FCC Chmn. Powell, in news conference after Tues. agenda meeting, described how Commission was adjusting to economic environment in which telecom bankruptcies were becoming more common. Commission has been examining procedures that allow it to pass information on to other federal agencies “should something come coincidentally into our possession that would raise questions about violations of securities and banking laws,” he said. To that end, FCC is examining proposing formal memoranda of understanding with SEC and potentially other agencies that would help to make routine process by which such information was made available. Powell said such MOU arrangements had been made in other policy areas, including EEOC-related issues. Addressing WorldCom’s scandal, Powell told reporters it didn’t appear that “the possibility of significant disruption of services is imminent. We don’t think the current financial troubles, even if they lead to a bankruptcy situation, present a catastrophic situation for consumers.”
Digital allotments vacated by broadcasters for failure to build should be made available for other potential users, HDTV Assn. of America (HDTVAA) told FCC. In comments filed late Mon. on FCC rulemaking on steps agency should take if licensees failed to comply with DTV construction schedule, HDTVAA said it “unequivocally supports” auction of such channels and only in “extraordinary circumstances… should allotments be retired.”
All broadband providers should be subject to symmetrical regulation but protections need to be implemented to help ISPs during the transition, study released Mon. by Economic Policy Institute concluded. Putting Broadband on High Speed: New Public Policies to Encourage Rapid Deployment was written by TeleNomic Research Pres. Stephen Pociask. He argued that cable, DSL and wireless broadband providers had “converged into an information sector” but the Bells were subject to unbundling and line-sharing obligations not imposed on other sectors. Despite Pociask’s call for Bell deregulation, he also said “some regulatory oversight, however, is needed in order to provide a minimum standard for open networks for Internet service providers (ISPs).” He also said mergers among major telecom providers “should be discouraged until regulatory symmetry has resulted in increased investment and intermodal competition.” Pociask said “there is strong empirical evidence that setting low [unbundled network element (UNE)] prices is affecting ILEC’s recovery of network investment,” thus discouraging Bell broadband build-outs when unbundling rules were applied to DSL facilities. Current rulemaking by FCC is examining possibility of reclassifying DSL as an information service and removing common carrier unbundling obligations from DSL facilities (CD July 3 p4). “Broadband providers should not be required to unbundle their broadband investments unless they voluntarily choose to do so,” he wrote. He also said sunset date should be applied to ILECs unbundling loops for DSL, “which gives time for these competitors to build or move to alternative networks.” As for ISPs, he said major cable, DSL and wireless providers “should have some minimal requirement of wholesaling broadband services to ISPs and nonfacility-based competitors” on nondiscriminatory basis: “This would prevent a price squeeze on ISPs, develop intermodal competition for ISP traffic and reduce risks from market concentration” -- www.epinet.org.
Requiring all facilities-based broadband providers to contribute to schools and libraries (e-rate) portion of Universal Service Fund (USF) would create level playing field and broaden the pool’s funding base, Verizon Regulatory Affairs Dir. Scott Randolph told FCC in ex parte filing July 2. Randolph’s letter came after reply comments deadline for broadband wireline proceeding at FCC July 1, in which some cable operators expressed opposition to Verizon’s proposal.
FCC is expected late this year to complete rulemaking in which it proposes regulating Bell-company DSL as information rather than telecom service, thus exempting it from unbundling rules for new fiber build-outs (CD July 2 p4, July 1 p1). Interest this rulemaking has generated across the Internet and telecom sectors was reflected in unusually high number of reply comments FCC had received, with more than 50 already posted to agency’s Web site Tues. As with first round of comments, most replies urged FCC not to regulate DSL as information service. SBC and Verizon, meanwhile, promised to work with ISPs in broadband, having reached understanding with Internet trade group of which both are members.
