The Rural Cellular Association withdrew its long-pending petition for FCC rulemaking to address the widespread use of exclusivity arrangements (http://xrl.us/bm7yma). “While it remains a concern, eliminating device exclusivity will mean little if devices are not interoperable,” RCA President Steven Berry wrote Friday. RCA filed the petition for rulemaking in 2008, arguing that exclusive arrangements between carriers and device manufacturers result in the largest carriers having “bottleneck control over a key input,” impairing competition from small, midsize and rural carriers (CD Oct 15/08 p9). RCA withdrew the petition after becoming “encouraged” by the commission’s recent decision to release a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comment on how to achieve interoperability in the lower 700 MHz band. “RCA believes that the Commission can most effectively advance a pro-competitive agenda by focusing at this time on its interoperability proceeding, while continuing to monitor developments relating to exclusivity arrangements,” the association said, noting that it’s prepared to re-file the petition “at an appropriate time” if exclusivity arrangements “continue to impede its members’ ability to compete."
Scotland County Memorial Library in North Carolina requested a waiver of the FCC Form 417 filing window deadline for E-rate funding year 2012, citing limited staffing and “a misunderstanding” about one of the requirements that made it “impossible” to file before the March 20 deadline and still comply with the 28-day posting requirement (http://xrl.us/bm7yjx). The library said it filed its funding application on March 23. “Denial of our funding request would impose severe hardship upon SCML, and the effect of such denial would be a profound adverse impact upon the services we provide for our patrons,” the library said.
Qwest and All West withdrew their application for assignment of assets subject to domestic blanket Section 214 authorization under the Communications Act, explaining that none of the four separate areas included in the application involved the assignment or transfer of control of any interstate telecom facilities (http://xrl.us/bm7yja). The telcos originally filed their application in docket 12-66 on March 8.
ISPs are being more upfront with consumers about the broadband services they offer, but could do more, the U.K. Office of Communications said Tuesday. December 2011-January 2012 mystery shopping research showed that ISPs who signed a voluntary code of practice on broadband speeds are giving consumers better information through online sales channels and phones than they did during a 2009 mystery shopping exercise, it said. The code requires signers to provide clear and accurate information on their broadband services at the point of sale, it said. Ninety-three percent of mystery shopping telephone inquiries were given some sort of speed estimate, either in the form of a range or a point estimate or both, it said. However, some ISPs’ phone sales processes remain weak, with many mystery shoppers not given speed information unless they explicitly requested it, Ofcom said. Broadband speed estimates were provided without prompting in 59 percent of all phone calls, it said. All code signers except two small providers also offer a speed checker on their websites to give customers estimated access line speeds, it said. Ofcom discussed the results with the largest ISPs and asked poorer performers why they didn’t provide unprompted information, it said. Some said compliance shortfalls reflected the need for better staff training or that speed estimates aren’t generally offered until the agent believes a consumer is ready to place an order, it said. “We have reiterated to all ISPs that speed estimates should be provided as early as practicable in the sales process,” it said. The regulator has also updated its consumer guides on choosing a broadband service and on broadband speeds, it said.
LightSquared filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company pointed to the dispute over GPS signals as a major reason for the filing. Still, the company will “vigorously defend their rights in the ongoing 2012 Public Notice process, while simultaneously pursuing a resolution with the FCC and other federal government agencies that will permit it to deploy its terrestrial network -- a process that may last up to two years,” according to a bankruptcy filing from Marc Montagner, LightSquared’s chief financial officer (http://xrl.us/bm7t95).
The FCC took “several limited actions” Monday in response to reconsideration petitions filed regarding the USF/intercarrier compensation order (http://xrl.us/bm7tx5). The third order on reconsideration clarifies several details regarding reporting requirements for differently situated carriers, reporting of end user rates, and universal service support for Alaska. There will be no exemptions for state-designated eligible telecom carriers. “We decline to exempt state-designated ETCs from the reporting requirements,” the order said, explaining that petitioners have neither presented new evidence nor raised new arguments. Several petitioners opposed requiring state-designated ETCs to file section 54.313 annual reports. The FCC clarified that the order did not preempt the states from imposing their own state-specific reporting requirements, “as long as those additional reporting requirements do not create burdens that thwart achievement of the universal service reforms adopted by the Commission.” The commission revised the filing deadline for section 54.313 to July 1. Carriers will be permitted to file mid-year updates when their rates and/or associated fees increase in a way that would reduce or eliminate the amount of any associated support reductions, the order said. The commission sees “no persuasive reason” why it should maintain the identical support rule in Alaska, rejecting a General Communications petition asking to reconsider the decision to transition support away from the identical support rule. The commission also denied a GCI request to reconsider the calculation of the remote Alaska interim cap amount. “GCI has not provided any evidence that would call the Commission’s conclusions on these points into question,” the order said. However, the commission did accept GCI’s proposed revisions of a rule governing the calculation of support for carriers serving remote Alaska to provide that support amounts will not be frozen under the delayed phase down mechanism until June 2014, or the last full month prior to Mobility Fund Phase II implementation, whichever is later.
Consolidated Communications’ proposed $350 million senior unsecured notes due 2020 drew a B- rating from Standard & Poor’s. The credit ratings service said the rating reflects its belief that Consolidated’s acquisition of cable operator SureWest won’t materially affect the company’s “weak” business risk profile. “We believe that heightened costs of aggressively marketing and provisioning video and broadband services, especially in the SureWest territories, coupled with lower Universal Service Funds and access revenue, will at least partially offset achieved operating synergies from SureWest,” Standard & Poor’s said.
Belo said it updated the smartphone app its TV stations make available to bring news, traffic and weather information to its viewers’ Android and iOS devices. The new app includes geo-located weather radar information, breaking news alerts, a scrolling ticker and the ability to stream more than 300 hours of video, it said.
"Spectrum should not remain unused if there are radio technologies that can make use of the spectrum while preserving the established regulatory framework for the use of the TV White Spaces (TVWS) frequency bands,” said the IEEE 802 Local and Municipal Area Network Standards Committee in a letter to Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology. “We believe that opening up TVWS spectrum for license-exempt, in addition to licensed use, will spur unique innovations to address meaningful communications needs,” it said. Allowing more license-exempt spectrum uses will spur new innovation much in the way the committee developed standards for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in bands with no exclusive license, it said in the letter (http://xrl.us/bm7tzi).
Four tech industry groups urged President Barack Obama to identify additional federal spectrum that can be transitioned for licensed commercial use, in a letter sent Monday. “At a time when Americans are concerned about jobs, the economy, and U.S. competitiveness, the act of identifying and clearing more spectrum for licensed mobile broadband use offers a rare elixir for all three,” said the letter signed by CTIA President Steve Largent, Telecommunications Industry Association President Grant Seiffert, Information Technology Industry Council President Dean Garfield and High Tech Spectrum Coalition Executive Director Rhod Shaw. The letter gave faint praise for the passage of HR-3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, but said “not enough” federal spectrum has been identified to be repurposed for commercially licensed mobile broadband use.