The FCC approved for transmittal to FirstNet the minimum technical requirements proposed by its Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability (http://xrl.us/bncjh6). The spectrum law enacted in February required the commission to act Thursday. The recommendations are to be used by the still-to-be-named FirstNet board as it crafts rules for a national network for responders. Commissioner Ajit Pai said his vote “should not be construed as an expression of any particular view on the recommendations. Nor should it be interpreted as a rejection of the changes proposed by commenters, which the Commission did not have an opportunity to address given the abbreviated nature of this proceeding."
LTE TDD, the 4G technology and standard developed by China, has “gained wide ecosystem acceptance and backing from leading infrastructure and device vendors” and is likely to make up 25 percent of all LTE connections by 2016, Ovum said in a report Friday. “LTE TDD has moved well beyond being a ‘Chinese-specific,’ technology and has already been adopted by operators in Japan, the Middle East, and Europe,” Ovum said. “The biggest market opportunities for LTE TDD will come from its deployment to support mobile broadband services,” says analyst Daryl Schoolar. “Other opportunities will include its use as a fixed wireless broadband network and for small cell backhaul."
The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on the rejection rate on requests for common carrier use of spectrum in the 11 GHz, 18 GHz and 23 GHz bands (http://xrl.us/bncgh9). Congress, in spectrum legislation which became law in February, required the agency to prepare a report on these microwave bands. Filings are due July 20.
A path to retire the traditional POTS TDM architecture is necessary to make possible continued investment in more efficient IP infrastructure, Robert Quinn, AT&T senior vice president-federal regulatory, told the chief of staff for FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai (http://xrl.us/bncghz). AT&T’s outstanding pricing flexibility petitions were unopposed during the comment cycle, and it would be unfair to “change the rules literally hours before the due date of those petitions,” he said. A circulating order on special access would suspend the petitions while the FCC works on reforming the special access rules.
The FCC should suspend current triggers and revamp the system to look at the existence of competitively provided special access facilities, XO told aides to Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Robert McDowell on Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bncf6o). “There is a clear mismatch between the market’s lack of competitive alternatives and the regulatory relief provided pursuant to the Commission’s pricing flexibility rules,” XO said. Even as many business customers demand higher bandwidth Ethernet services, they continue to demand less robust DS1 and DS3 circuits, a trend that’s expected to continue “for the foreseeable future,” the company said. Traditional antitrust methodologies demonstrate that ILECs with phase II pricing flexibility relief “are taking advantage of the lack of competitive alternatives to price TDM channel termination circuits far above competitive levels and earn supra-competitive profits,” XO said. “This most closely reflects how providers actually operate in a market."
Globalstar urged the FCC to adopt proposals to expand wireless broadband by allowing terrestrial wireless use in the 2 GHz band, which will allow Dish Network to build a terrestrial network. The company urged the agency to move forward with a proposal for similar flexibility in the big low earth orbit band, it said in an ex parte filing in docket 12-70. The filing recalled a meeting with Globalstar executives, including CEO Jay Monroe, and members of the Wireless and International bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology. A new regulatory framework for terrestrial operations in the Big LEO band “would enhance the sustainability of MSS [mobile satellite services], benefiting consumers and public safety personnel in unserved and underserved areas,” Globalstar said.
The Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky opposed a petition of Time Warner Cable to be let out of local rate regulation in the city of Kenton Vale. In that area, competing DBS providers don’t serve more than 15 percent of households, the board said. “Time Warner Cable has failed to meet its burden that the DBS providers collectively serve 15 percent or more of households in the franchise area,” it said: “TWC used outdated information and it would only be fair to the subscribers if the Commission accepted the data provided” by the board.
Wide Open West’s $1.02 billion of senior unsecured notes due 2020 drew a CCC+ rating from Standard & Poor’s. The proceeds are to be used to fund the cable operator’s acquisition of Knology and repay other debts.