Outgoing FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler warned against attempts to "gut" the agency, including by moving core telecom oversight functions to the FTC. He also defended the commission's actions on net neutrality, broadband reclassification, privacy, zero rating, the incentive auction, USF changes and other issues. He was interviewed on C-SPAN's The Communicators (scheduled to air Saturday and Monday and posted here), the latest in a series of exit interviews and farewell appearances (see 1701190069 and 1701130064) before Donald Trump's inauguration as president on Friday, Wheeler's last day at the agency.
Cablevision and the Game Show Network remain apart on what is the governing standard for filing a timely Communications Act Section 616 programming discrimination complaint, with Cablevision saying GSN is ignoring and misinterpreting precedent, in a reply brief posted Thursday in docket 12-122. A complaint is timely if it comes within a year of a discriminatory contract, offer of carriage or refusal to negotiate, not within a year of a notification to a cable operator of plans to file a Section 616 complaint, Cablevision said in its filing in support of its application for review of the Media Bureau 2012 order designating the GSN complaint for hearing (see 1612230049). The previous bureau decisions cited by GSN (see 1701120061) "are not precedent," Cablevision said, saying the network's pointing to the FCC decision in the Tennis Channel Section 616 complaint "is misplaced" since that decision was overturned by a federal appeals court and one judge's concurrence explicitly rejected the rationale now being cited by GSN. The cable operator that's now part of Altice also dismissed GSN's pointing to a pending Section 616 rulemaking, saying it demonstrates only "that GSN's preferred interpretation is not settled law." The programmer didn't comment.
California may rule next month that cable companies don’t have the right to attach wireless equipment to utility poles. A proposed decision released Monday by the California Public Utilities Commission would deny a petition by the California Cable & Telecommunications Association (CCTA) to extend right-of-way rules of commercial mobile radio services to wireless pole attachments by cable companies (see 1607210030). Also at the CPUC, opponents to Google’s acquisition of Webpass’ CLEC license in California withdrew their objections, allowing the transaction to move forward uncontested. And the commission Tuesday released an agenda for its Jan. 19 meeting, including items on implementing the FCC’s Lifeline order and another extension of its high-cost fund rulemaking.
LAS VEGAS -- The FCC mostly took the right approach in its October order on ISP privacy rules, said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez during a one-on-one Thursday at CES with CTA President Gary Shapiro. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler canceled plans to attend (see 1612290041). The session with just Ramirez appeared to draw a smaller audience than is usual at CES for the session with the regulatory chiefs. Wheeler “changed his plans and is not here,” Shapiro said.
Parties offered a jumble of views on possible telecom deregulation in biennial review reply comments posted Tuesday and Wednesday in various dockets, including 16-132. Wireline and wireless telcos and others generally proposed the commission repeal numerous rules in initial comments (see 1612060072). Republican Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly, who will gain the majority under incoming President Donald Trump, have voiced enthusiasm for clearing what they term "regulatory underbrush," raising the profile of the proceeding (see 1612070040 and 1611030042).
Cable and broadcast interests -- at odds in multiple retransmission consent talks breakdowns around the country -- are also at odds over the significance of those failed talks. The American TV Alliance (ATVA) pointed Tuesday to carriage disruptions in 48 markets nationally, calling it "a tidal wave of television blackouts." But Scott Flick of Pillsbury, who represents a number of broadcast stations, said: “In the grand scheme of things, [2016 was] probably one of the smoothest years” for retrans talks, and the fact so many deals expire at year’s end leads to a disproportionate bubble of talks that come to loggerheads. Separately, retrans may be one reason why Nexstar hasn't gotten the FCC OK to buy Media General for about $4.6 billion (see 1701030054).
Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly assured smaller ISPs Monday the FCC won't clamp down on companies not in compliance with enhanced transparency requirements under the 2015 net neutrality order. The two are expected to hold a 2-1 majority at the agency starting Jan. 20 with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. Pai and O’Rielly noted they favor an expanded exemption beyond ISPs with 100,000 or fewer subscribers.
Two state commissions that sought but didn’t receive FCC waivers of the Dec. 2 Lifeline deadline are moving forward with rulemakings to align state rules with the updated federal low-income program, state officials said. The FCC last week denied waivers to states including New Mexico and Missouri, while granting them to others (see 1612010070). At a Wednesday meeting, New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioners adopted a staff motion to open a Lifeline proceeding. Meanwhile, Missouri Public Service Commissioners are considering a draft rule after the PSC prepared in advance for possible rejection of the waiver request, a spokesman said. Other states that either received waivers or didn’t need them also are taking steps to ensure a smooth transition, including campaigns to raise public awareness about the changes.
Educational entities and most others backed the off-campus E-rate subsidy support proposals of Microsoft and others in one petition and the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) in Colorado in another. Some telco interests opposed the petitions, NCTA voiced concerns and a few others asked the FCC to adopt certain criteria for guidance or an alternative approach. Replies were posted Tuesday and earlier in docket 13-184 in response to a public notice (see 1609190051).
The pay-TV industry hopes to see the coming FCC make regulatory parity a priority, since cable is heavily regulated and its over-the-top competition is unregulated, said Cristina Pauze, ex-Time Warner Cable vice president-regulatory, at a Practising Law Institute conference Friday. Some parity might also require congressional action, but the deregulatory agenda of the incoming Republican-controlled Congress and White House "provides a lot of opportunity," she said.