Ark. House Revenue & Taxation Committee plans Feb. 1 hearing on bill (HB-1440) that would tax electronic sales by out-of-state retailers with “significant connections” to Ark. retailers. Bill would require such foreign-state retailers to collect Ark. use tax on sales to Ark. customers made via Internet or other electronic means including phone and fax. Measure would affect retailers with substantial ownership interest, directly or through subsidiary, in physical retailer in Ark. who sells substantially similar line of goods or promotes association with Ark. retailer.
Northpoint Broadwave USA, widely seen as company with strong backing from outgoing Democrats, believes it has enough political muscle with Republican leaders at FCC, Administration and on Hill to obtain license for its terrestrial service, which would provide video and data services by sharing satellite spectrum. Industry rivals, including Satellite Bcstg. & Communications (SBCA, EchoStar and DirecTV, have accused Northpoint of using its close ties with former FCC Chmn. William Kennard, a Democrat, and Clinton-Gore Administration to gain acceptance for its service, which would compete with satellites. “A rose is a rose by any other name and there is no question on how they got their foot in the door,” said SBCA VP Andy Paul.
XM Satellite Radio announced agreement with Panasonic to design develop, produce and market XM radios for factory installation in new cars and trucks.
PCIA no longer plans to take “active role” in spectrum cap issue, PCIA Pres.-CEO Jay Kitchen said this week. FCC released notice of proposed rulemaking this month seeking comments on continued relevance of keeping 45 MHz spectrum cap in place for most markets except rural areas, where cap is 55 MHz. In past, PCIA had championed smaller carriers that had urged Commission to keep ceiling intact. “PCIA recognizes that there have been many changes in market dynamics since then, and spectrum availability is key to the delivery of the third-generation products that ultimately benefit the consumer,” Kitchen said. Issue now is “moot” as FCC is making new spectrum available without cap restrictions, he said. For upcoming March 6 700 MHz auction, for example, spectrum cap doesn’t apply.
News Corp. Chmn. Rupert Murdoch said company probably won’t launch Sky Global Networks IPO because company probably will be merged into existing public company such as Hughes Electronics, which he is attempting to acquire. Murdoch said in interview with CNBC in Australia he was attempting to wrap up negotiations with U.S. DBS companies in effort to “effect merger with our interests around the world and interests here.” He said “if that happens, there may not be an IPO because we might be merging existing companies.”
LOS ANGELES -- In generally positive speech about satellite industry in particular and growth of DBS in particular, Tom Tycz, chief of FCC Satellite & Radiocommunications Div., told Carmel Group DBS 2001 conference here Tues. that expected growth in satellite as delivery mechanism of broadband data delivery system could quickly tax current satellite capacity.
Detroit City Council is seeking to resolve carriage dispute between Comcast and 2 Detroit low-power religious broadcasters. MSO dropped 2 stations owned by African-Americans for failure to pay leased access fee, sparking ire of many council members. As result, 3 members asked council’s Research & Analysis Dept. to consider whether carriage of local low-power stations could be required in Comcast’s franchise agreement, which is under renewal talks. Comcast, which is negotiating with 2 stations, since has reinstated one of them, WLPC-TV (Ch. 26).
Lockheed Martin Space Systems launched GPS satellite from Cape Canaveral Tues. It was 6th of 14 scheduled launches for U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. GPS IIR-7 will join 28 other satellites in orbit. In addition to military applications, satellite is being used in commercial and civil markets for transportation, surveying and rescue operations.
Cablevision Systems reportedly has taken Rainbow Media off market and instead is reconsidering creation of separate tracking stock for its cable programming unit. Cablevision, which put Rainbow up for sale last month after Comcast, Liberty Media, MGM, NBC, USA Networks and Viacom all expressed interest in buying it, is taking latest move after receiving bids that were lower than expected, N.Y. Times reported. Cablevision had been seeking at least $4-$5 billion for Rainbow but USA and several other potential buyers dropped out, leaving only Viacom and Comcast still in contest and leading to bids lower than $4 billion. Special shareholder meeting to approve tracking stock, first scheduled for last fall and then postponed several times, now is slated for Fri.
Dept. of Justice and FBI submitted petition to FCC outlining conditions related to national security in pending merger of VoiceStream, Powertel and Germany’s Deutsche Telekom (DT). Companies earlier this month disclosed in SEC filing that they had entered into agreement with DoJ and FBI on national security and law enforcement issues. Companies and federal law enforcers said at time they jointly had asked FCC to defer granting applications for merger approval until after agreement was reached. FCC filing said agreement paid “particular attention” to provisions that would limit control or influence of German govt. through exercise of its control of DT as direct or indirect shareholder. Scrutiny is focused on “day-to-day management” of DT in way that would interfere with carrier’s obligations under agreement. German govt. now has 60% stake in carrier, which will be diluted to 45% after Powertel and VoiceStream deals close. Agreement also covers future U.S. subsidiaries that DT acquires. Under agreement, carrier will make available in U.S. information such as stored domestic communications, electronic communications, subscriber data, billing records, transactional and call-associated data. DoJ and FBI said they had no objections to FCC’s granting proposed license transfers.