services should be determined on a state-by-state basis, she said.
PMCM TV’s MeTV affiliate KJWP Wilmington, Del., went on-air Monday for the first time since its reallocation from Wyoming, said a blog post (http://bit.ly/1bDDSyf) from law firm Fletcher Heald, which represented PMCM in the court battle with the FCC that preceded the move (CD Dec 17 p4). PMCM TV requested the reallocation after the DTV transition, basing the request on a section of the Communications Act which allows VHF stations to move to states without any VHF stations. The FCC opposed the move, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned that decision. “PMCM is in the process of developing locally-produced non-entertainment programming to provide Wilmington and the rest of the station’s service area with the benefits of a local station,” said the blog post. “Consistent with the unusual nature of this project from the get-go, KJWP has retained its distinctive ‘K'-prefix call sign even though it’s now east of the Mississippi.” The other station involved in the decision, KVNV Ely, Nev., is still in the process of moving to Middletown Township, N.J., the blog post said.
A House bill on veterans’ affairs would compel the creation of a report on telemedicine obstacles and any limited broadband access. Within 120 days of the passage of HR-3499, introduced recently, the secretary of veterans affairs must issue a report to the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs committees on any issues impeding the department from providing telemedicine services to veterans. This report should touch on obstacles such as statutory or regulatory restrictions, licensure or credentialing issues, limited broadband access in rural areas, insufficient liability protection for providers and other issues, according to the bill text. The bill has 17 Democratic co-sponsors, with Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., the lead sponsor. It’s pending in the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a $10,000 fine against Romayne Davis for operating an unlicensed radio transmitter on the 89.5 MHz frequency in Oakland Park, Fla., it said in a forfeiture order Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1jnkrOk). FCC records showed that no license or authorization had been issued to Davis to operate a radio station at that location on that frequency, said a notice of apparent liability issued in April. Davis didn’t respond to the NAL, the order said.
Don’t let National Security Agency surveillance revelations become a “political football” holding up approval of the 2014 intelligence authorization bill, said Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., in a Wall Street Journal joint op-ed, posted Tuesday night, with BakerHostetler attorney David Rivkin (http://on.wsj.com/1bDBLdF). There’s a possibility that bill will not pass Congress due to the attacks on the NSA, the op-ed said. It called the surveillance “entirely legal and invaluable” and said it would be “lamentable” if the attacks hurt this bill.
Broadcaster associations in Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia urged the FCC to take a flexible approach to the presentation of emergency information to the public and to require that during emergency alert system (EAS) activations, all cable systems pass through TV programming “that makes weather-related and other emergency information available to viewers,” they said in joint reply comments in docket 04-296 (http://bit.ly/1bDy5Zo). Reply comments on the first nationwide EAS test were due this week (CD Nov 12 p8). Cable systems undermine the efforts of local stations to provide their communities with this critical information “when cable systems choose to override local programming with other content during EAS activations,” they said. NCTA urged the Public Safety Bureau to consider the technical and operational costs and challenges posed by proposed changes to the EAS protocol for EAS participants before it makes recommendations for FCC action, it said (http://bit.ly/1bRDmjq). Cable operators “need to retain the ability to make the selective override decision where it is technically feasible and makes sense for their customers,” it said. Cable operators typically don’t have the ability to create or edit closed captioning streams and pass through closed captioning exactly as it’s received, it said. NCTA also urged the commission to reject DirecTV’s suggestion of formalizing use of the Washington, D.C., location code, it said. The American Cable Association cautioned against additional regulatory mandates that require its members to buy, replace or modify equipment to ensure compliance, ACA said (http://bit.ly/18oBvlF). The association supports efforts to ensure the readability of EAS alerts, it said. But the bureau must develop a full understanding of the costs involved in standardizing diverse character generator systems, and consider alternatives “before recommending that the commission impose inflexible readability mandates,” it said. Hearst said it supports a longer nationwide test. Another important set of data may be revealed if the next test is longer than two minutes, “namely data associated with the time-out limitations programmed into most EAS gear,” it said (http://bit.ly/19HSfQF).
