SES TechCom signed contracts with Astrium and DLR to supply components of the ground segment for the European Data Relay System. TechCom will provide four satellite control stations and data reception facilities to be built on the premises of the earth stations in Germany, Belgium and the U.K., SES said in a news release Monday. It said the installations will work in the Ka frequency band, “which allows for the transfer, storage and terrestrial relay of very high quantities of data in the gigabit range.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted domestic Section 214 transfer of control of Knology and its subsidiaries to WideOpenWest, effective last Friday. A public notice said the transfer “serves the public interest” (http://xrl.us/bncuwo). WOW is buying Knology for about $1.5 billion (CD April 19 p21).
The high-cost loop support data submitted by the National Exchange Carrier Association is publicly available on the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System, according to a Wireline Bureau public notice (http://xrl.us/bncuvr). The data provides national average cost per loop.
Rural Cellular Association President Steve Berry sees spectrum sharing as “a good idea to think about,” but said “it should be one of the last solutions to find additional high speed mobile broadband spectrum, not the first.” Not a single megahertz has been reallocated since the administration set a goal of 500 MHz for wireless broadband over 10 years, Berry noted in an email. “I hope the concept of spectrum sharing is not a euphemism for ‘I give up,'” he said. “The Federal Government is the largest holder of spectrum, and it’s time for the Administration to roll up its sleeves and identify additional spectrum for commercial use.” Federal spectrum users should be required to share with each other first, Berry said. “This will help ultimately identify spectrum to be reallocated for commercial use,” he said. “Competitive carriers need useable spectrum now to roll out new innovative services, and there’s a slice of spectrum they could use today that is internationally harmonized and in a 4G LTE ecosystem -- 1755 MHz-1780 MHz. The Administration should immediately begin working to make this slice available to commercial users.”
The FCC released a consumer guide on video description availability rules that go into effect July 1 in accordance with the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010(http://xrl.us/bncuvc). Affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in the top 25 TV markets and the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, TBS, TNT and USA will provide about four hours of prime time and/or children’s programming with video description per week, the FCC said. TVs or set-top boxes’ secondary audio feature provides the video descriptions, and consumers should check their TV manual or a customer service department for assistance, the guide said. Video description availability will be published through program guides and websites of networks, broadcasters and subscription-TV systems, the FCC said. The agency will provide links to these websites and other video description information as available on the FCC website (http://xrl.us/bncuqq), it said.
The FCC “must take action” to resolve interoperability issues in the 700MHz band and “immediately freeze the equipment authorization on equipment that can not operate on all of the spectrum frequencies in the 700 MHz band,” McBride Spectrum Partners said in a filing (http://xrl.us/bncuso). “The build-out deadlines for the lower 700MHz A block band licenses is just around the corner and it is important that the Commission act swiftly to implement interoperability within the 700 MHz band."
Hughes’ HX system is using the new Internet Protocol-over-satellite 1008-B air interface standard. Hughes helped develop the IPOS standard, “which is the most widely deployed in the satellite networking industry,” the company said in a news release Monday. The standard includes mobility support and “direct sequence spreading to small antennas in a mobile environment,” it said.
NASUCA reiterated its objection to the practice of cramming. In comments filed at the FCC Friday (http://xrl.us/bncung), it recommended the agency adopt a rule “for all modes of telecommunications service that explicitly prohibits cramming” and suggested several ways the commission could better fight it. The agency should “avoid exceptions” that allow the problem to continue, extend any solution “across the several modes of telecommunications service” and ensure the telecom industry has methods of verification or authentication that accurately authenticate, NASUCA said. A new FCC prohibition on cramming should not target third-party providers alone, the group said, but “also hold billing companies and billing agents responsible when they pass unauthorized charges on to consumers” because “these typically larger billing companies have accepted forms of authentication [from third-party providers] that do not authenticate.” The group recommended the agency “bring enforcement actions,” and encourage states to enforce such rules and seek help from the FTC when appropriate.
DirecTV downgraded n3D to a part-time channel, ending its two-year run as a 24-hour source for 3D programming, a DirecTV spokesman confirmed. The change took effect June 1, he said. The company will continue to air original series like Guitar Center Sessions, concerts by Maroon 5 and the Fray and special events like the London Olympics, the spokesman said. DirecTV will “continue to look for new, quality 3D programming to acquire and deliver to our 3D customers,” he said. DirecTV launched n3D with partner Panasonic in 2010 as a means for differentiating itself as an early adopter of technology. DirecTV subscribers will continue to get 3D content through the 3net venture of Discovery Communications, Imax and Sony, as well as through DirecTV Cinema 3D and ESPN 3D.
Regulatory intervention in the TV ecosystem “is a bull in the proverbial china shop with unintended consequences likely to destabilize the delicate work of the invisible hand” in the market, a report from Needham & Co. said. The TV ecosystem hasn’t suffered the same fate as music or newspapers in the digital age because: (1) Consumers pay only about 30 cents for every hour of TV they watch. (2) The industry “has always embraced technology to improve its product.” (3) The entire “slate” must be funded ahead of time for “hit” shows to be developed. (4) The “fierce rivalries” between about two dozen “enormous” companies, who engage in “vicious negotiations” every five to seven years, “eventually” add more value to the system. (5) Unlike “dominant Internet platforms” that quickly fizzled out like AOL and MySpace, “large companies pursuing independent strategies maximizes the economics and stability” of the TV ecosystem. (6) Players like YouTube, Netflix and Hulu are creating a “parallel high-quality video business” that can “unseat” the TV ecosystem. Regulatory efforts to give an edge to the new entrants in TV, such as two Justice Department investigations launched recently, would help “a tiny number of employees, most of whom have graduate degrees and live in large cities,” such as Hulu’s 420 employees and Netflix’s 2,348 employees, the report said. Even Facebook only has 3,500 employees despite its 900 million users, it said. “These types of employees do not need government protection: There are many job alternatives for them.” In contrast, about a million employees are “dependent” on the TV industry, “typically middle-class folks, some with college degrees, who live in rural America” and answer phones, service trucks and install wires, the report said. Flattening numbers of Internet video viewing show the need for new content, it said: The figure has been stuck around 180 million viewers for more than two years, and the number of videos watched online has only risen 8 percent in that time. If unbundling the TV ecosystem were mandated, Needham & Co. estimates only five to 10 hit channels would be profitable on a standalone basis, “implying that 125 TV channels [on the typical cable package] would become uneconomic to produce,” and public companies in TV would lose $300 billion of market capitalization.