Industry hailed House passage of FCC process reform legislation (HR-3309), though Senate Democrats have no plans to take up the bill and President Barack Obama opposes it. The House passed the bill late Tuesday in a 247-174 roll-call vote, with most Republicans supporting and most Democrats opposing, as expected (CD March 28 p3). “Passage by the House is a needed step forward, and is also an important signal of support for modernizing telecom regulation,” said AT&T Executive Vice President Tim McKone. “It has become increasingly clear that, for America to have the world-class broadband infrastructure it needs, all of us must rethink outmoded regulations and outdated mindsets.” NCTA President Michael Powell said, “The regulatory framework envisioned by this reform legislation will ensure that private enterprise can continue to invest and innovate with more consistent and precise federal government oversight.” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has made many good changes, but “more can always be done to bring greater transparency to the process and encourage more public input,” the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance said. NARUC praised the bill for requiring the FCC to release specific language in proposed rules for public comment and for letting more than two FCC commissioners meet behind closed doors, including meetings with state officials. NARUC asked the Senate to add language allowing FCC members to appoint an engineer or computer scientist to their staffs. NARUC also seeks changes to the forbearance process so a petition can’t be “deemed granted” when the FCC misses its deadline, it said. The House accepted amendments to HR-3309 related to public safety and emergency response that were offered by Reps. Al Green, D-Texas, and Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., as well as an amendment by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Florida, to make FCC handling of Freedom of Information Act requests more transparent. The House rejected by 179-238 an amendment by House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., to require greater political disclosure by radio and TV stations and subscription-video providers. Republicans also turned down an amendment about rural broadband by Rep. Bill Owens, D-N.Y., an amendment about baby monitor warnings by Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., and an amendment by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., requiring an FCC report before implementation of HR-3309.
FairPoint Communications requested a limited FCC waiver of the new phantom traffic rules in the USF/intercarrier compensation order, it said in a petition Wednesday in docket 10-90 (http://xrl.us/bmzpmw). FairPoint said it’s “not feasible” to implement the new traffic rules in all circumstances. The company’s subsidiaries have a wide variety of legacy switches and signaling equipment, and in some cases it won’t be possible to fully comply with rules that involve certain SS7 network elements and multi-frequency signaling equipment, the telco said. “It makes little sense to invest significantly in SS7 network elements and MF signaling equipment for intercarrier compensation purposes, given the transition away from these technologies in favor of IP-based solutions and, eventually, a full bill and keep regime."
Arthur Young faces a possible $22,000 fine for not allowing an inspection by an FCC Enforcement Bureau agent of his unlicensed radio station at 87.9 MHz in Cosby, Tenn., a bureau notice of apparent liability released Wednesday said (http://xrl.us/bmzpds). “The agent informed Mr. Young that refusing to allow an inspection is a separate violation of the applicable law."
The Telecom Industry Association supported Verizon Wireless’s buy of AWS-1 licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox, in a letter to the FCC from President Grant Seiffert. “The proposed license assignments will shift spectrum from entities that have determined they cannot use it to a provider with a proven need for that spectrum and a track record of timely buildout and efficient use,” TIA said (http://xrl.us/bmzo8z). “These transactions will also drive increased investment and innovation in the [information and communications technology] industry, benefitting TIA’s member companies and the public alike by ensuring additional network deployment. Such deployment will also create new (and much-needed) American jobs."
C-Spire, U.S. Cellular, Allied Wireless and other small carriers opposed a T-Mobile petition seeking reconsideration or clarification of the FCC’s USF/intercarrier compensation reform order. “Grant of the Petition would directly contravene the Commission’s overarching policy objective of reducing legacy USF support payments,” the carriers said in an ex parte filing reporting on their meeting at the agency (http://xrl.us/bmzo7q). “In un-capped states (e.g., Arizona, Hawaii, Louisiana and Oregon) any additional support to T-Mobile would necessitate increased funding from the USF pool.” The carriers said the support T-Mobile is seeking “is for prior investment, made perhaps many years ago by T-Mobile, without a penny of high-cost support.”
The European Commission Wednesday proposed a European cybercrime center to focus on illegal online activities carried out by organized crime groups. With cyberthreats mounting worldwide, the EC called for creation of a body within and under Europol in the Hague with its own separate management board, up to 55 employees and an annual budget of 4.6 million euros ($6 million). The center will serve as Europe’s focal point for fighting Internet crime and will target activities that generate large criminal profits such as online frauds involving credit cards and bank credentials, it said. EU experts will also try to prevent crimes affecting e-banking and online booking transactions, protect social networks from cybercrime infiltrators and help combat identity theft, it said. The center will also warn EU governments of major cyberthreats, alert them to weaknesses in their online defenses, and provide operational support in actual investigations, it said. The idea is to get Europe’s best brains together, said Home Affairs Commissioner Cecelia Malmström. The center won’t target individual file-sharers, only severe organized crime, she said. It will link with industry, the private sector and civil society on specific technical and forensic issues, she said. Europol already deals with computer crime, but its limited resources prevent it from gathering information from various sources or responding to law enforcement, judicial and private-sector queries, the EC said. The center will work with Eurojust, the European Network Information and Security Agency, EU countries and others and will exchange information with partners beyond the police community, it said.
Campaign reform advocates supported a political disclosure proposal by House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., that’s been challenged by broadcasters. Eshoo offered the proposal as an amendment to FCC reform legislation (HR-3309) for a floor vote Tuesday. (See separate report in this issue.) The amendment would require that public inspection files of a broadcast licensee, cable operator or satellite broadcaster identify any donor who contributed $10,000 or more to political programming sponsors during the two-year period preceding a request to purchase programming time. The Campaign Legal Center, the Sunlight Foundation and five other campaign reform advocacy groups supported the plan in a letter to House members Tuesday. “This measure would help to ensure that viewers have access to information about the donors funding ads being run to influence their votes,” they wrote.
The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment on a NARUC nomination to fill a position on the Universal Service Administrative Co. board (http://xrl.us/bmzmqc). Comments are due April 25 on the nomination of Ronald Brisé. He chairs the Florida Public Service Commission and serves on the FCC’s Intergovernmental Advisory Committee.
Satellite is the leading TV infrastructure in Europe, SES said in a study. The company said the study is based on more than 62,000 interviews “conducted by leading market research institutes under the lead of TNS Infratest, Germany.” About 84 million European households have satellite as their primary reception mode, SES said. That marks a 22 percent increase over the last four years, it said. Last year’s main growth markets were the U.K., Germany, Ukraine, Poland and Italy. Terrestrial TV lost nearly 16 million homes, “while cable lost over 2 million,” SES said. The company said the main growth drivers of satellite are DTV and HD.