House Commerce Committee approved indefinite delay of 700 MHz auctions Thurs., although Chmn. Tauzin acknowledged that Sen. Stevens (R-Alaska) continued to have concerns about any postponement. Tauzin’s bill (HR-4560) would direct FCC to delay upper and lower 700 MHz band auctions now set for June 19 without setting new deadline. But he told reporters after brief markup that he had talked with FCC Chmn. Powell about possibility of one-year delay and indicated he would consider request. That would be enough time for both House and Senate to take legislative action, Tauzin said. Powell has indicated in recent congressional testimony that without new legislation, he was reluctant to flout existing statutory mandates, including requirement to deposit proceeds from Ch. 52-59 auction in U.S. Treasury by Sept. 30. Some of most strident arguments for delaying bidding came from ranking committee Democrat Dingell (Mich.), who repeatedly called previous decisions to hold auctions to raise revenue “asinine” and said keeping June 19 date would result in “another auction debacle.”
Reps. Berman (D-Cal.) and Tauscher (D-Cal.) released Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) report on reforming satellite technology policy to maintain dominance in space. Report, Preserving America’s Advantage in Satellite Technology, outlines recommendations of CSIS Satellite Commission, saying that if U.S. is to avoid “expensive erosion of its leadership position” in satellite market, new national strategy must be developed that accounts for current “commercial and technological realities” and national security interests and challenges. “Conflicting policies, uncertain goals and an insufficient budgeting process are weakening the technical advantage we currently have,” said Commission member Rep. Goss (R-Fla.). Satellite licensing was transferred to State from Commerce 3 years ago in 1998 Defense Authorization Act after 2 U.S. companies were accused of transferring secret satellite technology to China. White House decision whether to allow State to keep jurisdiction over U.S. satellite exports had been expected after meeting in late March, but nothing has been decided, industry source said. Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) said it “broadly endorsed the conclusions” of CSIS report. SIA Exec. Dir. Richard Dalbello said: “Communications satellites are commercial items that should not be regulated as military technology.” He said State Dept. licensing was “slow and deliberate” and was “inadequate for fast-paced, competitive commercial world.”
Qwest state regulators are moving ahead with their investigations into allegations that company had engaged in discriminatory dealmaking with CLECs, while AT&T attacked Qwest for seeking national ruling from FCC on what sorts of deals with CLECs must be publicly filed with states.
Operators of small and rural cable systems were waging lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill this week, asking for help as they face unprecedented competition from DBS, plus increasing programming costs from media conglomerates such as Disney, GE, News Corp., Viacom. Group, brought together by American Cable Assn. (ACA) for 3 days, was spending much of Tues. on Hill, making face-to-face contact with key lawmakers. But first order of business was questioning some of those lawmakers’ top advisers in morning panel discussion. Jessica Wallace, majority counsel for House Commerce Committee, sought to assure 50 ACA members that Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) was keenly aware of issues facing small and rural cable operators. She said Tauzin’s main focus at moment was DTV transition and bringing together various industry sectors in informal setting to try to negotiate solutions on copyright and DTV-cable compatibility issues that wouldn’t require congressional action. Asked about rising costs of programming, Wallace said Tauzin knew it’s problem, especially with regard to sports programming, but said that, as long as people continued to buy those programming packages, there wasn’t much Congress could do.
Piracy of intellectual property was topic addressed in visit to China last week by Commerce Secy. Donald Evans and Undersecy. Philip Bond, latter said Mon., and could be addressed in continuing dialog being established.
Senate passed on 88-11 vote Fri. energy conservation bill (HR-4) that would require Energy Secy. to establish standards for electronics and household appliances when they're operating in standby mode, in which devices use least of amount of energy without being switched off. Bill by House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) would require that certain electronics products manufactured in or imported into U.S. consume no more than 1 watt in standby mode. Energy Dept. would have until Jan. 1, 2007, to begin related rulemaking on DTV sets, digital set-top boxes, digital video recorders. It would have 18 months to issue final rule for those items, taking into consideration: (1) “Potential effects on market penetration of digital products.” (2) “Any recommendations by the FCC regarding such effects.” Bill also would require Energy Dept. and Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether to extend use of Energy Star efficiency label to telephony products.
