ST. LOUIS -- While some panelists at NARUC’s annual meeting see a continuing state role in a broadband world, others urged regulators to be mindful of market changes that have resulted in loss of revenue. And while some said they can live with the FCC’s Universal Service Fund order, others find it unacceptable.
Elbert Lin, ex-clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, returns to Wiley Rein as partner in telecom and appellate practice … Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt joins board of educational software firm Kno … SVForum names Chris Gill, ex-SVASE, CEO and executive director … MSG Entertainment promotes Melissa Miller Ormond to president … Eleo Hensleigh, ex-Ion Media, becomes Travel Channel senior vice president-marketing & communications … ESPNU Vice President Rosalyn Durant adds responsibility for ESPNHS.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge pounded a city attorney Thursday with First Amendment objections to a San Francisco ordinance requiring cellphone retailers to provide government-written disclosures about handset radiation, health questions and ways to minimize exposure. “It’s possible UFOs are going to come down,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup told Deputy City Attorney Vince Chhabria, challenging him as to whether the city could require a disclosure that “if you're concerned about UFOs, here are the steps you can take.”
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said spectrum auctions could be on the table as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction looks this fall for at least $1.5 trillion in savings over 10 years. Kerry is a member of the super committee and also chairs the Senate Communications Subcommittee. Spectrum is “one of the possible options,” Kerry told us after the committee’s organizational meeting Thursday: “I think we look at everything.” House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., another super committee member, declined to say whether the body should consider spectrum because he didn’t “want to get into any details yet.” During the meeting, super committee members stressed the need to overcome divisive politics and find at minimum $1.5 trillion. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, co-chair of the committee, said there would be several public hearings, but some of the work would happen behind closed doors. The super committee will provide “ample public notice” before submitting its final package, he said. While the package isn’t due until Nov. 24, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said the super committee probably would need to be finished by the end of October to give the Congressional Budget Office time to review the package and to satisfy public notice requirements. He predicted “tedious, time-consuming work” in the days ahead. In other super committee news, House Commerce Committee aide Michael Bloomquist will be the body’s general counsel, Hill and industry officials said. Bloomquist was deputy general counsel for Upton, and was a partner at Wiley Rein.
RIAA promotes Cary Sherman to chairman-CEO, effective Sept. 1, succeeding Mitch Bainwol, who resigns to become CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers; Mitch Glazier promoted to senior executive vice president … Glen Post, CenturyLink, to chair FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council; 32 others named to council … Lobbyist registrations: MetroPCS and Clear Channel, Telecommunications Law Professionals, both effective Aug. 1. … Wiley Rein adds communications litigator Christopher Huther, ex-Sheppard Mullin, as partner … Mobile broadband startup Stoke names Dave Williams, ex-Comcast, chief technology officer … Journal Communications vice president-controller Anne Bauer to leave, effective Sept. 2 … Aurora Networks names Craig McCollam, ex-Dionex, chief financial officer.
Companies that buy telecom services have “a healthy skepticism” about claims that changes in network technology require changes in regulation, Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee counsel Colleen Boothby said Thursday. Most businesses see claims that switching to all-IP networks means the federal government doesn’t need to regulate the markets anymore as mere “marketing.” Businesses require someone to make sure that infrastructure monopolies don’t drive up prices, she said on a panel at Wiley Rein Thursday. “It’s just a new transmission technique,” she told us later. AT&T Vice President Hank Hultquist, who was more sanguine about the transition away from the PSTN, said policymakers, industry and customers ought to do “a gap analysis” to try to figure out what regulations, finances and technology will be needed as telephony moves to IP. “We need a lot of work by experts and not necessarily the regulatory experts,” Hultquist said. Boothby agreed, saying, “The role of Congress is to give the FCC enough money so they can hire more engineers and fewer lawyers.” But Boothby and tw telecom outside counsel Thomas Jones clashed with Hultquist over whether the Telecom Acts of 1934 and 1996 need to be overhauled. Jones and Boothby said current law is “sufficient” to protect customers and markets. “The extent to which people talk about the need for a new statute, what they mean is the FCC should have less authority,” Jones said. Boothby said that even in IP traffic, there are appearances of competition, but businesses often find that most of the vendors in a given market are merely reselling access from a monopoly. Hultquist, who is active in the USTelecom-led talks to come up with an industry-wide universal service reform package, said he has learned from his involvement that “there are smart lawyers in this town who say the FCC can’t do it.” He and his company agree, but it at least demonstrates that there are gaps in the law, Hultquist said.
The FCC should waste no time in reinvigorating its diversity committee, especially since an appeals court recently sent back to the agency rules on the subject, Commissioner Robert McDowell said Thursday. Last month’s remand of a diversity order and media ownership rules from 2008 by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia shows why it’s timely for the Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age to become active once again, McDowell said. And “I think we have had some needless delays there of months or of a year” in getting the 3rd Circuit’s ruling, because the commission had sought to put Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC on hold, he told a Minority Media and Telecom Council conference. He had opposed that stay.
NARUC nominates Sara Kyle, Tennessee Regulatory Authority, to state seat on North American Numbering Council, replacing Elia Germani, Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, resigned … Time Warner Cable promotes Jeffrey Hirsch to executive vice president and chief marketing officer of residential services … Lobbyist Registrations: LightSquared, Nethercutt Consulting, effective June 21 … NAB, Advantage Political Affairs, effective June 6 … Google, Bingham McCutchen, effective June 21, and Prime Policy Group, effective June 1 … Comcast, Greenberg Traurig, effective April 1 … Alcatel-Lucent USA, Wiley Rein, effective June 24.
Work by career FCC staffers on proposed media ownership rules is progressing, after an appeals court remand of previous regulations, industry and agency officials said. They said the last batch of studies the agency paid outsiders to do is heading toward completion, and a rulemaking notice will be issued later. The commission contracted to pay $725,000 for eight studies, according to contracting documents Warren Communications News, publisher of Communications Daily, got from the agency by a Freedom of Information Act request. The research is on local online content, “civic knowledge” and “engagement,” TV viewing, ownership and other areas. The FCC has released five studies dealing with the Web, TV and radio (CD June 16 p9).
The latest and one of the FCC few video news release fines on a 2006 complaint purporting to show widespread use of VNRs on broadcast TV again demonstrates stations must disclose who provides the material even if it is aired during news programs and no money changes hands. A News Corp. unit was fined $4,000 Friday by the Enforcement Bureau for not telling viewers of KMSP Minneapolis that the station didn’t get on its own 12 different shots of General Motors convertibles used in a segment on that type of car that didn’t mention autos from any other carmaker. The bureau disagreed with Fox TV Stations that it’s entitled to use such material without identification because KMSP wasn’t paid for running the VNR and because the outlet paid another unit of News Corp. to use the material through participation in a news service.