The FCC should allow market forces to ensure navigation device competition, not a government-supervised industry committee, Amazon officials said in a call with aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-42. “There is no need for app licensing terms to be determined by an industry group subject to Commission oversight. The process to create such a license and oversight body will delay competition and delay customers from receiving the [multichannel video programming distributor] services they already pay for on the device of their choice." Instead, the FCC should require large MVPDs to provide a “consumption-only application to widely distributed systems within one year of the final Order, under the common, transparent, and well-understood practices of appstores,” Amazon said. “If the Commission is concerned that existing app store processes may not work in the MVPD app context, then it could create a complaint process through which an aggrieved party could file a complaint about unfair terms and conditions.” The FCC “should resist action that would weaken the rights that consumers enjoy today or restrict the ability of third parties to develop new features that help consumers gain access to lawful content,” said Consumer Video Choice Coalition representatives including the Computer and Communications Industry Association, Incompas CEO Chip Pickering, Arent Fox Senior Policy Adviser Byron Dorgan and Public Knowledge CEO Gene Kimmelman in a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday. “Assertions made in recent ex parte letters from content companies raise serious questions regarding antitrust and how oversight by the Commission is essential to preventing anticompetitive practices.” A set-top box order is on circulation for a likely vote at commissioners' next meeting (see 1609080085).
A group of state and local CLEC associations supported several parts of the Verizon/Incompas proposal on business data services. A letter Monday to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was signed by CalTel, CompSouth, Midwest Association of Competitive Communications, Michigan Internet & Telecommunications Alliance and the Northwest Telecommunications Association. They supported parts of the Verizon/Incompas plan including (1) a competitive market test using three bandwidth tiers, (2) ensuring that price adjustments adopted by the FCC should result in “significant actual price reductions from current levels” for TDM and IP-based services, (3) reductions in price cap levels for TDM of at least 15 percent, and (4) adoption of an X-Factor reducing rates annually by 4.4 percent minus inflation. The groups backed adoption of an enforceable framework of ex ante price regulation for Ethernet services, which “should result in price reductions for Ethernet services that are at least as large as those proposed for TDM services on a one-time and on-going basis.” The CLEC associations supported a proposal of the Wholesale Voice Line Coalition to extend the FCC requirement that ILECs provide a reasonably comparable replacement product for its wholesale voice services when they transition to IP-based networks. Incompas General Counsel Angie Kronenberg said in a statement she welcomed the support from associations “on the front lines of state and local broadband challenges.” In a separate letter in docket 16-143, Verizon proposed an effective date of July 1 for implementing the order if it’s adopted later this year. The date is “aggressive, but Verizon suggests the Commission should align the deadline for implementing the major reforms with next year’s annual filing,” it said.
Two cable companies objected to possible FCC regulation of their business data services. Cox Communications said direct or indirect regulation of its BDS offerings would "significantly impact" its investment decisions. Ethernet prices are falling sharply and developments such as consumer use of over-the-top BDS were pressing its business plans, said Cox filing posted Tuesday covering a meeting with senior FCC officials, including General Counsel Howard Symons, Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero and Stephanie Weiner, an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler. "Reject competitive market tests based on overly granular areas such [as] census blocks or specific locations and that required multiple competitors before finding a market competitive." When asked about a possible delay in directly price regulating new BDS entrants, Cox said such regulation should be tied to market power, with "new entrants" defined as providers starting BDS after 1996. Incompas and Verizon had suggested a three-year delay. Mediacom met separately with Symons, commissioner aides, and other staffers to oppose new regulation of competitive BDS offerings, including its "nascent" service. "Mediacom’s BDS prices have been subject to competitive pressure that has forced prices to decline markedly since 2011," said a filing, also in docket 16-143. "There is no record evidence that Mediacom’s rates are unreasonable, or that the company possesses market power. We also argued that adoption of a competitive test that defines a competitive market as those with at least four facilities-based providers is not reasonably tailored to address isolated allegations of excessive rates because it would treat nearly all markets as non-competitive."