Minn. PUC administrative law judge was scheduled to open hearings today (April 30) on allegations Qwest made secret “sweetheart deals” with certain CLECs in return for their dropping their opposition to Qwest regulatory initiatives including long distance entry. Complaint (Case P421/C-02- 197) filed by Minn. Dept. of Commerce, acting as consumer advocate, charged that Qwest had failed to file deals with at least 3 different Minn. CLECs in which they received special discounts, billing arrangements or service priority in return for their dropping opposition to Qwest-U S West merger and Qwest interLATA long distance entry. Dept. accused Qwest of using deals to silence critics of its merger and its long distance entry, and its failure to file deals with PUC meant other CLECs couldn’t opt into those terms; Dept. sought penalties up to $200 million. Qwest denied wrongdoing, saying agreements weren’t subject to disclosure because they were confidential settlements of disputes over rates and terms in their interconnection agreements. Company also said provisions for CLECs to drop their opposition to its regulatory petitions weren’t unusual, but were meant to ensure that CLECs didn’t try to re-litigate disputes under guise of opposing Qwest initiatives. Some CLECs have raised issue of allegedly preferential unfiled Qwest deals with selected CLECs in Ariz., Colo., N.M., Ore., Utah. Those state commissions are investigating. Qwest said it had asked FCC to determine whether it had violated Telecom Act in preference to undergoing state-by-state litigation, but FCC hasn’t said whether it will act.
FTC and Justice Dept. (DoJ) currently have no merger “clearance” requests pending, which might be first time since Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) was enacted more than 25 years ago, FTC Chmn. Timothy Muris told American Bar Assn. (ABA) Antitrust Section Fri. in Washington. Muris made comment when asked about progress of controversial clearance review agreement with DoJ, which assigns each agency certain industries for premerger review. Agreement has drawn ire of Senate Commerce Chmn. Hollings (D-S.C.), who expressed concerns about DoJ’s being given all media review authority in agreement. Muris and DoJ Antitrust Chief Charles James said agreement was needed to improve efficiency between agencies, which used to compete with each other for right to review certain mergers. HSR created review process. Muris read e-mail he received Thurs. from FTC clearance officer Robert Jones that said no clearance requests were pending. “None, nada, zip. World peace will undoubtedly follow,” Muris said, reading from Jones’ e-mail. Complaints by other FTC commissioners that they weren’t allowed to comment on agreement were “not necessarily correct,” Muris said. James and Muris also said antitrust sections of each agency were enjoying unique level of collaboration. Agencies are likely to begin reviewing and exchanging “best practices,” both Muris and Jones said.
House Telecom Subcommittee ranking Democrat Markey (Mass.) is circulating draft bill that would create trust fund for digital technology grants out of future wireless auction proceeds. Draft bill also would allocate spectrum for advanced wireless services while keeping intact Bush Administration proposal for separate trust fund for govt. relocation proceeds for incumbent users that may be relocated from spectrum. Markey’s proposal, which panel of industry and academic experts at New America conference said Fri. has bipartisan backing, would reserve first $5 billion derived from applicable spectrum auctions to reimburse Dept. of Defense and other govt. agencies for vacating various spectrum bands. Rest of auction proceeds would be deposited into separate trust fund to provide grants for educational broadband technology and deployment projects, making those funds available to entities currently eligible for universal service funding. Up to $300 million from such grants would be made available annually to public TV stations to upgrade analog stations to digital. Markey is expected to introduce bill this week and Sen. Dodd (D-Conn.) is said to be drafting somewhat broader companion bill that also has bipartisan backing.
House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.), ranking Democrat Dingell (D-Mich.) and 50 co-sponsors unveiled bill Wed. that would direct FCC to delay upcoming 700 MHz auctions indefinitely, tying future timing to resolution of other thorny spectrum issues. Legislation would delay June 19 auction of upper and lower bands at 700 MHz, requiring FCC within one year to report to Congress on proposed rescheduling. Proposal outlines panoply of other spectrum proceedings that await resolution and would instruct FCC to not hold 700 MHz auction until there was plan to resolve 800 MHz interference issues for public safety. Backed by bipartisan bill, CTIA late Wed. filed application at FCC seeking full Commission review of Wireless Bureau decision earlier this month that kept June 19 date intact. Prospects for companion bill in Senate appeared to be somewhat less clear, although Sen. Brownback (R-Kan.) told reporters Wed. he might support similar bill if administrative actions failed.