Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, refused to lift his hold on FCC nominees Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, even though he received LightSquared documents from the commission (CD April 9 p8) by way of the House Commerce Committee. A Grassley spokeswoman said the agency didn’t hand over all the documents that he wanted. “According to the FCC, the documents all have been previously released through the Freedom of Information Act,” she said. “Therefore, Senator Grassley’s hold on the FCC nominees will continue until the FCC demonstrates its commitment to comply with the House committee’s request and produce new, internal documents.” Grassley is working closely with the House Commerce Committee to obtain the documents, she said. Grassley “expects this process will lead to more transparency from the FCC that will help to hold the commission accountable and allow the FCC commissioner nominees to move forward,” she said. An FCC spokeswoman didn’t say whether the commission plans to provide any more documents.
The cable networks that have helped sustain earnings growth at most large media companies in recent years are now showing signs of fatigue, Citi analyst Jason Bazinet wrote investors. Lower audience ratings are the main problem, he said. “While many factors may be at play (Netflix, Nielsen changes, lower quality shows) we have been unable to identify the source of the entire decline,” which has accelerated recently, he said. Bazinet lowered his rating on several media stocks. “As we entered 2012, we were recommending every media stock,” he said. “But beginning late last year, we began to notice the aggregate cable network ratings were falling, and as the months progressed the magnitude of the decline kept getting larger and larger.” Given the drop in audience ratings and the lack of a narrative to explain it, “we thought it would be prudent to reduce our risk to the sector,” the analyst said. “Until we see signs of ratings stabilization, we think it’s prudent to focus investors on the handful of firms that offer compelling value even if the ratings woes persist."
AT&T is opening a store in a House office building later this spring, the wireless carrier said Monday. The storefront, under construction in Room B224, Longworth Building, will allow Capitol Hill staffers to order and pick up devices, get training and support, discuss rate plans and see technology demonstrations, AT&T said. “We're opening up the new location to better serve our customers who work on the Hill, making it easier for them to troubleshoot and upgrade their official devices,” said a company spokeswoman when asked about the business case for the store. The location “will just be a store” and won’t provide “additional meeting space,” she said. Verizon Wireless has a store in the Rayburn House Office Building. Sprint Nextel doesn’t have a store on the Capitol compound and has no plans to build one, a spokesman said.
Chicago officials asked the FCC to clarify a stipulation in the recently enacted spectrum legislation requiring public safety licensees to relocate from the UHF-T band (470-512 MHz) within the next decade. The city asked for an advisory opinion on where it is supposed to move operations now in the T-Band and how it is expected to pay for the relocation (http://xrl.us/bm27s7). “Chicago is undergoing a substantial investment in upgrading its UHF radio networks to expand channel capacity, improve interoperability, develop first responder connectivity, and overhaul associated data systems,” the city said in a filing. “Much of that effort involves a multi-million dollar investment in T-band frequencies authorized for the City’s use at various locations, employing numerous channels, obtained by Chicago through several waivers due to the pre-existing shortage of available spectrum in the area.” Chicago said its presumption is that a nine-year timeframe for moving was “some attempt to build a useful life element or repayment consideration into the legislation.” This assumption on the government’s part is not “realistic,” the city said. “Its current investment of ... over $23 million (with more forthcoming) was made with the intention that the fixed network and associated mobile and portable units would likely be in the field for the next 20 years or more as demonstrated by the City’s current UHF Citywide and UHF Zone infrastructure.”
Marlink introduced a management platform by Ultra Electronics AEP that integrates with Marlink’s Sealink very small aperture terminal solution. The solution features efficient management of bandwidth allocation between vessels, “global automatic roaming between C-band coverage spots and exceptional quality of service for both voice and data services,” Ultra Electronics said in a press release. The technology allows Sealink to allocate bandwidth on demand, “significantly benefiting customers that operate multiple vessels within one bandwidth pool per satellite beam.”
AT&T’s union workers are continuing to work under the terms of their old contract while negotiations continue, a company spokesman said. The option to strike remains open, a spokeswoman for the Communications Workers of America said. The goal is reaching fair contracts, she said. Contracts covering 40,000 AT&T wireline workers expired Saturday (CD April 9 p8). CWA members had authorized a strike if talks failed. AT&T is committed to continuing to work with the union to bargain for a contract that will “allow us to continue to provide and protect high-quality middle class careers for our employees,” the spokesman said.
The FCC denied a request by CloudNine Wireless for a waiver of the first buildout requirement for its 843 multiple address system (MAS) licenses with an extension until Oct. 13, 2015. The Wireless Bureau order noted that the licenses “automatically cancelled on October 13, 2010.” MAS is a radio service consisting of 3.2 megahertz of spectrum in the 900 MHz band licensed under Part 101 of the commission’s rules and allowing terrestrial point-to-point and point-to-multi-point fixed and limited mobile operations. The bureau said CloudNine hadn’t demonstrated it’s unable to meet its construction deadline “because of causes beyond its control” entitling the company to a waiver. “First, we reject CloudNine’s allegation that there is a lack of equipment suitable for MAS systems,” the order said (http://xrl.us/bm27on). “Second, we reject CloudNine’s allegation that it could not construct by its deadline because the marketplace for MAS services has not yet developed in the markets where CloudNine holds licenses. CloudNine has provided no evidence to support this claim. Third, we reject CloudNine’s claim that the effects of the global financial crisis on the equity markets prevented CloudNine from building out its system.” San Francisco-based CloudNine was the top bidder in the 2005 MAS auction, with gross bids of $2 million for 843 licenses. Efforts to reach CloudNine for comment on Monday were unsuccessful.
The FCC’s further notice of proposed rulemaking on USF contribution reform, on deck for the April 27 commissioners’ meeting, could pose “more questions than answers,” Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher King said in a report Monday. Because of a lack of industry consensus on a new contribution mechanism, “our sense is the FCC plans to build a more complete record on various proposals in hopes of fostering a solution, which doesn’t appear likely before year end at the earliest,” King said.
The FCC is incorporating the 2011 revision of American National Standards Institute technical standard C63.19 in its hearing aid compatibility rules and giving the industry only 12 months to make the transition. That is half the length of time sought by various industry commenters, including CTIA, the Rural Cellular Association and major carriers (CD Jan 18 p9). The revision replaces the 2007 version of the standard now part of the rules. Groups representing the deaf and hard of hearing said a year is time enough to make the move to a new standard. The order allows a 24-27 month transition period for applying the commission’s existing deployment benchmarks to manufacturers’ and service providers’ offerings of handsets operating over newly-covered frequency bands and air interfaces. The order was signed by Rick Kaplan, chief of the Wireless Bureau, and Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology (http://xrl.us/bm27nd). “The standard that we adopt today was developed through a voluntary, consensus-driven approach and is broadly supported by both industry and consumer groups,” the order said. “We strongly encourage all parties to continue their efforts to refine and develop standards applicable to new telephone technologies that may create potential for interference with hearing aids.”
Cerberus Capital will acquire AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive, and then create a new entity called YP Holdings, the telco said Monday. AT&T will receive a 47 percent equity interest in YP, as well as a $200 million note and $750 million in cash, subject to adjustment primarily related to timing of completing the deal. YP will include YP.com, about 1,200 print directories reaching approximately 150 million homes and businesses, the Yellow Pages local ad network that includes more than 300 websites and the YPmobile app that lets people search local businesses from their mobile devices. Those business units generated about $3.3 billion in revenue in 2011.