FCC Chmn. Martin tried to reassure dubious Senate Democrats during his renomination hearing Tues. that the agency will take a fresh approach to its media ownership rulemaking. He won points for scheduling the first of 6 planned field hearings in Cal. -- a nod to Senate Commerce Committee member Boxer (D-Cal.) who has been critical of the agency’s pace in taking up the proceeding (CD Sept 12 p4).
The jury’s still out on whether FCC Chmn. Martin’s more closed style of management (CD Sept 5 p1) will have a long- term impact on the agency, according to industry officials, many of them former FCC employees. Some Washington insiders see possible harm to the agency, others think changes under Martin reflect normal management adjustments common to new chief executives.
Companies as disparate as SES Americom, Qualcomm, ViaSat and Maritime Telecom Network endorsed a General Dynamics call for the FCC to set rules for vehicle-mounted antennas. They want to widen use of FSS Ku-band for mobile broadband services to consumers and to military and emergency vehicles, they said. General Dynamics in May petitioned for a rulemaking that would ease licensing of such terminals, suggesting the FCC use a framework it set up in 2005 for similar terminals on ships, known as ESVs.
The FCC rulemaking on media ownership is fatally flawed because it fails to address minority ownership rules as the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, told it to in a footnote to the court’s remand of a previous rulemaking on the issue, said Minority Media & Telecom Council Exec. Director David Honig in a motion to withdraw the FNPRM. Rather than proceed, the FCC should restart the proceeding, as the court specifically ordered, work 14 minority ownership proposals MMTC made in 2002 into a new rulemaking, he said. Otherwise, the Commission is defying the court order and setting itself up for another remand, Honig said: “As a matter of law that appears unavoidable.”
New technology, or even new uses for old technology like voice mail, could greatly improve communications in disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, several organizations told the FCC in comments this week. “Policy makers and public safety officials alike should be attuned to the value that IP technologies bring to first responder and emergency communications,” said Cisco Systems.
With a few exceptions, existing rooftop and indoor set- top antennas should permit over-the-air DTV reception when viewers pair a DTV converter box with an older NTSC set for the Feb. 2009 analog cutoff, LG and Thomson told Consumer Electronics Daily. The assurances by LG and Thomson -- both developing reference converter-box designs for MSTV-NAB -- come against the backdrop of a Sept. 25 deadline for comments on proposed NTIA rules for running the $1.5 billion DTV box subsidy program.
Time Warner Cable (TW) faces an uphill battle challenging a Media Bureau order against it in a carriage dispute (CD Aug 4 p5), said 2 cable lawyers. TW lashed out at the FCC for not letting it answer an emergency complaint by NFL Network before requiring it restore carriage of the channel. Time Warner threatened to go to court if the FCC doesn’t act early today (Mon.) on a petition for reconsideration. TW acquiesced early Fri. after balking at an FCC demand to restore the network to 1.2 million subscribers acquired in the Adelphia deal.
The FCC should remove buildout requirements from the local franchise process as well as other provisions small and midsized telecom companies deem barriers to offering video services to customers, USTelecom said. In an ex parte filing Fri., USTelecom said the agency also should: (1) Prohibit “excessively long franchise application review and approval processes.” (2) Bar franchise fees and “in-kind payments that are not specifically authorized in the Communications Act and exceed the statutory maximum of 5%.” The comments went into MB Doc. 05-311, a proceeding in which the FCC is considering if there are barriers to competition in the franchise process that would violate Sec. 621 of the Communications Act. The statute “plainly limits” buildout requirements, even for incumbent cable operators, USTelecom said: “The timetable must be reasonable in light of market conditions, and a cable operator cannot be made to provide service where it is not economically feasible. With respect to competitive entrants, therefore, the best approach is to allow market competition to decide build-out schedules as this will establish reasonable build-out schedules more certainly and accurately than any regulator could do.” The FCC has “unquestionable authority” to adopt rules dealing with Sec. 621 franchising requirements, “despite the protestations of cable operators,” USTelecom said: “The Commission’s rulemaking authority is not affected by the fact that local franchise authorities have the primary role in applying, but not interpreting, the section.”
The FCC is expected to grant most of the BPL industry’s requests when it votes Aug. 3 on reconsideration petitions and a petition for a declaratory ruling that BPL is an information service, industry sources said. The 2 BPL items on the agenda, to be released today (Thurs.) “both look good at this point in terms of what we expect the outcome will be,” said an industry executive.
Only a household relying exclusively on over-the-air analog TV reception would qualify for a $40 coupon voucher redeemable toward purchase of a “certified” bare-bones DTV converter box under the long-awaited NTIA rulemaking released Mon. and scheduled for Federal Register publication today (Tues.). The agency was charged by Congress in DTV transition legislation with running the $1.5-billion subsidy program in advance of the Feb. 2009 analog cutoff. Comments on NTIA’s proposed rules are due in 60 days.