Alcatel-Lucent representatives discussed the importance of early public safety deployments in the 700 MHz band, in a meeting with Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky and other bureau officials. “In the meeting, the representatives for Alcatel-Lucent asserted that the Commission continues to have authority to permit the current waiver recipients to deploy public safety broadband networks (PSBNs), as well as to permit additional jurisdictions to commence early PSBN deployment, and urged the Commission to work with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the to-be-formed First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to facilitate the transition of these early deployments into the nationwide PSBN,” said a filing on the meeting (http://xrl.us/bnb8td). Meanwhile, Nokia Siemens representatives met with bureau staff on the proposed national network. “The Nokia Siemens Networks representatives provided a high-level overview of the company’s latest efforts in developing solutions for the planned LTE public safety network,” said a filing on the meeting (http://xrl.us/bnb8t4). “Nokia Siemens Networks takes the view that this network will only be a success if the targeted end users, specifically first responders, find the capabilities of the network truly compelling and have confidence in its reliability and security.” The Nokia officials also said while the FCC “can and should authorize small-scale radio access network (RAN) pilots that seek to inform regarding end-user experience and may simulate deployment scenarios, it should stop short of allowing broader network deployments that threaten to constrain or overly influence the efforts of FirstNet to establish the ultimate governance and architecture of the nationwide PSBN.”
Mindspeed Technologies will include support for smart distributed antenna systems (DAS) in its PC333 and PC3032 system-on-chip products intended for use in small cells, the chip company said Tuesday. DAS helps expand the range of cellular coverage, and small cells improve capacity. The new offerings constitute “'hybrid’ systems,” the company said. Doug Pulley, chief wireless technology officer, said DAS and small cells “should be seen as complementary technologies rather than competitive."
Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown met with Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Ajit Pai to make the case the FCC should not revoke waivers it has already granted allowing buildout of early public safety networks in the 700 MHz band. “Mr. Brown reiterated MSI’s position … that the Spectrum Act does not disturb the FCC’s broad authority over spectrum, including the 700 MHz public safety broadband spectrum,” said an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bnb8sp). It said Brown also said “the Congressional mandate is sufficiently broad to enable the Commission to maintain its existing waiver policies that support early deployment of public safety broadband networks. Mr. Brown also emphasized the public interest benefits that will accrue if the FCC were to allow the networks being deployed pursuant to waiver to continue to move forward while FirstNet becomes fully operational and is able to fulfill its role to oversee the development and construction of the nationwide communications system for public safety.”
New Hampshire created a new category of telecom utilities called excepted LECs (CD March 29 p8), when Gov. John Lynch (D) signed into law SB-48 (http://xrl.us/bnb8iy) on June 11. The law takes effect Aug. 10 and will deregulate VoIP providers, fixed and nomadic, in addition to Internet Protocol-enabled service providers. The excepted LEC category will comprise the regional Bell operating companies, competitive LECs and any rural LECs that desire to be an excepted LEC. Under the new category, the companies won’t have to file tariffs or receive approval for special pricing, and they'll be exempt from most utility laws. The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission will develop new administrative rules this summer in anticipation of the new law, a PUC official said. One exception for incumbent LECs is for carriers of last resort, which only provide basic service. In cases where a provider offers only basic service, consumers would still be able to receive assistance from the PUC.
Amendments made to 47 CFR part 51 will be effective July 13, and amendments made to part 54 will be effective June 28, according to a notice scheduled to be published in the Federal Register Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnb6dz). The rules deal with provisions adopted in last fall’s USF/intercarrier compensation order.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition urged an aide to FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn “to reject any order circulated that attempts to relax any of the current media ownership rules without including an up-to-date quantitative analysis of current media ownership data and trends,” an ex parte notice shows (http://xrl.us/bnb6cd). The NHMC also pushed Clyburn’s staff to seek “a thorough examination of how any proposed relaxation would impact ownership by women and people of color,” the notice said.
Bloomberg asked for more time to respond to Comcast’s motion for a partial extension of time in the companies’ ongoing dispute over the channel placement of Bloomberg TV on Comcast systems, a request filed with the agency shows (http://xrl.us/bnb6bn). “In light of the progress that Bloomberg and Comcast made yesterday in discussions with the Media Bureau regarding the scope of any stay and implementation date for any matters not stayed, as well as Comcast’s current evaluation of our proposal, Bloomberg’s responses may become moot,” the request said.
The U.K.’s Ofcom proposed extending some regulation on BT, while decreasing other regulation in the London area to meet increasing demands for faster data services, Ofcom said in their Business Connectivity Market Review (http://xrl.us/bnb6a4). Among other proposals, Ofcom recommended maintaining most regulation on products with speeds of 1 Gbps and below, as well as regulating high-bandwidth and wholesale leased line services over 1 Gbps outside of London.
Verizon Wireless’s proposed buy of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox would significantly raise the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for Verizon, at least in terms of spectrum holdings, in many cellular market areas, T-Mobile said in a filing at the FCC. T-Mobile has been one of the toughest critics of the spectrum deals, now before the FCC and the Justice Department. Verizon already has an HHI of above 2,500 in 688 CMAs of 728 CMAs for which data is available, symptomatic of a highly concentrated market, T-Mobile said (http://xrl.us/bnb5vp). “In other words, 95 percent of the CMAs are highly concentrated pre-acquisition,” T-Mobile said. “The Verizon/CableCo transactions would increase HHI by more than 200 points in 596 of the 688 highly concentrated CMAs” and “add 28 more CMAs to the highly concentrated category."
More than 10 billion online video ads were delivered in May, comScore said in its monthly online video rankings. Hulu delivered the most, with 1.6 billion, while Google delivered 1.4 billion and BrightRoll 1.1 billion. Time spent watching video ads during the month reached 4.5 billion minutes, comScore said. Google remained the top online video property, delivering 17.6 billion videos to 151.6 million unique viewers, comScore said.