Pressure is growing on FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to say something, anything, about his plans for the future, now that the second term of the Obama administration is underway. Last week, Genachowski was peppered with questions in the news conference after the commission meeting, but said nothing about his departure plans (CD Feb 1 p11). Also on the rise is pressure on the administration to appoint the first-ever woman to chair the FCC, one of the most high-profile of the independent federal commissions, following the departure of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.
A partisan split among the four regular FCC members on media ownership rules (CD Jan 18 p1), which may be so intractable it can’t be resolved with the unanimity Chairman Julius Genachowski seeks, could be partly addressed by using a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council proposal as the basis for a compromise, commission officials said. They said some at the commission are considering parts of MMTC’s proposal last week as a potential pathway to a compromise on how much to deregulate ownership. A much bigger determinant in the outcome of draft rules first circulated Nov. 14 remains what revisions if any Genachowski makes to the Media Bureau order, agency and industry officials said.
Searching the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) to mine carrier data is too cumbersome and takes too long, Public Knowledge said in a filing. Other industry officials told us Friday they have shared PK’s pain trying to use the ULS.
Differences have emerged between the FCC commissioners that partly follow party lines about whether they'll likely approve deregulation of media ownership in an order that goes further than the Democrats want and falls short of what the Republicans sought, said agency and industry officials Thursday. They said that with Chairman Julius Genachowski in recent days seeking a vote on draft rules he first circulated Nov. 14 (CD Nov 15 p1), without changes to the 2010 quadrennial review draft, one or both other Democratic FCC members may vote no and one or both Republicans could approve with some concerns. Genachowski sought feedback this month on the draft rules, something he didn’t do much before the Media Bureau order circulated, agency officials said.
Two years after the FCC approved net neutrality rules by a 3-2 vote after a protracted debate, much uncertainty and controversy remains. Next year should prove a key year, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hears combined appeals by Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS challenging the FCC’s authority to impose the regulations (WID Dec 22/10 p1).
Two years after the FCC approved net neutrality rules by a 3-2 vote after a protracted debate, much uncertainty and controversy remains. Next year should prove a key year, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hears combined appeals by Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS challenging the FCC’s authority to impose the regulations (CD Dec 22/10 p1).
Sprint Nextel’s successful bid to buy full ownership of Clearwire is unlikely to face a tough time winning regulatory approval, industry legal experts told us. Sprint, which already owned 51 percent of Clearwire, said Monday that Clearwire’s other shareholders had unanimously agreed to sell Sprint their 49 percent stake for $2.2 billion. Sprint said it believes the purchase gives it a unique opportunity to maximize the value of Clearwire’s 2.5 GHz spectrum and use it to increase Sprint’s network capacity. “We believe this transaction, particularly when leveraged with our SoftBank relationship, is further validation of our strategy and allows Sprint to control its network destiny,” said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse in a joint statement with Clearwire (http://xrl.us/bn6wrv). Sprint’s successful bid for Clearwire came more than two months after SoftBank bought 70 percent ownership of the carrier for $20.1 billion. As with SoftBank, Sprint’s deal with Clearwire is unlikely to encounter any significant regulatory issues, said Andrew Schwartzman, a public-interest communications lawyer. The FCC’s approval process on the Sprint-Clearwire deal should be “fairly perfunctory,” said Steve Goodman, a partner with the law firm Butzel Long who previously worked at the FCC and as an attorney on antitrust and regulatory issues at Comsat. Sprint’s existing 51 percent ownership of Clearwire is particularly important, because a shift to full control is unlikely to be seen as creating adverse effects on competition, Goodman told us, noting that the two “were already basically working in parallel/partnership.” The Clearwire purchase should also get approval from federal regulators because it strengthens Sprint’s position against No. 1 carrier Verizon Wireless and No. 2 carrier AT&T, allowing more competition in the marketplace, a regulatory analyst told us. Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner who is opposed to further carrier consolidation, disagreed, saying the consolidation implications in the Sprint-Clearwire deal merit FCC scrutiny. “If I was still on the commission, I'd be taking a good hard look at it,” he said.
Sprint Nextel’s successful bid to buy full ownership of Clearwire is unlikely to face a tough time winning regulatory approval, industry legal experts told us. Sprint, which already owned 51 percent of Clearwire, said Monday that Clearwire’s other shareholders had unanimously agreed to sell Sprint their 49 percent stake for $2.2 billion. That deal represented an improvement from the $2.1 billion Sprint offered last week (CD Dec 14 p15).
FCC staff working toward a redrafted quadrennial media ownership order to end the current review early next year are considering adding provisions that target some deregulation to aid diversity beyond the current draft, agency, industry and nonprofit officials said. They said career staffers appear to be giving attention to including provisions that industry and nonprofit backers say would help diversity without targeting only minorities. Targeting women and minorities can’t be done until research on barriers to entry is completed (CD Nov 19 p1). If staff finds provisions that are non-controversial inside and outside the agency, those adds could go in the new order to end the review due in 2010 under the Telecom Act, said officials observing the redrafting.
A new FCC task force will provide recommendations on ways to modernize and coordinate the commission’s policies on Internet Protocol interconnection, the resiliency of modern communications networks, business broadband competition and consumer protection on voice services, officials said. Recommendations for the proper focus of the Technology Transitions Policy Task Force were divided. Large telcos and anti-regulation think tanks encouraged deregulation; CLECs, special access purchasers and smaller providers encouraged adoption of IP interconnection policies. All told us their recommended policies would maximize consumer welfare, competition and innovation.