FCC's Contested Cross-Ownership Rule Set for Vote
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The Federal Communications Commission is pushing ahead to pass a rule today that would allow more consolidation of local media ownership in the nation's largest cities, despite the fresh threat of a legislative rebuke and continued protests from advocacy groups.
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Several wireless firms are challenging different parts of the spectrum auction rules.
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(InfoWorld) - AT&T Inc. has backed away fromÂ earlier complaints about proposed open-access rules on parts of theÂ 700MHz spectrum to be auctioned by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission by early next year. Draft auction rules floated by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin have "struck an interesting and creative balance between the competing interests" that are lobbying the commission, AT&T said of its understanding of those rules in a statement Wednesday. Just last Thursday, AT&T Vice President Robert Quinn had written the FCC saying the so-called Google plan for open-access rules for part of the auctioned spectrum "would turn the clock back on a decade of bipartisan consensus on the proper approach to wireless deregulation." In addition, open-access rules could expose the FCC "to a reversal in the courts," with lawsuits delaying the auction winner from using the spectrum, Quinn wrote on July 12. The open-access proposals would diminish the value of the spectrum and amount to "corporate welfare," AT&T said. Since then, AT&T has gained a better understanding of Martin's draft auction rules proposal, AT&T said Wednesday. Martin's proposal, as AT&T now understands it, would "allow" the auction winner to experiment with some open access rules, Jim Cicconi, AT&T's senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs, said in a statement. "The plan would enable the introduction of an alternative wireless business model without requiring changes in the business models of AT&T and others in what is a highly competitive wireless industry," Cicconi added. Google Inc. and several consumer groups have called for open-access rules on a portion of the 60MHz of spectrum to be auctioned. Under open-access rules, auction winners would be prohibited from blocking or slowing Web content from competitors, and they would have to connect to any wireless devices customers wanted. In addition, under open-access rules proposed by Public Knowledge and other groups, the auction winner would have to sell spectrum access to competitors at wholesale prices. Open-access rules are needed to encourage a third national broadband competitor to the large cable and telecom carriers, the groups have said. "We urged the commission not to rely on a status quo approach to the upcoming auction," wrote Richard Whitt, Google's telecom and media counsel, in a letter to the FCC July 9. "Rather, the agency must do what is necessary to bring about robust forms of ... broadband competition." Public Knowledge, a digital rights group, has said Martin's draft rules don't go far enough. While Martin wants device portability and no blocking of Web applications, he hasn't called for wholesale access to the spectrum. Without wholesale access, it's unlikely a third broadband service could challenge cable and telecom services, Public Knowledge has said. Art Brodsky, communications director for Public Knowledge, called the new AT&T position a "remarkable turnaround." But Randolph May, president of the conservative think tank, The Free State Foundation, said he disagrees with AT&T's interpretation of what the auction rules would allow. "My impression (perhaps erroneously) had been that Chairman Martin's proposal would mandate an open access ... regime in the one block [of the spectrum]," May wrote in an e-mail. "There is a significant difference between 'allowing' and 'mandating.' My understanding is that absent a mandate, nothing at all in any existing or proposed FCC rule would prevent the winning bidder from voluntarily adopting an open access business model."
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After tossing Wi-Fi start-up bids for exclusive control of fallow spectrum, federal regulators want public input on how to proceed. Will a new fight over "open access" rules emerge?
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U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has asked for a legal ruling on whether a recused commissioner could cast a tie-breaking vote on AT&T Inc.'s  proposed acquisition of BellSouth Corp. , an FCC official told Reuters on Friday.
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One of the major questions as the U.S. Federal Communications Commission kicks off a multibillion-dollar spectrum auction Thursday is whether the auction will produce a winning bidder that will challenge telecom and cable-based broadband providers with a national wireless broadband network.
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The Federal Communications Commission voted on Tuesday to loosen media ownership restrictions in the 20 biggest U.S. cities, despite objections from consumer groups and a threat by some senators to revoke the action.
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Blog: The FCC is writing rules to determine how to use extremely valuable wireless spectrum that will be auctioned in September to the highest bidder.
