Google Fiber's choice of Kansas City, Kansas, for its first fiber project taught Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, that his job is to take actions that help "keep barriers low and costs less" for industry innovators, he said. That recipe is what convinced Google to pick Kansas City for its fiber deployment, said Moran, a Commerce Committee member, speaking at the Incompas conference Wednesday. Google Vice President-Access Services Milo Medin said Google was looking for "a place that's easy, not just from a construction standpoint" but that would "work with us and get things done." He said Google looked at Kansas City's permitting rules, pole-attachment policies and other "boring things" that really matter, and decided it was the best choice among 1,100 communities that competed for the company's initial fiber foray, which was followed soon thereafter by Kansas City, Missouri, and by moves in Austin and some other cities. He said one of the keys was a "demand model" that invited consumers to commit to the fiber service, and thereby aggregate demand. Medin, who worked on the Kansas City project, said he's now working more on wireless issues. He said much of the industry's focus is on using low-band frequencies for broad coverage and building penetration but higher-band frequencies for making smaller cells that allow spectrum to be re-used. He lauded the FCC's 3.5 GHz band effort to find ways to share government spectrum with private users. He said most of that spectrum traditionally was used for naval radar, and specifically aircraft carrier air-traffic control. "Have you ever seen an aircraft carrier in Kansas?" he kidded Moran. Medin said sharing arrangements were an innovative way to avoid the traditional, protracted battles where industry seeks to take over government spectrum. He said the sharing arrangements can actually be a "win-win" because they allow government communications users to better "leverage" commercial innovations that had escaped them.

As next Thursday's FCC meeting approaches where a set-top box NPRM may be considered on making it easier for consumers to get encrypted TV content carried through the boxes without getting one from their multichannel video programming distributor, MVPDs with concerns about any rules and NPRM backers are lobbying the agency. That is according to ex parte filings posted Tuesday and Wednesday in docket 15-64. If the FCC moves forward with its proposals for the set-top market, it should seek comment on possible exceptions for smaller cable operators, said the American Cable Association in meetings with aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel, Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly. “At a minimum,” the FCC should “tentatively conclude that all-analog systems should be exempt from any new requirements,” ACA said. The agency's proposals would “directly interfere with and jeopardize” its ability to provide programming for Latino viewers, programmer Hola TV wrote Wheeler. “The proposal would allow some large Internet companies to unilaterally take our content without our approval, or compensation, disassociate it from existing negotiated channel placements, and enable those entities to sell intrusive advertising absent a mechanism to share any revenue with programmers." Dish and EchoStar don’t oppose “exploration of the [Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee]’s recommendations regarding adoption of competitive navigation devices,” they said jointly. The FCC shouldn’t adopt “overly simplistic solutions that could damage competition and hinder innovation,” Dish and Echostar said in a meeting with staff from Clyburn’s office. Pai should vote for the NPRM, said the Consumer Video Choice Coalition in a meeting with him, according to an ex parte filing. “The Coalition has proven that competition holds the technology solution for ending the era of forced set-top box leasing from large incumbent" multichannel video programing distributors, said the filing. By moving forward with the NPRM, the FCC “will be fulfilling its mandate” in Section 629 of the Communications Act to “ensure that consumers have access to competitive devices that are interoperable with MVPD networks,” the CVCC said. Coalition members include Google, Incompas, Public Knowledge and TiVo, its website said. Another group, begun the day FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said he would circulate the NPRM (see 1601270064), includes ACA, Dish, MPAA and NCTA, its website said.

Growing subscriber rolls at some cable TV providers, even as the over-the-top (OTT) market booms, indicate people "really like to watch TV," said Corie Wright, Netflix director-global public policy, Wednesday at Incompas' 2016 Policy Summit. "It's not an either/or proposition -- a price point for something like Netflix or [Amazon] Prime makes it easy to add onto your core package," she said on a panel on the streaming video content marketplace.

An FCC draft cable set-top box NPRM "fully respects" content copyright interests, General Counsel Jonathan Sallet said Wednesday at an Incompas conference. The draft, which the agency is to consider Feb. 18, is intended to encourage competition and give consumers more choice in the cable set-top retail market, he said, lauding the vision and principles of the 1996 Telecom Act. Meanwhile this week, filings on lobbying for and against the NPRM were posted in docket 15-64 (see here and 1602100036).

