Senate approval of a spectrum relocation trust fund was placed in jeopardy Thurs. when the Commerce Committee voted an amendment to aid Northpoint, which would create fierce opposition from both the House and the Administration. Despite the “strong” opposition of Committee Chmn. McCain (R- Ariz.), the panel voted 13-8 to approve the amendment that would let multichannel video distribution & data services (MVDDS) share spectrum with satellite services in the 12.2- 12.7 GHz band. Support for the amendment didn’t follow party lines.
Robert Greenblatt, ex-Greenblatt-Janollari Studio, named pres.-entertainment, Showtime… Bob Fox, promoted to gen. mgr. of 4-station Salem cluster in Sacramento… Michael Andrews, ex-U.S. Army, named Chief Technology Officer, L-3… David Clark, ex-FamilyNet, named pres., Palm Beach Atlantic U… David Flemming, Gannett, and Kurt Wimmer, Covington & Burlington, join Media Institute board… Consultant Bennet Kelley named vp-legal & strategic affairs, Hi-Speed Media… President Bush said he would nominate Julie Myers, ex-Justice Dept., as Asst. Commerce Secy.-Export Enforcement… Pete Aldridge, ex-DoD, elected to Lockheed Martin board… Promotions at Lifetime: Rick Haskins, to exec. vp-gen. mgr.- Lifetime Entertainment; Lynn Picard, to exec. vp-gen mgr.- Lifetime TV… New at Satellite Enterprises Corp. from Satellite Newspaper Kiosk: Fred DeVries as pres.-CEO, Renator Mariani as exec. vp-chief mktg. officer.
Rep. Pickering (R-Miss.) is in discussions with CTIA about taking over the presidency, his spokesman said. Pickering is considering an offer from CTIA that his spokesman said was “significant” and was discussing it with his family. Last week, the spokesman said Pickering was honored to be considered by CTIA, but was planning to run for reelection and remain a member of Congress.
Bipartisan leadership of House panel on online copyright issues introduced bill that would intertwine FBI with rights owners’ efforts to stop unauthorized file-sharing. Courts, Internet & Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chmn. Smith (R- Tex.) introduced proposed Privacy Deterrence & Education Act (H- 2517) late last week with co-sponsorship by ranking member Rep. Berman (D-Cal.) and No. 2 Democrat Conyers (Mich.).
The Minn. PUC is to consider at its June 30 meeting a complaint by the Minn. Dept. of Commerce against the state’s major interexchange carriers alleging that the intrastate access recovery charge they billed to their customers was misleading, inaccurate and discriminatory. The agency asked the PUC to order an end to the charge on the grounds that it violated federal truth in billing regulations and state laws that required charges to be applied uniformly. The state Commerce Dept. said the fee was billed in the section for govt.-mandated surcharges and taxes, giving consumers the false impression it was a tax that couldn’t be avoided by changing carriers. The agency also said the fee discriminated because it wasn’t applied to business service and was waived for residential customers who also took their local service from the IXC. The IXCs responded by saying the failure in Minn. to reform access charges, coupled with legal requirements for uniform statewide interexchange service rates regardless of access costs, forced them to institute the access recovery fees to make themselves whole. The carriers said they gave their customers plenty of advance notice about the fee and described it fully. They also said they weren’t unlawfully discriminating in applying the fee because business interexchange service was provided over combinations of switched and dedicated facilities while residential service was only through switched access. The carriers also said using a fee waiver to encourage subscription to multiple services was no different in principle from discounting the individual services that made up a bundled offering.
Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee members said proposed News Corp. takeover of Hughes Electronics and subsidiary DirecTV raised concerns and needed to be closely examined, but none specifically said deal should be rejected. Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Leahy (Vt.) said transaction would “test the truth” of assertion that Justice Dept.’s “public interest” inquiry in merger reviews would protect consumers. Subcommittee Chmn. DeWine (R-O.) and ranking Democrat Kohl (Wis.) urged FCC and DoJ Wed. to review deal carefully, but not suggesting it should be rejected.
Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee members said Wed. the proposed News Corp.-DirecTV merger raises concerns and needs to be closely examined, but none specifically said the merger should be rejected. Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Leahy (Vt.) said the merger would “test the truth” of the assertion that the Justice Dept.’s “public interest” inquiry during merger reviews would protect consumers. Subcommittee Chmn. DeWine (R-O.) and ranking Democrat Kohl (Wis.) signed a letter sent Wed. to the FCC and DoJ urging the agencies to carefully review the merger, but not suggesting the merger should be rejected.
The Telecommunications Development Fund (TDF), set up by Congress to help small communications firms get started, has spent nearly as much on salaries as it has investing in companies, according to an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity. The study released late Wed. said TDF paid $7.25 million in executive salaries and administrative costs from 1998 through 2001 while investing $9.4 million in 7 companies. The center also questioned why FCC Chmn. Powell appointed himself to the board, saying there could be conflicts in the top regulator’s having involvement in a venture capital fund. An FCC spokesman noted that the Telecom Act, which created TDF, required the FCC to have a representative on the board, along with representatives of the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Dept. and 4 public members. Then-FCC Chmn. William Kennard also was on TDF, the spokesman said. TDF is funded by interest payments on up-front deposits paid by companies participating in spectrum auctions. The study also said TDF CEO Ginger Lew, ex-Small Business Administration, was paid $245,000 in 2001 and said she had connections to John Huang, who was involved in a campaign finance scandal during the Clinton Administration that was known as China-gate. The center’s news release quoted Lew as saying her only connection to Huang was that they worked at the Commerce Dept. at the same time. The center also questioned why the board of directors and its advisory board were almost entirely made up of representatives of large companies, saying there should be input from small business representatives.
The federal govt. would devote $500 million to E-911 deployment, under legislation introduced Thurs. by Sens. Burns (R-Mont.) and Clinton (D-N.Y.). The bill would also create an NTIA task force to help coordinate E-911 deployment and require the FCC to monitor how states are spending E-911 funds.
The man many believe will soon be named chmn. of the Republican National Committee (RNC) is a high-profile Washington lobbyist with such clients as Microsoft, RIAA, ASCAP, Sony, Verizon, SBC, BellSouth, DirecTV and VeriSign. Ed Gillespie is the co-founder with former Clinton counsel Jack Quinn of Quinn Gillespie, a 3-year-old shop that’s highly active in tech and telecom lobbying. Gillespie is expected to take a leave from his firm should he assume the RNC position. The firm has walked a tightrope at times on such contentious issues as digital rights management (DRM), while aggressively promoting Bell deregulation.