Disney’s ABC signed a long-term affiliation agreement with WTVA-TV Tupelo, Miss., the companies said. The station, an NBC affiliate, will carry the ABC network on a digital subchannel beginning Saturday.
Apple is the most successful telecom company of “all time,” according to a new report from Information Gatekeepers. The report notes that Apple has grown very differently from competitors like AT&T, Google, Microsoft or Verizon -- “it is a company that primarily deals with providing end users the access devices that allow connection to all of these other companies’ assets.” The report also analyzes the impact of Apple’s win Friday in its lawsuit against Samsung, Information Gatekeepers said in a news release.
Worldwide 4G LTE subscriptions will rise to 73.3 million by the end of 2012, and the technology will be critical in driving convergence of electronic devices like smartphones and mobile PCs, said a report from IHS iSuppli. Growth in 4G LTE should continue in the coming years, with subscriptions rising to 205.7 million by the end of 2013 and up to nearly 1.2 billion by 2016, the report said. “Providing much faster access speeds than comparable 3.5G and 3.75G technologies, 4G LTE makes real-time applications such as video streaming and multiperson gaming usable, not just possible,” said Francis Sideco, IHS analyst for wireless communications, in a news release. “In turn, the increasing penetration of 4G is a factor in furthering the convergence of smartphones, tablets, computers and other devices. Such convergence allows manufacturers to create a market strategy in which applications can be leveraged across multiple devices through a common user interface -- an increasingly important factor not just in a manufacturer’s capability to compete, but also a key element for success in the adoption of a device” (http://xrl.us/bnnng8).
The joint proposal from AT&T and Sirius XM for Wireless Communications Services (WCS) spectrum meets some of the concerns expressed in an ex parte letter filed in docket 07-293 from Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council (AFTRCC), AT&T said. AFTRCC had concerns, including the importance of the upper bands “not being used for mobiles and portables in the FDD [frequency division duplexing] configuration” and “inclusion of fixed station within the coordination regime,” AFTRCC said in its June filing (http://xrl.us/bnnnij). The AT&T/Sirius proposal didn’t propose to permit the use of mobile or portables in the upper WCS bands, AT&T said in its ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bnnnio). AT&T doesn’t object to AFTRCC’s request to amend WCS rules “to include fixed as well as base stations in the coordination regime,” AT&T said.
General Communication would be able to continue and even expand service to Alaska’s Adak Island if Adak Eagle Enterprises is forced to shut down, General’s attorney told FCC Wireline Bureau officials, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bnnnba). Adak has applied for a waiver of certain USF rules limiting reimbursable capital and operating expenses (CD Aug 20 p1). GCI explained its opposition to AEE subsidiary Windy City Cellular’s petition for waiver, “as this would prematurely allow Windy City to become the sole 3G provider on Adak Island without due process mandated by the USF/ICC Transformation Order,” GCI said. GCI also discussed its efforts to model the cost of providing mobile wireless service, and the modeling challenges facing any Alaska cost model.
Dish Network further cautioned the FCC against a 5 MHz upward shift at 2000-2020 MHz as part of a notice of proposed rulemaking that would allow Dish to deploy a terrestrial service. Such a modification “would needlessly inject serious regulatory and technical obstacles into Dish’s planned deployment,” it said in an ex parte filing in docket 12-70 (http://xrl.us/bnnnde). Last week, a Dish executive had a telephone meeting with Zachary Katz, chief of staff for Chairman Julius Genachowski, Dish said. A shift would significantly undermine the usefulness of Dish’s 2 GHz satellites “by limiting the spectrum available for mobile satellite service (MSS),” and reduce the internationally harmonized spectrum “to only 5 MHz in the uplink band, limiting opportunities for global MSS roaming and global economies of scale,” it said. A 5 MHz move also would place AWS-4 uplink operations immediately adjacent to high-power broadcast auxiliary services and federal government operations in the 2025-2110 MHz band, it added.
Liberty Media continued its march toward majority control of Sirius XM, buying up 40.4 million shares to increase its stake in satellite radio operator to 48.8 percent from 48.1 percent, according to SEC filings. Liberty bought the stock in three separate transactions starting Friday with 5.5 million shares at $2.521 and ending Tuesday with 5.8 million at $2.53, according to SEC documents. It also bought 29 million shares Monday at $2.536. Based on the volume of shares involved, analysts speculated that the stock came from Sirius institutional investors.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment on an application and waiver request by the Central Ohio Joint Fire District (COJFD) to use frequency 172.225 MHz for vehicular repeaters. The request was endorsed by Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, but opposed by the Forestry Conservation Communications Association, the bureau notes (http://xrl.us/bnnnbi). “This frequency is allocated for Federal use, and it is available to state licensees for forest firefighting activities in areas west of the Mississippi River,” but not the use proposed by COJFD without a waiver. Comments are due Sept. 19, replies Oct. 1.
Motorola Solutions is the “Official Mission-Critical Radio Provider” for the Republican National Convention in Tampa, the company said Wednesday. Motorola is providing the convention a digital trunked radio network, as well as almost 400 portable two-way radios and other accessories for convention officials, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum and other event facilities, the company said in a news release. Motorola said it’s also supplying 200 interoperable APX P25 radios to federal, state and local public safety agencies for security use at the convention (http://xrl.us/bnnm9v).
Budget Prepay filed a complaint against AT&T asserting that AT&T violated its interconnection agreement with Budget in North Carolina. AT&T “unilaterally restricted the Bundled Promotions from resale, contrary to the Interconnection Agreement between AT&T and Budget and applicable law,” the Tuesday filing before the North Carolina Utilities Commission said (http://xrl.us/bnnm2b). “AT&T’s actions are preferential, discriminatory and anti-competitive as AT&T seeks to impair competition, enhance its competitive position, and gain a competitive advantage through inappropriate intracorporate transaction and/or tying arrangement with its long distance company.” Budget wants the commission to issue a ruling that forces AT&T to offer its bundles for resale to Budget, declares AT&T’s restriction unlawful and to render payment to Budget all the money it believes it was owed plus interest over the last two years, the company said. AT&T declined to comment.