AT&T is raising questions about one part of Softbank’s proposed buy of a majority stake in Sprint Nextel that so far has gotten little attention, namely, provisions in the Communications Act limiting the ability of companies with more than 25 percent foreign ownership to invest in U.S. spectrum licenses. The restriction in Section 310(b)(4) provides for wiggle room, since the FCC needs to impose the restriction only if it finds doing so is in the public interest. Industry sources said Friday they do not expect the foreign ownership provisions to present an impediment to approval of the Softbank/Sprint deal.
Career FCC staff, trying to finish media ownership rules, are set to release statistics on ownership of all U.S. radio and TV stations to include those results in the forthcoming draft order, agency officials said. They said the Media Bureau may release, as soon as Thursday, aggregate information on what Form 323 biennial ownership reports say about who holds various classes of broadcast licensees. That data from 2009 and 2011 -- to be presented in aggregate form for the first time and after delays releasing it -- would then update the record, agency officials said. Bureau staff appear to be nearing an end to drafting the quadrennial media ownership order that was due to have been finished in 2010, agency officials told us this week.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case challenging a 2009 FCC wireless zoning shot clock order may have much bigger implications for the commission and other regulatory agencies, lawyers and analysts said this week. The court granted cert Friday (CD Oct 10 p15) in Arlington, Texas, v. FCC, in a case that could mean high court review of the broader Chevron doctrine. The doctrine requires federal courts to defer to an agency’s interpretation of a statute, as long as that interpretation is deemed “reasonable.” The doctrine dates to a 1984 case, Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case challenging a 2009 FCC wireless zoning shot clock order may have much bigger implications for the commission and other regulatory agencies, lawyers and analysts said this week. The court granted cert Friday in Arlington, Texas v. FCC, in a case that could mean high court review of the broader Chevron doctrine. The doctrine requires federal courts to defer to an agency’s interpretation of a statute, as long as that interpretation is deemed “reasonable.” The doctrine dates to a 1984 case, Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council.
A federal appeals court denied a motion to stay the FCC’s recent DTV “viewability” rule, court filings show. Broadcasters, including the NAB, had sued the FCC over the order at the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit and had sought to block the rule the agency adopted this summer that will let cable operators stop distributing must-carry stations in analog if they offer subscribers certain digital cable equipment (CD Aug 3 p5). The appellants have “not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review,” Judges Judith Rogers, David Tatel and Brett Kavanaugh decided. The ruling is a disappointment because the new requirements will hurt low-income consumers, said Andrew Schwartzman, a communications attorney following the case. “It is always hard to tell why a stay is being denied, so it doesn’t foretell what will happen once the case receives a full briefing,” he said.
The advent of online content is causing the media industry and policymakers to assess whether there is a need for regulation in that space, some media professionals said Friday on Capitol Hill at an event hosted by the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee. So far, programming through the Internet is flourishing amid discussions around proposed and existing regulations like the FCC program access rules and the Video Privacy Protection Act, they said.
The advent of online content is causing the media industry and policymakers to assess whether there is a need for regulation in that space, some media professionals said Friday on Capitol Hill at an event hosted by the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee. So far, programming through the Internet is flourishing amid discussions around proposed and existing regulations like the FCC program access rules and the Video Privacy Protection Act, they said.
The Department of Justice’s consent decree last month approving Verizon Wireless’s buy of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox contains conditions that will lead to a continuing role for DOJ monitoring business practices well into the future, officials said. Under the decree, Verizon has to send DOJ annual reports providing details on where Verizon is rolling out fiber and explaining why it’s not profitable to do so. The consent decree provides a monitoring role for the government that some experts say shows a new trend of greater involvement of the government after the fact, years after a deal is complete.
The Department of Justice’s consent decree last month approving Verizon Wireless’s buy of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox contains conditions that will lead to a continuing role for DOJ monitoring business practices well into the future, officials said. Under the decree, Verizon has to send DOJ annual reports providing details on where Verizon is rolling out fiber and explaining why it’s not profitable to do so. The consent decree provides a monitoring role for the government that some experts say shows a new trend of greater involvement of the government after the fact, years after a deal is complete.
The FCC is unlikely to even start collecting data on special access rates until next year, Wireline Bureau Chief Julie Veach conceded at an FCBA lunch Wednesday. She said the data collection order is almost ready, but once it’s finalized by the commission it still faces review by the Office of Management and Budget. The OMB must vet it under the Paperwork Reduction Act.