Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Public safety and business telecom users expressed cautious optimism Wed. that negotiations could be restarted on E911 deployment requirements for multiline telephone systems (MLTS). In a further notice last fall, the FCC had concluded that state and local govts. for now were best positioned to set E911 deployment rules for MLTS, though the Commission said it would monitor their progress. Participants in an FCC E911 Coordination Initiative Wed. agreed the issue of how to locate emergency callers using private branch exchanges (PBXs) is ripe for renewed talks.

NTIA proposed 41 frequencies in the 1.7-80 MHz range for special protection from unintentional radiation from broadband over power line (BPL) systems because of the critical or sensitive functions they support. In a report to the FCC released late Tues., the NTIA pointed out Commission rules and regulations, including Part 15, provide specific lists of protected frequencies in this range. They impose limitations on licensed services and unlicensed intentional radiation, the NTIA said, and the concept could be relevant for unintentional radiation by BPL systems as well because of interference risks. The report is titled Potential Interference from Broadband over Power Line (BPL) Systems to Federal Government Radio Communications at 1.7-80 MHz -- Phase I Study.

Consumers Union (CU) and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) urged the FCC Thurs. to view with skepticism a pledge that Verizon Wireless made last week to bid $5 billion if the Commission were to auction PCS spectrum at 1.9 GHz (CD April 9 p1). Verizon Wireless and other wireless carriers have been calling on the FCC to hold an auction for the 10 MHz at 1.9 GHz if it’s part of an 800 MHz rebanding plan. The FCC has been considering a proposal for mitigating public safety interference at 800 MHz. An original staff proposal sent to the 8th floor would reband 800 MHz and give 1.9 GHz to Nextel for a price. Under that original staff proposal, Nextel would have to pay the cost of rebanding incumbents at 800 MHz and then the difference between that and the value assigned to the 1.9 GHz spectrum. “This so-called bid does nothing to advance the cause of eliminating public safety radio interference, and appears to be yet another anti-competitive tactic aimed at delaying a vote on this urgent matter,” CU and CFA said. “Regardless of motive, the Verizon ‘bid’ should be considered non-qualifying because it would unduly concentrate the wireless market horizontally and would represent a significantly increased threat to consumers’ hopes that wireless competes against landline telephone monopolies.” The groups argued that the opening bid promised by Verizon Wireless would lead to “less aggressive” competition between wireless and wireline companies and would be inconsistent with the Communications Act. “Any dominant wireless company’s bid for spectrum should be subjected to the same scrutiny that would be applied for a review of a merger in the wireless market,” CU and CFA said in a letter to Powell. The groups said that because Verizon Wireless has a national market share of nearly 25%, virtually any merger between it and another provider would violate merger guidelines. “Unfortunately, this letter seems to be filed in a proceeding taking place on another planet,” a Verizon Wireless spokesman said: “To paraphrase my mother, if you can’t say something relevant, don’t say anything at all. This is a laundry list of opinions that have nothing to do with the matter at hand, which is to legally and quickly provide public safety with the tools that they need.”

There’s stark disagreement on whether the FCC should extend CALEA requirements to VoIP services, comments filed with the FCC Mon. showed. While acknowledging the importance of ensuring that law enforcement is able to prevent crime using electronic surveillance, ISPs opposed the petition filed by the Dept. of Justice (DoJ), the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with the FCC. They said the proposal had no legal basis, and the CALEA rules would cripple the Internet. Bells generally shared the concerns of the law enforcement but said some modifications are needed. Law enforcement agencies strongly supported the petition, urging the Commission to adopt it expeditiously.

Citing an alleged “public service deficiency” in broadcasters’ coverage of political candidates, ex-FCC Chmn. Newton Minow and former NTIA Dir. Henry Geller Wed. asked the FCC to launch an “expedited” rulemaking to require free time this fall for candidates in campaigns for local and regional offices. Their proposal would require TV and radio stations to provide 20 min. per day free to candidates, in 5 min. segments, starting 30 days before general elections.

Telecom networks that allow operation of U.S. critical infrastructure are more vulnerable than ever, witnesses told a House panel Tues. One witness blamed that vulnerability in part on FCC rules. Industrial control systems have increasingly been linked to less secure networks that are vulnerable to cyberattack, the House Govt. Reform Technology Subcommittee was told. These systems include an array of public-switched networks, private microwave and fiber networks, wireless radio and cellular networks to oversee electrical grids, dams and so forth. “When I first began to learn about this topic, I must say that I did not grasp the scope of the challenge,” Chmn. Putnam (R-Fla.) said. But now he believes “the nation’s health, wealth and security rely on these systems,” which are “vulnerable to cyber attack or terrorism.”