The FCC should allow market forces to ensure navigation device competition, not a government-supervised industry committee, Amazon officials said in a call with aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-42. “There is no need for app licensing terms to be determined by an industry group subject to Commission oversight. The process to create such a license and oversight body will delay competition and delay customers from receiving the [multichannel video programming distributor] services they already pay for on the device of their choice." Instead, the FCC should require large MVPDs to provide a “consumption-only application to widely distributed systems within one year of the final Order, under the common, transparent, and well-understood practices of appstores,” Amazon said. “If the Commission is concerned that existing app store processes may not work in the MVPD app context, then it could create a complaint process through which an aggrieved party could file a complaint about unfair terms and conditions.” The FCC “should resist action that would weaken the rights that consumers enjoy today or restrict the ability of third parties to develop new features that help consumers gain access to lawful content,” said Consumer Video Choice Coalition representatives including the Computer and Communications Industry Association, Incompas CEO Chip Pickering, Arent Fox Senior Policy Adviser Byron Dorgan and Public Knowledge CEO Gene Kimmelman in a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday. “Assertions made in recent ex parte letters from content companies raise serious questions regarding antitrust and how oversight by the Commission is essential to preventing anticompetitive practices.” A set-top box order is on circulation for a likely vote at commissioners' next meeting (see 1609080085).
The FCC should allow market forces to ensure navigation device competition, not a government-supervised industry committee, Amazon officials said in a call with aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-42. “There is no need for app licensing terms to be determined by an industry group subject to Commission oversight. The process to create such a license and oversight body will delay competition and delay customers from receiving the [multichannel video programming distributor] services they already pay for on the device of their choice." Instead, the FCC should require large MVPDs to provide a “consumption-only application to widely distributed systems within one year of the final Order, under the common, transparent, and well-understood practices of appstores,” Amazon said. “If the Commission is concerned that existing app store processes may not work in the MVPD app context, then it could create a complaint process through which an aggrieved party could file a complaint about unfair terms and conditions.” The FCC “should resist action that would weaken the rights that consumers enjoy today or restrict the ability of third parties to develop new features that help consumers gain access to lawful content,” said Consumer Video Choice Coalition representatives including the Computer and Communications Industry Association, Incompas CEO Chip Pickering, Arent Fox Senior Policy Adviser Byron Dorgan and Public Knowledge CEO Gene Kimmelman in a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday. “Assertions made in recent ex parte letters from content companies raise serious questions regarding antitrust and how oversight by the Commission is essential to preventing anticompetitive practices.” A set-top box order is on circulation for a likely vote at commissioners' next meeting (see 1609080085).
USTelecom proposed a business data service market test at the census tract level that the FCC could use to determine where facilities-based competition instead of regulation could constrain BDS pricing. "The test proposes that the FCC step back from dictating prices for BDS services wherever two competitors exert competitive discipline over pricing," said a USTelecom filing posted Monday in docket 16-143. Parties on all sides are continuing to lobby the FCC as Chairman Tom Wheeler attempts to push through an overhaul this year (see 1609070033).
USTelecom proposed a business data service market test at the census tract level that the FCC could use to determine where facilities-based competition instead of regulation could constrain BDS pricing. "The test proposes that the FCC step back from dictating prices for BDS services wherever two competitors exert competitive discipline over pricing," said a USTelecom filing posted Monday in docket 16-143. Parties on all sides are continuing to lobby the FCC as Chairman Tom Wheeler attempts to push through an overhaul this year (see 1609070033).
USTelecom is on track to pick a new chief in a couple of months, a spokeswoman confirmed, after informed sources described how the search is playing out so far. President-CEO Walter McCormick, who announced his planned departure a year ago (see 1509110042), is still scheduled to remain through the end of 2016, she said. She also confirmed the telco group hired the executive-search firm Korn Ferry.
USTelecom is on track to pick a new chief in a couple of months, a spokeswoman confirmed, after informed sources described how the search is playing out so far. President-CEO Walter McCormick, who announced his planned departure a year ago (see 1509110042), is still scheduled to remain through the end of 2016, she said. She also confirmed the telco group hired the executive-search firm Korn Ferry.
Industry requests for rigid timelines for so-called Team Telecom review of transactions don't properly account for ”the complexity of the national security and law enforcement considerations that the Executive Branch must weigh in its review,” NTIA replied in FCC docket 16-155 by Friday's deadline. NTIA also takes issue with a proposal that applications on which Team Telecom hasn't ruled would be approved if the review lasted beyond a certain time period. “The assumption that silence denotes acceptance creates the potential for a license to be granted without full consideration of potential Executive Branch concerns," NTIA said. Nearly all industry commenters that filed reply comments restated their view (see 1608190048) that NTIA should have a rigid timeline to review a transaction, including CTIA, Incompas, Sprint and USTelecom. “The commission should reject proposals resulting in an unlimited Team Telecom review timeframe,” said joint comments by BT Americas, Deutsche Telekom, Orange Business Services and Telefonica Internacional USA. “This proceeding should reform the current process that provides the Executive Branch with unlimited review and no accountability to the Commission or applicants, not extend it,” CTIA said.