FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski sought to reassure lawmakers that the agency’s review of the Verizon/SpectrumCo transaction underwent a “thorough, rigorous and fact based review” that was consistent with the commission’s obligations under the Communications Act. Genachowski said so in separate letters posted last week (http://xrl.us/bnnwce). They were sent to Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Jim DeMint, R-S.C., Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Reps. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Steve Israel, D-N.Y.
The Republican and Democratic parties have divergent definitions of what Internet freedom is, Free State Foundation President Randolph May said in a blog post Thursday. While both parties claim to support Internet freedom, May said he feels the Republicans better reflect what he feels the concept entails. “I understand there are various dimensions that might be considered under the rubric of Internet freedom,” he said in the post. “But, to my mind, the idea, as the Republican platform puts it, that the Internet should be ‘uniquely free from government intervention,’ is fundamental to a proper understanding of ‘Internet freedom.'” May criticized the Democrats for favoring net neutrality, which he said was an “essential element” of the party’s definition of Internet freedom. “Those favoring net neutrality claim to fear that, without government intervention, Internet service providers might ‘discriminate’ among users or content providers or may block access to web sites,” he said. “Those opposing net neutrality fear that the greater threat to Internet freedom arises from giving the government the power ... to determine whether private Internet providers are ‘discriminating’ among users or content providers, or to force Internet providers to carry content they may prefer not to transmit” (http://xrl.us/bnnv94).
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission isn’t prepared to discuss its findings against Sacred Wind Communications (CD June 28 p13), commissioners wrote in an Aug. 28 letter to State Senator Timothy Keller (D) released Wednesday. The commission had denied Sacred Wind state USF funds in a lengthy proceeding, and Keller had questioned the process. “You might not be aware that Sacred Wind has appealed the case to the Supreme Court,” the PRC said. “Accordingly, it would not be appropriate for us to discuss the merits of the case.” The commissioners noted they had removed a prior finding in late July, which had asserted that Sacred Wind is not an incumbent rural carrier. The PRC also said it wished the proceeding had taken fewer than 20 months but partially blamed Sacred Wind: “At each point in the process, Sacred Wind and its opponents contested and litigated every conceivable issue and used every available procedural device to present their positions.” Sacred Wind CEO John Badal declined to comment for the moment in an exchange late Thursday, citing the possibility of meeting with commissioners next week to discuss matters.
The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment on a Matanuska Telephone Association petition seeking a waiver of the capital expenses benchmark adopted by the bureau April 25 (http://xrl.us/bnnvjg). Comments are due Oct. 1, replies Oct. 16.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will circulate a mobile spectrum holdings notice of proposed rulemaking for a vote at the commission’s Sept. 28 meeting, an FCC official said late Thursday. The notice will address what should be included under the FCC’s spectrum screen, which is used to analyze spectrum holdings in proposed mergers and spectrum transactions. It will ask whether the FCC should include other bands in the analysis as they come online, such as Wireless Communications Service spectrum, and whether the analysis should make distinctions between bands. Last year, AT&T pressed for a further inquiry on the screen when questions arose during its failed attempt to buy T-Mobile. Other FCC officials told us this week they expect Genachowski to also circulate an incentive auction NPRM for a vote at the meeting.
Mobile broadband has continued to explode in 2012 because of wider adoption of broadband services, more powerful networks and a proliferation of new compatible mobile devices, Rysavy Research said in a report released Thursday. That explosion in use has fostered the development of more-efficient technology, but increased demand is “already leading to isolated instances of congestion, which will become widespread unless more spectrum becomes available in the near future,” Rysavy said in a news release. The report also highlights specific developments in the mobile broadband market, as well as important challenges the market faces (http://xrl.us/bnnry3).
The Justice Department said it got another conviction in an illegal online movie distribution ring after Jeramiah Perkins, 39, of Portsmouth, Va., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. The case involved renting computer servers and registering domain names for use by the IMAGiNE Group in order to release copies of movies on the Internet while they were still in theaters, the department said (http://xrl.us/bnnryr). Co-defendants Sean Lovelady, Willie Lambert and Gregory Cherwonik pleaded guilty to similar charges earlier this year, the Justice Department said.
Hearst TV introduced a new smartphone app tied to the general election, it said. The “Election 2012” app is available in the iTunes and Google Play stores and includes local voter guides, a countdown clock to Election Day and will let viewers watch live election results, commentary and news on Election Day, the company said.
The record before the FCC “reflects a broad consensus in favor of taking measured steps to broaden the [USF] contribution base and to reduce uncertainty and eliminate competitive distortions,” representatives of the Rural Cellular Association said in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai. “In particular, we noted that most parties support extending contribution obligations (or clarifying existing obligations) for enterprise services that include a telecommunications component and for so-called ‘one-way’ VoIP services,” they said (http://xrl.us/bnnryk). “We further observed that the record supports reducing the safe harbor interstate revenue allocation for wireless carriers and clarifying the contribution obligations of wholesale carriers."
The Tennis Channel asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to speed up its consideration of Comcast’s appeal of an FCC order that required Comcast to distribute the network more broadly than it had. The network said all the parties agreed to its proposed schedule, which calls for Comcast’s brief to be due Oct. 4, the FCC’s and Tennis Channel’s due Nov. 5, replies due Nov. 9 and final briefs due Dec. 3. The channel sought the expedited schedule after the court granted Comcast’s emergency motion to stay the FCC’s order (CD Aug 27 p10). “In light of the substantial harm that Tennis Channel faces each day that it is denied the relief to which the Commission concluded it was entitled,” the court should grant its motion to speed up the proceedings, it said.