National broadcasters are more effective in communicating a national emergency to the disabled than the FCC-administered emergency alert system (EAS), said Susan Fox, Disney vp-govt. affairs. “EAS -- the sense that I got from the folks in my own company -- is not the answer,” Fox said during a panel here on defining emergency at FCC’s Emergency Communications and Homeland Security: Working With the Disability Community Summit. “I think what we do, the information that we provide, is greater and broader than EAS,” she said.

FCC 8th-floor wireless advisers stressed the complexity of the pending 800 MHz proposals at the FCC, at a CTIA panel, although several noted they were heartened by the level of economic analysis in data submitted to the FCC in the proceeding. “The FCC needs data to do its job,” said Paul Margie, aide to FCC Comr. Copps: “The reason this has taken so long is because we had to figure out is there interference, how much interference is there, where is the interference, what is the delta between the interference we have now versus the two different plans, how much is it going to cost. And all of this took a certain amount of time because we didn’t know it beforehand.” Asked by CTIA Asst. Vp-Regulatory Policy Christopher Guttman-McCabe how spectrum overlays could be “policed,” Margie said most of the time it’s good to have additional flexibility. “But the more flexibility you give to somebody to operate in different ways, the more chance you have that those ways are going to conflict with one another. Across the band we've been adding more flexibility to people’s licenses. May we -- by doing that -- be creating other 800 [MHz-type] issues at other places around the spectrum? There’s a possibility we might be doing that.” Among the concerns that have surfaced repeatedly at the CTIA show here this week is the possibility of a patchwork of new state regulations to address issues such as service quality. Asked by Guttman-McCabe what role the FCC could play in this area, Jennifer Manner, adviser to Comr. Abernathy, said “unfortunately, we don’t have preemption authority, which is a problem.” The industry’s voluntary code of best practices, addressing issues such as trial periods for new service and billing, has been a “good response.” Manner said: “Your success should guide the states. You have to do a lot of education and be responsive. That’s not really something the Commission could step in and do.” Asked about the extent to which the FCC does cost- benefit analysis of the financial impact of rulemakings it considers, Sheryl Wilkerson, Chmn. Powell’s wireless aide, said it’s “one of the first things we look at when an item does come up to us.” Industry has been helpful in providing data on the costs of proposals such as those under consideration to mitigate public safety interference at 800 MHz and a recent International Bureau item on orbital debris, Wilkerson said. Barry Ohlson, aide to Comr. Adelstein, said the record assembled at the FCC on the 800 MHz proceeding has been among the better ones before the agency “in terms of economic analysis.” While there has been different information submitted by competing sides in the 800 MHz proceeding, Ohlson said the data submitted still has been helpful. Separately, FCC Chief of Staff Bryan Tramont asked what the regulatory implications were of wireline company ownership of wireless companies. “The wireless industry is incredibly competitive,” said Cingular Wireless Vp-Federal Regulatory Affairs Brian Fontes. “With respect to any wireline affiliation that any wireless carrier would have, if there’s any opportunities to behave irrationally in the marketplace, I think that would be remedied very quickly just by the competitive nature of the marketplace.” -- MG

Groups ranging from citizens advocates to wireless companies told NTIA they would like more-efficient spectrum management, but many drew the line at consolidating that function in one place, such as the White House. Reflecting the controversial nature of the Bush Administration’s inquiry into spectrum management improvements, a think tank defended a report it presented last fall against critics who argued the report would place all spectrum regulation under one person. Meanwhile, several other commenters said they were as concerned about improved management as they were about who was responsible for it.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Telecom Act Sec. 253 didn’t affect states’ power to restrict cities from offering telecom services. The section provides authority to preempt state and local laws that bar entry into telecom. The court Wed. reversed an 8th U.S. Appeals Court, St. Louis, decision in 2002 that the term “any entity” in Sec. 253(a) included municipalities and municipally owned utilities. The Appeals Court had ruled on a petition by the Mo. Municipal League challenging an FCC decision not to preempt a state statute that barred municipalities from providing commercial telecom services.