FirstNet likely will require more than the $7 billion the federal government has committed to the network, NTIA and other officials acknowledged at a NARUC conference panel in Portland, Ore., late Monday. Seven billion dollars is “probably not” enough investment to kickstart the public safety network, said NTIA Acting Chief of Staff Angela Simpson. Others agreed, including Jeff Cohen, Association of Public Safety Communications Officials counsel and architect of the February FirstNet law, and Jackie McCarthy, CTIA director of state regulatory affairs. “Public safety had asked for a lot more” money initially, Cohen said. The $7 billion is “definitely” not enough and “it necessitates cooperation of all the stakeholders at this table,” McCarthy said. The panelists agreed that funding will need to come from FirstNet partnerships, “usable applications,” reasonable cost models and potentially fees and other ways to build the interoperable system in a financially viable way. The panel’s topics focused on why utilities and public safety will need to work together on the 700 MHz spectrum.
The FCC approved AT&T’s buy of 13 broadband PCS licenses in five cellular market areas in rural Arkansas from NEATT. Eight of the licenses were part of the operating units the agency required AT&T’s predecessor to divest as a condition of Cingular’s buy of AT&T Wireless in 2004, said the order (http://xrl.us/bnh24g). Cingular eventually became AT&T Mobility, following AT&T’s buy of BellSouth. “After examining the special circumstances due to the changes in the marketplace since 2004, as well as the current competitive conditions in the relevant markets, we find that it is unlikely that there would be competitive harm if we allow AT&T to reacquire the broadband PCS licenses at issue and that it is in the public interest to allow the assignment,” the commission said. “AT&T’s post-transaction spectrum holdings in the five relevant markets range from 63 to 78 megahertz in total, with the maximum holdings being below one-third of the total spectrum that is suitable and available in the near term for the provision of mobile telephony/broadband services.” In 2004 “total spectrum suitable and available for the provision of wireless telephony/broadband services” was about 200 MHz in most markets, the order noted. “Today, however, more than double that amount of spectrum is suitable and available for the provision of mobile wireless services."
Spectrum sharing offers huge potential benefits for the 3550-3650 MHz band, a group of tech companies and trade associations said in a letter to NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Among those who signed are NCTA, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Google and Microsoft. “The undersigned believe that spectrum sharing of this kind is a tool that should be used in the effort to designate additional spectrum for non-governmental uses,” the letter said. “More specifically, we are interested in the opportunities presented by potential public-private sharing of the 3550-3650 MHz band. Such an approach could enable a range of consumer wireless services if the band were made available on a shared basis, such as through an unlicensed designation, using a database system to ensure proper coordination with government incumbents.” The Internet Commerce Coalition, Spectrum Bridge and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association also signed the letter.
Sensio Technologies said it will offer 3D content from National Geographic on the coming 3DGO! on-demand service as part of a deal with National Geographic Cinema Ventures (NGCV). National Geographic content reaches more than 435 million households in 37 languages in 173 countries, Sensio said. Sensio said NGCV has produced or released films including the Oscar-nominated documentaries Restrepo and The Story of the Weeping Camel, the giant-screen movies Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure, U2 3D, Mysteries of Egypt and Forces of Nature and the films The Last Lions and Life in a Day. Sea Monsters will be made available in 3D at the 3DGO! launch this fall, Sensio said. Last week it signed a licensing deal with Starz Digital Media that will make select 3D movies available for on-demand rental on 3DGO.
Globalstar launched the first 18 satellites of its second-generation mobile satellite service constellation, with six more launches planned by the end of the year, the company said in an ex parte filing in FCC docket 10-142 (http://xrl.us/bnh2xh). The network “should support reliable voice and data service for consumers, government and public safety personnel, commercial users and other customers in the U.S. and internationally well into the next decade,” it said, recounting a meeting last week with Globalstar executives, its board and some staff members of the International and Wireless bureaus. Globalstar also put its support behind the AWS-4 proposal in the notice of proposed rulemaking on terrestrial operations in the 2 GHz band, it said: By establishing a clear, stable framework for MSS-terrestrial operations, the FCC “could quickly add spectrum to the nation’s broadband spectrum supply and help to alleviate the growing broadband spectrum deficit.” A new regulatory framework for terrestrial operations in the big low-earth orbit band “would enhance the sustainability of MSS, benefiting consumers and public safety personnel in unserved and underserved areas,” it said.
