If communications lobbyists could go back in time and rewrite Telecom Act, Bell companies would be first to grab their pens, with broadcasters close behind, according to interviews by staff of Communications Daily. We asked industry representatives, Capitol Hill officials and others what they would change if they could rewrite Act with benefit of 5 years’ hindsight. Cable representatives appeared least likely to want change, having won deregulation, capital and entry into telecom business through Act. Views of CLEC interests ranged from structural separation for Bell companies to stricter enforcement.
New FCC Chmn. Powell pressed competition rather than regulation on TV and radio issues in his first news conference since taking over 2 weeks ago (see separate story, this issue). Signaling clear break with Democratic-run Commission of last 8 years, he seemed to favor scrapping FCC’s broadcast ownership cap, which prohibits broadcasters from owning TV stations reaching more than 35% of U.S. households. He came out firmly against re- regulation of cable and expressed philosophical concerns about agency’s setting restrictions on indecent TV programming or imposing political free air time rules on broadcasters. But he also avoided taking strong stands on other key TV and radio issues, such as low-power FM (LPFM), DTV transition, cable open access mandates.
While ceding some of his agenda to traditional telecom topics, new House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.) continues to seek focus on “using technology to better the lives of all Americans,” spokesman told us Tues. He said Upton wanted to pursue “initiatives in education, health, telecommuting and Internet pharmacies.” On telecom, Upton plans to examine FCC reform, broadband deployment issues, DTV transition and copyright protection on new technologies. He also wants to look at violence in media and telemarketing fraud, spokesman said. Chmn. hasn’t formulated specific positions on topics, he said.
High-power repeaters for satellite digital audio radio service (DARS) won’t interfere significantly with wireless communications service (WCS), Sirius Satellite Radio said in FCC filing responding to WCS entities (CD Feb 1 p9). Sirius submitted theoretical coverage plots for high-power transmitters that it said showed signal strengths well below interference threshold. Sirius, responding to claims that DARS might be allowed more than 1,000 high-power repeaters, said that was “irrelevant” because “1,000 times nothing [no interference] is still nothing.”
U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., panel unanimously upheld FCC’s decision to dismiss pending mutually exclusive applications to pave way for competitive bidding system for 39 GHz licenses. “The Commission balanced the need to implement the new regulatory regime against the effect of upsetting the expectations of appellants and others,” Judge Raymond Randolph wrote for court, including Chief Judge Harry Edwards and Judge David Sentelle. Bachow Communications and others challenged FCC decision to dismiss pending applications as part of transition to competitive bidding system. Commission dismissed without prejudice applications filed at least 30 days before freeze Nov. 13, 1995. It also dismissed applications filed 30 days after freeze date if they met certain mutual exclusivity factors. Court sided with FCC, finding that agency’s decision wasn’t arbitrary and capricious. “The Commission reasonably feared that processing mutually exclusive applications under an antiquated and burdensome comparative application system would diminish the efficiency gains expected from competitive bidding,” court concluded.
New FCC Chmn. Powell laid out broad agenda Tues., stressing need for competition, deregulation and regulatory restraint. Agency should take “judicious” rather than “quasi-legislative” role, he said in his first news conference, citing examples in which FCC’s job primarily was to implement policy. While declining to discuss specifics of priorities such as streamlining FCC procedures, he repeatedly sounded theme of allowing competitive forces in market to take hold. “I do not believe that deregulation is like the dessert that you serve after people have fed on their vegetables as a reward for the creation of competition,” he said. Deregulation is critical to facilitate competition, “not something to be handed out after there’s a substantial number of players in the market,” he said.
Reciprocal compensation payments by Bell companies are growing despite lower rates in some areas, creating “distortions” that will continue until FCC reforms system, BellSouth Vp Robert Blau said in Feb. 1 ex parte letter to Commission. Writing on behalf of BellSouth, Qwest, SBC and Verizon, Blau told Commission that declining rates had been offset by “continuing rapid growth of dial-up Internet minutes.” At same time, cost of network facilities used by CLECs to route Internet calls to ISP modem banks has declined, creating “ever greater economic inefficiencies and distortions,” he said. Only solution is for FCC to require carriers to recover those costs “from their own customers.” Blau said Bells have had difficulty providing figures to prove CLEC costs are going down, as requested by FCC, because “the costs at issue belong to the CLECs who, of course, have no interest in making these data publicly available.” However, Blau attached report by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analysts that he said “corroborates our view that market forces will not reduce rates fast enough to resolve the reciprocal compensation problem at least in the foreseeable future.” Blau said report also showed CLECs were billing both ISP and ILECs for terminating dial-up traffic at rates well above costs and, therefore, many were reaping extraordinary profits on services rendered to the ISP. Financial information in report also revealed that “reciprocal compensation payments… could be eliminated in their entirety without forcing the CLECs to raise per line charges to their ISP customers.” Blau said Dean Witter analysis supported Bell company view that reciprocal compensation payments “represent a totally unreasonable transfer of revenue from the ILECs to CLECs for reasons that have no basis in economics or the law.”
Broadcasters must file electronically to apply for commercial station construction permits, to assign commercial licenses or permits to others and to transfer control of corporate holdings, FCC Mass Media Bureau said. Mandatory electronic filing begins Feb. 15.
Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) contends FCC’s new universal licensing system (ULS) “is causing many delays and setbacks for frequency coordinators.” APCO said in news release that Wireless Bureau’s ULS, which manages frequency licensing under standardized structure, didn’t give “adequate consideration” to needs of frequency coordinators who submit applications electronically. Third phase of land mobile radio service converted to ULS in Dec., including industrial business pool. APCO contends no public certified frequency coordinator has been able to submit application to FCC electronically since ULS system went online. APCO has said frequency coordinators’ issues are different from other wireless ULS users because they operate their own databases, using FCC database information and application information. While frequency coordinators have been working with FCC “for years” to prepare for changeover, “even with this lead time, there was little or no indication what impact the ULS would have,” said APCO Automated Frequency Coordination Dir. Ron Haraseth. File structures of database that FCC ran before ULS conversion for land mobile radio service licensees diverged from current system, he told us. “The relationships within an application or within a license are totally different than what it used to be,” he said. “We had no idea or concept of how that would affect our database.” One issue at FCC has been that verification routines for applications now are automated, he said. Haraseth said that means “simple errors” that previously would have passed through now result in filing being returned or dismissed. Without “hard core testing,” switchover didn’t account for ability of frequency coordinators to handle new system, he said. Industrial Telecommunications Assn. (ITA) Pres. Mark Crosby said: “I would suspect that many, if not all, of the frequency advisory committees have had some difficulty adapting to the new ULS requirements. ITA, for its part, is working to address those very diligently.” Hand-off between databases such as that kept by ITA and FCC’s has been challenging, Crosby said. “ITA is close,” he said. “There’s been some delay in getting licenses out, which has segments of the industry somewhat concerned. They have a right to be concerned,” he said. FCC said agency officials plan to meet with frequency coordinators next week to discuss ULS implementation issues.
NAACP failed to show that renewal of license of WWSB (Ch. 40, ABC) Sarasota-Bradenton was inconsistent with Commission precedent, FCC said in order denying petition for review. NAACP and others had alleged pattern of discrimination by station, but FCC said individual complaints that hadn’t been upheld by EEOC didn’t provide adequate evidence. Commission did say it would “take cognizance of any final determination by the EEOC” or other govt. agency.