The FCC released a consumer guide for the closed captioning rules that it created under the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (http://xrl.us/bncvnw). As of Jan. 1, 2014, equipment that plays, receives or records video must be capable of closed captioning if feasible, the guide said. The rules apply to a variety of equipment including smartphones, recording devices and DVD players, the guide said. The equipment should allow viewers to turn on and off the closed captioning as well as adjust the text appearance and language, the guide said. The FCC issued other guides on parts of the act this week. (See separate report in this issue.)
The FCC released a consumer guide on closed captioning requirements for online videos originally shown on TV (http://xrl.us/bncvpm). The agency had adopted the rules to implement provisions of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, said the commission, which has been issuing guides on parts of the act this week (CD June 26 p17). The captioning rules apply to full-length video programming and video segments that were captioned when originally shown on TV, the guide said. Movies and consumer-generated media don’t need to be captioned on the Internet unless previously shown on TV with captioning, the guide said. It also includes the closed captioning implementation schedule for new Internet videos and uncaptioned Internet videos later shown on TV with captions.
The FCC asked a federal court of appeals to suspend a case seeking to overturn the USF/intercarrier compensation order while the commission hears several petitions for reconsideration. The FCC filed the motion (http://xrl.us/bncx7b) in the 10th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, arguing many of its pending recon petitions raise issues “central to the claims that petitioners intend to present to this Court.” Because the issues in the petitions “substantially overlap with those raised in this litigation,” the court should “hold the appeal in abeyance pending the Commission’s further proceedings, keeping the record open for supplementation,” the FCC said (WC docket 10-90). Liaison counsel, writing for the petitioners, opposed the motion, arguing it “appears to present very little to justify holding the entire case in abeyance.” The motion “might foreshadow FCC ‘ripeness’ arguments on brief of unspecified merit, but not much else,” liaison counsel said. The court should resolve the appeal expeditiously because states are already making expensive changes as a result of the FCC’s “blatant usurpation of authority,” and the court can resolve ripeness arguments “without delaying resolution” of the other issues, liaison counsel said.
That the FCC should “preserve” terrestrial TV is pointed up by a survey finding the number of over-the-air viewers rose 17 percent in a year to a recent total of 54 million (CD June 19 p12), the NAB said. “The broadcast incentive auction that the Commission is contemplating could directly impact [that] growing number,” CEO Gordon Smith wrote FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bncx25). “By actively engaging TV broadcasters as partners in this process, the FCC can achieve its goals of acquiring more spectrum for wireless broadband while preserving spectrum dedicated to free broadcast television for future generations.” A “fully transparent process” is needed for the voluntary broadcast incentive auction to be successful, and the agency should consider how low-power TV stations will be affected, Smith wrote: LPTVs and commercial and nonprofit broadcasters, carriers and others need “ample time to evaluate the auction rules and repacking procedures,” and the FCC should limit the number of stations whose channels will change.
"Small cells will outnumber all macrocells globally during Q4” and femtocells “alone will outnumber all macrocells shortly afterwards in Q1 2013,” Informa Telecoms & Media said in a report Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bncxx6). It said that AT&T, Sprint and China Mobile plan to introduce 3G small-cell devices, Verizon Wireless hopes to introduce LTE public access small cells and by the end of 2012 Sprint hopes to introduce its own LTE designs. The femtocell market was “recently buoyed” by Telefónica’s expansion plans in Europe and South America, among other developments, the market research firm said. Public access small cells are receiving more interest, Informa said, because metropolitan centers are calling for “additional capacity.”
A trade agreement signed Tuesday by the EU with Colombia and Peru could save exporters 270 million euros ($337 million) in duties each year, the European Commission said. The pact will open up market opportunities for several key EU export industries, which will benefit from the removal of tariffs, it said. There will be noticeable tariff reductions on telecom products, among other things, it said. The telecom equipment industry alone will save 18 million euros annually, supporting the development of an EU telecom services industry in the region, it said. The agreement will consolidate and provide market access for cross-border services and for establishment of key areas of interest to Europe, including telecom services, it said. The pact also provides for copyright and trademark protections, the EC said. It calls for technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives to promote the competitiveness and innovation potential of Peru and Colombia, it said. Production processes will be modernized, which will make trade easier and allow technology transfer between the parties, the EC said. This will take place in areas of common interest, particularly on technical barriers to trade and intellectual property rights, it said.
T-Mobile’s spectrum swap with Verizon Wireless (CD June 26 p1) (WT Docket No. 12-4) doesn’t provide a complete answer to the concerns Free Press has with Verizon Wireless’s buy of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox, representatives of the nonprofit said in a call with an aide to FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “We continue to believe the spectrum sale and the marketing and agency agreements are all parts of the same overall deal and the Commission has a duty to review each before determining whether this transaction benefits the public interest,” said an ex parte filing of the meeting with aide Paul Murray (http://xrl.us/bncxyg). “We noted that even with the proposed sale of some AWS spectrum to T-Mobile, if the Commission approves the Verizon-SpectrumCo/Cox deals, Verizon would still control far more spectrum than it has any need for."
"Special access reform is of critical importance to Sprint” and the carrier “continues to rely heavily on special access services,” Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse said in phone calls with FCC Commissioners Robert McDowell, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel. The calls were Thursday and Friday, said an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bncxyk). Hesse also asked the commissioners to “find that the current pricing flexibility triggers are arbitrary and to suspend any new grants of pricing flexibility until the Commission establishes a new, more effective framework for evaluating competition for channel termination services."
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will hold its 46th public meeting in Beijing April 7-12, its board decided at a meeting in Prague Monday (http://xrl.us/bncvqi). Twenty-five percent of the world’s Internet users live in China, ICANN said. The meeting will be cosponsored by China Internet Network Information Center, the Internet Society of China and the China Organizational Name Administration Center.
The University of Central Florida will buy WMFE-TV Orlando, Fla., for $3.3 million. UCF plans to expand the reach of its WUCF-TV signal and provide viewers with better reception of popular PBS programs, UCF said in a news release. The FCC turned down an application from Daystar, a religious broadcaster, to buy WMFE (CD March 29 p13). The university will not use state or tuition funds to make the purchase, UCF said.