The House Communications Subcommittee’s June 27 hearing on video competition (CD June 15 p8) was scheduled for 10 a.m. in Rayburn Room 2123.
The pending spectrum transactions between Verizon Wireless, SpectrumCo and Cox are “not in the public interest,” Consumers Union (CU) told FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai last week, according to an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bncchn). The commission should implement several conditions to “lessen the overall public interest harms,” the group said, including a requirement to divest AWS spectrum in the Eastern markets where Verizon is already capable of launching a 20 x 20 MHz LTE-advanced network using its existing AWS and 700 MHz C-block licenses. The FCC should also consider shortening the 2021 deadline in the buildout requirement and a “use it or share it” condition if the requirement isn’t met, the group said. CU also said the commission should go further in requiring disclosure of third-party charges not just on wireline, but also on VoIP and wireless devices. Such an expansion would be “much more effective than the current rule” in preventing cramming, CU said. The group also expressed concern over what it called the “growing monopoly in the wireline broadband market” that could affect the video market since broadband is “often tied to the purchase of a video product.” It is “critical” that the commission look at the competitiveness of the wireline broadband and video market, and its effect on the development of an over-the-top market, CU said.
AT&T’s filing with Sirius XM on their agreement on Wireless Communications Service spectrum (CD June 19 p1) is not a short-term fix for AT&T’s spectrum needs, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said in a research note. “While this is an important step in terms of enhancing its amount of ‘usable’ spectrum, there is still a substantial amount of work to be done before WCS can be used and potential negotiations [AT&T] must undertake if it wants to consolidate its holding,” Fritzsche wrote. “Although we view this news as an incremental positive for AT&T, we would put it in the ‘long term’ bucket in terms of spectrum solutions. In our view, this is not the only path AT&T will pursue as it looks to secure greater spectrum to meet future data demand.” Credit Suisse also sees the help as coming well down the road. “Clearing WCS spectrum for commercial deployment requires five steps that are complex, involving multiple parties and therefore susceptible to delay,” Credit Suisse said in a research note. Build out of the spectrum alone could take two years, it said. “We view AT&T’s 4-5 year timeline as the best-case scenario -- it could easily take longer,” the firm said. “As such, we believe WCS spectrum should not impact AT&T’s appetite for additional spectrum from other sources that can be deployed sooner. … We continue to believe AT&T will act to close the gap, with DISH’s S-Band spectrum, [Clearwire’s] 2.5 GHz spectrum and potential Verizon AWS divestitures being AT&T’s best options.” “It’s a big deal,” Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said in an email Wednesday. “On the margin, it makes Clearwire a less likely option for AT&T, and it makes a deal for Dish Network look even less likely as well."
AT&T released its annual Sustainability Report (http://xrl.us/bncca6) highlighting how the company cut $42 million in energy costs last year, through more than 4,500 energy efficiency projects. Among them, AT&T employees logged more than 2.9 million telepresence minutes, cutting almost $13.9 million in travel dollars and more than 8,261 metric tons of CO2 emissions. AT&T also said it has since 2006 pledged more than $37 million in contributions and grants to support One Economy, a nonprofit that targets increased access to broadband and has provided more than 300,000 Americans with affordable broadband.
Sprint Nextel officials warned of the negative effect that the Verizon Wireless deals with SpectrumCo and Cox could have on Wi-Fi networks, backhaul, and spectrum concentration, in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. “Sprint competes with much larger competitors, Verizon and AT&T; but effective competition requires access to inputs necessary to provide cost-effective commercial mobile service,” the carrier said in an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bncb24). Commercial agreements that are part of the deals could be harmful to backhaul, Sprint said. “Sprint has found that wired network operators are charging the same backhaul rates for microcells, covering small areas, as they charge for connections to macrocells with much wider coverage and generally much heavier use,” the company argued. “This pricing scheme makes network expansion through microcells much more difficult. With the loss of Cable Companies as effective competing backhaul providers, there is little hope for relief.” The AWS licenses Verizon is buying “would add additional broadband-desirable spectrum to the carrier that already holds licenses for more spectrum than any other carrier,” Sprint said.
Wireless will never be a complete substitute for wireline, and commercial agreements signed as part of the proposed spectrum sales from SpectrumCo and Cox to Verizon Wireless will be bad for competition, Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen said in a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “Given the inherent physical limits of wireless spectrum, wired networks play a critical role in alleviating the looming spectrum crunch,” Cohen said, according to an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bncb4m). “Mr. Cohen noted that the joint marketing agreements would allow Verizon Wireless to sell cable’s broadband, video, and voice telephony services in direct competition to Verizon’s own FiOS service. By turning former competitors into partners, the joint marketing agreements will eliminate the incentive for Verizon Communications, the majority owner of Verizon Wireless, to continue aggressive marketing and build-out of its FiOS network. This would leave many communities in the Verizon footprint, including Boston, Baltimore, Buffalo, [N.Y.,] Albany, [N.Y.,] Syracuse [N.Y.,] and others, on the wrong side of the digital divide.”
At the request of an aide to FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, an AT&T executive emailed a list of sources of special access data the Wireline Bureau said were “publicly available,” but that are not actually available without a subscription, according to an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bnb9so). A public notice June 5 announced the list of 99 “publicly available documents that the Commission may consider as part of this proceeding,” but according to AT&T, five of those documents -- three law review articles and two listings of boundary information -- require subscriptions.
The global consumption value of fiber optic point sensors and distributed fiber optic sensor system links will increase from $1.34 billion to $3.39 billion from 2011 to 2016, said an ElectroniCast forecast. During the same period, it predicts global consumption of fiber optics to increase by 21 percent yearly and the use of fiber optic interface extrinsic sensors to increase by 18 percent yearly.
House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., reaffirmed her support Tuesday for a resolution to express Congress’s opposition to any proposal to exert ITU control of the Internet in the World Conference on International Telecommunications. “While there is no question that nations must work together to address challenges to the Internet’s growth and stability, like cybersecurity and privacy concerns, these issues can best be addressed under the existing multi-stakeholder model,” she said. Her remarks came a day ahead of the House Commerce Committee’s markup of H-Res-127 which urges the State and Commerce departments to convey the “consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States to promote a global Internet, free from government control and preserve and advance the successful multi-stakeholder model that governs the Internet today.” The bill’s sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif.; Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.; Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif.; and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore.
Rick Kaplan’s last day as Wireless Bureau chief is Wednesday, but he will stick around for the time being to help oversee the agency’s exam of Verizon Wireless’s buy of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox, officials said Tuesday. Questions have arisen about whether staff changes at the commission could slow a final decision on the transactions (CD June 11 p1). The agency announced in late May Kaplan was leaving the agency, to be replaced by former Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman.