TORONTO -- With the Canadian government gearing up for an expected sale of valuable 700 MHz spectrum to wireless carriers next year, the nation’s large and small wireless providers are openly battling over the rules for that auction. Speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit, Rogers Communications pressed for “a fair and open auction” of 700 MHz spectrum, with the same rules for all bidders and no set-asides for newer players.
The House Communications Subcommittee moved a step closer to wireless legislation, holding Wednesday what’s likely their last hearing in a series on spectrum. Subcommittee Democrats and Republicans supported authorizing the FCC to conduct voluntary incentive auctions. Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., suggested additional incentives for broadcasters.
Congressional interest in LightSquared’s coming service doesn’t impede the company’s ongoing review of interference with GPS services, Executive Vice President Jeff Carlisle said in an interview Wednesday. “The important thing is to recognize Congress’ authority here,” he said. “Congress is an avenue for expressing concern about the issue, and we know it’s a real issue.” LightSquared has faced controversy throughout the process, with its service at the focus of several congressional statements and letters. Last week, a defense bill passed by the House included language that would require resolution of interference with GPS devices used by the Defense Department before the FCC can give the service its final OK (CD May 31 p14). “To the extent that those letters and activity reflect sincere concern, we are willing to work with the members and staff to make sure they understand what we are doing,” said Carlisle, head of regulatory affairs.
The number of network-connected devices will soar to more than 15 billion by 2015, and global Internet traffic will quadruple to 966 exabytes per year, Cisco predicted Wednesday in its much-watched annual Internet forecast. By 2015, 3 billion people will use the Internet, more than 40 percent of the world’s projected population. The Visual Networking Index Forecast is the fifth annual installment.
Municipal broadband opponents criticized government-subsidized overbuild projects and other community networks, while supporters claimed municipalities are simply doing the job that the private sector couldn’t and/or doesn’t want to do during a panel at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation Wednesday. But panelists agreed that in many cases the wholesale model for community networks appears to be inefficient.
TV broadcasters in the Mobile500 Alliance are preparing to introduce a commercial mobile DTV product by Q4 2011, Executive Director John Lawson said in an interview. The alliance is working on securing programming contracts for some national networks and is in discussions with consumer electronics manufacturers about incorporating mobile DTV receivers into more devices, he said. Business plans haven’t been finalized, but the group expects to offer a mix of 15-20 free and subscription-based mobile DTV channels and begin rolling out to markets before the end of the year, he said.
The FCC should forbid broadcast networks from signing retransmission consent deals on behalf of affiliated stations they don’t own, several multichannel video programming distributors said in comments (CD May 30 p12) on changing retrans rules. The American Cable Association, several cable operators and DirecTV were among the MVPD interests making that argument, as the last of the comments were posted Tuesday in docket 10-71. Many broadcasters said the commission shouldn’t find good-faith negotiating rules were broken just because affiliates let networks strike retrans deals.
Lawmakers remain divided on their approach to securing the U.S. electricity infrastructure from natural and man-made attacks. The House Subcommittee on Energy and Power at a hearing Tuesday again considered bi-partisan legislation to expedite the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) response to an attack on the U.S. power grid. Momentum for power grid security has increased following the release of the Obama Administration’s cybersecurity plan in May, but some lawmakers say the issue has become more complicated.
Funding, jurisdiction and governance issues and state and local regulations are among the challenges of early deployment of regional 700 MHz public safety networks, state and local public safety officials told us. Many jurisdictions that received the initial 22 early deployment waivers granted by the FCC are proceeding on their own, initiating procurements, negotiating and implementing interoperability plans and participating in certification and compliance testing protocols, they said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau is “hard at work” on drafting an order reforming the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation regimes, an FCC spokesman told us Tuesday. Wireline staffers are hoping to have a draft to Zac Katz, Chairman Julius Genachowski’s adviser, by early July, an FCC official and a telco lobbyist told us. Some telco lobbyists raised concerns that the FCC didn’t have a plan of its own after Genachowski went to Omaha and challenged “stakeholders” to help him solve the universal service/intercarrier comp “Rubik’s cube” (CD May 20 p1). The commission spokesman rebuffed those suggestions: “FCC staff is hard at work drafting an order,” he said in an email Tuesday.