An FCC draft cable set-top box NPRM "fully respects" content copyright interests, General Counsel Jonathan Sallet said Wednesday at an Incompas conference. The draft, which the agency is to consider Feb. 18, is intended to encourage competition and give consumers more choice in the cable set-top retail market, he said, lauding the vision and principles of the 1996 Telecom Act. Meanwhile this week, filings on lobbying for and against the NPRM were posted in docket 15-64 (see here and 1602100036).

The war of words over draft FCC proposed rules on untying set-top boxes from the multichannel video programming distributors that often provide the boxes to MVPD customers (see 1601270064) escalated Wednesday. After AT&T slammed Google over the Internet company's transition plan and by extension the FCC for considering it, the Justice Department emailed us a statement backing the commission's tack. That statement was the subject (see 1602030055) of a Communications Daily Bulletin. The FCC likewise defended its plan.

The war of words over draft FCC proposed rules on untying set-top boxes from the multichannel video programming distributors that often provide the boxes to MVPD customers (see 1601270064) escalated Wednesday. After AT&T slammed Google over the Internet company's transition plan and by extension the FCC for considering it, the Justice Department emailed us a statement backing the commission's tack. That statement was the subject (see 1602030055) of a Communications Daily Bulletin. The FCC likewise defended its plan.

The war of words over draft FCC proposed rules on untying set-top boxes from the multichannel video programming distributors that often provide the boxes to MVPD customers (see 1601270064) escalated Wednesday. After AT&T slammed Google over the Internet company's transition plan and by extension the FCC for considering it, the Justice Department emailed us a statement backing the commission's tack. That statement was the subject (see 1602030055) of a Communications Daily Bulletin. The FCC likewise defended its plan.

Industry officials told us partisan frustrations may have flared up because of how the Consumer Video Choice Coalition did outreach for Friday's set-top box demonstration for Capitol Hill staffers at Google’s Washington office (see 1601290060). But the coalition told us it has always been ready to offer bipartisan demonstrations and expects more to come, with congressional interest rising last week due to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s announcement on set-top issues. Invitations initially went only to certain Democratic Hill offices, but word spread to GOP offices and caused some discontent, prompting invitations to be sent to a wider array of offices Thursday after 5 p.m., one media industry official told us. Some Democratic offices -- including that of House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. -- also didn’t receive invitations, at least initially, according to officials. “I wasn’t involved with invites, but I heard that both Republicans and Democrats were present,” Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer said Monday of the demonstration. A Google spokeswoman confirmed the demonstration took place but wouldn’t comment on its critiques or on the Hill invitations, instead referring us to a spokesman for Incompas. Google, Public Knowledge and Incompas are members of the CVCC. “We’ve had multiple bipartisan demonstrations of the competitive solution and are planning more,” Incompas CEO Chip Pickering told us in a statement Monday. “Interest level in the competitive demonstrations has spiked following Chairman Wheeler's announcement that he would seek to unlock the box and end cable's set-top box monopoly. We are thrilled several Hill offices have expressed new interest.” The CVCC also issued a statement Monday defending the demo from cable and telecom industry attacks and highlighting the public nature of such a demonstration going back to last year in the relevant FCC proceeding.

Industry officials told us partisan frustrations may have flared up because of how the Consumer Video Choice Coalition did outreach for Friday's set-top box demonstration for Capitol Hill staffers at Google’s Washington office (see 1601290060). But the coalition told us it has always been ready to offer bipartisan demonstrations and expects more to come, with congressional interest rising last week due to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s announcement on set-top issues. Invitations initially went only to certain Democratic Hill offices, but word spread to GOP offices and caused some discontent, prompting invitations to be sent to a wider array of offices Thursday after 5 p.m., one media industry official told us. Some Democratic offices -- including that of House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. -- also didn’t receive invitations, at least initially, according to officials. “I wasn’t involved with invites, but I heard that both Republicans and Democrats were present,” Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer said Monday of the demonstration. A Google spokeswoman confirmed the demonstration took place but wouldn’t comment on its critiques or on the Hill invitations, instead referring us to a spokesman for Incompas. Google, Public Knowledge and Incompas are members of the CVCC. “We’ve had multiple bipartisan demonstrations of the competitive solution and are planning more,” Incompas CEO Chip Pickering told us in a statement Monday. “Interest level in the competitive demonstrations has spiked following Chairman Wheeler's announcement that he would seek to unlock the box and end cable's set-top box monopoly. We are thrilled several Hill offices have expressed new interest.” The CVCC also issued a statement Monday defending the demo from cable and telecom industry attacks and highlighting the public nature of such a demonstration going back to last year in the relevant FCC proceeding.