The FCC proposed an $819,000 penalty against T-Mobile for violating the commission’s hearing-aid compatibility requirements during 2009-2010. “T-Mobile, a nationwide wireless carrier with more than 33 million customers and more than $21 billion dollars [sic] in annual revenue, apparently failed to offer the required number of hearing aid compatible digital wireless handset models as set forth in the Rules,” said a notice of apparent liability approved by commissioners (http://xrl.us/bm329o). During 2009, T-Mobile was required by the rules to offer between four and nine M3-rated handset models, that work through acoustic coupling, for its WCDMA air interface. “T-Mobile apparently failed to meet this standard, repeatedly falling short each month by one to three handset models,” the FCC said. In 2010, T-Mobile was required to offer nine or 10 M3-rated handset models “but failed to meet this benchmark even once, repeatedly falling short each month by as many as four handset models,” the FCC said. It said T-Mobile similarly fell short of offering the required number of T3 handset models, which work through inductive coupling. “T-Mobile USA is committed to providing high-quality products and services to all of its customers, including a broad selection of handsets that are hearing aid compatible,” the carrier said in a statement late Monday. “T-Mobile takes seriously its obligations to comply with its hearing aid compatibility responsibilities as part of our overall commitment to the accessibility needs of our customers."
Gannett Q1 broadcast sales rose 7.5 percent to $176.2 million from a year earlier on “stronger” demand for ads and as retransmission consent revenue rose 17 percent to $22.8 million. Companywide sales fell 2.6 percent to $1.22 billion, and profit attributable to Gannett declined 25 percent to $68.2 million, it said Monday (http://xrl.us/bm33ap). Gannett stock fell 7.65 percent Monday.
The FCC Media Bureau should delay by 30 days the deadlines to comment on its recent public notice (CD April 2 p9) on the definition of the terms “multichannel video programming distributor” and “channel,” the NAB said in a motion. “As the Notice acknowledges, the issues raised in the Notice are profound, potentially far-reaching and require thorough analysis.” The current April 30 initial comment deadline comes right after the NAB Show in Las Vegas, the association noted in a filing Friday in docket 12-83 (http://xrl.us/bm33dq). The association wants comments due May 30, replies June 29.
"Broadcasters must become proactive and take the lead in forging their own future, or someone else will,” NAB Chief Technology Officer Kevin Gage said in opening remarks Sunday at the NAB Show’s Broadcast Engineering Conference. The association’s board’s recognition of this led to its new NAB Labs research initiative, he said. “The broadcasting model is not broken, but today there is a need to innovate -- to create opportunities for those willing to adapt.” The transition from standard-definition to HD “took place at least over a 12-year period,” film maker James Cameron told the show Monday. “We're going through a different, but very similar transition right now in the transition from 2D to 3D,” he said. “We're ahead of the curve in movies relative to broadcast. But we're dealing with the same growing pains, the questions, the uncertainties, the doubts, the naysayers, the scoffers and the success stories. We have triumph after triumph as we're out there actually as practitioners of this new art.” Broadcast 3D is “a nascent market, and ... the rate of growth of the market is going to be determined by how well we step up as an industry and provide people with a quality experience,” Cameron said. Of 3D, he said: “We're in it to win it.” He thinks “the future of 3D is broadcast, and that’s where we're going to see explosive growth over the next few years.” Freakonomics author Stephen Dubner opened his keynote address to the NAB Show thusly: “I don’t know why on earth you invited me.” He discussed horse manure, predicting the future, his children, the change in the value of commodities over time and the first observed instance of monkey prostitution. Attendees at the show may be more upbeat than in the “last few recessionary years, during which the crowds were thinner and many attendees had the glassy-eyed look of disaster survivors,” an industry lawyer predicted. “Indications are that 2012 will mark the return of the dealmaking, equipment buying, and venture launching that animate the industry,” Scott Flick wrote Friday night on the blog of the Pillsbury law firm (http://xrl.us/bm33wm). “Cautious optimism about the state of the industry and the economy seems to be giving way to genuine enthusiasm about moving forward."
The FCC rural healthcare program has improved and reduced the cost of healthcare in rural Alaska, General Communications Inc. representatives told Wireline Bureau officials and an adviser to Chairman Julius Genachowski on Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bm326r). One reason for success is the bevy of regional health corporations in rural Alaska which provide “strong, centralized leadership, centralized contracting and invoicing and health care community buy-in,” GCI said.
A numbers-based USF contribution methodology would be relatively easy to implement and monitor, and provide stability and predictability in contribution obligations, members of the Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee told FCC Wireline Bureau officials Thursday (http://xrl.us/bm3252). A “pure” numbers methodology is “still the FCC’s best option,” and would allow business users to contribute their “fair share” while not unduly burdening consumers, said the group representing some major companies that buy telecom services. A methodology based on connections to the Internet or network would be “viable,” but only if obligations are applied fairly, they said. A revenues-based methodology “has inherent flaws” that already plague the existing funding mechanism, they said.
The FCC should “reconsider its decision to require broadband deployment to one location per $775” in Connect America Fund Phase I support, Frontier told an adviser to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bm322x). The telco and Windstream had originally made that request late last year in their petition for clarification/reconsideration of the USF/intercarrier compensation order. Frontier also expressed its support for a recent Windstream proposal for “additional flexibility” when installing broadband infrastructure in high-cost unserved area. In another meeting Wednesday with the Clyburn aide, USTelecom said it also expressed support for providing additional flexibility to “maximize investment of Phase I incremental support in modern broadband facilities in rural areas” (http://xrl.us/bm324a).
Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., will not run for reelection, his spokesman confirmed Monday. Towns, a member of the House Communications Subcommittee, said he will not run for “personal reasons.” He was formerly the chairman of the House Oversight Committee and a supporter of the FCC’s Telecommunications Development Fund.
The FCC has taken effective steps to ensure GPS interference concerns are resolved before LightSquared can offer commercial terrestrial service using the former SkyTerra L-Band spectrum, Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a letter (http://xrl.us/bm3ovj) responding to a request for information from the House Commerce Committee (http://xrl.us/bm3ov4). The commission “has employed thorough, public and fair processes throughout its LightSquared proceedings,” he wrote. It was appropriate for the International Bureau “to issue the orders your letter identifies,” he said: Last year, the FCC adopted two conditions on the SkyTerra/LightSquared transaction requiring commission approval before LightSquared could lease spectrum “or make more than 25 percent of its network capacity available to the two largest wireless providers.” Those conditions were accepted by the staff “as part of its public interest analysis of this particular transaction” because they helped addressed a gap left by the absence of comparable rules for mobile satellite services spectrum, Genachowski said.
Students at the historically black Lincoln University should “absolutely” seek a career at the FCC, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn told attendees of the Lincoln University Energy Forum on Friday (http://xrl.us/bm3ots). “It is very rewarding” to make policy decisions with national significance, she said, and “the lessons you learn by helping Commissioners, like me, address these challenging policy issues will give you problem-solving skills that should help in any career path.” If they can’t find openings at the FCC, they should start working on their communications careers elsewhere, she said. “The communications space is relatively small. So if you are good, you will be noticed, and sought after."