Adelphia, answering opposition to its pending takeover, repeated previous claims about the potential benefits of the $17.6 billion deal with Comcast and Time Warner. In an FCC filing late Fri., the 3 firms said the transaction will speed rollout of advanced services and cut costs by clustering cable systems - claims made in a May document seeking FCC approval (CD May 20 p4). The latest filing may do little to squelch criticism of the deal; at least one media activist expects public comments against the transaction to continue.
The FCC voted at its open meeting Fri. to reduce regulation of wireline Internet access service by reclassifying it as an “information service,” in line with the FCC’s treatment of cable modem service. The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the agency’s cable modem classification in the Brand X case, triggering action on the wireline companion piece which had been placed on hold during the litigation. DSL is the most common wireline Internet access service.
The FCC extended a deadline for reply comments on the FCC’s 2nd further notice of proposed rulemaking on horizontal and vertical cable ownership limits. The new deadline is Sept. 9.
A plan by FCC Chmn. Martin to reclassify telecom- provided DSL as an information service is circulating among the other commissioners’s offices, seeking approval, sources said. The new classification would lessen regulation of Internet access service provided by incumbent phone companies. The move was expected after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brand X ruling, which upheld similar FCC handling of cable modem service (CD June 28 p1).
FCC’s media ownership rulemaking will include discussions on “virtually every issue,” FCC. Comr. Abernathy said. Speaking Tues. at the Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC), Abernathy said the further notice of proposed rulemaking on media ownership rules would include comment on related issues, such as the rules’ impact on indecency, children’s programming, violent programming and on minority and women’s ownership.
The FCC shouldn’t let the Bells force consumers to subscribe to voice service in order to get DSL, competitors said in comments filed in response to a BellSouth petition for rulemaking (03-251). Instead, the Bells should be required to sell DSL as an independent product, sometimes called “naked DSL,” the competitors argued in reply comments filed July 12. BellSouth’s petition seeks an FCC ruling that bars state regulators from requiring it to sell DSL as a separate product. However, competitive LECs say the Bells’ packaging practices make it difficult for them to compete for voice- only customers.
Broadcasters now accept a 2009 hard analog cutoff date “and we're ready,” NAB Pres. Edward Fritts told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Tues. on the DTV transition. His declaration was a contrast to House hearings in May, when broadcasters didn’t unequivocally support a hard date.
Law enforcement agencies asked the FCC to add in- flight satellite broadband to the technologies covered by federal wiretap law, in comments filed last week with the Commission. The Dept. of Justice, FBI and Dept. of Homeland Security said the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) “is a technology-neutral statute that applies to all ’telecommunications carriers,'” regardless of whether the platform is wireline, wireless, cable, satellite or others. The comments were in response to the Commission’s rulemaking (05-20) on creating a regulatory framework for aeronautical mobile satellite service (AMSS), which includes broadband service on aircraft.
FCC Comr. Abernathy said a new FCC review of media ownership rules could occur in sections rather than be placed in one order. At least that’s an option, she said: “If you peel off sections and you can do a partial order on reconsideration. These are all very difficult controversial issues. Perhaps it would have been wiser on our part to take brief sections at a time [in the past]. But there is very real logic for doing it all at once,” Abernathy told reporters Thurs.
The FCC wants further comment on media ownership rules to address a federal court ruling that thwarted the Commission’s relaxation of media limits, FCC sources said. At its July 14 meeting, the FCC is expected to issue a further notice of proposed rulemaking on media ownership rules remanded by the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, sources said.