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Two senators on Wednesday threatened  to introduce bipartisan legislation that would block the U.S.  Federal Communication Commission from acting quickly to ease  rules governing media ownership.
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Federal Communications Commissioner Robert M. McDowell announced yesterday that he would disqualify himself from voting on AT&T's proposed purchase of BellSouth on ethical grounds, depriving the FCC of a potential swing vote that could have broken the stalemate among its Democratic and Republican...
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A start-up wireless company has  proposed a high-stakes debate with Verizon Communications  before U.S. regulators considering how the government should  conduct an auction of valuable wireless spectrum.
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If Americans want to buy cell phones and add mobile applications that they can use with any carrier, they need to watch the FCC.
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(InfoWorld) - A coalition of technology and telecommunications vendors will oppose a plan to give public safety agencies across the U.S. new wireless spectrum, saying it could jeopardize an agreement already in place that would provide spectrum for interoperable emergency communications by early 2009. Members of the High Tech DTV Coalition on Tuesday sent a letter to leaders in the U.S. Congress urging them to reject a proposal that would carve out 30MHz of wireless spectrum for public safety interoperability, instead sticking to legislation passed last year that would give emergency response agencies 24MHz of spectrum. The legislation requires U.S. television stations to move from analog broadcasts to digital television, or DTV. The alternate plan, advanced by Cyren Call Communications, could endanger the compromises in the Digital Television Transition Act, representatives of the High Tech DTV Coalition said at a press conference. Debate over the Cyren Call proposal, echoed in a January proposal from Senator John McCain, could push back by years the date when spectrum is available to emergency responders, said the coalition, whose members include Microsoft, Intel, Dell, and Verizon Wireless. The Cyren Call proposal would take a significant chunk of spectrum slated to be auctioned by the government, with the $10 billion or more in proceeds going for federal deficit reduction and emergency communications interoperability programs, the group said. "We think [the proposal] threatens the progress Congress made last year," said Jeffrey Connaughton, executive director of the coalition. "It's a distraction from what are better solutions for public safety." The High Tech DTV Coalition lobbied hard last year for a bill that frees up spectrum for public safety uses by requiring TV broadcasters to move off the upper 700MHz spectrum band by Feb. 17, 2009. After much debate in Congress, President George Bush signed the bill a year ago. The DTV transition bill represented a fragile compromise, said Jeffrey Eisenach, chairman of Criterion Economics and co-author of a report criticizing the Cyren Call plan. "It would throw, at best, sand in the gears of a process that's been going on for a long time," he said. "I don't think there's a way to unwind this and put it back together simply." The Cyren Call proposal, first advanced last April, calls on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to put 30MHz of spectrum into a "public safety broadband trust" controlled by the agency. The spectrum would be used for commercial purposes after police, fire, and other public safety agencies' needs are met. Representatives of Cyren Call and McCain didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the High Tech DTV Coalition. But McCain, an Arizona Republican, called for the government to do more to help emergency responders when he announced plans for public safety spectrum legislation in January. "If we do not act now, this valuable spectrum will be auctioned off, and this opportunity will be lost forever," McCain said in a statement. McCain has been calling for more public safety spectrum since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. The 9/11 Commission investigating the attacks and their aftermath recommended additional radio spectrum for first responders because police and firefighters on the scene reported being unable to communicate with each other or with rescue vehicles. The Cyren Call proposal has been endorsed by several public safety organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Major Cities Chiefs Association, and National Sheriffs Association.
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September 28, 2004 -- Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, plans to hold a vote this year on a proposal to require US television broadcasters such as Viacom Inc.
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The FCC is looking for consultation on whether it should change the rule that currently forbids Sirius and XM from merging, a necessary move if it is to approve the proposed deal.
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The FCC is about to approve rules that could affect open access of wireless networks, including the portability of cell phones and applications.
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Blog: Amidst thousands of comments about whether Net neutrality rules are needed, media conglomerate urges FCC to stress that broadband providers must fight transfer of copyrighted works.