Public interest group the Greenlining Institute said following discussions with AT&T it won’t oppose the AT&T/Leap transaction. “During the pendency of the proposed transaction, Greenlining contacted AT&T and Leap, asking to discuss concerns that Greenlining had about the proposed transaction,” the group said in a letter to the FCC (http://bit.ly/17KHr81). “The Parties specifically discussed the challenges Leap faces because of increasing annual net losses, increasing net customer losses, and increasing competition for Leap’s target customers. AT&T and Leap clarified their commitments to ensuring that the transaction benefits consumers and serves the public interest."
AT&T will bring its “U-verse with Gigapower” service to Austin starting in December. “This initial deployment will reach tens of thousands of customer locations, including parts of central, northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast Austin and city neighborhoods like French Place, Mueller, Zilker and Onion Creek,” AT&T said in a press release Tuesday (http://soc.att.com/1b5euCJ). AT&T is allowing different parts of Austin to vote for the advanced fiber to determine which parts of the city will receive the service in 2014. In December, these customers will have 300 Mbps upload and download speeds, but customers opting for 300 Mbps will be upgraded to 1 Gbps in the middle of next year for free, AT&T said. Google announced earlier this year it’s bringing its advanced Google Fiber service to the city, and AT&T announced its own intention to bring an ultra-fast network the same day. “AT&T has been a big part of Austin for more than 134 years,” the telco added. “Today, more than 2,600 AT&T employees call Austin home."
Orbcomm and Inmarsat partnered on project development and distribution to address the needs of the satellite machine-to-machine (M2M) market. The companies “will investigate opportunities for future satellite network expansion and integration,” Orbcomm said in a news release (http://bit.ly/18W21OQ). They plan to create a standard satellite platform and develop cost-effective hardware and flexible service pricing models for the global M2M industry, Orbcomm said. Orbcomm and Inmarsat also will look for potential synergies in multiple areas, “which could include leveraging technologies, capital expenditures ... and ground infrastructure support for future satellite deployments,” Orbcomm said.
The European Commission must ensure new spectrum users don’t disrupt existing services with harmful interference, said the European Forum for Spectrum Coexistence. EFSC said Tuesday that the EC’s “Connected Continent” proposal offers the chance to get future spectrum policy right, but it must not cause interruptions of essential services. Harmful interference of new spectrum users with existing radio and fixed services can result in lost broadband connections or TV signals, disruption of live performances, unavailable emergency services and radio signal loss that creates hazards for railway systems and highways, it said. Spectrum allocation policy must take those impacts into consideration by embedding the idea of coexistence in pan-European thinking, said EFSC. The EC must pursue comprehensive impact assessments and give governments clear policy recommendations to ensure high-quality connectivity for consumers and businesses, it said. EFSC members are Cable Europe, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association, Association of Professional Wireless Production Technologies and Pearle-Live Performance Europe.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers wrote members of Congress Monday “in support of our broadcast partners and their ability to negotiate retransmission consent agreements,” IBEW said (http://bit.ly/19y9BTZ). The union sent the letter on behalf of about 750,000 active members and retirees, it said. “Recent lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill by pay television providers (cable and satellite) to hamstring broadcaster’s ability to monetize their investments through retransmission consent agreements will have an adverse impact on the broadcasting industry as well as those who rely on over-the-air television.” The letter signed by IBEW President Edwin Hill said that “legislative efforts that undermine retransmission consent would have a negative impact on the livelihoods of IBEW members in the broadcasting industry.” Hill lamented the “alliance” of pay-TV operators that are trying to hurt broadcasters’ market leverage and the ways they have “sought to alter retransmission consent negotiations through a multitude of legislative proposals,” such as through a standstill, “a contract that never ends regardless of its eventually outdated terms and conditions.” Such a contract would never work in collective bargaining, Hill added. Retrans “is fueling broadcaster consolidation,” an American Television Alliance spokesman told us, “which is in turn leading to fewer and fewer jobs in television. Why is IBEW supporting a system that is killing jobs and leading to skyrocketing blackouts and fees for consumers?"
