The FCC should lift its ban on cross-ownership of newspaper and radio assets in the same market, lawyers for Bonneville International and the Scranton Times told FCC officials, an ex parte notice shows (http://xrl.us/bnvo5a). “The Commission has been presented with no factual foundation, or even a serious legal argument, for keeping the newspaper/radio restriction,” the notice said. “Given that current record before the agency, a decision to keep a newspaper/radio rule in any form would” violate the 1996 Telecommunications Act, conflict with proper administrative procedure and “suffer from serious constitutional infirmities,” it said. Separately, officials of the Newspaper Association of America met with FCC officials to push for an end to the same restrictions, an ex parte notice shows (http://xrl.us/bnuqbz).
The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks comment (http://xrl.us/bnvn8x) on a General Communication (GCI) petition seeking clarification of a requirement that an eligible telecom carrier recertify the eligibility of its Lifeline subscribers on an annual basis: Should “annual” mean once per calendar year, or once every 12 months? Comments in docket 11-42 are due Nov. 23, replies Dec. 10.
The FCC should reverse a Wireline Bureau order that established an “asymmetrical, one year limit” on a contributor’s ability to refile its Form 499 to revise its revenue downward, thereby reducing its required contributions, Verizon told an aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai Friday, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bnvo3e). The bureau exceeded its authority when it set a one-year deadline to refile, which is “too short for carriers to reasonably identify all situations where they may have overpaid their required contributions,” Verizon said. The Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance agreed that the one-year deadline is too short, as state government agencies and auditors could make decisions requiring restatements beyond one year, it told aides to commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnvozv). That could make it “impossible to report decreased contribution liability within 12 months of the due date of the original filing,” ITTA said.
Time Warner Cable began carrying some Russian pay-TV networks in its New York City and New Jersey systems, Channel One Russia Worldwide TV said. The networks are Dom Kino, Vremya and Muzika Pervogo, it said.
ABI Research said it expects global pay-TV revenue of $236 billion in 2012, up from $223 billion in 2011. “Growth in satellite and IPTV services in North America comes at the expense of cable,” said Jake Saunders, forecasting vice president at ABI. “Global Cable-TV service revenue market share is expected to drop to 47 percent in 2012 from 48 percent in 2011,” he said.
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Tuesday at the Americas Spectrum Management Conference that the U.S. will work with Mexico and Canada as the U.S. moves forward on an incentive auction of broadcast spectrum. “We are early in the U.S. process and can only benefit from regional input,” she said. Clyburn said the FCC needs to look at a number of solutions for getting more spectrum in play, including sharing and auctions. “The sobering fact is that based on today’s projections and technologies, the demand for spectrum threatens to outpace supply, sooner rather than later,” she said. “This issue is particularly acute in the United States, where networks are running at the highest utilization rate of anywhere in the world. The old ways of making spectrum available -- clearing bands and reallocating -- will not be enough. New approaches and policy tools are needed.” The FCC is open-minded about most wireless transactions as the industry changes, Clyburn said. “The FCC conditions or blocks deals that are anti-competitive, or otherwise inconsistent, with the public interest,” she said. “But we have also approved more than 1,000 spectrum license transfers, and reduced the amount of time it takes to review secondary market spectrum transactions. We've done this because a healthy, pro-growth spectrum policy requires facilitating efficiency enhancing deals."
There’s one less Class A station in Texas. The FCC Media Bureau changed the status of KQUX-CA Austin from Class A low-power, an order released Tuesday said (http://xrl.us/bnvova). The station had failed to file children’s TV programming reports on Form 398 between 2006 and 2011, the order said. “We find that it has not fulfilled its obligations as a Class A licensee, and that the modifications of its Class A license to a low power television license therefore serves the public interest,” the order said.
Novatel Wireless said it filed another lawsuit against ZTE and its U.S. subsidiary over patent infringement. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Diego, claims ZTE violated Novatel’s MiFi mobile hotspots and wireless data modems patents. “Novatel Wireless is the inventor of the MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot and we continue to lead the product category with a focus on innovation, best-in-class user experience, superior performance and advanced security,” Novatel CEO Peter Leparulo said in a Tuesday news release. “We are committed to protecting our innovations and our intellectual property from those who take our proprietary technology.” Novatel said this is the second lawsuit it has filed against ZTE over patent infringement related to mobile hotspot technology (http://xrl.us/bnvorc). Vringo, a video ringtone and intellectual property company, filed suit against ZTE’s U.K. subsidiary Oct. 8 over infringement related to three Vringo patents on handsets and base station technology (http://xrl.us/bnvork).
Two Department of Justice officials have made similar suggestions on how standard-setting organizations (SSOs) can promote competition through specific policy choices, Hogan Lovells antitrust lawyer Janet McDavid said Tuesday in a blog post (http://xrl.us/bnvonx). Renata Hesse and Fiona Scott-Morton, deputy assistant attorneys general for the Antitrust Division, outlined those suggestions in separate speeches this month, McDavid said. Hesse spoke at a patent roundtable in Geneva on the ITU’s possible update to a patent policy on standard-essential patents (CD Oct 11 p9). Both noted there were four ways SSOs could clarify intellectual property policies related to the fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory licensing process, McDavid said. Hesse and Scott-Morton emphasized that their statements were suggestions rather than official policies, McDavid said. “However, it has been reported that these suggestions have emerged from discussion between the top economists at the [Federal Trade Commission], [Justice] and the European Commission (including Kai-Uwe Kühn, the Chief Economist at DG [directorate general for] Competition), and represent an agreed approach between them."
Tennessee’s consumer advocate division disagrees that the Tennessee Regulatory Authority should kill the state Lifeline fund, as a coalition of state industry forces have encouraged in recent months. The advocate filed its objections with the TRA Monday (http://xrl.us/bnvop9). “It is not simply a question of whether to end or continue Tennessee’s Lifeline program,” the advocate said. The 93,000 state residents who use the program amount to a “significant” consideration and the TRA should investigate its options rather than just end the program, it said. The consumer advocate pointed out options, such as creating a state USF fund, changing the eligibility requirements for Lifeline credit and possibly to sunset the program for future thorough review. “At this time, the Consumer Advocate is unaware of any state that has ended its state Lifeline credit program or state universal service fund,” it said, calling the move possibly “premature.” AT&T reiterated its objection to the “unfunded, landline-only discount,” in a Monday brief (http://xrl.us/bnvoqf). CenturyLink, TDS Telecom, tw telecom and Level 3 endorsed the AT&T brief in separate filings submitted Monday and Tuesday. Monday marked the authority’s deadline for filing briefs on the proposal to end the program.