Two pro-independent ISP groups released separate studies Mon. saying FCC rulemakings were in danger of eliminating independent ISPs, echoing charges by other ISPs and affiliated groups (CD July 1 p1). Flurry of ISP activity is result of reply comments deadline for FCC in its broadband wireline rulemaking, one of several broadband actions drawing attention of ISPs. While several groups claiming to represent ISPs agree proposed FCC rules would hurt their ability to compete in broadband, there appeared to be disagreement on extent to which Bush Administration was endorsing inclination of FCC Chmn. Powell to favor so-called intermodal competition between broadband platforms, rather than competition among specific companies or sectors on single platform.
FCC is expected to release within days notice of proposed rulemaking approved earlier this month that would open 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz and 92-95 GHz to commercial uses for first time, said Michael Marcus, assoc. dir. of FCC Office of Engineering & Technology. Potential uses for spectrum include high-speed wireless local area networks, broadband access systems for Internet and point-to-point and point-to-multipoint solutions. NPRM explores various options for allowing first nongovt. use of that spectrum: (1) Traditional Part 101 point-to-point licensing. (2) Area licenses with band manager, which would be subject to auction. (3) Unlicensed approach under Part 15. Item as adopted by Commission is neutral about which of those items was best and it was seeking comment from industry on preferred plans. Part 101 licensing probably would involve annual FCC fee and coordinator fee, Marcus said. In that scenario, coordinator would make decisions on whether proposed use would cause interference with other existing users, he said. “The coordinator in doing that would have to do that in the context of specific technical criteria that are in the FCC rules,” he said. FCC will seek comment on whether situation in which operators must rely on rule changes to keep pace with new technology would work in environment in which technology is changing so rapidly, Marcus said. Several developers made clear Wed. that they would prefer to see service rules that didn’t involve auctions. John Lovberg, chief technology officer of Loea Communications, which petitioned FCC for rule change, raised concern that auctions could “encourage artificial spectrum scarcity.” He said point-to-point licensing under Part 101 was solution that had appeared most amenable to NTIA and Interagency Radio Advisory Council. -- MG
BOSTON -- Free space optics (FSO) equipment makers and service providers at Wireless Communications Assn. 2002 conference here Wed. said they expected last-mile connectivity from lasers to get boost from planned backhaul systems for cellular towers and interconnections for high- speed wireless LANs. Panelists largely agreed on high-speed data applications for FSO such as campuswide connections and extent to which technology was poised to compete against fiber. But officials of several companies differed on details such as expected market share, impact of pending FCC rules for fixed wireless service above 70 GHz and how to overcome current lack of residential demand for very high- speed access. “There’s certainly a market out there,” said Scott Searle, dir.-wireless technology, SG Cowen. “I think that the rollout related to free-space optics depends on the maturation of the technology and capacity from a cost and reliability standpoint.” He and others said reliability related to signal attenuation that systems could suffer in fog simply pointed to limitations of some addressable markets.
BOSTON -- Attendees at Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) show here Tues. urged FCC to update operational and technical rules for MMDS and ITFS licensees to reflect use of band that once was home to one-way video services but now is eyeing how to compete better against cable and DSL in broadband arena. “One fairly common theme I've heard from the various constituencies involved in this band is that current rules are in need of fixing, [although] they may have been a good first step at the time they were done,” FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Thomas Sugrue said. He and other officials in bureau that recently inherited all MMDS policy in FCC reorganization urged industry to provide proposal on rule changes by Sept. “I would urge you not to let it slip much beyond that, we are anxious to get going,” he said. Industry is crafting proposal that would provide rules in band that more closely resembled those for PCS, which offers flexibility for wide range of uses. Related issue raised repeatedly was how to address interleaved nature of ITFS spectrum, with several industry representatives calling for more flexibility.
Consumer Federation of America (CFA) accused FCC of “attempting to illegally deregulate advanced telecommunications,” in comments filed on Commission’s rulemaking on regulation of broadband technology delivered over cable networks (CD June 19 p7). CFA, along with Tex. Office of Public Utility Counsel, Consumers Union and Media Access Project, said FCC didn’t clearly distinguish telecom information services, thereby ignoring distinction made by Congress. As result, agency’s definition of telecom as “part and parcel” or “integral” to cable modem service isn’t legal or technical conclusion, “but a business decision” made by cable companies, they said.