Comcast laid out an agreement with Bloomberg over which elements of an FCC Media Bureau carriage order would be stayed by the bureau, in a letter to bureau Chief Bill Lake (http://xrl.us/bncgdk). “Comcast will proceed with moving BTV [Bloomberg TV] into ‘news neighborhoods’ (as defined by the Bureau)” by July 1 “on lineups that have exactly one news neighborhood, which has a channel vacancy in or adjacent to that news neighborhood,” the cable operator said. “It appears there are a total of 105 lineups in this sub-set.” Comcast will by Aug. 15 move BTV to a news neighborhood on an additional 32 systems where there’s only one such neighborhood but no channel vacancy in or around it. Comcast argued it needs some leeway to decide where to place BTV’s standard definition and HD feeds, including the ability select “between an SD and HD neighborhood -- not just which SD neighborhood to select,” it said. Comcast wants to generally focus on putting BTV’s HD feed in news neighborhoods, it said. “Comcast also believes this channel placement ultimately benefits Bloomberg by accelerating the launch of BTV’s HD feed,” the operator said. “Comcast’s plan would be to maintain BTV’s SD feed in place, thereby ensuring that BTV viewers will continue to find the network at its accustomed channel position with no disruption. Requiring Comcast to ‘neighborhood’ both SD and HD feeds would ... substantially increase the number of major channel realignments and associated customer disruption."
Comcast asked the FCC for a six-month reprieve from complying with new emergency alert system (EAS) rules taking effect at month’s end “for a handful of its smallest, most remote cable systems ... serving less than two tenths of one percent” of its subscribership (http://xrl.us/bncgdp). The systems can’t receive messages formatted in common alerting protocol (CAP) because they lack broadband connections, but the company is “aggressively pursuing an innovative plan” to comply through a “satellite-based delivery mechanism, and it is doing so notwithstanding the substantial ‘per subscriber’ implementation costs associated with that plan,” Comcast said. “Subscribers to Comcast’s Remote Systems already have access to timely and effective emergency warnings through legacy EAS equipment, and Comcast will continue to operate its legacy EAS equipment at the Remote Systems” while it works on CAP compliance. Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief David Turetsky separately granted (http://xrl.us/bncgd7) the American Cable Association’s request for withdrawal of its petition for reconsideration of the new EAS rules. The group had proposed a streamlined waiver process for cable systems that serve less than 501 subscribers, but in its withdrawal petition noted that the comment cycle for that proposal would end on July 3 -- after the new rules take effect (CD June 14 pX) -- and thus deprive ACA members of “meaningful relief."
Hulu executives told FCC Media Bureau staff the company has developed proprietary technology to synchronize captions with programming, but the process is still manual and time intensive, an ex parte notice shows (http://xrl.us/bncgch). They also said each device a video programming distributor delivers its service to requires a customized application or another workaround to deliver captioned programming, the notice shows.
Verizon Wireless fired back at Free Press over various arguments the group has made in opposition to the carrier’s buy of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox. “In its most recent ex partes, Free Press has switched gears and now claims that Verizon Wireless does not need additional spectrum in the first place, referencing internal documents it either misconstrues or mischaracterizes,” Verizon said (http://xrl.us/bncgaj). “Verizon Wireless previously demonstrated that this claim is incorrect, and it corrects the record yet again here. While long on hyperbole, Free Press’ claims are belied by the extensive record of evidence demonstrating Verizon Wireless’ spectrum needs throughout the country.” Verizon has demonstrated at length its customers need access to more spectrum, the filing said. “Free Press attempts to distract attention from the voluminous objective, technical evidence demonstrating Verizon Wireless’ need for spectrum,” Verizon said. “And for good reason. That evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that the proposed license assignments are in the public interest.” Verizon “can continue to attack its detractors, but it takes more than rhetoric and hyperbole to show this transaction will benefit the public,” Free Press said in response. “Verizon is wildly overstating its need for this spectrum and if this transaction is approved as proposed, the bulk of the spectrum will go unused for many years. That is an outcome that we are confident the FCC will act to prevent."
Open Data Centers will open its first carrier-neutral facility in Piscataway, N.J., on Tuesday, it said. Through diverse power grids and multiple fiber providers, the center offers data center space and alternate connectivity in the New York City region to meet increasing capacity demand, it said.
An Arab group proposal on naming, numbering and addressing isn’t focused on types of technologies, such as the Internet, but is focused on international telecom matters only, an Arab official told an ITU Council working group meeting on preparations for the World Conference on International Communications in December. Submissions on possible revisions to the International Telecommunication Regulations in December are being aired in the working group but have not been made to the conference. Many officials were concerned the proposal would address Internet matters, and talks in the meeting and in the corridors tried to ferret out the group’s intentions. The U.S. and Canada didn’t support the idea of an expanded ITU role in naming, numbering and addressing. The effects of regulatory changes on technical operations may not be obvious because of convergence of Internet and telecom markets, a submission from the Netherlands said. The submission addressed in general terms possible unintended side effects of regulatory changes, with specific examples dealing with spam, calling line identification, provisions against spoofing, and others. A “solid review of impact of new regulations on technical and business operations” is needed before agreement, in order to prevent unintended, possibly harmful consequences, it said. Sweden pressed for the inclusion of a minimum threshold number of countries that would have to ratify the modified treaty before it took effect. The matter will likely be addressed at the December conference. One official suggested 25 percent of ITU member countries would have to ratify the new treaty before it took effect. ITU has 193 member countries, its website said.
An Arab group proposal to expand the scope of the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) from just telecom to include information and communications technology (ICT) received strong opposition during a meeting this week of the ITU Council working group on preparations for the World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) in December. Submissions on possible revisions to the ITRs are being aired in the working group but have not been made to the conference. An Arab official said the definition of telecom is no longer needed because of technology advancements. The U.S., European countries, and others opposed the move, along with an Arab proposal to include processing in the treaty’s scope. The Arab official said telecom includes transmission, emission and reception, but not the computer or other gear. He said some processing is already occurring in telecommunications. Arab officials have been pressing to make the treaty more technical in nature. Many countries are pressing to keep the revisions focused on delivering a high-level framework. The U.K. said the ITU Constitution, which has precedence over the ITRs, defines telecom in a way that doesn’t include ICT. Botswana said officials at ITU’s top policy setting conference have said definitions need to be changed at a conference like WCIT, and officials in WCIT preparations are saying definitions can only be changed at ITU’s top policy-setting conference.
A European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO) proposal on new business models for interconnection policies that would be based on the “value” of traffic, not just its volume (CD June 11 p10)(WID June 11 p5) is neither a suggestion to produce a treaty that is a high level framework nor technologically neutral, a U.S. official told an ITU council working group meeting this week on preparations for the World Conference on International Telecommunications in December. Submissions on possible revisions to the International Telecommunication Regulations are being aired in the working group but have not yet been made to the conference. A European official said the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations is still examining the proposal, but on first glance it appears too restrictive.
The House IP Subcommittee plans a hearing on international intellectual property enforcement Wednesday at 10 a.m. in room 2141 Rayburn.
A group opposing the sale of KUSF(FM) San Francisco said in a news release it will file an appeal urging the FCC to reverse its approval of the sale. The University of San Francisco is selling the station to Classical Public Radio Network. The commission approved the sale as part of a consent decree that ordered USF and CPRN to pay $50,000 for violating rules in a public service operating agreement (CD June 8 p16). The decision “has serious local and national repercussions,” Save KUSF said. Although the FCC recognized that there were problems in the way USF and CPRN handled the license, it “just let the sale go ahead with a fine,” the group said.