It’s important that bridge funding for participants transitioning out of the Rural Health Care Pilot Program in a funding year be “efficiently administered,” the Rocky Mountain HealthNet said in comments filed Thursday (http://xrl.us/bm3os9). The FCC should maintain current funding levels for eligible health care providers until the in-process support mechanism rulemaking is completed, RMHN said.
Lobbying continued last week on an FCC order that would require broadcasters to post more information from their public-inspection files online. The item is tentatively set for a vote at the FCC’s April 27 meeting (CD April 9 p5). NAB CEO Gordon Smith and an NAB lawyer met with aides to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake Thursday to discuss the political-file portion of the draft order, an ex parte notice shows (http://xrl.us/bm3oq3). “The parties also discussed whether there could be an approach under which broadcasters would retain full political files as they currently do at stations, but place information without specific individual rates in the FCC database.” One solution could be to keep specific invoice information at stations, but file a form along the lines of the NAB’s PB-17 political advertising form with the government, Jane Mago, NAB executive vice president-general counsel, told Lake in a follow up phone call, the notice shows. Smith, Mago and another NAB attorney also raised their concerns with Commissioners Robert McDowell and Mignon Clyburn Thursday, a separate notice shows (http://xrl.us/bm3or6). In those meetings, they raised the prospects of a pilot program along the lines the NAB had already proposed in the proceeding to develop a “simple practical way to make non-sensitive information available in a central database while retaining commercially sensitive information at the station,” the notice said. Meanwhile, lawyers with Free Press held meetings last week with an aide to Clyburn, several Media Bureau officials and officials at the FCC Office of General Counsel, ex parte notices show (http://xrl.us/bm3osk, http://xrl.us/bm3osn.) They argued against initially excluding stations in the top-50 markets that aren’t affiliated with a major broadcast network from the political file requirements. Instead, the requirement could be changed to include any major network affiliated station or top four highest rated stations in those markets, an ex parte notice said.
The InterCall reconsideration order does not depart from the FCC’s existing precedents distinguishing between telecom and integrated information services, Wireline Bureau officials told Cisco representatives, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bm3ost). Cisco had asked whether language in the order held that all information services are “bundled” services that include a separate, regulated telecom component. The InterCall order clarified that InterCall and all similar-situated audio bridging service providers are required to contribute directly to the universal service fund.
A California appeals court dismissed a jury verdict Friday that had been won by ICO Global Communications against Boeing over launch and satellite contracts. The judgment was handed down in the District Court of Appeal, Los Angeles. Because evidence showed that ICO “waived its claim for breach of the satellite contract” and there’s sufficient evidence that Boeing’s alleged misrepresentations and concealments caused ICO’s alleged damages under the launch contract, “we reverse the order,” Judge Emilie Elias said in her opinion. Evidence also indicated the “Boeing parent corporation’s alleged acts of tortious interference with the launch contract caused ICO no harm,” she said. The court affirmed the order granting a judgment notwithstanding verdict to Boeing “on the satellite contract price fraud verdict.” Boeing Satellite and Boeing Corp. can recover appellate costs, the opinion said.
The House Homeland Security Oversight Subcommittee plans a cybersecurity hearing April 24 at 2 p.m. in room 311 of the Cannon Building. Witnesses have not been announced. The subcommittee didn’t provide a more specific subject for the hearing, which is titled “America is Under Cyber Attack: Why Urgent Action is Needed."
Imposing the legacy originating access charge regime to calls from VoIP to the public-switched telephone network “only exacerbates the uncertainty surrounding VoIP-PSTN traffic and would ultimately undo much of the Commission’s efforts to reform the intercarrier compensation regime,” Level 3 executives told an aide to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bm3osa). If the commission reconsiders its rules regarding the applicable rate for VoIP-PSTN originating access charges, it must first give carriers adequate time to update their tariffs, and to adjust their billing systems so the new factors are calculated appropriately, they said.
The FCC Wireless Bureau, in cooperation with NATOA, scheduled a workshop May 1 on collocations of wireless and broadband antennas on communications towers and other structures. The workshop starts at 9:30 a.m. at FCC headquarters. “Panelists will discuss the technical, structural, and business considerations underlying collocations on a variety of structure types, including wireless towers, AM radio/broadcast towers, public safety communications towers, utility infrastructure, rooftops, and water tanks,” said a public notice (http://xrl.us/bm3orw). “The workshop will explore examples of cooperative solutions that have facilitated wireless deployment while recognizing community interests. We will also discuss the significance of the FCC’s Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for the Collocation of Wireless Antennas."
The FCC should “exercise caution” on any further reform of access charges, Windstream representatives told an aide to FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bm3orq). The commission should allow time for carriers to address specific IP factor implementation concerns in the context of reductions to terminating access rates before considering reforms of originating access rates, Windstream said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau provided a list of “readily available information it may consider” to gather data for the Connect America Fund Phase I proceeding (http://xrl.us/bm3oqv). Potential sources include GeoLytics 2011 population estimates; 2010 census block shapefiles; 2011 TIGER/line shapefiles for road data; TomTom “Wire Center Premium” information for wire center boundary and central office location information; and CostQuest Broadband Availability Tool reports for location count data. CAF Phase I will distribute up to $300 million in addition incremental support to spur deployment of broadband to unserved areas.
The CEA and a member company lobbied officials of the FCC Media Bureau for the waiver the association seeks of disability accessibility rules for all TV sets and DVRs that have Internet Protocol capability (CD March 26 p6). The waivers of rules the commission is implementing under the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act should cover all IP TVs and digital video players (DVP) first introduced into the market before July 1, 2016, said a handout the association and a Panasonic executive gave the bureau officials. “This clarification will provide greater certainty to manufacturers of IP-TVs and IP-DVPs as they determine when and for which models the requested waiver would apply.” The handout and ex parte filing were posted Thursday in docket 10-213 (http://xrl.us/bm3orj).