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler should stop companies “evading ownership limits” with shared services agreements and enforce FCC rules that promote diversity, said Free Press in an ex parte filing Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1eiADjl). Free Press and other public interest groups met with Wheeler and his staff Tuesday, the filing said. Free Press also asked Wheeler to keep broadband Internet infrastructure “open and affordable for all” and to preserve “fundamental principles like nondiscrimination, interconnection and competition, on a technology neutral and forward-thinking basis,” said the filing. Free Press also said the commission should “strike the right balance” in the incentive auction by promoting competition among carriers and freeing up unlicensed spectrum. Wheeler should meet with the public, Free Press said: “One of the first things he and the other commissioners should do is get outside the Beltway, meet face to face with the people they've been appointed to serve, and learn more about how these policies affect their lives."
Gray and affiliated company Excalibur Broadcasting agreed to buy 15 network-affiliated TV stations in seven markets from Hoak Media and Parker Broadcasting for $335 million, Gray said in a press release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1fiZiHx). In a separate transaction, Excalibur will also buy two Fox affiliates from Prime Cities Broadcasting for $7.5 million, and Gray will provide “back office services and limited programming” to three of Excalibur’s stations through shared services agreements, said the release. Gray and Excalibur will also enter into option agreements through which Gray could buy Excalibur’s stations if FCC ownership rules changed. Because of those rules, the transaction will also require Gray to sell two of Hoak’s TV stations to third parties, and Excalibur to divest itself of one of Parker’s stations, the release said. The combined transactions will give Gray “the number-one ranked local television station operations in four of seven markets and the number-two ranked operations in two markets,” said the release. When the transaction is complete, Gray will own duopolies in 16 markets, the release said, and its stations will reach 7.33 percent of U.S. TV households. Gray will acquire three stations in South Dakota, five in North Dakota, three in Colorado, two in Nebraska, two in Louisiana and one in Florida. A North Dakota station and the Florida one will be divested for regulatory reasons. Excalibur is buying three stations in North Dakota, and one each in Nebraska, Louisiana and Colorado. Excalibur will sell the Colorado station to comply with ownership rules, the release said. The transactions are expected to close in the first or second quarter of 2014, the release said.
A new study commissioned by the Competitive Carriers Association argues that small geographic licenses, such as Cellular Market Areas (CMAs), are the proper size for the FCC to sell in the incentive TV auction. The study says spectrum licenses are analogous to plots of land. “If all plots were 50 acres, parcels in Manhattan would be too expensive and too large for most; this might compel buyers interested in a small parcel in Manhattan or a parcel in New Jersey adjacent to Manhattan to bid for land they don’t want,” the study said. “For carriers who are compelled to bid for wrong-sized spectrum license packages, the added cost may be sufficient to discourage their participation; or if they do participate, they are less likely to offer successful bids; or if they are successful, they will have fewer resources available to deploy services using the spectrum. In each case, the efficiency of the auction and the larger goals of the process suffer.” The study (http://bit.ly/188O86m) was written by the Summit Ridge Group, a valuation and financial advisory service. “Smaller licenses will allow carriers of all sizes the opportunity to target and bid on an area of spectrum that makes business sense for their company,” said CCA President Steve Berry. “All carriers need access to spectrum and should be afforded a meaningful opportunity to participate in the upcoming auction, and offering smaller license sizes like CMAs will ensure smaller rural and regional carriers will be able to participate at auctions alongside the largest carriers.”
Comments on the rulemaking to revitalize the AM band are due to the FCC Media Bureau by Jan. 21. Reply comments are due Feb. 18, the commission said in a Federal Register notice (http://1.usa.gov/17NvmM1). The bureau released the NPRM text this month (CD Nov 4 p8).