Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

CTIA indicated it will likely take the FCC to court over the National Programmatic Agreement (NPA) on tower siting, which was released by the Commission Fri. (CD Sept 13 p1). Sources said CTIA has been looking for some time for an opportunity to file an appeal on the federal “undertaking issue” - which involves the ability of the govt. to assert authority over an issue, and has implications for other issues as well. The NPA case presents CTIA with the chance to raise the issue, they said.

Election year politics and the fight over intelligence reform could doom legislation introduced Tues. by Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) and Senate Govt. Affairs ranking Democrat Lieberman (Conn.) that would clear 700 MHz spectrum for emergency communications by expediting the DTV transition, sources said Wed.

Echoing concerns expressed by VoIP providers in the U.S., parties told the European Commission (EC) in comments it shouldn’t harm the growth of IP-based communications by imposing unnecessary regulations. The EC -- which has generally kept the Internet free of traditional telecom regulations -- has launched a proceeding to examine issues related to IP-based communications, asking for comments on the appropriate regulatory framework for VoIP services that utilize numbering resources and provide access to or from the PSTN.

Comcast and NAB weighed in against DBS comments for the annual FCC assessment of competition in video programming delivery. Comcast said in reply comments “any fair-minded observer would have seen abundant additional evidence” of growing competition. It noted DirecTV and EchoStar reported 2nd quarter results that exceeded most analysts’ expectations. DirecTV said it added a record 944,000 gross operated subscribers and reduced its monthly churn to 1.4% to yield 455,000 net operated subscriber additions, Comcast said. EchoStar said it added about 340,000 net subscribers in the quarter.

ASPEN, Colo. -- The Telecom Act is a failed document in the broadband age and VoIP will be the “stalking horse” that forces change in Congress and at the FCC, Chmn. Powell said here. VoIP is “the killer app not only for the broadband economy but for legal policy change,” Powell said Mon., referring to how it rocks regulatory structures spelled out in the 1934 Act and the 1996 rewrite: “It’s going to shoot right into the core of the past.” Powell also vowed to press for final UNE-P rules by year-end. Asked by reporters after his speech whether he planned to be at the Commission when they were completed, whenever that might be, he replied: “You betcha.”

The FCC’s new Wireline Bureau Chief Jeffrey Carlisle said the agency ought to deal with state vs. federal jurisdiction over VoIP before tackling other issues in the FCC’s broad IP Enabled Services proceeding. “I don’t know if we can get a comprehensive order done by the end of the year because the record’s so huge and there are so many issues,” Carlisle said in an interview with Communications Daily. “I do believe we should try to decide the jurisdiction issue by the end of the year.”

Senate Judiciary leaders disagreed with an MPAA characterization of their work on broadcast flag, they told the FCC. In a Aug. 3 letter to FCC Chmn. Powell, Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chmn. DeWine (R-O.) and ranking Democrat Kohl (D-Wis.) said the subcommittee didn’t “decline to act,” but instead determined the FCC had its review of broadcast flag well in hand. Writing on behalf of MPAA, attorney Bruce Boyden said the FCC shouldn’t delay or deny approvals of broadcast flag technologies based on “claimed anticompetitive effects of non-assert provisions.” The letter was written for 3 open proceedings the FCC has on broadcast flag. “We believe that when licenses grant any ‘necessary’ or ‘essential’ rights to licensees to practice the technology’s specification, it is reasonable and hardly anticompetitive to seek to reduce transaction costs, clear blocking positions, and avoid costly infringement litigation by having adopters agree not to assert any ‘necessary’ claims they hold within the scope of the specification against any other participants in the system,” the letter said. The letter then said the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee examined the issues and “declined to act.” But DeWine and Kohl said that shouldn’t be interpreted as a formal position by the subcommittee. “Rather the Subcommittee, while considering the positions of all sides, explored this issue with the staff of the Federal Communications Commission and determined that the FCC staff had a solid grasp of the competitive implications raised by the proposed licenses,” the DeWine and Kohl letter said.

NARUC officials, concerned about possible reduction in state authority, are scheduled to get briefed today (Wed.) on an industry proposal to reform intercarrier compensation (CD Aug 17 p1). The plan announced Mon. by the Intercarrier Compensation Forum (ICF) would unify the disparate intercarrier payment systems used by the telecom industry -- applying not only to interstate but also intrastate communications that tend to be state regulators’ bailiwick.

Cable overbuilder RCN, struggling to emerge from bankruptcy, told the FCC that it should implement a la carte pricing for cable networks, on a “voluntary, market-supported basis,” saying doing so would satisfy consumer demand for competition, choice and control. RCN’s comments were among many replies in the FCC’s proceeding on a la carte pricing for cable and satellite. The FCC is examining the issue at the behest of several members of Congress, including Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.)

One of the few surprises at Wed.’s FCC mostly well scripted meeting was a strong statement from Comr. Copps warning that the FCC is still falling short on homeland security. Shortly after the session’s start, Copps -- responding to an FCC report on post-Sept. 11 communications changes that led off a meeting largely focused on homeland security -- addressed at length Commission shortcomings. Sources involved with emergency communications said Thurs. that issues remain, echoing in part Copps’ statements. Copps, sources said, delivered what he viewed as a moderate speech.