AT&T accused BT of hypocrisy in pushing special access regulation in the U.S. that it opposes in the U.K., where it’s the incumbent. And the rate regulation that BT is advocating in the U.S. hasn’t worked in the U.K., said AT&T Senior Vice President-Federal Regulatory Bob Quinn, in a blog post Thursday. “BT wants the US to adopt a regulatory regime like it has back home in the UK even though, based on the facts, that would mean significantly less broadband investment, higher prices, and really bad customer service,” he said. “And all so BT can get lower prices for services that are already cheaper in the US than the same services [in] the UK. Why on earth is that a remotely tenable policy argument? Or even a good idea?”
As FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has set his sights on repealing exclusivity rules, broadcasters increasingly are arguing that compulsory license requirements should go down with them. The likelihood of saving the network nonduplication and syndicated exclusivity rules is questionable, broadcast experts said in interviews Friday.
Whether retransmission consent negotiations will be smoother in the near future is debatable as the FCC spelled out 15 negotiation tactics now under its microscope in a rulemaking notice Wednesday on the totality of circumstances in good-faith negotiating (see 1509020061), officials said in interviews. "This is known as 'regulation by raised eyebrow,'" said cable consultant Steve Effros. "The commission is saying ‘you ought to be very careful if you're engaged in this sort of activity -- we're watching.’" But an NAB spokesman said the group expects pay TV "to use the FCC’s NPRM as an opportunity to create more programming disruptions, not fewer. There is demonstrable evidence suggesting that pay TV providers like Dish use the prospect of government intervention into a free market as grounds for forcing impasses.”
The Media Bureau sought comment on proposals in the Downloadable Security Technological Advisory Committee final report (see 1508280035) even as stakeholders continued debating the merits of FCC action on what DSTAC proposed. The bureau, in a public notice Tuesday, asked “how it should inform the Commission’s obligations” to promote competitive availability for navigation devices. The Public Knowledge and TiVo-backed Consumer Video Choice Coalition (CVC) and DSTAC member Hauppauge released statements Tuesday asking the FCC to implement recommendations from the report.
The FCC plans a Sept. 17 vote on launching an undersea cable outage reporting rulemaking, said the commission’s tentative agenda for next month’s open meeting. The draft rulemaking notice “proposes to require submarine cable licensees to report significant outages in appropriate detail” through the FCC Network Outage Reporting System (NORS), Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a blog post Thursday. “Modern communications networks are increasingly interconnected. The failure of a single cable can have a ripple effect on multiple networks. Better reporting about the status of undersea cables will help us better anticipate and prevent disruptions to service.”
Broadcasters and the pay-TV industry continued to joust over program exclusivity rules, as blacked-out stations in 39 states in the country's largest retransmission blackout were turned back on Thursday (see 1508260049). The repeal of network nonduplication and syndicated program exclusivity rules is in the crosshairs of Chairman Tom Wheeler, who has called them "outdated" (see 1508180053).
With STELAR requiring the FCC Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee to produce a report on a downloadable security successor to CableCARD a week after its final meeting this Friday, committee members and industry officials are divided on whether the DSTAC efforts should lead to any further action, they said in interviews this week. The Satellite Television Extension and Localization Act Reauthorization-mandated report will offer two proposals, one backed by the committee's pay-TV interests and one backed by Public Knowledge and TiVo (see 1508040062). Officials on the pay-TV side said they hope the FCC takes no further action after receiving the report. The other side wants further commission action.
Antiquated FCC regulations hurt the competitive landscape, pay TV and broadcasters agreed in comments on the video competition report, but diverged widely on which of the rules are "outdated" and to blame. The comment deadline in docket 15-158 was Friday, with replies due Sept. 21. Many of the comments involved a pair of matters currently before the FCC -- its possible rulemaking on retransmission consent practices (see 1508140031) and its consideration of stretching the definition of multichannel video programming distributor to incorporate some types of over-the-top (OTT) content providers (see 1506220023)
Industry consolidation has been underway for decades and its challenges for the communications bar are nothing new, communications industry lawyers said. Law firms face steady pressure to keep the rates they charge low and, as companies expand, many take routine matters "in-house," the attorneys said. But the attorneys also said technological evolution, including the explosion of wireless, has meant new areas of practice and new clients seeking representation.
A lengthy list of retransmission consent practices, from broadcasters ceding negotiating rights to tying arrangements, could be up for examination if FCC commissioners sign off on a draft NPRM circulated last week (see 1508120051), an informed person said.