Correction: Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., is the sponsor of the Next Generation Television Marketplace Act (HR-3675) (CD July 24 p1).
Representatives of Measurement Lab met with FCC Chief Technologist Henning Schulzrinne Friday to discuss the broadband measurement program and “how to work together to operationalize the FCC’s commitment to open, transparent measurement,” an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bnh2jn). Schulzrinne suggested implementing a detailed open source specification, which would allow comparison of data and verification of results across servers, the filing said. He and M-Lab supported independent measurement implementations that would allow independent verification of the FCC’s collected results, the filing said. M-Lab suggested the data released openly to the public must be “granular enough to allow results to be replicated by external researchers,” and noted that M-Lab had the capacity to store and offer publicly large amounts of data. Schulzrinne proposed a technical advisory committee be formed to provide “clear, technically-justified guidance on measurement for the broader measurement program collaborative,” the filing said. M-Lab supported this proposal. The FCC’s 2012 “Measuring Broadband America” report was released last week, and M-Lab, which helps measure ISP speeds, had expressed concern about transparency issues going forward because it fears the companies will be able to measure some of their own speeds and not just the lab’s equipment (CD July 20 p1) .
Verizon Wireless is ramping up partnerships with two cable companies to cross-sell “quad-play” package plans that combine the company’s smartphones and tablets with cable video, Internet and voice plans. Verizon Wireless announced Monday that it would expand its partnership with Comcast to sell each others’ products and services in Florida and multiple cities in Arizona and New Mexico. Verizon Wireless is now partnered with Comcast in 21 states, including Illinois and California. The company also announced Monday that it would cross-sell with Time Warner Cable in cities in Maine and Nebraska. The Verizon Wireless partnership with Time Warner Cable now exists in areas of eight states, including Ohio.
FairPoint Communications said it would accept $2 million in Connect America Fund money to accelerate broadband buildout to 53 towns throughout Vermont, and a village in Maine. The FCC had offered the telco more than $4.8 million. FairPoint couldn’t accept it all because of the restrictions placed on the funds, a spokeswoman said. “Our goal is to take as much as we could, and we did.” The subsidy was “very helpful,” she said. The initiative will bring broadband to about 7,100 locations, of which more than 2,600 qualify for CAF funding. FCC rules mandate that two-thirds of the project be complete within two years, with one more year to complete the rest, the FairPoint spokeswoman said. To qualify for funding, a town must be currently unserved, and not already slated for broadband development within the next three years. More than 15 percent of Vermonters are unserved by broadband, putting the state in the bottom half of such access, an FCC spokesman said. “Thousands of previously unserved Americans will get broadband within the next 12 months alone,” said Chairman Julius Genachowski. “In today’s economy, access to broadband means access to jobs and economic opportunity, in addition to better education and healthcare.” Fairpoint has invested almost $100 million on broadband in Vermont since 2008, said Mike Smith, the state’s president for the telco. It’s the second that’s agreed to accept CAF money to build out broadband to some of the 18 million Americans who lack access. Frontier said earlier this month it would take the entire $72 million allotted to it (CD July 10 p5). The FCC also allocated $90 million to CenturyLink, $60 million to Windstream, $48 million to AT&T and $20 million to Verizon. Carriers have until this Tuesday to accept the money. AT&T’s decision whether to accept CAF funding for broadband build out will depend in part on whether the company could be “subject to service obligations that may be adopted only after AT&T’s decision is made,” telco executives told FCC Wireline Bureau officials (http://xrl.us/bnhxdh). The company asked the commission to make clear that there would be no retroactive imposition of obligations on recipients of incremental funding. Meanwhile, CenturyLink executives met with advisors to each FCC commissioner Thursday. The executives explained why its requested waiver freeing it from some of the conditions for receiving CAF money for broadband buildout (CD July 16 p8), are “appropriate,” a filing said: The waiver will “help achieve the basic objectives” of the program (http://xrl.us/bnhxdm).
The TIA said it filed comments Monday supporting the NCTA’s petition for a temporary waiver of new advanced communication services accessibility rules as applied to some set-top boxes. “TIA also asserted that inflexible application of the [21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act’s] rules could force products off the market, completely depriving the public of realizing the products’ benefits."