Those with a stake in 3.5 GHz rules should get their comments in now, on the just-released FCC public notice (CD Nov 5 p15), counseled wireless lawyer Mitchell Lazarus of Fletcher Heald. “This is not the last word,” Lazarus said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1gp7WVj). “The FCC has signaled that the next stage will be a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, before it proceeds to adopt rules. Usually, this sequence means the FNPRM will be largely a formality, setting out whatever rules the FCC expects to adopt. Those who want to affect the course of the proceeding should consider submitting their views in response to the public notice.”
IEEE-USA asked the FCC for a declaratory ruling that all petitions or applications for technologies and services in spectrum above 95 GHz be “classified presumptively” as “a new technology or service” under Section 7 of the Communications Act. If so classified, the FCC would have 12 months to review any application “and the burden is placed on opponents to show that the new technologies or services are not in the public interest,” IEEE said (http://bit.ly/HHmb8R). IEEE said it wants to address a gap in FCC rules. “At present, no FCC service rules address any applications or services that utilize spectrum above 95 GHz,” IEEE said. “The only use permitted for this portion of the spectrum is with experimental licenses -- a regulatory consequence of the current limitation. Such limitation precludes private-sector capital investment necessary for developing long-term commercial opportunities. The consequences create major uncertainties that inhibit both innovations in the short-term and long-term public and private benefits to society.” The FCC’s Table of Allocations extends up to 275 GHz, but its radio service rules end at 95 GHz, IEEE notes. “While the Commission provides for experimental radio uses under Part 5 of its rules on any radio frequency, such an experimental authorization limits the scope and ability to access markets for innovative radio products and services due to the requirements of Sections 5.51, 5.111, and 5.1l3 that limit Part 5 licenses to valid experiments and prevent normal marketing."
An open, accessible Internet is vital to the country’s economic future, said reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian during a stop in Washington. Ohanian is traveling the country to promote his book, Without Their Permission, which touches on the economic potential of an open Internet and Ohanian’s efforts to build a public campaign against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act. The groundswell of public support he received in fighting those bills “amazed me” and “gave me a lot of hope,” he said during a reception Monday evening on Capitol Hill. “This city has been good to me,” he said. But the ongoing reports about government surveillance make Ohanian worry a truly free Internet is a long way off. “How much of this is going to keep going on?” he said. “This amazing platform is only going to work if we get everyone access to it.”
The FCC is seeking comment on procedural updates to the way the CALM Act calculates the loudness of commercials, the commission said in an order and FNPRM Friday (http://bit.ly/1b7wISy). The move is prompted by changes in March to the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s (ATSC) recommended practices, which updated the algorithm -- called BS.1770-3 -- used to calculate loudness, said the order. Because the old standard is referenced in the CALM Act legislation, the commission is proposing to update the language with the new standard. The change is “designed to prevent advertisers from using silent passages to offset excessively loud passages when calculating the average loudness of program material,” said the order. Once the new standard is implemented, “consumers may notice a modest decrease in the perceived loudness of certain commercials,” said the order. The FNPRM specifically seeks comment on the possible costs that would go along with the technical update, and proposes a one-year deadline to make the change. The order also waives the current CALM Act rules to allow stations to make the switch to the new standard early. In a statement attached to the order, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the enforcement of the CALM Act should be stepped up. She said the FCC has received nearly 20,000 complaints involving excessively loud commercials. Rosenworcel endorsed a proposal from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I,, to issue quarterly reports on CALM Act noncompliance. “I believe this will not only facilitate enforcement of our rules -- it could help us put this irritating, persistent problem to rest,” she said.
Internet Broadcasting Systems renewed contracts with local news-media companies for digital publishing technology, content and digital agency services, said the company in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1iI9aYp). It said Hearst Television, Washington Post Co.’s Post-Newsweek Stations, Morgan Murphy Media and Bonten Media Group renewed multiyear contracts with the company.