Telecom wholesale carrier partnerships offer a more strategic approach to growth compared to in-house development, mergers or acquisitions, said Ovum (http://xrl.us/bnghrt). The industry research firm said Wednesday that carriers that partner with established third parties are more likely to see growth due to the cooperation and collaboration aimed at a common goal. A successful partnership depends on the carriers’ capabilities, objectives and levels of communication and trust, said David James, practice leader of Ovum’s wholesale team. Seven carriers from around the world banded together Tuesday to allow mobile devices to connect in multiple countries (CD July 11 p18).
The Rural Telecommunications Group asked the FCC to reject the Verizon Wireless/T-Mobile spectrum swap, in a petition RTG released late Tuesday. It noted that some of the licenses Verizon proposes to sell still must be obtained from SpectrumCo, Cox or Leap Wireless. “Because Verizon does not have the legal authority to assign 47 of the licenses, the Commission should hold the above-captioned applications in abeyance pending the outcome of the underlying transactions involving Verizon, the Cable Companies and Leap,” RTG said. “It is unprecedented from a public interest standpoint for concerned parties to be required to file petitions to deny or comments on a transaction that is dependent on the approval of another hotly contested transaction."
The FCC should encourage an industry transition to software-based video relay services, VRS provider ZVRS told commission officials Monday (http://xrl.us/bngewz). Standard VRS software has several advantages, including interoperability through standard functionality, reduced cost through the elimination of hardware, and a potentially more competitive market, ZVRS said.
NTCA met with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s wireline aide, Priscilla Argeris, to discuss concerns over the lack of transparency and predictability in the new regression analysis-based caps on USF support, said an ex parte filing detailing Monday’s meeting (http://xrl.us/bngevj).
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will tee up an order, probably for an August vote, that “will continue our ongoing efforts to remove unnecessary rules hindering the deployment of wireless backhaul,” he said in written testimony prepared for Tuesday’s oversight hearing before the House Communications Subcommittee.
A federal court should put on hold FCC public file Web posting rules, the NAB said. The association asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to stay a requirement that some TV stations start posting political files on fcc.gov by Aug. 2, when the rules take effect (CD July 6 p1). “NAB is likely to succeed on the merits because the FCC engaged in arbitrary and capricious decisionmaking by disregarding the competitive harm that is likely to result from the Order and departing from the provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act,” the association said of April’s public-file order. “NAB’s members will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay because the Order compels television stations to post the prices for specific advertisements to a public website immediately after the sales occur. This will place NAB’s members at a distinct disadvantage to their non-broadcast competitors, who will not be required to post rate information on the Internet.” A Media Bureau spokeswoman declined to comment. The emergency motion for stay pending judicial review is in D.C. Circuit docket 12-1225 (http://bit.ly/L6QsJB).
CTIA took issued with a Public Knowledge statement that the FCC must make clear to carriers that it can’t prevent subscribers from making political contributions via text message (CD July 10 p9). “Public Knowledge continues to confuse SMS text messaging and carrier billing and collection services,” said CTIA General Counsel Michael Altschul. “There are no restrictions on political campaigns use of text messaging. Indeed, much has been written on how the 2004 Obama campaign reached out and connected with voters using SMS text messages. Public Knowledge is wrong in not recognizing that consumers may text campaign donations using their credit card today. CTIA’s request for an advisory opinion is not about SMS text messaging, but rather the integration of carrier billing and collection with the complicated set of campaign finance rules."
Ten senators Tuesday filed an amendment to the Small Business Tax Cut Act, which passed the House in April, that includes language from the Marketplace Tax Fairness Act. The amendment would authorize states to require all remote sellers to collect and remit sales taxes from online consumers in compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. The amendment was proposed by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Tim Johnson, D-S.D., John Boozman, R-Ark., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. The underlying bill has the support of the White House and passed a Senate procedural vote Tuesday afternoon, 80-14.
The Federal Spectrum Working Group urged NTIA to provide more information about the government’s use of spectrum in a letter released Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bngeq3). The group asked NTIA to specify the number of spectrum authorizations each federal user held in 2011 and the amount of spectrum assigned to each federal user. The group is co-chaired by Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., and includes Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill.; Mike Rogers, R-Mich.; Steve Scalise, R-La.; Diana DeGette, D-Colo.; John Barrow, D-Ga.; and Del. Donna Christensen, D-Virgin Islands. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., are ex-officio members.
The FCC should make AWS-4 spectrum available for commercial use and also reaffirm that licensees must reimburse Sprint Nextel for clearing the H and J blocks of Broadcast Auxiliary Service licensees, Sprint representatives said in a meeting with FCC officials. “Based on ... final audited numbers, and after excluding certain amounts not subject to reimbursement, Sprint is entitled to be reimbursed $94,875,516.00 by the beneficiaries of each of the H and lower J Blocks,” the carrier said (http://xrl.us/bngeme). “Sprint recommended that prospective licensees and beneficiaries of the cleared spectrum should be required prior to the issuance of the license to fully reimburse Sprint the amount due. Sprint would support various potential mechanisms for payment, provided that the amount to be reimbursed is accepted by the Commission, notice of the amount due is provided by the Commission in advance to auction participants, and all such amounts are paid in full prior to the issuance of licenses."